Uncropped 4K 240p! Open gate 5.1K 120p! Panasonic Lumix S1HII specs leak online – with a caveat

A set of specs for the Panasonic Lumix S1HII, along with an image of the camera, have leaked online with headline features like uncropped 4K 240p, open gate 5.1K 120p and 16 stops of dynamic range.

But the thing is… well, do you know what the doge emoji means? It's kinda nuanced, but essentially it represents a smirk, sarcasm and smiling disbelief. And, for better or worse, it accompanied the specs when they appeared on Chinese social media.

"I saw the Panasonic Lumix S1HII online and was stunned," wrote the Federation of Independent Photographers on Weibo, followed by the doge emoji (which sadly doesn't translate over here).

In other words, the outlet seems suspicious of these specs. So why am I reporting them? Because there have been plenty of occasions where seemingly suspicious specs have been shared, accompanied by all manner of emojis and smarm and smirk, only to be partly or entirely true.

So I'm sharing them here, for what they're worth. Which may end up being less than nothing.

But the thing is, unlike a lot of made-up specs on the internet, there's some common sense stuff here. Take 32-bit float, for example; this was a technology that Panasonic debuted in cameras like the Lumix S5II, but it required an additional accessory.

Since then, however, Nikon has incorporated it as an in-body feature in the Nikon ZR – so it makes sense that Panasonic's next iteration of the technology will also come built-in to its own video-centric body.

Ditto open gate, another feature that Panasonic brought to the mirrorless market. Its latest body, the Lumix S1RII, can capture 8.1K 24p / 7.2K 30p / 6.4K 30p open gate. Canon's latest body, the Canon EOS C50, can record 7K 60p open gate. So is 5.1K 120p really that outlandish?

Panasonic Lumix S1HII specs (rumored)

• 4K 240p uncropped
• 5.1K 120p open gate, ProRes RAW
• V-Log2
• 16+ stops dynamic range
• Arri codec
• 39 LUTs
• ProRes 4444 XQ, 4444, 422 HQ, 422, 422 LT, Proxy
• 32-bit float audio
• Phase Hybrid AF
• 8.5 stops in-body image stabilization
• 120fps continuous burst shooting
• Dual CFexpress Type B slots
• New active cooling system

So what are the odds of this leak being real, really? Probably pretty slim. And it's entirely possible that if you compare the image of the S1HII body to other cameras, you'll find obvious signs of Photoshoppery.

But let's take it all at face value for a minute. The OG Panasonic Lumix S1H, announced in 2019, is the only one of the original S-series cameras that hasn't yet been updated.

We've seen upgrades to the base S1 series (with the Lumix S1II and Lumix S1IIE), along with the resolution-focused S1R series (with the S1RII). We've even seen the Lumix S5, S5II and S5IIX hybrid models.

And even though all Lumix cameras are highly video-proficient, it's always felt like a matter of time until an new S1H materialized – the company even hinted that it was updating the S-series in order of release.

An S1HII that carries something resembling the above specs, and looks like something resembling the above image, would certainly make a lot of sense in today's market. Panasonic will no doubt be following Canon and Nikon's lead in launching its own Sony FX3 challenger – so even if this leak is off the mark, I'm willing to bet it's not too far off.

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