Panasonic S1R as a travel camera - great experience!

A week ago I've returned from a trip to Istanbul where I was using my Panasonic S1R. I must say that I am completely happy with this experience.

I had 2 lenses with me - Panasonic S 20-60/3.5-5.6 and Panasonic S 24-105/4.

First of all - the obvious. Size and weight and size. I must say that this camera with any of the 2 lenses I had with me is THE most comfortable camera I ever had. My hands are not very large and I all my fingers can be placed on a grip of Fuji X-S10 or Nikon Z50, but large grip of S1R is far more comfortable then even those good APS-C cameras. I have a habit of keeping camera in my hand for all time when I am shooting and I am not using a hard strap... I can say that I had absolutely NO problems keeping S1R in my hand for several hours while shooting Istanbul attractions.

47MP sensor gives plenty of details, which is very-very welcomed in wide angle shots! Besides, those files are not THAT hard to process. My Huawei Matebook 13 with AMD Ryzen 3500 CPU (and GPU) and 16Gb of memory processed these files with ease (DXO).

One more thing - S1R gives you RAW files that are extremely flexible. You can apply lots of postprocessing to them without loosing that Panasonic's special natural, lifelike look. This becomes obvious for you when you process your RAWs.

Both lenses I've had are great. Panasonic S 24-105/4 is quite common lens and gives you all that you can expect from it and a bit more. It is very usable at all focal lengths and at all f settings. But also it can give you 7.5 (!!!) stops of vibration reduction when paired with S1R!

But what I must highlight is that Panasonic S 20-60, while being the most cheap lens ion the L system, is a great piece of glass! I can say even more - I cannot imagine how I managed to exist in my travels without it!

This lens is has simply great focal range for travels! 20mm is wide enough for 99,9% of things you can shoot in a travel, while this lens also has 60mm! It allows you to keep this lens on camera for a long period of time without changing it.

About the battery. I was afraid that I'll have problems with S1R's battery as it consumes quite a lot of energy. But actually I found that one battery is enough for most days. 2 batteries are enough ALWAYS. I've had 3 batteries with me, but I never used the 3rd one actually.

I've used energy saving mode mainly (one that makes camera to fall asleep after 10 secs of inactivity.

One and only complain I have about S1R is it's on-off switch. It is badly places and not very easy to reach... But that's still acceptable.

Also, I can say that I've never has ANY complaints about AF system of the camera. Even in the darkest places it was very reliable. I an using AF-S though and shooting only stills (no video).

Also I must mention the ability of AF system to detect animals. It detects ANYTHING! Cats, dogs, or course, but also sheep, goats, birds, even fish!

Overall, I can say that S1R is THE best camera for a traveling photograph. If you travel to make photos, as I do - this is a dream camera for you!

Thanks for your attention!