Size and weight is a big decision factor when you are trying to find the ideal camera for your needs.
In this section, We are going to illustrate Sony A7S and Panasonic L1 side-by-side from the front, back and top in their relative dimensions. Sony A7S has external dimensions of 127 x 94 x 48 mm (5 x 3.7 x 1.89″) and weighs 489 g (1.08 lb / 17.25 oz) (including batteries). Panasonic L1 has external dimensions of 146 x 87 x 77 mm (5.75 x 3.43 x 3.03″) and weighs 606 g (1.34 lb / 21.38 oz) (including batteries).
Below you can see the front view size comparison of Sony A7S and Panasonic L1. Sony A7S is 19mm narrower and 29mm thinner than Panasonic L1 but it is also 7mm taller.
![Sony A7S vs Panasonic L1 Camera Size Comparison - Front View]()
Comparison image of Sony A7S and Panasonic L1 Size, Weight and External Dimensions - Front View
Here is the back view size comparison of Sony A7S and Panasonic L1.
![Sony A7S vs Panasonic L1 Camera Size Comparison - Back View]()
Comparison image of Sony A7S and Panasonic L1 Size and Weight - Back View
Now lets look at the top view comparison of Sony A7S and Panasonic L1.
![Sony A7S vs Panasonic L1 Camera Size Comparison - Top View]()
Top View Comparison image of Sony A7S and Panasonic L1 Size
Weight is another important factor especially when deciding on a camera that you want to carry with you all day.
Sony A7S is significantly lighter (117g ) than the Panasonic L1 which may become a big advantage especially on long walking trips.
Also keep in mind that body weight is not the only deciding factor when comparing two interchangeable camera bodies, you have to also take into account the lenses that you will be using with these bodies. Since Sony A7S has a Full frame sensor and Panasonic L1 has a smaller Four Thirds sensor, Panasonic L1's lenses for a similar focal length and aperture will generally be lighter and smaller than the Sony A7S lenses.
Weight Comparison
DSLR Cameras
Thickness Comparison
DSLR Cameras
Weather Sealing
With its weather sealed body, we believe that A7S has a big advantage over L1 which doesn't provide any kind of environmental sealing.
LCD Screen Size and Features
Sony A7S's 3 LCD screen is slightly larger than Panasonic L1's 2.5" screen.
In addition to the size advantage, Sony A7S LCD screen also has a
Tilting feature where you can change the angle of the screen to make it easier to shoot from waist or over the head levels. On the other hand, Panasonic L1 has a fixed type screen which provides less flexibility in shooting positions compared to A7S.
Sony A7S has a 12.0MP Full frame (35.8 x 23.9 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Bionz X processor. On the other hand, Panasonic L1 has a 7.0MP Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ) sized CMOS sensor .
Sony A7S's sensor provides 5MP more than Panasonic L1's sensor, which gives a significant advantage in real life. You can print your images larger or crop more freely.
On the other hand, please keep in mind that Max sensor resolution is not the only determinant of resolving power. Factors such as the optical elements, low pass filter, pixel size and sensor technology also affects the final resolution of the captured image.
Below you can see the A7S and L1 sensor size comparison.
![Sony A7S vs Panasonic L1 Sensor Size Comparison]()
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Sony A7S and Panasonic L1 Cameras
As seen above, Sony A7S has a 3.8x Larger sensor area than Panasonic L1. Larger sensors give photographer more control on the depth of field and blurry background compared to smaller sensor when shot in same focal length and aperture.
Number of available lenses is a big decision factor while choosing your interchangeable lens camera. When we look at the available lenses for these two cameras, we see that Sony A7S has an advantage over Panasonic L1. There are 128 lenses for Sony A7S's Sony E mount, on the other hand there are only 45 lenses for Panasonic L1's Four Thirds lens mount.
Another important factor is the availability of image stabilization. None of these bodies have sensor based image stabilization so you have to buy lenses with Optical stabilization feature. Currently there are 31 lenses for Sony E mount and 3 lenses for Four Thirds mount with IS.
| Lens Type |
# of Sony A7S Lenses |
# of Panasonic L1 Lenses |
| Standard Zoom |
12 (9 Full Frame) |
8 |
| Standard Prime |
18 (9 Full Frame) |
4 |
| Wideangle Zoom |
7 (6 Full Frame) |
4 |
| Wideangle Prime |
42 (26 Full Frame) |
9 |
| Telephoto Zoom |
9 (7 Full Frame) |
6 |
| Telephoto Prime |
18 (14 Full Frame) |
4 |
| SuperZoom |
8 (1 Full Frame) |
2 |
| Wideangle Fisheye Prime |
2 (0 Full Frame) |
3 |
| Macro Prime |
8 (7 Full Frame) |
4 |
| Perspective Control Prime |
2 (2 Full Frame) |
n/a |
| Telephoto Mirror Prime |
n/a |
1 |
| TOTAL |
128 (81 Full Frame) |
45 |
In this section, we rank and compare Sony A7S and Panasonic L1 for five different photography types in order to make your decision process easier in case you are specifically interested in one or more of these areas.
Sony A7S for Portrait Photography
Panasonic L1 for Portrait Photography
Large Full frame (35.8 x 23.9 mm) sensor
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Average Resolution Sensor: 12.0MP
No Image Stabilization
Read the details
Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Optical Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Very Low Resolution Sensor: 7.0MP
No Image Stabilization
Read the details
Sony A7S for Street Photography
Panasonic L1 for Street Photography
Large Full frame (35.8 x 23.9 mm) sensor
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
Tilting LCD Screen
Medium sized Body
No Image Stabilization
Read the details
Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Optical Built-in Viewfinder
Live-view
No Image Stabilization
Large Body
Read the details
Sony A7S for Sports Photography
Panasonic L1 for Sports Photography
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Environmental Sealings
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/8000s
25 Focus Points
Good Low Light ISO
Wireless Connection
Average Continuous Shooting: 5.0fps
No Image Stabilization
Read the details
Optical Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/4000s
No Image Stabilization
Slow Continuous Shooting: 3.0fps
Environmental Sealings
3 Focus Points
Read the details
Sony A7S for Daily Photography
Panasonic L1 for Daily Photography
Large Full frame (35.8 x 23.9 mm) sensor
Environmental Sealings
Medium size Body
489g
Body Thickness 48mm
Read the details
Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Large Body
606g
Body Thickness 77mm
Read the details
Sony A7S for Landscape Photography
Panasonic L1 for Landscape Photography
Large Full frame (35.8 x 23.9 mm) sensor
Environmental Sealings
Live-view
Average Resolution Sensor: 12.0MP
Read the details
Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Live-view
Very Low Resolution Sensor: 7.0MP
No Environmental Sealings
Read the details
You may have already made your decision about which camera suits better for your needs and your budget so far but in case you wonder how we rated Sony A7S and Panasonic L1, below you can find their scores in five different aspects.
Our Decision Algorithm dynamically scores cameras using 63 different specs, current price and DxO Mark scores (where possible) in order to make a more objective and consistent comparison.
Here is a summary of how Sony A7S and Panasonic L1 scores compare:
Sony A7S
Ranked
#39 out of 86 in SLR-style mirrorless cameras
Ranked
#71 out of 1220 in all Cameras
Panasonic L1
Ranked
#73 out of 94 in Mid-size SLR cameras
Ranked
#683 out of 1220 in all Cameras
Sony A7S is the clear winner of this comparison. It has a higher Overall Score and beats Panasonic L1 in all criteria. It has better general image quality, more features, more compact body and offers more value for the money
| General |
Sony Alpha A7S |
Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1 |
| Brand |
Sony |
Panasonic |
| Announced |
2014-04-06 |
2007-04-11 |
| Body Type |
SLR-style mirrorless |
Mid-size SLR |
Sensor |
|
|
| Type |
CMOS |
CMOS |
| Size |
Full frame |
Four Thirds |
| Dimensions |
35.8 x 23.9 mm |
17.3 x 13 mm |
| Area |
855.62mm2 |
224.90mm2 |
| Megapixels |
12 megapixels |
7 megapixels |
| Max Resolution |
4240 x 2832 |
3136 x 2352 |
| Max Native Light sensitivity |
409,600 ISO |
1,600 ISO |
| Min Native Light sensitivity |
100 ISO |
100 ISO |
| RAW Support |
|
|
Autofocus |
|
|
| AF Touch |
|
|
| AF Continuous |
|
|
| AF Single |
|
|
| AF Tracking |
|
|
| AF Selective |
|
|
| AF Center |
|
|
| AF Multi Area |
|
|
| AF Live View |
|
|
| AF Face Detection |
|
|
| AF Contrast Detection |
|
|
| AF Phase Detection |
|
|
| Number of Focus Points |
25 |
3 |
Lens |
|
|
| Manual Focus |
|
|
| Lens Mount |
Sony E |
Four Thirds |
| Number of Available Lenses |
128 |
45 |
Screen |
|
|
| Type |
Tilting |
Fixed type |
| Size |
3 |
2.5" |
| Resolution |
1,230k dots |
207k dots |
| Touch Screen |
|
|
Viewfinder |
|
|
| Viewfinder |
Electronic |
Optical (pentamirror) |
| Viewfinder Resolution |
2,359k dots |
no electronic viewfinder |
| Viewfinder Coverage |
100% |
95% |
| Viewfinder Magnification |
0.71x |
0.46x |
Photography Features |
|
|
| Max Mechanical Shutter |
1/8000s |
1/4000s |
| Shutter Priority |
|
|
| Aperture Priority |
|
|
| Manual Exposure Mode |
|
|
| Custom White Balance |
|
|
| Image Stabilization |
No |
No |
| Built-in Flash |
|
|
| Flash Range |
no built-in flash |
13.00 m |
| Max Flash Sync |
n/a |
1/160s |
| External Flash |
|
|
| Continuous Shooting |
5.0 fps |
3.0 fps |
| Multi-Segment |
|
|
| Average |
|
|
| Spot |
|
|
| Partial |
|
|
| AF-Area |
|
|
| Center Weighted |
|
|
| AE Bracketing |
|
|
| WB Bracketing |
|
|
Video Features |
|
|
| Max Video Resolution |
3840 x 2160 |
None |
| Video Formats |
MPEG-4, AVCHD, XAVC |
n/a |
| Microphone Port |
|
|
| Headphone Port |
|
|
Connectivity |
|
|
| Wireless Connectivity |
Built-In |
None |
| HDMI |
|
|
Physical |
|
|
| Environmental Sealing |
|
|
| Weight |
489g |
606g |
| Dimensions |
127 x 94 x 48mm |
146 x 87 x 77mm |
| Battery Life |
360 shots |
n/a |
Other Features |
|
|
| Timelapse Recording |
With Downloadable App |
|
| GPS |
None |
None |
DxO Sensor Scores |
|
|
| DxO Overall Score |
87 |
not tested |
| DxO Color Depth |
23.9 |
not tested |
| DxO Dynamic Range |
13.2 |
not tested |
| DxO Low Light ISO |
3702 |
not tested |
|
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