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For me, I would ideally like to see: For definite: A. Official confirmation a successor to the S5 and S1 is coming, even if it’s going to be one single line. B. An announcement date plus a launch date. Ideally: C. Whether they are moving to PDAF. D. Whether 4K 50/60/100/120 is going be cropped. With a season that starts in April each year, I need to be ready to go at least a full month in advance, fully tested, familiar with, batteries, chargers, processing, quirks etc. If A & B happen before the end of this year, there is still a chance for me with L Mount, but even then, C & D also really need to be on the cards because if not, there are other options. And I am not holding my breath…but would still like to see it.

Cameras are just 18.6% for Canon (printers are 55.2%). I think Nikon is the most vulnerable in that group you mentioned.

The 'Fairchild Semiconductor' that onsemi bought in 2015 was a new version created by Nat Semi selling off their 'standard products' division in 1997, a reasonable amount of which derived from Nat Semi buying the original Fairchild Semiconductor 10 years earlier. As far as I can tell, that 1987 sale to Nat Semi (by then owner Schlumberger) didn't include the imaging division. Via a series of other companies Fairchild Imaging eventually became part of BAE Systems - see https://www.baesystems.com/en-uk/productfamily/scmos-sensors (The myriad start-ups, mergers, takeovers, sell-offs, spin-outs and failures of semiconductor companies over even the 40+ years I've been an electronics engineer would make a pretty complicated 'family tree' I'm sure 🙂)

I should add, that even now I have been making arguments to stick with L Mount at least until a point where I am forced into making a decision. The problem is that with nothing but rumors and speculation regarding the future of L Mount, there is nothing to base any decision on other than ‘if’. I have often thought manufacturers shoot themselves in the foot by being so Secret Squirrel about their plans…

They bought Fairchild (original BM cameras) and Truesense/Kodak (Digital Bolex) too but the lineage of the Arri stuff is definitely from Cypress as both the D-20 and the Alexa had a Cypress sensor https://web.archive.org/web/20101230013456/http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20101220005251/en/Cypress’s-Industry-Leading-CMOS-Image-Sensor-Portfolio-Designed Its a bit of stretch for that press release to be claiming those were jointly developed with onsemi as they didn't actually buy the sensor division of Cypress (which was predominantly FillFactory who Cypress themselves had acquired previously) until a year after the Alexa had been released and six years after the D-20 was released. In that respect, its a bit like BMW claiming they developed the original Mini Cooper because they now own the company that did. FillFactory were based in Mechelen in Belgium and as onsemi offer CMOS hardware design jobs listed at the same site then I suspect that, as with the previous cameras, the current Arri sensors are still physically being developed in Belgium rather than the US, albeit with funding from the US parent company of course. https://onsemi.dejobs.org/mechelen-bel/hardware-design-engineer/1025F288A9BF4AC584B993271B8E9BC2/job/

Given that (as far as I can see) onsemi's image sensor capability mostly comes from buying the image sensor division of Cypress Semiconductor in 2011 for $31 million (based in Belgium) and US-based Aptina in 2014 for $400 million, I think there is a reasonable chance that the Arri sensor was developed in US. As a bit of trivia, onsemi's roots as a semiconductor manufacturer go directly back to Motorola in the 1950s, so it's effectively one of the oldest chip companies in the world. (ON Semiconductor was spun out of Motorola as in independent business in 1999).

Ok, I'm interested to know your motives and next move! I'm thinking of holding on until the rumoured S5H is released to see how the AF is (I know, I know 🤪). But I was at a wedding where someone was using a Canon R6 and seeing the continuous AF working was eye opening. They were taking photos but they showed me how it worked in video. He said he hadn't missed a photo in the whole wedding and it's more or less the same with video. He said now he really only has to worry about exposure and composition most of the time, which on a long job like a wedding, would make life a lot easier. So I guess AF will be one of your reasons!

Synth reviewers on YouTube are plagued by copyright strikes when they demonstrate filter sweeps as someone has managed to convince the YouTube content review clowns that they own the copyright to the sound of a filter sweep. If I could convince YouTube that I own the copyright to the phrases "Hey, whats up, its your boy..", "with that being said", "lets get into it" and "I have been sent this for free but..." then I'd be rolling in it.