John Matthews

It actually makes sense. He mentioned that European sales are up and that it wasn’t efficient to have each country running its own Pro Service. A single centralized service for all of Europe is logical—after all, it is one market, and one service center is enough to cover it. Plus, the European market benefits from a 5-year warranty, which is far more generous than what’s offered in the U.S. That level of coverage is already considered enough by U.S. standards and makes American pricing less competitive, whereas European prices for other brands are often higher anyway. I also get the impression that they’re preparing to offer additional types of services in Europe.

Viltrox joined L mount a little later than those other systems, but I'm certain lenses will start appearing quickly. Totally understand. There are valid schools of thought here: 1) the data image, change in post; 2) WYSIWYG. I also lean more for the latter, especially for stuff I'm too lazy to edit. As things move forward, I'm understanding that most of the manufacturers are producing for the optically "perfect" image because they can. We're not seeing those headline lenses so much anymore like that Nikon 50mm 0.95 brick to showcase their engineering prowess. If they do that, it's to give us affordable lenses at previously unthought of focal lengths or smaller sizes. Lumix has a boring set of lenses that work very well and they can be workhorses, just nothing really amazing or ridiculously small (i.e. 14mm f/2.5, 20mm f/1.7). They insulted all of their users with that 26mm and I want to go back in time and erase its existence.

Ok. They addressed Lumix Pro Services in Europe: Starts at 23m39s Basically, less is more.

I guess it depends on what you’re looking for. I’ll give Panasonic credit for their primes — the other makers feel more like wannabes than real contenders when it comes to consistent size, look, feel, and output. Canon seems unwilling to let third-party manufacturers do what they want, probably out of fear. Sony, on the other hand, seems to cripple third-party lenses for no real reason. Nikon offers some 1.4 primes, but they’re a bit all over the place — not ideal if you’re looking for a cohesive lineup. Only Panasonic has released a true roadmap of lenses, much like a publisher releasing a series of books that all share the same design and cover style. Other manufacturers are putting out books of all different shapes and sizes. That’s fine for the average user, but if consistency is what you’re after, it’s hit or miss. Sony is all over the place — they started with a mount made for APS-C! Meanwhile, Panasonic and Leica developed one of the more recent mounts, designed specifically for full-frame. Leica has their set of APO primes — arguably the best lenses they’ve ever made — though at a crazy cost. Panasonic and Sigma, on the other hand, are pushing out lenses at a relatively fast pace, including some truly unique focal lengths that have never been done before, like the 20–200mm.

It's not that bad in L-mount. We now have a small 40mm F/2 from TTartisan, but it could be better. Most of the lenses from Panasonic make a lot of sense- a full set of clinical 18, 24, 35, 50, 85, 100mm lenses at f/1.8 (except for the 100mm). They're the same size, rendering, in-camera corrections, usage and everything you'd expect. No other camera maker has that. The zooms are also great. Sure, no Tamron, but should that be the deal-breaker? Personally, I'm no longer going for "clinical and sharp". Give me anything with character- that's what I want; set yourself apart a little. Clinical = boring in my book. Still, I have many of the primes, but I almost always take out the vintage stuff when shooting for myself (not a pro). Also, mark my words, L mount will win in the end with lens selection. What lenses are you after?

I think they're acting either conservatively with a wait-and-see approach. IMO, they're waiting to see how the S1 series sells. Based on that and the market/competition, they'll act or not. I've been having a hard time getting excited about these newer bodies. Really, it's more about 4k120fps (if anything). I just cannot justify that kind of expense as a hobbyist. RAW isn't for me. I'm much more excited about lenses now, but even with them, they're becoming too similar across brands. I don't know why, but they're also becoming boring. The Chinese lenses seem to be where the more unique looks are coming from. I have a really hard time thinking that the ZR will be viable on the beach in summer with MF lenses. After the GX800 and S9, even though they can be bright, the EVF is non-negotiable now. Maybe I'm getting old.

What happens if you know the boat has a hole in it and you know it's going to sink if it's out there? This might be the more realistic situation for Panasonic. They have the camera, but does it make sense at the price they can make it for (and still make money)? Or, perhaps even more likely, they can make a few of these awesome cameras they've designed, but there are some sort of tooling or production issues that prevent making a lot of them at the right price.

I remember @Mattias Burling posting this. I always wondered if he tried to repair or even open that RX100. Starts at 1m39s.

The GX7 had it too. I had one and loved it. The GX7 Is also had the flip-up screen rather than the flip-out screen of the GX8.

Agreed. I have a hard time thinking that in the modes of the S5ii, somehow we're getting systematic overheating on the S1rii. Granted the processor and sensor are different, but Lumix, who is known for testing their cameras well, would have not released it had the thermals been off the wall.

Quite possible, but if Panasonic wants to continue with Lumix and it makes money and takes money from Sony, I don't see really any changes. I understand this one. Have you had any problems with the S1rii locking up or overheating? I heard someone say that the other day. Maybe they fixed it. I'm not a pro and I'm still fully enjoying the S5ii. These days, I'm more interested in lenses, especially vintage and MF ones. I should be getting the Laowa 28mm f/1.2 in a few days. There's something about the wide and shallow look that attracts me. That lens seems to be the widest, brightest. I was really hesitating between it and the Konica 28mm f/1.8 UC, which is still one of the most unique 28mm on the market. Maybe, I'll pick up both.

I understand. On the other hand, they could just call it Panasonic Pro Services and it would be completely seamless. I can’t help but feel there’s something going on behind the scenes, though. You’re right — moving from Lumix Pro Services to My Panasonic just doesn’t make sense from a user’s perspective, at least in my opinion. I smell a rat — the whole thing feels a bit fishy.

I'm really not sure what to make of it. Apparently, the North American service is still up. In Europe, they're transitioning to "My Panasonic". Maybe, and this would be a good thing, they're getting rid of the Lumix name, suggesting more of a commitment from them. If not, they're either restructuring/streamlining (good?) or winding down operations on a service that wasn't profitable in the first place (maybe for all the manufacturers). From the perspective of pros, if they don't have a priority turn-around on a device, it could be a problem, but maybe it's just not a thing anymore. Maybe just have backups and go with the slower service?

I will say, all of this is confusing — Sean (of Lumix Live) spent about five minutes talking about Lumix Pro Services just today. Either he’s not aware of what’s going on, or I’ve completely misunderstood. But if he isn’t aware, it really doesn’t look good… and here he is still promoting it while their doors are apparently closing in 25 days. That's communication for you!

Fair point.