John Matthews

Going either the prime route or the variable focal length route, everything is covered out to 200mm. The lenses are modern, sharp, with appropriately consistent coatings. All the Lumix lenses are weather resistant, fairly light with bright options available. They also have breathing correction, unlike MANY more popular brands. Don't like the Lumix lenses, get the Sigma ones and they're native mount too being part of the L mount alliance. You want anamorphic? There's that too. By the way, Lumix can also stabalize those very lenses too along with appropriate desqueezing. If you think the problem is L-mount, it's not- it's you.

I think most would agree that Panasonic's underperforming given their technology. Personally, I think they're in year 2 or 3 of a five year plan to find a direction for M43. M43 needs a smaller, great-performing body. This could be a money-maker opportunity for them. L-mount is their future, like it or not. They might not be that far off from the holy grail of the internal electronic ND filter. We'll see. If they can, it's not going to be with a Sony sensor. They'll need to design it themselves. I'm fully behind the idea that those Chinese Amazon specials are really just scammers/slave drivers and e-waste abusers. Amazon and/or government should crack down on them. It's not right or fair. They're taking massive amounts of money away from the camera industry and the used market. I do think there should be some cheaper options for consumers, but this is why we have used cameras. There are so many sub $100 cameras (with lenses too) out there with less than 10000 clicks on them. All of those blow away this unethical e-waste for photography; for video, use your phone.

Nope. Those questions were all deflected like water on wax. On other news. You now can pay for framing guide from Canon to the tune of $120. Oh yeah, you have to send your camera in too (and pay for shipping). Tell me, are there any companies that offer that offer framing guides when you buy the camera?

No kidding!

I pulled one up. Not even one photo in the marketing of these cameras was actually taken with the one they're trying to sell. I especially love the way they get away with not mentioning autofocus; meaning, there isn't any. 48MP? So, I guess it's now a feature to fill landfills and hard drives without any regard for the actual resolution, never mind the slave labor used to produce them. It's all good, right? Am I wrong in saying that this stuff seemed illegal before? Maybe they just push it to the limit. Does it matter though?

Hey, I think all the camera makers would fight to keep them or get them back. They've kept the whole industry afloat helping them afford the high-end stuff. Honestly when you see the crap Chinese cameras on Amazon, all the Japanese cameras are better, regardless make or year- all of them. I actually feel really bad for the people that get those "48MP" cameras with only a cellphone sensor and no optical zoom. My Dad got one before he died and when he purchased it, he seemed quite happy. He probably felt different or didn't know better soon after. I don't know why Amazon allows that stuff that is clearly filled with false advertising.

After watching the live stream, Sean (of Lumix) said the two new cameras released this week were good sellers in the past and they expect this minor update will keep them as decent sellers into the future. Basically, they're still marked as "available". I'm going to speculate they wanted to change one or two things on them (to make them more competitive of sorts) and they simply had to give them a new product name. Legal made them put the USB-C (with USB 2 speeds). No, they aren't for us- they're for basic consumers.

Exactly. You got a great deal, for sure. I'm sure you'll enjoy the content made with it. It has so many features and such a nice image. I've been using one for live streaming with a Chinon 50mm f/1.9- works great!

All of that would sound great! Not a camera for me, but sounds awesome! Of those feature, the one that would interest me the most would be the rear screen and maybe the 6k features, for avoiding moiré.

Let's hope they can pull that off. I'd probably get it if it has modern features. If there's only a USB-C jack, forget it. That's exaggerated. Most of the sales were on huge discounts as new. You'd get easily for 1200 euros 2 years ago. Now it's just shy of 1000 euros. Granted, it took a massive hit when it came out because nobody was going to pay for that camera if it didn't have PDAF. If it does hit 700 euros, I'll pick it up again I think. I really liked using it when I had it. It feels better in my hand than most cameras I've owned. OK. What if you don't have the resources? Clearly, one has priority. Look how long it took, if ever Sony to make updates to some updates. People were livid. Didn't happen with Panasonic. Look at Fuji, they screwed up their AF in trying to fix it. Not Panasonic. More cameras, more problems. I meant flagship hybrid. Are we taking bets? No Arri Log in FF Panasonic cameras like the deal in the GH6 and GH7. I'll take that bet. I do think it would be a smart move for short-term cash for Arri, but the exclusiveness behind "Arri colors" would be diminished. I hope I'm wrong because I like those Arri LUTs and for them to be tuned for Panasonic cameras, it would increase Panasonic's credentials I imagine.

Question: Would you rather have significant, software-based firmware updates to add to existing hardware(option 1) or incremental updates to hardware with fewer software features (option 2)? Of course you want both, but if you were given the choice only. Option 2 will definitely cost more as well. You mention 6 years as being too long. What about 4 years? What is too often?

I'm in the same boat. Not changing. I don't see any reason to. As I said earlier, I believe the release of the G97 basically puts a nail in the coffin of a mid-ranged M43 camera for at least 2 years. They've just spent their time coming out with a G97; they aren't going to get people to buy that only to come out immediately after with an upgrade. I don't think it had in that they've been releasing a GH line camera every 1 to 2 years since 2009, if you count the GH5s as a "real" GH camera. After reading all of what people are complaining about, I guess Panasonic should just focus on hardware, not firmware. Release it and forget it, right (à la Sony)? Rather, Panasonic has made meaningful efforts in firmware fixes. The S5ii when it was released is not the same camera as the current one. Not many of us are talking about that. Really, people have their ass chapped because there's no high-end production camera (something I don't care about). Still, I'd love to know exactly how you think the features will be that much better than the current models for pros. Better build? 12k, 8k? 4k 120fps? 32bit float? Internal RAW? Arri log? Which will most disappoint if it's not there? I get the feeling people just want GH7-level features in a FF body? I think we can agree that Arri-anything won't be in it.

The newly announced G97 could be understood as there will not be another sub $1000 camera for another 2 years. At least, I understand it as that. It sounds just like the G100D, a camera that won't be replaced anytime soon IMO, probably another year, if ever.

Yes. That's right. Announced, not released.

They weren't released at the same time. The S5iiX followed months after.

I heard that was for February.

That would probably be close; however, Panasonic doesn't really have a phone. I got the feeling that Samsung had engineers from the camera department move to the phone department because they figured out that the camera part of the phone is the most important. They dumped the declining, hard-fought camera market for the up-and-rising phone market. Clearly, this paid off for them. Panasonic doesn't have this option. Panasonic is doing what the car industry has been doing for decades- make a chassis and standardise as much as possible to streamline the process and leverage quality, suppliers, and tooling. It must be working because Nikon and others are now doing the same. I feel like Panasonic is trending to be a more amateur brand and other brands like Canon, Nikon, and now Sony are fighting for the professional market. Of course, many pros use Panasonic stuff too. The problem is that if they are viewed "for amateur," they won't get top-dollar prices. Does anyone know if Panasonic is specifically losing money in their camera division? I don't think we do. Consumer electronics is still a big part of their business, but who knows how the world might change over the next 5 years to get out. If they do, I don't really care. Their cameras will still continue to be a reliable way to get beautiful imagery for many years to come. I picked up a Konica F-T3(n) the other day- it still works like a charm after 50 years and I suspect will continue to do so for another 50 years, probably outliving me. It's a very recent thing to have camera release upon camera release. Frankly, it's unnecessary. The only thing I'm seeing is nth degree-type things. To circle back to the car industry, fins and not really meaningful improvements. It's usually AI crap where give up total control on where it focusses (and slow to set up) or 120fps 4k (so now your 1/2 second clip looks so much better versus the 1/2s clip in 1080p?). The audience will no longer enjoy your content if it's not 4k at 120fps? However, the audience will care if your AI messes up focus. I get the feeling it will soon be a "feature" to have a dumber camera... and we come full circle. The 80's brought us AF, but crap, plastic lenses and bodies (on the whole). The 90's just continued the trend (also, they were butt-ugly). The 2000's started to give us digital with the same crappy lenses, with everyone trying to squeak out as much detail as possible. Then, we hit 6MP, the magic number that even Kodak has said to be the turning-point where digital finally had the same detail as film. Then video came to the masses and since then we've been striving for more megapixels and sharper lenses even though no one prints anymore and your grandmother's wrinkles look like crap because there's too much detail. Now, we want our digital to look like film with less resolution. Sorry for the rant- must be a full moon.

I’m trying to find a historical element to compare Panasonic to. I’m struggling because regardless of their non-success in the camera market, we’re still talking about an absolutely massive company bigger than many of the other players that is roughly keeping up with technology. I don’t think there are any. With the right investments and people, they’ll find a way.

It's all a bit unfair. Smartphones get to hide behind the idea of it being "just a phone" and "look at its great video and photos" whereas a camera must be excellent at video and photo. The bar is always so low for a phone, but if we forget the "phone" idea and just say it's a camera; then it needs to compete with similar priced cameras. Unfortunately, there's nothing on the market in the sub 300g weight and size range, which is what I think many people want to start with. It makes more sense to have a $250 phone that does most things and a decent $800 light and nimble camera rather than the $1050 phone that only marginally takes better photos than the cheap phone but comes nowhere close to the $800 camera... if that makes sense.

Many got that F8 joke of a lens for free. Guess what? MBP won't even take it today because that's how undesirable it is. It's more like a wannabe lens cap. The only lens that does the S9 justice (like I want) is the 45mm Sigma. Why? It's a L-mount, full-frame, relatively fast lens (and rather small). The fact is this: Sony, Canon, and Nikon have all come out with pancakes that are relatively fast (F2.8). Panasonic needs a 28mm f2.8 or a 40mm f/2.8 before I'd consider it at its current price. Remember, this is company that gave us the 14mm f/2.5 and 20mm f/1.7; both were decent lenses. These pancakes would actually make the S9 is a serious alternative and would convince others to buy it, even with its shortcomings. If it is a video camera, why is there a PASM dial? If it is a video camera, why all the recording limitations? Many people see it as a photo camera without essential features of a photo camera and a video camera without the essential features of a video camera. Don't get me wrong, I actually will buy it at the right price. If Panasonic or sigma don't come out with a pancake, I might pair it with the Konica 40mm f/1.8 as I think it'll do fine on it.

Putting a cheap, well-designed Sony sensor in a small body with f/2 pancake lenses would be amazing. I would forgive the lack of mechanical shutter and hotshoe in that case. Still, I’d like version 2 of this camera to have a flip-up, brighter screen and at least 1/500 capable shutter.

Yeah, it would need to have a global shutter for real flash photography. However, you could take video lights or reflectors with reasonable results. The fact is there are just so many concessions. Still, as @Andrew Reid said, it's probably a very fun camera. The other problem is that there are so many M43 cameras with all those features (and even smaller and lighter).

I can believe that. I've always loved using small cameras. The GM1 was a little too small for me and my hands. The GX800 was just that much bigger and I liked not having an EVF in that I never had to choose. However, I'd prefer a flip-up screen rather than the flip-out style on the S9. I just find them fiddly and cheap-feeling (like one wrong move will break it). Oddly enough, I actually broke my GX800 screen by dropping it. I just can't swallow the price for the S9, but I secretly want one. You're probably going to love it.

My problem with the S9 is the weight. Once you have the grip, you're saving just over 100g over the S5/S5ii. The list of missing features (especially photography related) are numerous. For me, it's a camera to use as-is, once they have a pancake and once the price is more reasonable for what it is. I'd definitely take the S5 over it for the price they sell at, even used.