Al Dolega

Has waveform too! Looks like Nikon isn't reserving the video goodies for the FF/higher-end bodies.

OTA is actually generally better quality than streaming, at when comparing HD to HD.

Mmmmmno it didn't. I'm 44 and only have vague memories of smog in Detroit from my childhood in the 80's. And that is not a few years ago. Sure, to a white, male, boomer, in America.

Agreed that it seems this will be the last round of IMX410-sensored cameras, in a year or two the rolling shutter and framerate performance will just be so far behind the competition that it seems it wouldn't be worth it. Maybe on some super-budget model. BMCC6K and Pyxis have an OLPF don't they? That was the only tempting aspect of those cams for me. When the S5ii/X was teased I hoped that they would have figured out a way to get a FF 60fps, >1080p mode out of the IMX410. We know it can't do 4K/UHD at 60p but I think a 2.5K or 2.8K or 3K mode would have made the camera much more competitive, even if it had to use some binning and wasn't absolutely pristine quality. I wouldn't expect any of the other Japanese companies to consider this as it would be a "weird" resolution, but Panasonic already does open gate, 5.8K, 6K, etc so I don't think they'd have any of those reservations. Hopefully they did try and it's just a hardware restriction.

I really hope so. I think it would be a big mistake to not port everything from the S9 to the S5ii/X as soon as possible.

If L-mount's flange distance had been made just .75mm shorter, it would be the same as m4/3. Then they could have avoided the whole which-system-for-a-compact-camera debate, and the S9 could have just come with an adapter for m4/3 lenses. But then we'd have nothing to complain about!

That's true, I have definitely noticed the different processing in my S5iiX. But model/lineup-wise, the S5iiX is the intermediate model you mentioned. I just hope the new camera isn't super expensive, or if it is, they do an S1 successor that meets my wants and is $2500-ish.

That's exactly what the S5iiX is. The formats/capabilities from the S1H, same sensor, plus PDAF. Different body style of course but the large body style of the S1H was not super popular so it made sense to stay with the S5 body. Personally I love the S1/S1R/S1H bodies' handling, I understand they are a bit unwieldy for those with smaller hands though. I think a midpoint between them and the S5 would be perfect for the new high-end cameras, plus if they could make the combo tilt/flip screen mechanism a bit lower-profile like it is on the Sonys.

Yes that could definitely be an issue. Sony isn't the only option, for instance the 47MP S1R sensor was from someone else I believe; but it seems Sony is the most realistic choice. Their pricing is probably better than other suppliers because they do so much volume, but if they aren't allowing the existing 24MP Z6iii sensor or whatever will be in the A7v to be sold to anyone else yet, and the old rusty-trusty IMX410 is the only other thing they have available, Panasonic might be in a very tough spot. I dunno, when you narrow the scope a bit to lenses that mortals need and can afford (no superteles, no exotic zooms, no super-high-end primes, etc), the RF mount has a fairly limited selection too, and that doesn't seem to hurt Canon much. I think it's mostly name recognition (as a camera brand, not for toasters) and familiarity that hurts Panasonic. We spend a lot of money on this stuff and for many people that makes them less logical and more conservative in their evaluation of the non-big-3 brands.

The S5 must have continued to sell well enough past the S5ii/X release that they want to keep it in the lineup, I imagine the new model name has more to do with part availability. If it's only an EVF upgrade, the original EVF panel is probably out of production now, remember the S5 came out 4 years ago, who knows how old that EVF already was at that point. You can't just make the new EVF a running change to the S5 model, you'd have people bothering dealers to check serial numbers to figure out which stock has the new EVF, and there are certainly code differences for running the new panel so you need a separate firmware. So you're stuck with making the update technically a different model number and SKU just to keep things straight. Sony did the same thing with the A7RIIIa, it was an older model at the time and just had an updated LCD screen, I don't recall anyone getting as upset over that as they seem over the S5D. Which is of course just due to frustration with the wait for the S1Hii. Firmware update is probably just the app/LUT stuff from the S9 for the S5ii/X. Hopefully more, maybe more AF tweaks. The pancake zoom should have been out at the same time as the S9, not sure how Panny got that whole release so wrong.

The rumor lists all of those modes as FF, though, not a crop.

I wonder what "dot-to-dot" in that Weibu rumor means. Pixel binned? Lineskipped? It can't be pixel-to-pixel, the math is way off for a 61mp sensor.

Looking forward to USB-C becoming the standard for connecting monitors/EVFs etc.

Res can stay right at 24MP IMO, it is the perfect goldilocks resolution. The Z6III has sub-10ms rolling shutter, if Panasonic can do similar without sacrificing DR or getting the weird flashing shadow effect I think it would be a big seller.

They are definitely the juggernaut in the room, at least the L-mount room. When DJI does something it seems to usually be leagues past competitors, in the tech itself and the execution and usability; or at least they get to that point very quickly, within a product generation or two. Maybe that hamstrings them though? Many of their products have no real competitors, perhaps they would shy away from making a "normal" camera and having to compete directly. I had forgotten about their buying Hasselblad, not sure how much that would really add to an L-mount product but it's good marketing at least. Having Hasselblad and Leica in L-mount would certainly up the prestige factor. Although I wonder if Leica would object to Hasselblad joining? As they are more of a rival to Leica in the rich-boy/dentist cam space.

Built-in wireless would be really slick, especially if they open-sourced or affordably-licensed the protocol so the aftermarket could make alternative transmitters that pair right up. I wonder if the change in back focus from having a single eND pane that flips out of the way (so no clear filter at all) would really be that severe? Might make cramming it into a photo-ish body more feasible if not. I don't remember if the drawings for their patent showed one pane or two. Seems like they'd have to lose the mechanical shutter either way. I would be bummed if photo capabilities get stuck with bad rolling shutter artifacting.

You might need to insulate/cover the lens/adapter so nothing metal touches the contact pins in the camera body.

I was surprised by the pricing, I was thinking more like $4.5-5K. $3300 is very competitive, they are obviously looking to take out the Canon XF605, which is fine by me if that makes the XF605 used prices go down. These cams aren't huge but I would also like to see a compact version, the size of my XF405 is perfect for me, not sure that'll happen though. This market is probably too small now to support two or three or four models from each brand like in the past, so now we get one mid-sized model from each. Which also means no more overpriced flagships like the $7000 XF705, which is good.

I was resigned to external ND's for a long time as I just didn't have any choice at my budget, so I got used to it. Then I bought a camcorder as a B cam and now it reminds how convenient internal ND's are every time I shoot 😄

HVX/HPX and VX1000/2000 are all still very popular in the action-sport community, specifically in skateboarding, for the power zooming and lack of rolling shutter issues. The VX1000 specifically is like a fetish object to skateboard filmers. I very much doubt these cameras would fetch the prices they do without that community seeking them out.

One little hack is to look for the PD150, and PD100, these are the "pro" versions of the VX2000 and TRV900, respectively (with XLR boxes and could do DVCAM). They were rarer and of course more expensive back then, but can often be found cheaper nowadays because people just aren't aware they existed and they don't show up in searches for the VX and TRV.

I vaguely remember something being said/speculated around the GH6 launch that it was from TowerJazz, or whatever they're called now? We need @androidladin here, he knows all the juicy sensor gossip.

Some speculation on the A7V and the sensor it might use: https://www.sonyalpharumors.com/next-set-of-wild-sony-a7v-specs-44mp-4k120p-price-close-to-3000-euro/ Maybe this is what the S1HII uses? If so that would push it back to summer 2025, assuming the rumor is accurate that the A7V would release in early 2025, and that Sony would not allow Panasonic to release a camera with it before them. So basically an entire year more before the S1HII. Really hope that isn't the case, I think that might be too long.

I think 8K depends on whether they do an S1R/S1H type split, or just go for a single unified high-end model that is both high-res enough for the photogs (40+MP), which would kinda inevitably mean 8K for video; but also reads out and processes fast enough to keep the video people placated, if not happy. I think this route would mean keeping the mechanical shutter which might preclude internal ND. I don't really see this route working out because the stills performance probably still wouldn't be competitive enough to attract Can/Sony/Nik shooters, and video improvements would really be iterative/incremental. If they kept them split I would also much prefer the video model's res to stay around 24MP/6K... just crank up the other specs. Like what we've seen with the Z6III, just hopefully without its DR and noise issues. Drop the mechanical shutter and put in the internal ND everyone has been waiting for. With all the other current features brought over (open gate, 32bit float, combo screen, IBIS improvements, AF, etc), usability and practicality go through the roof and nobody in this market gives a damn that it doesn't do 8K, and it would probably be the next 5DII, GH2, GH5 type landmark camera, at least if the price stays under $4K. Really it all comes down to what sensors are available. If Sony can't/won't give them a decent starting point then the S line might be done for.

Actually that'd be 4.75-ish and almost 6 years! The wait for the next camera does seem to be getting a bit long. They really needed to do a 1-2 punch with the S5II/IIX followed fairly quickly with another model. I'm not sure it would have even needed to be the S1H successor next, it could have been the S1 or S1R replacement. Just something to keep momentum going, well something relatively substantial at least, as the S9 certainly wasn't it, that's for sure. Now it seems like people may not even care that much if that next camera comes late this year, or next year.