Panasonic Interview

[j_one]

55 minutes ago, stephen said:

Same for me. Being exclusively Panasonic (S1, S5 IIX) for cameras and heavily invested in L Mount for lenses (mostly Sigma), decided that unfortunately it is time to switch. I hate doing this but Panasonic's future and L mount's future in general looks shaky for me. IMHO Andrew's thoughts and analyze are correct and my gut feeling too. I am OK currently with S5 IIX, cameras comes and goes but I am afraid L mount lenses value will go down too as time passes. Better to act now and save some money while I can.

It will be a combination of Nikon Z and Sony FE for cameras with FE lenses exclusively. Maybe one Nikon zoom. We'll see
    Option 1. - Nikon Z8  mostly for video and some photo + Sony A7R III or Sony A7 IV mostly for photo and some video
    Option 2. - Nikon Z6 III mostly for video and some photo + Sony A7R V or Sony A7 IV mostly for photo and some video

The Z body + E lens setup was what I was pondering too. I’ve been thinking about systems that can allow me to remain nimble for various types of film and videography work while still providing images I can be excited to produce and features that inspire me to create/work efficiently. The industry is Sony for rentals. Investing in e mount is “safe”. I prefer Nikon files for stills. So a Z body for hybrid work has been on my mind. I just am wondering all the quirks and gotchas that come with working with Nlog/Nraw, because Vlog really is amazing on the S bodies even in h265. I’d rather not downgrade there. 

So far I consider two possible paths forward this summer:

1) Stills Hybrid: Z8

A-Cam: Red Komodo X in Z mount (or FX6 for jobs)

Concerns: hidden Nikon quirks and less DR, H.265 implementation, more expensive setup overall

 

2) Stills Hybrid: S1rii/S5ii

A-Cam: Pyxis L-mount

Concerns: No Pyxis autofocus (not necessary but a bummer in comparison), S1rii currently only internal ProRes raw so no Davinci support, LUMIX lenses bore me.

The Z9/Z8 NRaw render an image that reminds me of RED funny enough so it’s interesting how things played out for them.

I can also say similar about the S5ii BRAW and the Pyxis.

 

If I had plentiful cash and weren’t so stubborn / such a contrarian:

3) R5ii Clog2 + C80 or whatever and call it a day. 

4) FX3/6 + A7r4/5 and be done with it

Both have the best third party and community support. But canon is pretty & safe but BORING and expensive and I really just don’t like Sony alpha bodies. I’m sorry.
 

1 hour ago, newfoundmass said:

It is interesting how worried people are about Lumix when the S1R II has had the opposite effect on me. I think it's the best sign we've gotten in years what Lumix's direction. Certainly though, they need to address those who are nervous about their future and should, as I continue to say, be more transparent and keep folks updated. I know that's not something big corporations tend to do, but they aren't in a great position and need to change the way they do things to reassure their users while also trying to attract new ones. 

Yes, the announcement did give me pause. As a hybrid it does what I need it to do, and so does the S5ii. I just prefer Nikon stills, colors, and lenses, so I’m having grass is greener syndrome while also considering smarter investments.

[Thpriest]

Personally I’m all for my camera having a warship mode in these troubled times. It’s crazy, everyone is complaining about Panasonic’s lack of innovation yet they were the first to think about adding a warship mode (i hope it’s on the video/photo dial and keeps it’s settings when switching modes), and it seems they are thinking about ditching it because of some random Youtuber focus group or something.

P.S. I hope the warship mode doesn’t mean they are going to go back to the heavier models.

[stephen]

2 hours ago, ND64 said:

I guess the reason they're suddenly support the L mount is that they know DJI or another chinese company will release a L mount camera.

This is logical, you are most likely right. There were  rumors  about  possible DJI L Mount camera coming. Not sure I am willing to wait and see what this camera will bring. The risk of  being disappointed again still exists.

56 minutes ago, j_one said:

I just am wondering all the quirks and gotchas that come with working with Nlog/Nraw, because Vlog really is amazing on the S bodies even in h265. I’d rather not downgrade there. 

In some of the videos about Nikon Z6 III that I've watched was mentioned that you can choose Panasonic V-Log gamma for Nikon NRAM video footage in Davinci Resolve and color grade accordingly.  In general I think it would be a matter of time to find a way to color grade Nikon NRAW quickly and effectively and get the picture  I want.  Good thing about Nikon NRaw is it could be more compressed than ProRes RAW as Andrew mentioned and it could be imported directly in Davinci Resolve. There is no need for transcoding. 

Panasonic S5 II X is great, have no complains. At the end I may keep this camera and use it with manual focus and canon EF lenses. Problem is how long L mount will live. This is what worries me. At this point I am still not convinced L Mount will have a long life  . Of course I may be wrong. Current Panasonic  announcement was not convincing and it looks future Lumix S1H will not come next month. Maybe it's time to move for me, we'll see.

 

 

[Andrew Reid]

1 hour ago, Thpriest said:

Personally I’m all for my camera having a warship mode in these troubled times. It’s crazy, everyone is complaining about Panasonic’s lack of innovation yet they were the first to think about adding a warship mode (i hope it’s on the video/photo dial and keeps it’s settings when switching modes), and it seems they are thinking about ditching it because of some random Youtuber focus group or something.

P.S. I hope the warship mode doesn’t mean they are going to go back to the heavier models.

It's the only way to stand up against a fascist dictatorship, you can't do it like the democrats with their little slogans and signs, and Micro Four Thirds cameras... You have to have a warship, and a big bazooka on the front.

[ND64]

1 hour ago, stephen said:

This is logical, you are most likely right. There were  rumors  about  possible DJI L Mount camera coming. Not sure I am willing to wait and see what this camera will bring. The risk of  being disappointed again still exists.

In China launch event there was this slide that says 5 new companies joining the L mount

DJI, Blackmagicdesign, Samyang, Astro, disclosed before. The 5th can be Viltrox. 

[Andrew Reid]

Hopefully SLR Magic.

[MrSMW]

I would be very pleased if it was Tamron for their mid range compact & lightweight fast zooms, but I suspect Sigma would veto that.

 

[Andrew Reid]

I don't think Leica deep down like the alliance.

It's a bit of a recipe for some brutal competition within their own ecosystem isn't it?

Whereas Canon can pick and choose by themselves who makes lenses for R mount, it seems Leica, Sigma and Panasonic have a democracy and vote on it.

It must be tricky for Leica to sell their own overpriced L-mount lenses to their own customers (SL2, SL3) when most of these users knows quality of Sigma's stuff is equal or even better.

[MrSMW]

9 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

I don't think Leica deep down like the alliance.

It's like large country house owners in the UK who have to open up their houses to the paying public so they can keep up at least some semblance of their 19th century lifestyle.

And I am all for that as it would be a poorer world if we did not have access to such things.

Or like a medieval marriage of convenience in order to ally 2 countries so one did not go to war with the other.

Leica I suspect simply do not have the capability to stand alone as few companies can these days.

You need to be a Sony to do that.

[Ninpo33]

On 3/5/2025 at 1:11 AM, j_one said:

S1rii currently only internal ProRes raw so no Davinci support, LUMIX lenses bore me.

If I’m not mistaken there is internal ProRes and ProRes HQ internal as well as ProRes Raw. 

[Andrew Reid]

2 hours ago, Ninpo33 said:

If I’m not mistaken there is internal ProRes and ProRes HQ internal as well as ProRes Raw. 

All massive file sizes though.

No ProRes LT as on Fuji X-H2 and others.

And no 700Mbit/s compressed RAW video codec as on Canon EOS R3 and Nikon Z8.

Room for improvement here in my opinion!