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Gotta squeeze the last juice out of the fruit. There are a lot of FX3 users itching to buy a new camera, and either the FX3II isn't coming soon or they plan to raise the price significantly.

Pyxis also does 72p open gate for not a lot more - though it can only do open gate 72p at 8K, 12k is limited to a mere 40. And the UC12K does 12k open gate at 80fps and 8k at 144fps. Komodo-X also does open gate at 80fps, though open gate on K-X is 17:9. All of those cameras support those framerates in raw. I think the S1 II can only do it in 10-bit or less formats, right? Not a deal-breaker, but another limitation. I don't know why anybody acts like shooting high FPS open gate is a hugely exciting feature, though. Is shooting slow motion 3:2 really a huge use case? For the sort of stuff that I shoot, we're usually delivering in scope and overcranking done rarely at best.

... and Black Magic seem to be able to source sensors from Fairchild. And Red from Towerjazz (or at least they did once?). Even if those are exclusive contracts, there are plenty of others able to make image sensors. https://us.metoree.com/categories/image-sensor/ At least in the case of BMD and Red, that also means that they have sensors that are a lot more interesting than others - with Red having a global shutter with similar DR performance (or superior in the case of V-Raptor) to non-global shutters used in most mirrorless cameras. And in the case of BMD, the RGBW sensor in the UC12K and Pyxis is fantastic and a great differentiator vs Sony's offerings. The catch is that there's a big upfront cost in development of those or other sensors and Panasonic are unlikely to invest that - instead focusing on extracting money from customers who are locked in to their mount and from technology licensing deals with Leica.

Except they made a sensor https://petapixel.com/2024/03/11/panasonics-organic-sensor-may-be-complete-but-likely-wont-be-used/

I think the problem with Panasonic is that they do not have much in the way of leverage for semiconductor/image sensors. Sony dominates image sensor market, Canon produces their own sensors/lithography equipment, Nikon is second to only ASML for lithography, Fuji has patents dating back to film. Meanwhile Panasonic is better known for making TVs or batteries.

Love a hot take like this. I kinda agree it's not going to get people to switch for the price. but it does offer a lot of features. 50/60p open gate is pretty cool.

$3500, wow. It's almost as if the Trump Tarrifs have given everyone the excuse to globally raise prices in unison like a big cartel / monopoly. Not good.

I've heard a few times that the sensor in the A7 IV is pretty fantastic, though I haven't used it myself. It makes perfect sense to put it in a cine-style body! Less sense to give it a mechanical shutter. Even less sense to do it... now? The A7 IV came out in 2021. Why wait 4 years to release the cine equivalent? And while I know that AI AF on the specsheet is AI Autofocus which has nothing to do with AI and everything to do with actually-useful ML, describing anything as "AI AF" automatically makes me not want it. 😉

I have no idea why Panny chose to go the expensive route for their cameras. Up until the GH5 their products offered the biggest bang for the buck (GH5s was catastrophic bc it started this whole upward pricing trend). Now? Not so much. GH6-7 were considerable costs upfront for anyone, let alone indie filmmakers. Their FF lineup has been all over the place regarding prices. Why would anyone buy this new camera when the S5II and its different variations was released just some months ago? It makes NO sense whatsoever and makes us long for the GH-1-2-3-4 pricing and innovativeness. Every single one of the original GH cameras had some sort of innovation that differentiated it from the rest of the Canon-Nikon-Sony parade. All of that was lost with the move to FF. A true fall from grace.

So what will the price of FX3II? $5000?

Of course, Lumexa😎 S16 gate on the S1II would be around 2100 x 1250px, considering a 2.88 crop factor and a 1.66 aspect ratio. That's not too bad, better than the og pocket. Mft sized gate would sport around 3000px in width.

Step right up, ladies and gentlemen! One more round, one more ride!

So what is this supposed to be, - like a hybrid of the FX3 and the A7iv because it’s not cinema camera as such because it has a mech shutter? Interesting because I have always likes and preferred this body style over the more traditional DSLR type.

I doubt anyone will find the Sony price excessive. Somehow Sony seems to have appled this delusional pricing to their smartphones too, and that's one of the reasons that they're nowhere among the top 5 or perhaps even the top 10 smartphones in many markets.

I went with the GH6 again for for a few reasons... 1. Official Arri LogC profile - it's even embedded in the metadata, so FCPX reads it as Arri footage. For someone who will probably never shoot with an Alexa, I must admit it's a stupidly cool thing... 2. ProRes 3. IBIS 4. Flip up screen Honorable Mention - I didn't realize how good the preamps in it were going to be. With good mic placement, some of the audio is perfectly usable.

Just when u thought S1II price is a bit excessive, Sony is upping the game with the same 33MP sensor but add $1000 extra for a new body.

They look at who the purchaser is and if it’s @Andrew Reid they deliberately make it disappear. Just to annoy the fuck out of him. Because they can.

They give them to DHL and they go missing.

Yeah the spec is the least of the problems, and props to the crafty engineers in Japan for the wide ranging feature set. The problem is it's equivalent in spec to the Nikon Z6 III, but that came out 1 year ago and costs £1999 new now, in the UK. That extra £1000 for the Panasonic, the average bloke is going to question what for. Sony a7s III also very close in spec, but that came out nearly 5 years ago (and itself was a bit late, a big gap from the a7s II)... At least the S1 II is 6K, and 24 megapixel... as 12mp seems very long in the tooth now. The EOS R5 is also around £1999 now... at least used in good nick... That we know had a trouble start to life. But the spec still holds up today and for £1000 less than the S1 II you're getting 8K RAW, 45 megapixel, Canon colour and so on... 2022 was the time to launch this... Getting it out before the same sensor comes along in a cheaper Nikon, would have been a half decent plan. I think the S1 II is aimed at existing Panasonic pro customers. It's almost if they have given up trying to appeal to the rest who are locked into a non-L lens mount. Also interesting is that the S1 II didn't form the basis for the SL3-S, and Panasonic didn't give Leica the fundamentals and sensor from the S1R II. A big change in strategy, that. Lightly used Z8 is now £500 less than the S1 II new, and you can slap E-mount lenses on it. The other problem I have with it, is that I really wish they'd add a bit of Fuji-style flare to proceedings, I am so bored of all cameras looking and feeling the same. And in terms of ergonomics the S5 II body was always going to be a cheaper feeling a7 IV. The buttons are not as well laid out, the jog wheel is spongy and the finish of the magnesium alloy chassis makes it look and feel shiny and cheaper than it actually is. Where's my Fuji looks like this... Yeah this is what I fear too... Which is why I'm so harsh on them. They need to be doing a lot better than they are, strategically, creatively and everything... And this of course, is a different angle to take on the S1 II than most people who buy it will take... They just want to shoot with it and explore the new features, and fair play to 'em. Honestly the GX80 and GX9 are mega popular on eBay with the instagram crowd, they definitely all these years later are proving to be what people want in terms of a small body design. The LX100 also, has seen hefty used price inflation.

I also had the GH6 for about a year, but I'm really considering getting one again. I'll probably do like @kye and use that 14-140 most of the time. I'm still debating in my head though. The problem is simple- there are just so many old smaller "good enough" cameras, but nothing small and modern that can do 4k120 in the system. The G9ii is the smallest. On another note, I'm not exactly how MPB decides to offload cameras sometimes. One day, there're 20 GH6 bodies and the next day none.

I've read that they are good. I had no problem with them the first time I owned one, I had a problem with the chroma noise that the DR Boost produced in the shadows. I bought it this time because it was so cheap and I wanted to be able use Arri LogC. It really is a phenomenal camera though. Now I just need to figure out my lens situation with it. I've been shooting full frame for so long, and I have a small(ish) collection of vintage lenses that the price of any good m4/3 lens annoys the hell out of me. I've been using a 7artisans 24mm that is pretty good for what I paid for it. But I need something else.

I thought the GH6 colors looked so good and a big step up from the previous generation. I've been eye-balling one (965 euros, brand new with the 25mm f/1.7). That's a crazy deal.

I love the colors on my cheap GH6... oh wait... I'm using the Arri LogC profile...

Honestly the color science from Lumix recently is one of the more underrated things they have going on. It might actually be my favorite currently, but people don't really talk about it much.

Um... you do realize what the nickname for this might be.