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S1H level of build quality as a minimum including damped shutter button. Rear screen a la S1H. High res rear screen, unlike the S5ii which is ‘average’. Better AF than the S5ii which is ‘decent’ but no more than that. Full 6k 50/60p. 60mp for stills for both detail and ability to crop. Available March 2025 latest. S2H and S2R or one single camera, I don’t mind but they would have my money instantly. Rather than Nikon or Sony who almost certainly otherwise will. Bonuses, but not deal-breakers for me would be: Internal raw Some kind of ‘colour by Arri’ match up like Nikon/RED. That would really put LUMIX on the filmmakers map at least. Options that aren’t just fucking black! I mean I probably would go with black when it came to it, but a series of classy colours would give the thing more appeal to a wider demographic simply by having the option. But keep the colours the same as other models such as the S9 etc so folks can match their kit.

While waiting for new Lumix stuff I’ve decided to enjoy how cheap 2020 technology is getting… My $535 original S5 arrived from The Yahoo Japan Auction this week and I’m finally getting to put my Minolta AF set of lenses to good use with a new adapter. These lenses are still under most people’s radar because of the autofocus but they are a steal for the optics. The end days of Minolta and A mount so right before Sony bought them and used a lot of their lens designs on the first Alpha bodies. The set of 20 f/2.8, 28 f/2, 35 f/1.4, 50 f/1.4, 85 f/1.4 and 100 f/2 rival the Canon FD’s for a fraction of the cost. The 35mm actually gets sold up to $1,500 these days because the rehoused FD’s had no 1.4 option. You can find it for under $500 if you are patient however. so $535 for the camera and $250 for a Ninja V and I’ve got 5.89k ProRes raw, 3.5k Anamorphic and the original S5 processor and nice organic sensor unlike the newer S5ii Not bad… Now to find an S1R for under $1k that’s not a scam…

You really want the Sony a7r V rear screen instead, it's much nicer designed 🙂 3.5" would be good wouldn't it? Very brave to break out of that 3.2" maximum! So the old way of doing cameras was when Sony did: a7r for resolution a7 for basic model a7s for video and low light Now the thing is, resolution and speed can be done in one body = flagship a1 Video and low light are handled very well by the basic model = 24 megapixel stuff So they now really only need to do a high res flagship, and a basic model. No need for another s1r, s1... And on Sony side, arguably no need for another a7s camera now a1 and a9 III exist. Make the s5 series the basic model Make the s1h II the flagship high resolution fast 8K video and stills flagship. Sorted with just two cameras! Everyone happy. We can stop moaning. Lumix can profit $$$

https://leicarumors.com/2024/10/03/new-leica-sl3-s-camera-rumored-to-be-announced-in-a-few-months.aspx/amp/ New SL3-S rumored. This better not be a rebadged S5ii. Really strange that we haven’t heard about any of the Lumix equivalents.

Panasonic's biggest mistake was not introducing PDAF with FF from the very beginning in 2019. Then they could have rolled out PDAF to updated m43 bodies. Instead we still had the GH6 introduced in 2022 without PDAF and other missteps, which required the GH7 to fix just 2 years later. The GH6 had one of the shortest shelf life for a GH body. The last 5 years was a great missed opportunity for Panasonic from a marketing perspective.

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!

i still rock with it from time to time, wanted to mention that BMD has slashed the price to 1000, and thats still including the full resolve license.

Agreed. Sold the S1H to find the A7RV. That is what I would also rather see; a 60mp and a 24mp model. Pretty much an instant sale for (to) me.

All of that is pretty much the S1H with the sensor from the SL3. Job done!

The extra features on the S5iiX are awesome. Recording to SSD is a breeze and ProRes without needing an external recorder is really nice. Not everyone needs that so it’s nice that it’s a slight upgrade for a nominal fee. I wouldn’t call it nickel and diming though. If anything it probably just covers the licensing fees LOL.

This. A big part is these businesses are just stuck in their ways. They don't take risks and there is no sense of urgency, even when they're in last place and showing minimal growth. There's no attempt to radically change up how marketing is done and they put no effort into directly reaching out to their community. The biggest change any of these companies have made is to include influencers and "content creators" with the press who get review units and are flown out on exotic trips, but that's not much different than what they've been doing for the last 60 years anyway. They should have representatives in every major Facebook group, every major video/photography forum, etc. Interacting with users every day. If/when a S1H replacement comes out, give a really talented filmmaker a budget for a short narrative film with the only limitation being they have to use the Panny camera and lenses. Then document it and release it as a series. Give a camera to a sports video shooter and document their use of it. A music video shooter. A news reporter. A TikToker. A High School A/V class. Just show the world what your cameras and lenses are capable of! That'd all be a lot more useful than the typical boring short doc or a video of a photoshoot in the deserts of Morocco that they usually put out. These ideas aren't even that radical. Some are ideas they've scratched the surface of but haven't fully explored. There's just so much more they could be doing but they don't.

Full width 4k 120p is a major difference of GH7 to S5 II X. It's a much faster sensor. It also has the dual readout circuit ala ALEXA in the High Dynamic Range mode. And it is an improved, new sensor vs GH6 with new processor. The S5II X has a lot of cropping going on the full sensor width to do anything higher than 30fps. Also I think the EVF is better on the GH7? So still a lot of advantages but people want full frame and can get it cheap, so that's what's hurting the GH7 the most rather than any defects in the spec sheet. The S5II X is an odd one, it's not flagship material, it's an S5 II with a better ProRes license. They chose to split the cameras into two models to avoid having to pay Apple for what basic S5 II owners and photographers weren't using. The GH7 is the flagship in Micro Four Thirds mount. The S1H II would be the flagship if we're talking L-mount but of course it appears to be AWOL. They would have had to decrease the profit margin or up-the-price on the S5 II had they not done this, for the ProRes licensing reasons mentioned earlier. You can hardly accuse Panasonic of being bad value for money sub $2500 my friend.

The GH6 did have a short life. They have not been releasing a GH camera every 1-2 years since 2009. Up to GH4 it was a regular cycle, but then was a larger gap of 3 years to the GH5, and then between GH5S and GH6 of 4 years (5 if you don't count GH5S as a 'normal' release - more it was aimed at bigger productions, not so much the usual consumers, with the removal of IBIS for example being very good when it's rigged up on Top Gear or the Grand Tour episodes and a low light boost much in demand too. GH6 has had the worst depreciation of all the GH cameras, 2022 release a year later in 2023 halved in value already second hand ($2k to $1K) and then boom the GH7, and it's now worth only $750... so early adopters of the GH6 have had it pretty damn rough. I don't follow the logic of that! You need to do both. This is pretty normal, you can say that about any camera today... Again sorry to disagree but this simply isn't the case, there's no high-end camera full stop since the last decade and we're now half way through the next one. This is a long time for enthusiast Lumix photographers to wait for a new $3k flagship like the S1R Mark II isn't it? So it's not just the high-end production people who are waiting, and the S1H II has more broad appeal than just pros. Eh? Why? They clearly have a licensing agreement already, for the GH7 and no logic or evidence to suggest future cameras above the GH7's positioning won't get the same. The question is will the even be the next cameras.

Sometimes I even forget it got released. I guess the GH5 was such a strong release, but when the GH6 got released there were so many other great cameras being released that it got a bit lost. Agreed, they've got their flagship G9mk2 / GH7 and their lower end G97. I doubt they'll squeeze anything in between those or below the G97 (with "a DSLR-ish style body") in the next couple of years. Their next MFT hybrid/stills release will be either an eventual update to their flagships, or maybe finally an update to their "rangefinder style bodies" (GX / GM / GF series).

Exactly. I don't understand the paranoia at Panasonic about future plans. Why hide. What will Canon do? Act like "Oh no" Panasonic is coming out with a new S1 Mark II, we better abandon our plans and react in case Lumix overtakes us, and copy their niche camera which is on 0.01% market share! LOL! Just fucking communicate with your customers and reassure them that it'll be worth waiting for, tease the new direction and roadmap, make people think twice about jumping ship or buying that new Nikon Z6 III... DO Something!

Not really the same latency at all. The Nikon Z9 came out in early 2022 with stacked sensor tech, 8K RAW and high resolution. We are now nearly in 2025 and Panasonic has no answer. Canon released the original EOS R in 2018 and followed up just 2 years later with the EOS R5 in 2020, with what is still even today one of the best next gen sensors in terms of fast readout speed, 8K with no crop, 4K/120p and oversampled 4K from 8K, the specs are on par with the best stacked sensors from Sony and Nikon. In 2021 Sony came out with the a1, again a next gen sensor. The a7s III also has a next gen stacked sensor, and came out even earlier. So no, Nikon did not leave the shelves filled with old sensor tech for 6 years like Panasonic have. Different latency. And remember the S1H was nearly $4k when it came out in 2019... With a sensor from 2017 similar to the basic a7 III, yet worse without PDAF. So you could say that the S1H as a flagship, although I like it very much, is fucking ancient in sensor terms... The bottom line is that no other camera manufacturer has a current flagship model with a 7 year old sensor in it from a mid-range system camera, and contrast defect AF. Fuji X-H2 is a 40MP 8K next gen sensor, and X-H2S is stacked. Canon EOS R5, R5 II, R5 C... all flagships with latest sensor tech and have been on sale for 4 years in case of the original models! Even god damn OM have a stacked sensor! And they are a zombie manufacturer! Nikon has the Z8, Z9 flagship sensor tech. Sony we know. Pentax and Panasonic are the only ones who can't seem to be bothered to utilise the latest Sony sensor technology for profit $$$ Pentax because their customers don't really need it and Rioch themselves would rather do a DSLR like it's the 1990s or something. And Panasonic because they are completely revising or scrapping their S series above the S5 and entry level. Or it's a prelude to a complete stop.

Haven't seen any tests yet nor have I had time to update to this latest FW myself, but early comments from those who have are suggesting that the updates to the R5C's DIS (#7 below) are really good. If true it would be a fantastic addition to an already amazing cam, imo. "1. Enables functions to be used without limitation in conjunction with the new Battery Pack LP-E6P. This makes it possible to shoot 59.94P with RAW LT. 2. Enables the display of the digital tele-converter icon on [Main Recording Displays] of [DISP Level 2]. 3. Adds the ability to apply Full-Screen display to an external display according to OSD Output setting when using [Peripheral Border Display]. 4. Adds function [Tracking by Touch priority] for starting tracking by touching the LCD. 5. Enables the AF Frame and Focus Guide to be moved by dragging. 6. Adds [Protect Images] and [Rating] during FTP Transfer. (Photo Mode) 7. Adds the [Motion Vector For Digital IS] menu option. Default [Disable]* * [Disable]: Prevents a phenomenon that may cause the image to shake along with the subject when recording a subject (such as a person or an animal) with a large amount movement. 8. Changes the menu option name of [PTP Connection/GP-E2] in [USB Mode] in [System Setup] to [Canon App(s)/GP-E2]. For Android devices, please select [Canon App(s)/GP-E2]. 9. Adds support for the RF-Mount Cinema Lens: CN7x17 KAS T/R1 - Support for Magnification chromatic aberration correction. - Support for Peripheral light correction. - Support for Distortion aberration correction. - Displaying T number. - Enables the remote operation from the camera and RC-V100 (Focus/Zoom/Iris). - Enables the remote operation from Browser Remote (Focus/Zoom/Iris). - Enables the zoom operation by joystick on camera body. - Support for Dual Pixel CMOS AF autofocus. - Support for [Dual Pixel Focus Guide]. - Support for [Push Auto Iris] and [Auto Iris]. 10. Fixes minor issues." https://www.usa.canon.com/support/canon-product-advisories/Firmware-Notice-EOS-R5-C-Firmware-Version-1-0-9-1

Haven't seen any tests yet nor have I had time to update to this latest FW myself, but early comments from those who have are suggesting that the updates to the R5C's DIS (#7 below) are really good. If true it would be a fantastic addition to an already amazing cam, imo. "1. Enables functions to be used without limitation in conjunction with the new Battery Pack LP-E6P. This makes it possible to shoot 59.94P with RAW LT. 2. Enables the display of the digital tele-converter icon on [Main Recording Displays] of [DISP Level 2]. 3. Adds the ability to apply Full-Screen display to an external display according to OSD Output setting when using [Peripheral Border Display]. 4. Adds function [Tracking by Touch priority] for starting tracking by touching the LCD. 5. Enables the AF Frame and Focus Guide to be moved by dragging. 6. Adds [Protect Images] and [Rating] during FTP Transfer. (Photo Mode) 7. Adds the [Motion Vector For Digital IS] menu option. Default [Disable]* * [Disable]: Prevents a phenomenon that may cause the image to shake along with the subject when recording a subject (such as a person or an animal) with a large amount movement. 8. Changes the menu option name of [PTP Connection/GP-E2] in [USB Mode] in [System Setup] to [Canon App(s)/GP-E2]. For Android devices, please select [Canon App(s)/GP-E2]. 9. Adds support for the RF-Mount Cinema Lens: CN7x17 KAS T/R1 - Support for Magnification chromatic aberration correction. - Support for Peripheral light correction. - Support for Distortion aberration correction. - Displaying T number. - Enables the remote operation from the camera and RC-V100 (Focus/Zoom/Iris). - Enables the remote operation from Browser Remote (Focus/Zoom/Iris). - Enables the zoom operation by joystick on camera body. - Support for Dual Pixel CMOS AF autofocus. - Support for [Dual Pixel Focus Guide]. - Support for [Push Auto Iris] and [Auto Iris]. 10. Fixes minor issues." https://www.usa.canon.com/support/canon-product-advisories/Firmware-Notice-EOS-R5-C-Firmware-Version-1-0-9-1

Whilst I think many points about Panasonic's marketing and missed opportunities are true I think the bottom line is that they are the best value all rounders combining competitive pricing, excellent ergonomics and features. For years I've been using Lumix cameras for all sorts of work, high end fashion videos, corporate videos, long form recording (hours of conferences and they've never over heated), events (photo and video), weddings (photo and video)...they just work. In the past they had one major compromise, DFD, but even then they had the best EVFs (S1H and S1) and LCDs and other tools that made MF easier than on most cameras. I can have 2 Lumix bodies and lenses for the same price as a Sony and one lens equivalent and then camera is more enjoyable to use (other than AF possibly). That is Lumix's key strength. It's what they should focus and build on.

They want to hit two different price points, while still using essentially the same hardware inside. Let's say there is a "widget" you wish to sell. You could sell this fully featured widget for say $1.2K or for $1K Am sure you're well aware of the laws of supply vs demand? So as prices go up, there is less demand. If you sell a product at say $1K you'll get perhaps let's say 10,000 buyers. But if you increase it to $1.1K it's perhaps 7,500 buyers while at $1.2K it's perhaps 5,000 buyers and so on and on. Thus you might conclude $1K is the optimal price to sell at. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/consumer_surplus.asp Now there is also a concept of consumer surplus, which is the gap between the price a consumer pays for a good vs what they would have paid for it. From the perspective of the company, this is a missed opportunity! Ideally they'll fully capture this consumer surplus for themselves buy charging exactly what the consumer would have paid at the maximum for a product. That's called "First-degree price discrimination" (perfect price discrimination). Which is when you're charging each buyer the maximum they are willing to pay. However everyone has different price preferences, so no matter what price the company chooses, you'll end up having two groups: some who can't afford it, and others who'd have happily paid even more. Thus why there is also: Second-degree price discrimination: Offering bulk discounts or different pricing tiers based on quantity or quality. (there is also third-degree price discrimination, but I think my comment is already getting too long, and won't discuss that. There is even 4th-degree price discrimination, but we don't have universally agreed definitions of that, so it's more an informal term used, for instance for dynamic pricing) You'll see an example of 2nd-degree price discrimination if you ring up your local seller and ask for fifty Sanken COS-11D mics and ask them if they can give you a bulk order discount. While another example is when the manufacturer engages in product differentiation, so they can offer a product at multiple price points. Such as this example of selling a widget at both $1K and $1.2K (of course we see this product differentiation all the time, such as with microphones such as the DPA 2017 vs 4017, it's also why we saw the Lectro LMb and SMQV at two different price points, or the Sound Devices 633 vs the 688) Thus they're hopefully still capturing all the sales for people who'd pay $1K or more, they're also capturing at least a good sized chunk of those who'd pay $1.2K or more. (of course they're missing out on the opportunity to say sell at $1.5K to those who'd pay that. And I'm sure they're missing out on some higher value buyers who then change their mind and settle for the cheaper $1K widget. But presumably, overall it's a winning move to offer it at $1K and $1.2K vs just $1K, otherwise they wouldn't do it) Thus the company could have run the numbers and thus designed they're always going to be offering the product at two different price points. (or more... Sound Devices for instance offers theirs at three different price points: 833, 888, and Scorpio. Even though on the inside they're essentially "the same product", with 3 FPGAs) Another way of looking at this problem: You're going to have the cheaper $1K option and the more expensive $1.2K option, and together you'll be selling 10,000 of them. (because your entry point here is $1K, and from the earlier on supply vs demand curve we know that means you'll be selling 10,000 in this example) You've got various fixed costs, let's say $2M Thus each widget sale has $200 going towards covering that fixed cost. (plus of course various other costs such as the cut the retailer gets, or the manufacturing cost, etc... but we can assume those scale according to the number of units sold) If you were to drop the cheaper $1K option, and only be selling the $1.2K option (which we know will only sell 5,000 units) that means we now need $400 per widget sale to go towards the fixed costs! That means we'll have to increase the widget price to $1.4K to still maintain the profit margin as you had before without the extra $200/unit costs that have to be recovered. (of course increasing to $1.4K means even less sales! So in reality the optimal price to sell just one product line would be somewhere in between $1.2K and $1.4K, and thus you'll be losing out and never ever be able to fully recover the lost profits. But you hopefully have got my point already, and we don't need to go deeper into those hypothetical calculations) So once we've determined that we need to offer two different products, the question becomes how do we make them? It's likely a lot easier to both design and produce two products that have absolutely identical hardware on the inside, and only differentiated by software. (as a person who has worked professionally both in the software and hardware space, that's certainly my rule of thumb preference) Rather than having two different sets of hardware (likely forcing very different software for each as well! Due to the different hardware base)

Since the GH5 it certainly has been a rollercoaster for Panasonic. It feels like when they move forward they always end up taking a few steps back, too. That's what I find most frustrating about them. I've warmed up to the S9. I think the S5II and the S5II X are fantastic. I'd argue they are the best value out there right now, aside from a used S5. I think the GH7 and the G9II are both great entries for M43 users. These are all recent cameras that show that Panasonic is still cable of putting out quality and competitive cameras. But we literally have no clue what the future holds. There are reasons, both good and bad, as to why you might want to keep things tight to the chest, but they need to realize that their position in the market doesn't afford them that luxury. If they want to maintain their loyal users, let alone grow the user base, they need to be more aggressive. I'm not ready to jump ship and I am not freaking out yet about their full frame cameras. I can run these S5 and S5II bodies for years to come, I'm not going to buy a S2H or whatever anyway. But it would be nice to know that Panasonic sees a future for users like me so that I can make informed plans a few years down the road without wondering if Panasonic is committed to their camera business or not. Sony or Canon users don't even have to worry about this stuff; as a 10+ year user of Pansonic dating back to the GH3 it'd be nice to not to have to worry about it either. --- This camera, though, doesn't need to exist. I don't think there was much of a demand for a G95 let alone a slightly updated model that lacks the one feature a significant part of the market wants out of any camera: PDAF. I can't recommend this to my nephew who is getting interested in vlogging (goodness help me!) I can't really recommend it to anyone I know who is looking to take the step up from their phone either because even though it is a step up I can't really say this is a better value than what Canon, Sony, Fuji, or Nikon are offering in this entry level market. I don't want to recommend a Canon or Sony camera, but I would over this. If Panasonic is going to keep m43 around, they should've just blown up any plans they had for the G97, phased out the G95, and put resources in developing a camera the size of the G100 that has IBIS, PDAF, no crop, and can at least record 30 minutes without overheating and use that for an entry level/vlogging camera. At least you could look at a camera like that and think "hey, they are actually trying something different and building on the promise of m43!" And it could actually have an appeal in getting new users who don't wanna carry around bigger cameras.

I’m torn as well between both of these as a little third camera for travel, street and interviews. Found a black X-M5 on a Japanese open box model for $800 with a 10% off coupon last week but decided to wait a bit. X-M5 Rigged up with a Ninja V that 6.2k open gate prores raw would be great for music videos and short films. Once rigged up the IBIS would be less of an issue. S9 does have the better IBIS and AF but no external raw if that matters to you. 422 10 bit might be enough for you. Also few to no speedboosters for Panasonic L mount but most just deal with the 1.5x crop on 60p. There’s a couple options for the Fuji X mount for speedboosters so that could be fun.

I've always been a big Panasonic supporter but I'm going to say it... Panasonic need a kick up the arse, they are going to lose even their most loyal customers. It is simply not good enough what they are doing and the total lack of vision. I still can't get over that Panasonic made this BIG play of going full frame, the death knell of their only successful mirrorless mount (M43), only to leave the first gen models standing around on shelves for nearly SIX YEARS leading their most loyal and early adopting customers wondering if they've given up. The camera market has barrelled ahead with higher and higher prices, the top-end Sony flagship cameras have doubled (from A7r II $3k to a1 $6k) in the space of 8 years. The margins in cameras and lenses seems to me to be enormous, especially compared to most consumer electronics... and you look at the build quality of today's stuff and it's quite frankly shit. Look at the Nikon Z6 III... Great camera, but it's not a D500 is it? It's not even equivalent to what Nikon were doing at the close of the DSLR era for mid-range enthusiasts. Then you look at some of the lenses for £250... And they have plastic mounts. It's a fucking joke. They are scrimping on a fucking aluminium ring. There are no aperture rings, let alone full metal and glass builds like in the Ai-S days and haven't been for a long, long time. It's descending into a Japanese racket and if it wasn't for Sony's sensor division, the camera industry would be Canon, and Blackmagic, and probably fuck all else. It is high time they showed some business acumen and respect for customers, and dealers. Panasonic is a mess. Look at the opportunity of the LX100... Better than Fuji X100 in several ways, a miraculously small camera with GH4 sensor, Leica F1.7 zoom lens on the front for 700 smackers... And they still fuck it up. No version with a prime lens. No attempt to develop the form factor, with the nice retro dial. No M/43 version, also retro styled like the original LX100 was. Why? An entire market gone up in smoke as they didn't try. S series... Entire market gone, as they didn't try. First gen cameras unevolved, unloved, sat on shelves for half a decade. S5 II and S9 are badly marketed... And cannibalise Micro Four Thirds like hell. They have always tried to give us decent value for money. It seems they had no choice to me. They didn't have a successful mount... as in EF successful. They didn't have a competitive range of full frame primes. They don't seem to have their own sensors. No spec-leading cameras to rival Canon, Nikon and Sony - at least not for any length of time after initial launches had been and gone. In all sorts of ways, their products have been badly planned and badly marketed. Even the good stuff... GH2, GH4, S1H... It was all superseded within months by Sony or came just after a major Sony release with some sort of better spec. In the case of the GH4, just as Panasonic had given us a 4K mirrorless, out came Sony with the full frame 4K bunch... A7r II and A7S II. With the S1H... everyone was invested in the A7S II and E-mount lenses, and then Sony made a Mark III for good measure. With the S5 II... It's basically just an a7 III competitor about 4 years too late. And the less we say about contrast detect autofocus the better. Panasonic can either get a development announcement out of some seriously impressive flagship tech, or they can leave the market. There's not a middle way. It's do or die for them now in 2025.