hoodlum

It look like GH5ii and GH6 will be announced (maybe development for GH6) as it mentioned multiple GH cameras 

LUMIX Live : New GH Series Cameras are Coming

We are pleased to announce that we will present new LUMIX GH series cameras at an online launch event. The event will be held on Tuesday, May 25, 2021, at 10:00am EDT.

Via Panasonic Instagram.  It looks like multiple GH bodies could be announced.

"We are pleased to announce that they will
present an expanded lineup of the popular LUMIX GH series at an online
launch event. The event will be held at
https://www.panasonic.com/global/consumer/lumix/ on Tuesday, May 25, 2021, at
14:00 UTC.
.
We are committed to addressing further to enhance the
G Series lineup and performance of conventional Micro Four Thirds
mirrorless cameras and lenses to meet the continuous demands of creators
who value the strong advantage that only MFT can offer.
.
More information will be updated in the future posts on the official Instagram account @lumix until May 25, 2021."

An interesting rumor of a new sensor posted on Weibo.

https://www.43rumors.com/sony-45mp-micro-4-3-with-quad-pixel-af/

I am surprised Nikon didn’t mention this last week during CP Plus. 

In this Nikon interview they actually mentioned a new flagship camera is coming this year with a stacked sensor.  So it looks like Sony is sharing this sensor with others now which would bode well for a new GH6.

https://www.dpreview.com/interviews/9636338352/interview-nikon-a-flagship-nikon-z-series-mirrorless-camera-can-be-expected-within-the-year

"A flagship Nikon Z-series mirrorless camera can be expected within the year, and is being developed with the goal of surpassing the D6. It will respond to the advanced needs of professionals. The upcoming model will debut a newly developed high-resolution stacked CMOS sensor."

While nothing specific on the GH6 other than they are still considering it, Panasonic did mention a new prime and “revolutionary” zoom are coming. My guess is that the zoom would be designed for video similar to the 10-25.  
 

https://www.43rumors.com/great-news-panasonic-says-new-revolutionary-mft-zoom-and-new-mft-fast-primes-are-in-the-works-along-the-gh6/

Based on information coming from OM Digital Solutions it looks like a new sensor is coming later this year in an updated E-M1X. With their renewed focus on wildlife I would think this sensor would have a faster readout like a99/a1.  I would expect to see the GH6 around the same time with the same sensor.  
 

https://www.43rumors.com/qa-with-om-digital-solutions-uk-hints-a-new-high-end-e-m1xii-might-be-coming/

19 minutes ago, Origami101 said:

Would the IMX 492 even be suitable for the GH6? It’s got a max readout speed of 31fps, which wouldn’t be fast enough to adequately drive DFD autofocus. 

Perhaps it can readout faster at lower resolutions; for video, 6k, 4K, etc.; for stills, selective sub-sampling that’s higher than the viewfinder resolution, which is really all you need before capturing the frame. 

The IMX492 would be a downgrade from the existing sensor in the GH5.  We would need at least the same or a faster sensor readout speed. 

52 minutes ago, XNYC said:

8K and crop to 4K would be great for wildlife, extending the reach even further. Panleica 100-400 instantly becomes 200-800.

Maybe better IBIS another improvement? I currently keep my GH5 for wildlife only.  S1H for most everything else. 

IBIS would become more challenging with smaller pixels.  But m43 does have an advantage over FF with a smaller sensor to move around.

1 hour ago, Towd said:

That would be a great option if it is real.  I can't find it on Sony's site though.  Do you have a link?

No link. Androidlad provided this image a year ago in another thread. 

2 hours ago, Towd said:

Found this IMX492LQJ poking around Sony's website.

https://www.sony-semicon.co.jp/products/common/pdf/IMX492LLJ_LQJ_Flyer.pdf

It's a multi-aspect sensor that does 8k video and has an all pixel readout of 8432x5680.   The 17:9 and 4:3 modes are subsets of this.  I think it has a global shutter mode too.

Could be an very interesting chip for the next generation of M43 cameras.  I used to not care so much about 8k video, but considering a GH6 will probably need to remain competitive for a 5 year or more product cycle, it is probably something Panasonic should think about as it will be competing with full frame cameras and cell phones that already offer 8k.  I'd personally probably shoot 99% of the time in some 4k 10 bit VLOG mode, but having the option of going to 8k video capture for special situations could be ideal.

Honestly, if this offers great (S1 like) color science and a full 10 bit VLOG in 4:2:2, I could be happy with this camera for 5-10 years.

Fun times!  I'm still hopeful for the future of M43 now that we've had a round of full frame camera releases from all the major manufacturers.

I would prefer this sensor that has much faster sensor readout. 
 

The 4k 120p is what caught my eye.

https://www.sony.jp/ichigan/products/ILCE-1/

"4:2:2 10bit 4K 120p high frame rate video recording, all pixel full size 4K readout, approximately 15+ stop wide dynamic range"

What is also amazing is that they removed the fan from the Macbook Air.  So a completely passive/silent solution. 

1 hour ago, BenEricson said:

Looks pretty good for a phone. I'm having trouble seeing any improvements over the XS or iPhone 11 though. Is this the one with the supposedly larger sensor?

The sensor has not changed although OIS has improved and lens is a bit faster.  Of course processing has made a number of improvements as well.  

29 minutes ago, JurijTurnsek said:

@Andrew Reid Here you go: https://www.gsmarena.com/antutu_scores_suggest_iphone_12_chipset_is_downclocked_gpu_is_slower_than_on_the_11series-news-45835.php

Geekbench is a much better benchmark of actual application performance and the initial scores are showing a 20% improvement.

https://hothardware.com/news/iphone-12-pro-benchmark-geekbench-5-a14-bionic

What this does not show is how the Neural Engine portion of the A14 chip went from 8 cores to 16 cores, improving that aspect of the iPhone 12 performance by 80%.  There is much more to a smartphone's performance than just CPU and GPU benchmarks.

This gives us an idea of what to look forward to with the GH6.  The BGH1 is a lot actually smaller and lighter than the GH5.

https://photorumors.com/2020/09/30/panasonic-dc-bgh1-mft-camera-specifications-leaked-10mp-c4k60p/

DC-BGH1
10.28 MP sensor
Micro Four Thirds mount
C4K60P 4:2:2 10-bit RAW video (HDMI output), C4K60P 4:2:0 10-bit (H.265 / HEVC) internal recording
Dual native ISO
Double SD card slot
Wi-Fi / Bluetooth
11800mAh VBR battery compatible
Dimensions: 93 x 93 x 78mm
Weight: 545g

At 8:50 of this video posted today the GH5 successor is specifically mentioned to be in development.  

4 hours ago, John Matthews said:

That doesn't really register on my "common sense" radar. They apparently say they'll keep the Olympus name, but just make surveillance cameras? I have nothing against surveillance cameras sporting Olympus optics as that would make sense in some ways, but I imagine there would be better avenues for enriching JIP... speaking only on speculation, of course.

There are 3 pages to the interview and on page 2 it mentions that the surveillance cameras would be a mid to long term new market in addition to the existing business.

Quote

On the other hand, in the future, it will be essential to find promising new markets that can utilize these strong technologies. From a medium- to long-term perspective, we are also considering various markets such as consumer products specialized for video and business such as surveillance cameras. It is said that it is necessary to find the optimal market by repeating challenges beyond the current Olympus camera lineup.

It doesn't look like the X-H2 is coming soon.

https://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2020/09/04/fujifilm-interview-covid-gfx-strategy-shrinking-ibis-300K-cycle-shutter

Quote

But just having the bigger grip with the X-T4 is not enough for the X-H2. I think that if future X-H models come to reality, we have to have something more revolutionary.

So it looks like we will see an R6 firmware update as well.  This was posted by Gordon today.

Jordan also did some firmware comparisons.

12 minutes ago, PaulUsher said:

Yes this suggests thermal management is, shall we say, a somewhat discretionary decision by Canon.
 

Newsshooter cites Canon statement but I can’t find source. According to this statement Canon feel that they’ve addressed customer concerns. Gordon’s video suggests improvements but in the end I think most user’s chief concern will remain whether the camera actually overheats as described. Over to users to test it and have their say.

https://www.newsshooter.com/2020/08/27/canon-r5-firmware-update/

“ According to Canon, ‘The effect of the new firmware addresses consumer concerns around repeated shooting capabilities and the need for improved cooling while switched on. We have and will continue to be transparent about recording limits for the EOS R5 and are confident that the camera performs to stated specifications.’ “

Here is a summary of Gordon's findings.

https://www.canonrumors.com/gordon-laing-explains-the-updates-in-firmware-v1-1-0-for-the-canon-eos-r5/

1 hour ago, wolf33d said:

FW update to fix thermal issue coming tonight
https://www.canonrumors.com/canon-eos-r5-firmware-update-coming-in-the-next-24-hours/

Obviously it's not like they will release many of them so the moment of truth is tonight. Tomorrow we will know if the camera is usable or not. 
Either they will go deeper in the same and shit on us with allowing something like 5min more recording and little shorter recovery (but overall still timer based), or they will make it right and make it non timer based but temperature based making this camera perfect or if they can't (because of poor thermal data access) then at least push the timer as much as they can according to extensive testing. From what we see in the test from Andrew and others, that camera should have no problem going to the recording limit of 30min and then recover in that time or less. 

Fingers crossed. 

Better to keep our expectations very low.

"Update: A source that is testing the new firmware has warned me not to expect too much of a difference in thermal performance with the new firmware. I guess we’ll know for sure quite soon."

Apparently a firmware update is coming tomorrow.

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/64300120

Quote

 

Just had CPS France pn the phone, very helpful person. He's going to contact Lexar and get back to me.

He also told me a new firmware is coming tomorrow, it's confidential, but it will mainly be to remove some of the "overheating" limitations. So maybe that will fix my issue as well?