sanveer

"The company has not released any new product for the price range below 50,000 yen ($370 at current rates) or so since 2019 and has no plans to develop a low-priced model going forward. "We've halted developing any new models that can be replaced by a smartphone," a spokesperson said. ... These companies are following in rivals' footsteps. Fujifilm has discontinued production of its FinePix compact cameras and will develop only the X100V series and other pricier models." Canon has not released any new Ixy cameras since 2017. But the company acknowledges that "entry-level models continue to enjoy persistent support, so we'll continue development and production as long as there is demand." Sony Group has not offered any new compact models under its Cyber-shot brand since 2019, although a spokesperson said that "it's not that we'll stop developing new products." Casio Computer halted production of Exilim cameras in 2018. Camera makers had long competed with one another by increasing the number of pixels and by shrinking the size of their devices. But then smartphones came along, offering apps for editing pictures and allowing photos to be easily shared with family and friends. This changed the way people took photos. Smartphone makers are racing to offer advanced photography features in their devices. "It'd be a challenge for camera makers to be successful with keeping their compact digital camera businesses," said analyst Ichiro Michikoshi of research firm BCN. Compact digital models accounted for 36% of global digital camera shipments in 2021, according to CIPA. The broader camera market will likely shrink even faster with Japanese companies, many of them big players, scaling back operations in compact digital models. The bright spot is the mirrorless segment, with global shipments jumping 31% on the year to 324.5 billion yen in 2021. Mirrorless single-lens models offer fat margins, and users replacing lenses and other parts will keep contributing to the manufacturers' bottom lines. Retailers are focusing on this segment as well. "These days we recommend mirrorless cameras even to novice photographers," said a salesperson at electronics and appliance retailer Joshin Denki." I am guessing the reference is to point and shoot cameras, with fixed lenses, including the LX100 family. If Panasonic feels the GX and GM do indeed have a market, and they can profit from them (maybe with price increases), they may add some to that group. Strangely the Japanese are not really good at very quick turnarounds, and making products at lower manufacturing costs. Two reasons why they aren't the top players in the smartphone industry. It's therefore a strange conundrum. They don't wanna integrate absolute smartphone features likes 4G and 5G chips for uploading data on ILCs. And Sony has been slowing its development of ILC replacing smartphones, by not pushing 1inch and larger sensors (they have a massively cropped 1inch sensors). Sony is arguably one of the hurdles for both Smartphones replacing ILCs, and in some ways possibly causing sensor development (like not giving PDAF to Panasonic) slowdown in Pro and Prosumer Cameras. I wanna write more, but I have to rush.

Which has strange design choices, including 1 card slot that is "(UHS-I) Micro SD". I had to read that Many Times to believe it.

I saw in the video, he says it's a Global Shutter, has 16 stops of dynamic range and 5k video, with a lot of frame rates. What more could one ask for? It's probably better than Full Frame, if the quality is anywhere close to advertised. If that's the case, Panasonic needs to pick up one of these sensors for itself too.

"Richard Wong tested better lowlight capabilities than R7 and XH2." It better than some/many APS-C cameras apparently, as mentioned in the video and above. The original G7 had slightly better photo and video quality than the GH5. I suspect the G9ii does better than the GH6 too. Plus the substantially lowering and auto triggering of dynamic range boost seems like a good step. Okus the streaking has been fixed. So now looking forward to some dynamic range tests 😁

Agreed. $1499 would be perfect.

This comparison is slightly unfair in my opinion, solely based on the fact that the Sony had a lot more depth. Plus its an overheats. Like many Sony cameras 😁 Though I completely agree, that Panasonic absolutely NEEDS to make Another GX Camera or even GM Series camera, with this sensor (I wonder if dual gain sensors are more battery hungry?).

IMHO, if Blackmagic gets PDAF and IBIS (and,better ergonomics, better battery and ease of use) they will pose serious competition to everyone else. Also, true cinematography cameras will trickle down to a much larger crowd. Something that should have happened after the original pocket cinema camera. Which has superb image quality. But was s nuisance to use 🤣🤣🤣

Great thorough review. This seems like one of the best ones. Hopefully someone tests the G9ii's video quality with the GH6 (I suspect it may have slightly cleaner video and thus slightly better dynamic range). P.S.: That streaking issue has been fixed in the G9ii. I really feel Panasonic needs to Re-Brand and Re-Market their M43 lineup. A huge reason for not selling enough G7, GX85, and the GM5 cameras may have been poor marketing IMHO. The G9ii is a video monster, and Panasonic should leave no stone unturned to shout this to anyone and everyone.

That would be great.

I have to agree with you. M43 had some kickass lenses. Like the tiny 12-32mm zoom with OIS, and the 20mm f1.7 prime. I wonder if an addition to the zoom, for more reach perhaps like a 32-85mm could be created. Though, only if it were a collapsible pancake zoom.

True. I wish some of the f0.95 M43 glass would re-emerge. At one point there were so many f.095 M43 lenses around. I secretly even hoped for an autofocus version, solely because it would be a little easier to use at night. And at that aperture level, it looked very ... Full Framish 😉

Wish there were Anamorphic Lenses with autofocus 😁

I believe there are a few smaller lenses available in many formats. Previously only M43 had like tiny lenses, like the famous 20mm f1.7. So, glass shouldn't be an issue.

The G9ii is similar in size to the S1ii, both of which would be enormous as travel cameras. The Sony A6700 may be a better bet for travel. As long as you don't need the absolute best video quality for it, that should do for most situations.

The original G9 was released at $1699, and often, it costed $999 at great sales. The G9ii should have been released at $1499, mostly because Fuji, Sony and Canon have alternatives at competiting price points. Though those may have their shortcomings, especially for video features and overheating issues. Panasonic should price this very competitively. And target Indie Filmmakers and Film Students. Forget the photographers for this one.