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I think if you do aerials this is a winner. I think if you have lots of M4/3rd glass this is a winner. I think if you do lots of corporate gigs and your constantly flying to your locations this is a winner. I think if your a one man company that churns out product for your customers with both stills and video this is a winner. Small jib arm, Movi ( the smaller/cheaper one), vest based stabilizer, hood mount,,etc this is a winner. Panasonic is not a force in the high end feature production world. Trying to strap on Cookes ,HD transmitters and 20K worth of wireless controllers is not what this camera is about. That is not a slam on this camera or anyone in this group, its just my thoughts on who this camera is being targeted to. I think at this price point you - as a person making a living at productions - can pay this thing off and start earning ROI before the next one comes out in 18 months.

there are a lot of improved details on this camera. Audio gets a big win.

Panasonic has failed to land in stores because their pricing sucks. They all sell directly to customers and give very little profit margins to the local Photo store. and once you've registered your camera purchase you get nice direct online only specials on items that they should be pushing to the dealer chain. Nikon store, Canon Direct. etc,,, BurnetRhoades so you would have bought from B&H anyway huh? I bet Precision Camera ( one of the last locally owned facilities in your city) could have had that battery in stock. IF maybe you locals would have purchased your cameras from them too. ( THey have the GH3 on the shelf by the way, and a drawer full of glass) Local dealers in your areas provide a great service. You can go in and put your hands on most any DSLR body, try out all types of glass, and then walk out and buy it for a few dollars less online. Great way to send your tax dollars to another state. YES I know you don't pay sales tax on line. and You don't pay it in Texas either if you qualify, however, that local shop pays lots of taxes just to be in your city. If they close down, your taxable base drops.

All Sony mirror-less cameras will have the E mount from now until,,,,,,?

really great work

depending on the lens, I would do mount conversion, then use the speed booster. the added adapter will allow way too much barrel play and you will see it when you roll focus. read below. Welcome to Leitax, this is our Zeiss/Contax for Nikon page. Yes, I know it, it should be not possible to use Contax lenses on Nikon cameras due to the negative registry distance, but there is a trick in this conversion that will make it possible for a selection on Carl Zeiss Contax lenses. The same as with Leica lenses, this conversion is fully reversible and will not damage the lens nor the camera. The Zeiss/Contax lenses will focus to infinity, and your Nikon camera from D200 and upper model will meter in Av mode (stop down) and will show focus confirmation light in the viewfinder. Our mount allows to use Carl Zeiss T* 35mm SLR Manual Focus Lenses on Nikon cameras, but only MM type with narrow diameter bayonet.

Not quite sure why Super 16 would be considered " poor Mans Alexa " ?? are you referring to the fact that the cameras are considered such work horses? Shows like Friday night lights, and The Walking Dead certainly could have used higher end electronic capture instead of using 16mm. I remember lots of money being poured into 16mm film shoots because it was cheaper than 35mm film, but in todays market I would personally say shooting 16mm is much more expensive than any of the others mentioned. The walking dead series actually uses it because of its low resolution qualities. They don't have to spend as much on the quality of the zombie makeup effects as they would if they shot digital.

Some of this may be due to the slow Dragon roll out for the EPIC, some maybe due to the way RED has always played the INDIE film maker card, thereby not letting the major rental facilities play with their toys in the early days, and some of this is the fact ARRI has a really rock solid product right now. ARRI will also run the financing of the camera bodies and even more importantly the GLASS, for most major rental facilities. ARRI has a better operational chain for repair and body backup too. I maybe off the mark on this last one, however, I believe the way ARRI handles the camera operations is more in line with what the unions want as well. RED is also under new leadership. You may discount this statement, however, APPLE. DELL and HP all slid in the ratings when the Name that made the company stepped aside. I am not saying that RED is out of the game, All of these companies have had their highs and lows. I think SONY and Panasonic are struggling the most. More iPhone footage seen then any Panasonic camera. lol. GoPro will certainly spend lots of money marketing the product line that will certainly be spun off to form their GoPROMO camera. ( I have no idea what the real name will be, it just sounds mo pro huh?