John Matthews

So, Panasonic seems to have designated the S9 as the "fun camera." It seems that would have been better for M43. Also, the Realtime LUT feature reminds me why I hated using Sony picture profiles- you just never really understand what they're doing. Actually, it's such a breath of fresh air to use the VX 981 camcorder as there's NO picture profile, just "standard" with contrast, saturation, and sharpness. I can see people being completely overwhelmed with these LUT features- you can stack up to 2 LUTs with varying degrees of opacity! That's crazy talk! My "magic sauce" for my shots will be VLOG with Bob's version of Kodachrome 64 set to 40% with Biff's Orange and Teal blockbuster LUT set to 60% and it only took me 3 years to figure it out.

Doubt it. You'll be fighting with lighting frequencies due to the electronic-only shutter. It might not be that bad though, but I think you might miss some shots. IMO it's more of a "if I miss the shot, no big deal" type camera.

Something tells me that this wasn't a camera made for a grip. Panasonic screwed up the marketing and release of this camera. From the lrumors.com "leaks" to not being clear when to release product shots, the communication is all over the place. My guess is that this camera will be available very soon; otherwise, there wouldn't have been so much info. We'll see later today what this thing is all about.

I took out my VX980 and film this in the morning. After, I threw it into Final Cut and added Film Convert to it. It was so easy. I let the camera figure the exposure on all the shots, but I had a ND32 on it at all times. All the shots were on a tripod. I probably should have uploaded in 4k, but oh well. It still looks good.

I won't list all the cameras, especially M43 I've had over the past years, but it's a lot and I'm rather embarrassed about it. Your assessment of the GX8 is probably right. It is significantly bigger than the GX85 and would be able to accommodate the all four fingers on the grip. It looks chunky. I've got the GX800. It's just so fun to use. I've always felt the G100 and GX85's viewfinders were sketchy and I almost never used them. I briefly had the GX7 for a month and loved the 1080p image off it, but I felt the GX85 would have been a better purchase; so I got that. The GX800 has a decent image, but suffers from moiré in 1080p (but could be worse and the same could be said about the others too). Recently for video, I've been shooting so much with my VX-980 camcorder. It's just so easy to use for video as it's made for it (no moiré). The image isn't as nice as the any of the above 4k images and it cannot take photos, but the fact of having a smooth zoom from 30-630mm is really incredible.

I can understand the reasons for not having an EVF, especially if there's a super-bright panel on it (there's not). I've had a fairly decent experience with the GX800 by putting a non-glare screen protector on it, but it's still not ideal. I will definitely be asking Sean of LUMIX USA the question if they are giving info to l-rumors.com or 43rumors.com. I know he's commented on those websites in the past, saying they had "wild and incorrect" information. My message: don't work with those website! Although I've never tried the GX8, there are so many people that simply love it, even after having the GX80/85, and the GX9 available with newer everything. One of these day, I'm going to have to pick one up. What exactly was the feature that you loved so much about it?

Apparently, l-rumors.com/43rumors.com bans you if you question why, after his seeing and shooting the camera, he can't say any more information. To know any answers, you need to sign up for his BS newsletter, subscribe to his BS YouTube channel, watch his incessant ad-copy, self-promos, and BS clickbait several times a day. Those sites are clearly milking info for personal profit at all costs. I sure hope Panasonic isn't working with him as it will be a dealbreaker for me if I find out (and I'm fairly sure they are). I will no longer be going to any of that guy's websites ever again for any reason.

We'll see what this lens is all about in a few days. The term "pancake" can represent many different ideas. I think the Panasonic 26mm is going to be a truly small, but it's MF and F8. Maybe it'll just come with the camera as I can't see how they could make into a real product.

The producer and actor, Micheal Douglas was at the origin of this film I believe. As per wikipedia: "He sits on the board of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, is an honorary board member of the anti-war grant-making foundation Ploughshares Fund and he was appointed as a United Nations Messenger of Peace in 1998."

So, I guess the pancake is a 26mm f8 manual focus lens. What were they thinking? I guess I'll stick with my GX800 + 14mm f/2.5 as it's probably better in every way if the goal is "small".

Yes, that's right. No fan either. The hot shoe is actually a cold shoe. Also, it's much chunkier than previously though to believe IMO but still rather small. For video and for the price, I'd think the FX30 which is only marginally bigger would be a better choice as there are so many video features on it (4k 120fps, for one) that this camera will not have. It's really too bad they didn't go with the flip-up screen; invariably, there are as many or more people wanting the flip-out one. We'll see on the 22nd what this thing is really about.

We'll see. The rumor has it as being IBIS, but who really knows. The G100 had that exact same system. Most of the reviews were hard on the G100 because Panasonic had a serious case of putting its head in the sand when it came to AF and massively overpromising with every release. Then when they didn't include proper IBIS, I think the poo hit the fan. Still, that camera sold really well according to Panasonic USA. It's also interesting they replaced it with a G100D which was almost the same. People really wanted a GX85 with PDAF, a flip-out screen and mic jack- that was all they needed to do. In fact that's all what people still want; instead, we're getting a low-light camera without a shutter. My guess is that the problem will be rolling shutter in photo and video. Actually, RS was also a problem on the G100.

I think as a product, some sort of image stab is going to be important. The G100 didn't have it, but it was quite usable EIS. The conundrum is that it's such a small, light camera, it would be really hard to handhold, but if IBIS adds 200g and bulk to the product, it would make sense to go with EIS. Given the competition and Panasonic's strengths, I think it'll be included (and it'll be up to snuff).

The word has it that there's a 18-40 and a pancake coming with it. If it does have a proper shutter and IBIS, I'll probably get it, but I need more info. I would have rather had a flip-up screen and no hotshoe though because it's just more fun (like the GX850). If Panasonic doesn't release more pancakes and smaller affordable bodies for M43, there won't be many people going to it. The problem is that cameras like the GM1 were too small to operate with adult hands whereas the GX85 was just big enough. The S9 looks about the same size as a GX85.

Apparently, this is the size of the S9, the new l-mount camera which is significantly smaller than the S5ii/G9ii. It looks about 500g which would seem correct as the GM1 was about 202g. So many questions remain though. Will it have IBIS? Will it have a proper shutter? What's the max sync speed? There's a hotshoe on top and I'm guessing a flip out screen rather than a flip up one? Is there a mic jack? Overheating will be an issue, but will it have some limit or not? I like how they wrote L-rumors.com on it with the word "Dummy". I'm not a fan of that site or community, but I go because apparently that's one of the only places. Anyone know of another one?

It would be great for them to release a FF the size of the Sigma FP with a fixed lens or a DSLM and a small 28mm f/2.8 pancake. I'm not sure what this means for M43 if they start focussing on small cameras in L-mount. I suppose they'll make more money in l-mount as they convert people back to Panasonic or "upgrade" M43 users to FF. There's probably not enough money in small, affordable M43 cameras with lenses that already exist everywhere.

L mount rumors is reporting a new "content creators camera" on May 23 at a Lumix announcement. It's supposed to have some unique features. I'm going to guess it's an electronic variable ND. The camera doesn't have an EVF and is similar in size to the FP. Sounds good, but there aren't any Panasonic lenses that would be good for that form factor. We'll see.

This video outlines what to expect from those new M4 chips. Yes, the new iPad has the fastest single core production chip. I'm fairly certain the new M4 high-end macs will handle multiple simultaneous streams of 12k. I'd go for that.

I wouldn't buy a Mac right now. I'd wait until after June if possible. I think there will be new M4 macs, most likely a new Mac Studio, Mini, MacBook Pro, and maybe a new iMac. Or, if you do get the "older" model, get it at a reduced price.

The news on the street is that you cannot use the Sigma 10-18 APS-C lens in EOIS in High, which sucks. However, I'd like to know if you slightly remove it from the electrical contacts and put it back, what will it do? There's got to be a way to do it. I know that if you use a contact-less, full manual lens, it works just fine- it's the lens information that screws things up.

I think I found the lens! It's the Angenieux Zoom 15x10B 10-150mm f/2-2.8 lens. This lens has "TYPE 15 x 10B" written on it and a red pinstripe around it.

It's definitely an Angenieux lens. Here are more shots and there's a Tiffen lens shade with writing on it. Only Angenieux has zooms machined like that. I found some better shots: I'm fairly sure it's a "version" of the Angenieux 12-120mm, but I cannot guarantee it.

Also, I'm fairly sure that's Morgan Freeman doing the voiceover for the trailer.

It sure looks like it. How times have changed in 40 years!

That's solid advice. I know that @kye has been recording at 4k 100mbps 8bit and that's basically the same as 1080p 10bit, but with a little more detail, which makes a ton of sense. I would also like to put the 1080p 12mbps 10bit Proxy on the S5ii up against my 4k 100mbps 8bit on my GX800. I'm not so sure the 4k would come out 10x ahead, especially since I can barely tell the difference at normal distances with 6k (and don't get me wrong, the 6k looks amazing at 100%). Of course, nothing is "for free", but 1080p HEVC gives a little bit of that impression sometimes.