John Matthews

This conversation feels like it's about freedom, debt, and burnout. Debt traps us, stealing our freedom and leading to burnout. Sometimes, you don't even realize you're caught in this cycle until it's too late. Societal norms, the pressure to consume, and the desire to 'keep up with the Joneses' often play a bigger role than most will admit. The only way out, for some, is to simplify their lifestyle and buy back their freedom by escaping debt. I've done this myself—it was hard, but worth it.

I'm not in video creation beyond family videos, but I see parallels in education. Educators often start out wanting to make a difference, finding meaning in their work. Yet, burnout looms. Many students seem uninterested in learning or disrupt others, reflecting the challenges of our current society.

Ultimately, no job is meaningless, but life itself can feel trivial if we lose perspective. We take nothing to the grave. What endures is the relationships we build—primarily with family and friends. Occasionally, you might be remembered for something you've done or created, even if you never know it. So, enjoy your time. Treat others with respect. Honor those who came before you, and perhaps you’ll be honored in return. Reaching retirement is a gift—not everyone gets there.

On 12/27/2024 at 5:42 PM, Davide DB said:

Are you ready for the announcement of a new class A+++++ air conditioner which will save the planet?
Save the date: January 7, 2025

 

The real question is whether you'd rather be cool in summer (living in Italy) or a new camera? It can get pretty bad there. Also, if you don't make more money with a new camera, this air conditioner is likely to save you quite a bit- paying for a new camera, of course.

10 hours ago, ntblowz said:

Just got the S9 from airport, that 15% discount on tax on top of promo discount is pretty good value, and given it is only NZ$100 more for the 20-60 kit so I got this combo instead of the 18-40 which cost $1000 more 😂 ( another ridiculous pricing from Pana)

I m thinking getting the Meike 35mm F2, should go well with 20-60mm. 

I think you’ll like the 20-60. It’s wide enough, sharp, and still good for indoors at the wide end.

48 minutes ago, newfoundmass said:

Average users, and heck, even some enthusiasts, don't always need f1.8 or f1.4 lenses. A bargain set of compact f2.8 primes wouldn't hurt the system, I don't think.

Yes, this is their weakness, for sure. I don't think those Sigma primes really cut it. I've said it before- they need a 28mm f2 and 40mm f2. If they want the S9 to succeed, that's what they need.

49 minutes ago, newfoundmass said:

I do wish Tamron would enter the L-mount, but I have a feeling that they don't because Sony owns a piece of them.

The more the merrier. Samyang and DJI should do something more at some point too.

35 minutes ago, Thpriest said:

I don't get "there aren't any lenses" talk. There are less lenses available than to a Sony shooter but there are plenty of lenses and more are appearing all the time. What lenses do most people really have? A 24-70 f2.8, maybe a wide or tele zoom depending on their work and 2 or 3 primes. You can easily have a decent L mount kit that covers most needs.

Going either the prime route or the variable focal length route, everything is covered out to 200mm. The lenses are modern, sharp, with appropriately consistent coatings. All the Lumix lenses are weather resistant, fairly light with bright options available. They also have breathing correction, unlike MANY more popular brands. Don't like the Lumix lenses, get the Sigma ones and they're native mount too being part of the L mount alliance. You want anamorphic? There's that too. By the way, Lumix can also stabalize those very lenses too along with appropriate desqueezing. If you think the problem is L-mount, it's not- it's you.

I think most would agree that Panasonic's underperforming given their technology.

Personally, I think they're in year 2 or 3 of a five year plan to find a direction for M43. M43 needs a smaller, great-performing body. This could be a money-maker opportunity for them.

L-mount is their future, like it or not. They might not be that far off from the holy grail of the internal electronic ND filter. We'll see. If they can, it's not going to be with a Sony sensor. They'll need to design it themselves.

5 minutes ago, IronFilm said:

Some of those closed eBay auctions are coming with a kit lens. 

But if not, just pick up a nifty fifty from a dead mount for less than twenty bucks. 

 

I'm fully behind the idea that those Chinese Amazon specials are really just scammers/slave drivers and e-waste abusers. Amazon and/or government should crack down on them. It's not right or fair. They're taking massive amounts of money away from the camera industry and the used market. I do think there should be some cheaper options for consumers, but this is why we have used cameras. There are so many sub $100 cameras (with lenses too) out there with less than 10000 clicks on them. All of those blow away this unethical e-waste for photography; for video, use your phone.

7 hours ago, Davide DB said:

 

Any question about upcoming release? (The elephant in the room)

Nope. Those questions were all deflected like water on wax.

On other news. You now can pay for framing guide from Canon to the tune of $120. Oh yeah, you have to send your camera in too (and pay for shipping). Tell me, are there any companies that offer that offer framing guides when you buy the camera?

1 hour ago, IronFilm said:

ehhh... if someone is going to spend eighty bucks on a camera then for goodness sake don't get one from Amazon

You can get an old Sony NEX body instead for that price:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=sony+nex&_sacat=0&_sop=15&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1&rt=nc&LH_ItemCondition=3000 

No kidding!

6 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

They are 80 euros vs thousands, so it's a viable product. No shame in that.

I pulled one up. Not even one photo in the marketing of these cameras was actually taken with the one they're trying to sell. I especially love the way they get away with not mentioning autofocus; meaning, there isn't any. 48MP? So, I guess it's now a feature to fill landfills and hard drives without any regard for the actual resolution, never mind the slave labor used to produce them. It's all good, right? Am I wrong in saying that this stuff seemed illegal before? Maybe they just push it to the limit. Does it matter though?

4 minutes ago, Andrew Reid said:

Basic bitches.

Hey, I think all the camera makers would fight to keep them or get them back. They've kept the whole industry afloat helping them afford the high-end stuff.

Honestly when you see the crap Chinese cameras on Amazon, all the Japanese cameras are better, regardless make or year- all of them. I actually feel really bad for the people that get those "48MP" cameras with only a cellphone sensor and no optical zoom. My Dad got one before he died and when he purchased it, he seemed quite happy. He probably felt different or didn't know better soon after. I don't know why Amazon allows that stuff that is clearly filled with false advertising.

After watching the live stream, Sean (of Lumix) said the two new cameras released this week were good sellers in the past and they expect this minor update will keep them as decent sellers into the future. Basically, they're still marked as "available". I'm going to speculate they wanted to change one or two things on them (to make them more competitive of sorts) and they simply had to give them a new product name. Legal made them put the USB-C (with USB 2 speeds). No, they aren't for us- they're for basic consumers.

36 minutes ago, Ninpo33 said:

While waiting for new Lumix stuff I’ve decided to enjoy how cheap 2020 technology is getting…

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!

13 minutes ago, MrSMW said:

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.

 

All of that would sound great! Not a camera for me, but sounds awesome! Of those feature, the one that would interest me the most would be the rear screen and maybe the 6k features, for avoiding moiré.

6 hours ago, IronFilm said:

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). 

Let's hope they can pull that off. I'd probably get it if it has modern features. If there's only a USB-C jack, forget it.

6 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

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.

That's exaggerated. Most of the sales were on huge discounts as new. You'd get easily for 1200 euros 2 years ago. Now it's just shy of 1000 euros. Granted, it took a massive hit when it came out because nobody was going to pay for that camera if it didn't have PDAF. If it does hit 700 euros, I'll pick it up again I think. I really liked using it when I had it. It feels better in my hand than most cameras I've owned.

6 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

You need to do both.

OK. What if you don't have the resources? Clearly, one has priority. Look how long it took, if ever Sony to make updates to some updates. People were livid. Didn't happen with Panasonic. Look at Fuji, they screwed up their AF in trying to fix it. Not Panasonic. More cameras, more problems.

6 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

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.

I meant flagship hybrid.

6 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

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.

Are we taking bets? No Arri Log in FF Panasonic cameras like the deal in the GH6 and GH7. I'll take that bet.

I do think it would be a smart move for short-term cash for Arri, but the exclusiveness behind "Arri colors" would be diminished. I hope I'm wrong because I like those Arri LUTs and for them to be tuned for Panasonic cameras, it would increase Panasonic's credentials I imagine.

8 minutes ago, newfoundmass said:

I don't think people are asking to do away with the firmware updates in exchange for more frequent camera releases.

Question: Would you rather have significant, software-based firmware updates to add to existing hardware(option 1) or incremental updates to hardware with fewer software features (option 2)? Of course you want both, but if you were given the choice only. Option 2 will definitely cost more as well. You mention 6 years as being too long. What about 4 years? What is too often?

10 hours ago, newfoundmass said:

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.

I'm in the same boat. Not changing. I don't see any reason to.

10 hours ago, newfoundmass said:

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.

As I said earlier, I believe the release of the G97 basically puts a nail in the coffin of a mid-ranged M43 camera for at least 2 years. They've just spent their time coming out with a G97; they aren't going to get people to buy that only to come out immediately after with an upgrade.

2 hours ago, hoodlum said:

The GH6 had one of the shortest shelf life for a GH body.

I don't think it had in that they've been releasing a GH line camera every 1 to 2 years since 2009, if you count the GH5s as a "real" GH camera.

After reading all of what people are complaining about, I guess Panasonic should just focus on hardware, not firmware. Release it and forget it, right (à la Sony)? Rather, Panasonic has made meaningful efforts in firmware fixes. The S5ii when it was released is not the same camera as the current one. Not many of us are talking about that. Really, people have their ass chapped because there's no high-end production camera (something I don't care about). Still, I'd love to know exactly how you think the features will be that much better than the current models for pros. Better build? 12k, 8k? 4k 120fps? 32bit float? Internal RAW? Arri log? Which will most disappoint if it's not there? I get the feeling people just want GH7-level features in a FF body? I think we can agree that Arri-anything won't be in it.

The newly announced G97 could be understood as there will not be another sub $1000 camera for another 2 years. At least, I understand it as that. It sounds just like the G100D, a camera that won't be replaced anytime soon IMO, probably another year, if ever.

24 minutes ago, mercer said:

I'm pretty sure they were announced at the same time and their release dates were pretty close to one another... about 4 months or so. 

Yes. That's right. Announced, not released.

6 minutes ago, mercer said:

Does Panasonic really need an S5ii and an S5iiX... released at the same time?

They weren't released at the same time. The S5iiX followed months after.

14 hours ago, ArashM said:

Needless to say, like everyone else here I was hoping for an S1 or S1H replacement.

I heard that was for February.

1 hour ago, IronFilm said:

Samsung

That would probably be close; however, Panasonic doesn't really have a phone. I got the feeling that Samsung had engineers from the camera department move to the phone department because they figured out that the camera part of the phone is the most important. They dumped the declining, hard-fought camera market for the up-and-rising phone market. Clearly, this paid off for them. Panasonic doesn't have this option.

Panasonic is doing what the car industry has been doing for decades- make a chassis and standardise as much as possible to streamline the process and leverage quality, suppliers, and tooling. It must be working because Nikon and others are now doing the same.

I feel like Panasonic is trending to be a more amateur brand and other brands like Canon, Nikon, and now Sony are fighting for the professional market. Of course, many pros use Panasonic stuff too. The problem is that if they are viewed "for amateur," they won't get top-dollar prices.

Does anyone know if Panasonic is specifically losing money in their camera division? I don't think we do. Consumer electronics is still a big part of their business, but who knows how the world might change over the next 5 years to get out. If they do, I don't really care. Their cameras will still continue to be a reliable way to get beautiful imagery for many years to come.

I picked up a Konica F-T3(n) the other day- it still works like a charm after 50 years and I suspect will continue to do so for another 50 years, probably outliving me.

It's a very recent thing to have camera release upon camera release. Frankly, it's unnecessary. The only thing I'm seeing is nth degree-type things. To circle back to the car industry, fins and not really meaningful improvements. It's usually AI crap where give up total control on where it focusses (and slow to set up) or 120fps 4k (so now your 1/2 second clip looks so much better versus the 1/2s clip in 1080p?). The audience will no longer enjoy your content if it's not 4k at 120fps? However, the audience will care if your AI messes up focus. I get the feeling it will soon be a "feature" to have a dumber camera... and we come full circle.

The 80's brought us AF, but crap, plastic lenses and bodies (on the whole). The 90's just continued the trend (also, they were butt-ugly). The 2000's started to give us digital with the same crappy lenses, with everyone trying to squeak out as much detail as possible. Then, we hit 6MP, the magic number that even Kodak has said to be the turning-point where digital finally had the same detail as film. Then video came to the masses and since then we've been striving for more megapixels and sharper lenses even though no one prints anymore and your grandmother's wrinkles look like crap because there's too much detail. Now, we want our digital to look like film with less resolution. Sorry for the rant- must be a full moon. 

I’m trying to find a historical element to compare Panasonic to. I’m struggling because regardless of their non-success in the camera market, we’re still talking about an absolutely massive company bigger than many of the other players that is roughly keeping up with technology. I don’t think there are any. With the right investments and people, they’ll find a way.

8 minutes ago, Andrew Reid said:

If I were a new customer, wanting to upgrade from a smartphone - let's forget the used market, and the dumbed down cameras that treat smartphone users like idiots... I would go on Amazon and see a bunch of $1000+ stuff and spend that money on a new iPhone instead.

It's all a bit unfair. Smartphones get to hide behind the idea of it being "just a phone" and "look at its great video and photos" whereas a camera must be excellent at video and photo. The bar is always so low for a phone, but if we forget the "phone" idea and just say it's a camera; then it needs to compete with similar priced cameras. Unfortunately, there's nothing on the market in the sub 300g weight and size range, which is what I think many people want to start with. It makes more sense to have a $250 phone that does most things and a decent $800 light and nimble camera rather than the $1050 phone that only marginally takes better photos than the cheap phone but comes nowhere close to the $800 camera... if that makes sense.

1 hour ago, Andrew Reid said:

Yes Panasonic made a stupid mistake with the F8 pancake, they wanted something maximally small and cheap.

Many got that F8 joke of a lens for free. Guess what? MBP won't even take it today because that's how undesirable it is. It's more like a wannabe lens cap. The only lens that does the S9 justice (like I want) is the 45mm Sigma. Why? It's a L-mount, full-frame, relatively fast lens (and rather small). The fact is this: Sony, Canon, and Nikon have all come out with pancakes that are relatively fast (F2.8). Panasonic needs a 28mm f2.8 or a 40mm f/2.8 before I'd consider it at its current price. Remember, this is company that gave us the 14mm f/2.5 and 20mm f/1.7; both were decent lenses. These pancakes would actually make the S9 is a serious alternative and would convince others to buy it, even with its shortcomings.

If it is a video camera, why is there a PASM dial? If it is a video camera, why all the recording limitations? Many people see it as a photo camera without essential features of a photo camera and a video camera without the essential features of a video camera.

Don't get me wrong, I actually will buy it at the right price. If Panasonic or sigma don't come out with a pancake, I might pair it with the Konica 40mm f/1.8 as I think it'll do fine on it.