John Matthews

Remembered it now, they are called Nikken Techno and are the official repair centre for France for Lumix cameras…or so I was told and guided to by Panasonic France.
Used them twice to date. Very efficient.

Its equivalent of Nikon and Canon announce they are closing down their NPS and CPS service. Sport shooters, photo journalists, news agencies, would panic. But Panasonic has no dog in that fight, and probably just gave up. 

Same here, I've always been super happy with the build quality of every Lumix camera I've ever owned.
I am starting to wonder about the GH6 screen and if there is some sort of defect with it because I've seen several other people on various forums mention the same issues I had, and my second body gave me a scare just the other day when the image on the LCD was shifted slightly to the left (back to normal now....) This is exactly how my problems started on my first body and eventually the image wouldn't flip itself to the correct orientation, it would be shifted off center and would flicker every now and then before completely dying. The only thing I could think of at the time was having the camera in some light rain, maybe somehow the weather sealing for the whole screen mechanism isn't great?.. Who knows. 
 

I've never had a Panasonic really break on me. It did happen to me with an Olympus E-P7. It had faulty IBIS. I sent it in and they eventually replaced it with an E-M5iii (an upgrade). I was super happy. Not it's the same service today. 

I had the LPS Red service included with my GH6 when I bought it new, and unfortunately had to use it the next year when my camera screen started glitching out and eventually died. 
Other than the fast turnaround it was a huge headache and the communication from Lumix Pro Services was terrible. I had to pay out of pocket for shipping both ways, an inspection fee, and then parts and labor. The third party repair facility was great, but there was a glitch in the LPS system showing on their end that my camera wasn't registered even though I had proof on my end. I could never communicate with anyone at LPS efficiently and the email tag back and forth was incredibly slow and nothing was ever resolved and did not get the said warranty coverage. Maybe I'm the only one that has had this issue with them, but then again maybe this is why it's going away.  
 

I had no idea it existed and send my stuff to a place in Paris and a company whose name I forget…
And Panasonic Lumix told me to do this with no mention of these so called pro service so 🤷‍♂️

GH5 for $350 is pretty good but I've seen GH6 for under $750, that's possibly an even better deal.
GH7 is too new to see a big fall on the used market unless you get lucky, but you can get the similar spec G9 II for a pretty nice $1400-ish.
Keep an eye out for GH5S too, it's an underrated bargain now

You sure its Alexa?
Here is ZR 4k120 in super35 crop for comparison 


 

Some test results...
SlashCam have the S1R II 8K at 22ms, but I think open gate brings that closer to 30ms?
Sony a1 is at 15ms for 8K, no crop.
The 4K/120p is also much better / cleaner on the a1:

S1R II

https://www.slashcam.de/artikel/Test/Panasonic-LUMIX-S1R-II-Sensor-Bildqualitaet---Debayering--Rolling-Shutter-und-Dynamik--Rolling-Shutter---Panaso.html#RollingShutterPanason
This is important because 4K/120p is usually what sets apart your £3k new camera from a £1k used S1H.
Granted there's a few new features that have come through since.
But if you don't need the speed, the a1, S1R II, Z8 and so on seem a bit pointless to me?
There's so many cheaper options if 60p or even 30p is your only need.
a7 IV, S1H, Fuji X-H2, and so on.

Or maybe you will not 😂
I still stand by the ‘fact’ that it’s an excellent choice for my needs and the only alternative combo I would switch to right now at the end of 2025, would be Nikon Z8 + ZR + Z6iii (or perhaps 2x ZR’s) vs 2x S1Rii + S5ii and if a fairy waved her magic wand in my direction and said it could happen overnight with zero faff or cost, I’d accept her offer.
But as fairies don’t exist, I’ll just have to stick with what I have!

How does the stabilisation stand up on the Nikons and Sonys compared to Lumix? It’s such a huge plus for me when covering events etc

Going back to the GH7, one thing that surprised me on the trip was the GH7 + Voigtlander 42.5mm F0.95 + Sirui 1.25x anamorphic adapter combination. 
When I saw that the Sirui was under USD300 / AUD500 I was stunned as anamorphic was something that I had dismissed as simply being inaccessible to me - too expensive / difficult / complicated.  I ordered it immediately.
When my tests revealed it was quite happy paired with the Voigtlander F0.95 primes shot wide open, I decided to take the 42.5mm on the trip with me as a creative experiment.  The FF horizontal equivalent for the 17.5mm and adapter is 28mm F1.5, which is interesting but I'm not a huge fan of the 28mm FOV, so I chose the 42.5mm lens to pair with it, which gives an equivalent of 68mm F1.5.  It's a longer lens for street shooting, but will give me some distance to work with (useful for a rig that is as large as this combination) and will give some great shallow DOF too.
Here are some sample frame grabs from the night markets in Xiamen Island, China.








When I used it in Hong Kong I found the focal length really came into its own.  There were so many layers and so much movement, the best shots are just a confusing mess without the motion that helps you identify what is going on.  Here are some more minimal frames.







I have pushed the grade in these very heavily.  Loads of contrast and vignetting and a strong application of Film Look Creator too.  The Voigtlanders are soft wide-open too, adding to the look.
IIRC these images were shot with the lens stopped down a bit (I'd forgotten my ND filter!) so it can be quite well behaved.


It has sent me down a rabbit hole of looking at how to get a more vintage S35 / FF look.  More on that later.
My mini-review of the Sirui is this:
It's very affordable It's large and heavy, but build quality feels very good and seems to have tight tolerances It's sharp It doesn't flare much at all, even shooting in the streets at night I only saw flares on a few occasions when the headlights of a car hit the lens just right The focusing mechanism is a joy, I used one finger to focus it for a lot of the time I was using it The bokeh is surprisingly cats-eye / swirly, and doesn't have that strong a vertical stretch (at 1.25x it's only a mild squeeze factor so that makes sense) It has a bit of coma with bright lights If you like what you see above, I'd recommend it.
I started off thinking that my bag was very heavy and not taking this combo next trip would be a good way to lighten my luggage a bit, and on the trip home was thinking that I'll take it everywhere and just pack less clothes.

Fujifilm will probably release a GFX 100RF with a 28mm f/2.8 in 3-4 years, with IBIS, and an updated sensor and no one will give a shit about wanting a FF fuji camera. They'll instead be asking Leica why there isn't a MF sensor in their Q, hmmm?

FWIW, the Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 pancake is popular among Fuji GFX users because it's the smallest (or one of the smallest) autofocus lenses that covers the GFX sensor.
If there's a market for the Canon lens, there's almost certainly a market for a similar lens that's one stop faster. Not even sure why Sean would equate it to a shitty 26mm f/8 lens.

That’s definitely a shift in their marketing strategy—not one that really appeals to me. Owning the S9 (though not the painted gold version), I can’t help but feel Panasonic has done the camera-world equivalent of polishing a turd.
That said, I actually like the S9 for what it is—though not at the original price. At the discounted sub-1000 euro mark, it makes sense. My main issue is that it didn’t deserve the attention of a redesign because it’s a fiddly little camera that lacks proper lenses. I’m still waiting for a Panasonic-branded, real pancake lens with autofocus—the kind that should have been released alongside the S9.
I even mentioned this to Sean on his weekly livestream. I asked why Panasonic wouldn’t create a lens like the 40mm f/2 that TTArtisan just released, even if it cost twice as much. His response was that they wouldn’t, because everyone would hate on it—much like the 26mm joke of a lens. I disagree. I believe they’d sell plenty of copies of a 40mm f/2 with AF (even if plastic) at around 350 euros.
Sometimes, Panasonic just can’t see the obvious, IMO.

Sorry, my mistake, it’s the 18-40 lens of course and not the Titty Artisan lens 🙈
But still a really good looking little kit etc even though it doesn’t have any more capability than any other colour including good old black.
There are some other EU only release colours I think.
I have a red one. Thought about selling it since I got a pair of S1Rii’s but repurposing it instead as a static extra video unit for those occasions when I could do with such a thing. Rather than pocket £500, makes sense to me as business user.

Possibly and from my perspective, yes!
But that’s based on my own selfish desires.
And then again, since acquiring first one and then a second S1Rii, I ask myself what is missing from those that I need and the answer is absolutely nothing!
I loved the design of my S1H and its video capability. The S1Rii beats it.
I loved the photo capability of the OG S1R but hated the body. I now have that capability on the S1H ‘lite’ body.
I have literally zero complaints.
The S9 has limitations however and despite my liking the little fucker, a season’s pro use with it has shown up it’s shortcomings…

I intend on doing this, but Sean's response rubbed me the wrong way. It's too bad Panasonic doesn't have the same spirit as it had with the GM1 (the camera referenced in the release of the S9). I wanted a 28mm and 40mm pancake. The TTArtisan isn't quite pancake status, but it's the best we've got.
 
It seems like a decent price. 

Or just go buy the TT Artisan one at £159 and that's Lumix's loss in terms of lens sales at least.
IMO, unless you want to shoot cropped video, in which case the Sigma 17-50mm f2.8 is a great choice, for stills, the 40mm f2 is a perfect match.
I didn't realise it was a limited edition and even if they gave away 1/2 of them, apparently still at least one available as it's listed as in stock on Panny's UK website at £1199 inc. matching Titty lens.
Might just pick one up to sell on to the Leica Sunday polishers...

I guess that people must have been complaining to Panasonic that the S9 was too affordable and they really needed the same thing, but more expensive.  😉

That's about the gist of it.  But I'd add that the heavier body is also, from what it seems, a more robust body. Also, less rolling shutter, shutter angle setting, 2 hours vs 30 minutes recording, uncropped 4kp60, much higher resolution on the lcd, headphone port, environmental sealing, and CF express.  Also, ability to get an adapter and use Sony lenses for people who have invested in them.
On the other hand, S9 can do 3:2 recording if that's a selling point for you.  And aside from being lighter, it's noticeably smaller in side-by-size pictures.
I'd also add that at least a nubbin of a hand grip is preferable to a completely rounded body for a camera that I'd intend to shoot mostly handheld (making the ZR preferable)

I don't know, I think you answered your own questions... bigger LCD, internal Raw (multiple Raw formats... and ProRes HQ) ... those alone are worth the price increase. When you add internal 32bit float audio (a real game changer) ... as far as tools, I have a feeling some of Red's exposure tools may be implemented... I've heard a lot of folks refer to the stop light as being a really cool one?
Listen, I get it. I like Panasonic too. I still really enjoy my GH6 (with LogC) and will probably keep it. Am going to test the pixel:pixel mode today with some old Cosmicar c-mounts, but not every thread, or new camera release, has to be an affront, or comparison, to Panasonic.
That said, this idea of Raw video, r3D or otherwise, is NOT for most video shooters and probably unnecessary for most YouTubers and people who frequent this site. The storage requirements are insane. Someone upthread said that you get 28 minutes of footage on a 320GB CFExpress card... I assume that's 6K, so I'll do a little better with 4K but that's still a lot of media and storage needed. But if you look at the camera for what it is... a powerful, entry level, Raw video camera, then even with its quirks, it's an epic release.

Absolute scumbag behaviour from these American corporate fascists.
The law and YouTube needs to stand up and say... enough.
You should not be able to abuse so many innocent people via the legal system.
It's all fair use.

Same…one of my most used lenses for my Z6, an old Nikon 17-35 2.8, is not weather sealed lol, but there’s the 5% of times where it’d be nice for the body to be weather sealed. 

Although it's not exactly what you're looking for, I'd have to second the Nikon Series E lenses. They truly are remarkable little lenses. I haven't been able to find a good copy of the 35mm 2.5 but the 36-72, 50mm and 100mm are nice little lenses, especially the size of the 100mm. Also the older non-ai lenses are pretty spectacular as well. One lens I hate to mention because it does get such bad reviews is the 35-70 3.3-4.5 ai-s lens. It's tiny and a lot better than the bad reviews give it. I mean, it isn't great, but there's something very Nikon in its not greatness.
Another zoom lens I love, which I assume you're familiar with is the Canon FD 35-105mm 3.5. This lens is ALMOST parfocal. Obviously constant aperture. Internal zoom. Fairly compact. I've had a few copies over the years, then end up selling it because I didn't use it too often, regret it and seek another one. My most recent copy I put on the Sigma FP and here's a sample of it at 105mm wide open...

 
No mind-blowing image by any means, but fairly sharp wide open and I like the way it handles the highlights. Of course it's a mess in direct light... as I found out last week during a shoot. However, there are rumors that Canon considered putting the L badge onto it because they were so happy with the lens.
As far as primes, other than the Nikons, the Takumar lenses are a personal favorite of mine. I've heard people argue that the 28mm 3.5 is one of the best 28mm lenses they've used. I haven't used that one but the 35mm 3.5 is excellent.
I've used a couple of the wide angle Tokina lenses from the late 70s, early 80s and they were decent, but I think they were f/2.8 lenses. Obviously you could get a cheap Neewer fixed ND to pop on the lens and leave there to give you that slower stop and to protect the front of the lens. Also check out the old Vivitar lenses, I have a set of mostly Tokina made ones in the m42 mount and I have always been very fond of them. The image instantly feels like an old 70s made for TV movie. I'm probably going to sell them though, not because I don't like them, I just have too much stuff and really need to scale back.
I guess you could also look at some of the older Zeiss Jena lenses... even the MF ones would give you the slower apertures you were looking for wide open.
Great thread! Wish there were more threads like this on here like it.