Vintage Jimothy

I am not sure that works.  The GH5 added IBIS and 10 bit, making it a much more exciting a camera release at the time than the GH4 was back in its day.  Sure the GH4 added 4K, and it was huge, but 10 bit files is hardly a small addition.  GH3 added 60p to HD, again a huge step from the GH2.
I think each step of the GH Series has been a big step and factored in new technology, bringing new things to mirrorless camera from 1080p, to 60p 1080p, to 4K to 10 bit and IBIS.  
The GH6 would need to add something unique.  Alas 8K has already been done in fullframe, RAW with the Pocket cameras, 120fps is already covered.  What can the GH6 offer on the table to make it stand out from what is already there?  Not much.  Even internal ND has been done.   
You can't blame Panasonic if they thought that MFT had now had its day.  Technology has now caught up to make fullframe now equally beneficial.  
For the GH6 to shine in the way previous models did, it would require a leap I feel Panasonic are unable to make.  Outstanding AF coupled with internal ND, internal RAW or ProRes, minimum 120fps 4K, 30p 8K and 6K shooting modes and countless other features to give it an edge over fullframe mirrorless.  Anything less, and many will compare it to say the S5 and ask, why?
MFT was great in its day, but let's face it, even the size advanatage is hard to factor when the S5 is on a similar scale to the GH5.  What can MFT do that other cameras with larger sensors can not?  The only question to validate a GH6 release.

The Cost for Panasonic to have Sony manufacture a MFT 4/3 sensor, that isn’t a security camera sensor with a very narrow feature set, is probably rising by the day. Especially since Olympus is essentially gone.
They said they were going to look into leaning into MFT strengths and their next cameras was...the BGH1.
I would be very surprised to see a GH6, especially since Panasonic had been completely quiet.
They would be better off making their FF cameras competitive because everything is trending up from there. 

Most people using the P4K are adapting other glass to it. That is where M43 is still super useful, you can pretty much mount anything to it. Of course any mirrorless camera mount is pretty much like that. 

You raise some great points. 
The GH5 set a pretty high bar, and it took several years for full frame cameras to catch up.
A GH6 would have to be as far ahead of today's competitors that the GH5 was when it was released.

I really don't think there is a big market anymore for a GH6 at this point. And that Panasonic agrees.
I mean, the GH5 and GH5-s were about €2000 and €2500 at release and for that money you can now buy an S5 or an S1. Or buy something from Sony or Fuji. Image quality is virtually (for 99% of 'normal' people) indistinguishable between all camera's at that price point. Besides that, 'micro 4/3' sounds small and incomplete. 'Full frame' sounds like an end goal. Finally, you can use the whole, full frame. And it costs the same? And has better performance in low light? And you are an instant professional when shooting with it? I'm pushing it now, I know. I'm just not seeing any advantage anymore. Most of us bought GH-line camera's for the video quality and options that they had. But most of us slapped a speed booster on it to compensate for the 'small' sensor. You could also sell your GH5, get an S5 with an adapter and use your current lenses in aps-c mode. Or even in full frame if they cover that.
So that leaves the only crowd for a GH6:
- People who really love light and small lenses
- People who already own native M43 lenses and want to keep using them
I also sold my GH5 and GH5-S and G7 with speedbooster and got 2x S1 and an S5 in return. Even for anamorphic shooters there isn't really a reason to stick to m43 anymore. The new S-cams have a 4:3 mode which is about 1.33x crop. And every competitor now offers 10-bit recording modes. I mean, I would love it if they could push the boundaries again with a shiny new GH6, but I don't think it makes sense anymore from an economic perspective. Besides above reasoning, there is a pandemic going on and camera-sales are at an all time low. 
So who else, except people who love small and light lenses and or already own a gh5, would the camera appeal to?

Few things to note. They did not blast demo units to YouTube people. This is incredible. For someone that has invested in Sony glass over the years it is great to have a versatile hybrid camera by Sony. I am looking forward to seeing more over the coming months. 
This is the first Sony video that I've been impressed by the look. Same color as the FX series with Cinetone. I like it! 
 

If you get a a7siii, shoot on vintage or not too sharp lenses, and get the luts from https://www.joelfamularo.com/colour-a7s3  (or use the official SLOG type A lut from sony as a free alternative), it will be as cinematic as it can be. 

Modern lenses have way too much contrast, and cinema cameras tend to have stronger low pass filters than still cameras (the ones on RED cameras are extremely strong for exemple), the cinematic feel is all about softness and contrast in the shadow.

Yes, but A7S-III have a very much better slowmotion quality with a very much better af system, better rolling shutter and better stabilization using gyro data and fast shutter speed 

Right now, I'd say Sony.

VERY TEMPORARY 4 channel RIG, fully wired up, with Timecode from the Atomos Sync.
Since I have a shoot next weekend, I needed to throw something together that was functional UNTIL Kondor Blue has those beautiful Ultimate Rigs ready to ship in a week or two.
This is fully wired up, so you are seeing 4 audio feeds coming in (1 from a boom to #1 XLR, 1 from on camera #2 XLR, and #3 and #4 are 2 sets of Rode Wireless Go.  That beautiful blue braided cable is Kondor Blue's 14" full hdmi to full hdmi braided cable.  I'm running a USB-C to USB-C cable from the FxLion NANO TWO V Mount battery to the A7SIII for PD charging (it is keeping it at 100% as I use it).  Also, running a locking cable from the Ninja V dummy battery to the FxLion NANO TWO.  Obviously the Sony XLR-K3M is powered by the A7SIII through the MI shoe.  The matte box is just a Tilta one I had laying around with a cinema soft filter (4" x 5.56") mounted on the provided 82mm ring to the Sony 16-35GM.  And in the first picture is a "poor mans" EVF, very similar to how the FX9 is doing it.  This is just a 5" Loupe from Kinotehnik that magnetically attaches to the Ninja V.  I'm VERY pleased with the fit to my eye and function of this, however, I am having difficulties with the metal strip staying attached.  Magnetics is fine, but the adhesive sucks.  I'm going to try and fabric a hinging mechanism that attaches to the top of the Ninja and then just screws into the plastic shell of the Loupe.
Without a proper cage I do not have anything where I want it exactly yet.  Like the Ninja V will be more to the side, the Wireless Go will be elsewhere, etc..  But this will do for next weekends shoot.

Some tests and a review from Brandon Li.
Chris
 

Agreed 1,000 percent. The so-called cinematic look is 99% about lighting; the camera and lenses make a difference but it's minor in comparison. This video in particular drives the point home:
 

I'm willing to bet the A7IV (and any new A7 from here out), is going to finally have 4:2:2 10bit.  So starting with the A7SIII and forward, S-Log3 should be usable.  Keep in mind if you publish to YouTube or somewhere similar, you can still get banding because YouTube and others are 4:2:0 8bit and have high compression.  You would need to start using Vimeo or similar solution to keep from having the end consumption showing banding.
Case in point, almost every A7SIII outdoor example footage, if you look at the sky, you can see really bad banding.  This isn't from the A7SIII, it is from YouTube and it's 4:2:0 8bit.
So, you may have high DR AND 4:2:2 10bit colors and S-Log3 let you squeeze as much DR out of your A7SIII, A7IV, etc as possible, but in the end if it is consumed on 4:2:0 8bit with high compression streamed to a smart phone, it can negate much of your hard work.
If you don't mind banding in your A7III 4:2:0 8bit, S-Log3 can help a little, but again, don't forget about where it is going to be consumed.

Brandon Li with a short film shot on A7s3, plus his impressions and some zoomed in examples of noise, IQ, and AF tracking etc.  Quite a useful video it seems:
 

I've not used the older Falcon Eyes, all I know are the new versions are waterproof, have built-in effects (which are pretty good!), have a new better ballast which can mount to a light stand, better colors and build quality.  I love it, it's an essential part of my kit now. 
The Taiko is probably the best light I have ever used. I've never used the Aputure Nova, and I was honestly put off by the weight with the hard case.  It's like 50+ pounds, whereas the Taiko is around 20 pounds with the case.
I can compare to the Arri Skypanel which is more similar to the Nova, and the Arri is an absolute chore to transport.  Overall I think the Taiko is better than the Skypanel for 1/3rd price.  The Taiko is just about lightweight enough, very good for a 2:1 light. The Taiko has better colour accuracy and has better punch. The RGB brightness is hugely impressive!! The app is also absolutely fantastic. It comes with different diffuser strengths or you can make the light hard with no diffuser. 

Lighting is pretty much the most important thing for what we do. It’s what makes your images sing. 
Here’s a bunch of lights I highly recommend:
1. Falcon Eyes F7
Ridiculously awesome light for the price. Everyone should have at least one.  Super bright for a small light. Very useful. Essential. Possibly my favourite right now. 
 
2. Falcon Eyes 24TDX II 
Flex lights are expensive. Not this. Build quality is great. Super useful. Waterproof.  Put anywhere! 
 
3. Luxli Taiko 
In my opinion, better than the Arri Skypanel which is 3-4 times the price. Best colour accuracy I’ve ever seen and very easy to use. Only downside is the power unit. Feels a bit cheap and not long enough. 

4. Godox S30
I think this makes the $3k Dedolight equivalent almost obsolete. For 10% of the price? Super optics for the projection attachment. Downsides are the power goes down to 10w from 30w when using batteries.

5. Colorspike
The light pattern customisation is immense and looks way more organic than preset effects from other lights. An incredible tool. Only downsides is the carry case is a bit “meh” and diffuser is fiddly. 
 
6. Astera Titan Tubes 
These are way more expensive than other mentioned lights. They share some ideas with the Colorspike’s but on a much higher level. These things are insane and worth every penny. I don’t own them but what they can do.... wow!! Downsides... 8 tube case is very very heavy. They are expensive. 
 
What are your current favourite lights? 

This is some of the best footage I have seen from the camera. A7SIII colors and DR rival 16 bit linear RAW from F5/F55 from a few years ago, all of that in a 10 bit 4:2:2 codec:
In the hands of a capable shooter, the lack of internal RAW is no limitation at all.

It is always going to lag behind, because Sony crammed a FF sensor into a mount that was originally designed for APS-C

You could literally post a frame from R5 or Arri Alexa, say it's a Sony A7siii frame and someone would say the color isnt that good and that something is wrong with the skin tones.

I think that just looking to an already graded jpeg export is not going to reveal it.
I was talking about my experience grading the files. 
There are much more color information in shadows and highlights.
The guy with his bike in the air was really underexposed and I was able to push it up without looking mushy or like an alien.
Scrubbing through those files into the timeline are really close to prores.
I really had problems with banding and compression artifacts with the older Sony's. Don't see it on those files.
I believe that in the hands of a good colorist it might bee amazing.
And also with your tweeks in the color profiles we could achieve much better results.
 

A7S III colour science is certainly improved and offers a much better starting point for colour grading.
Here are some samples matched to ARRI Alexa with minor adjustments, using "CineMatch" sensor matching algorithm, the A7S III sensor profile is still at beta stage.

Just downloaded the footage from that James Matthews video.
Great footage by the way.

The A7s iii is now a contender angainst other low priced cinema cameras.
All the information you need to create a good color grading is there. 
Rich colors, shadow and highlight information. 
All packed inside a usable codec that is the h264 all-i 10bit.

All the problems I had before with sony mirrorles footage are gone. Noise compression, banding, poor colors, artifacts, etc.
I aways thought a good codec could turn these Sonys into something else, and here it is.
Personaly I really liked the colors.

Use case for Alexa = on set with a crew,  use case for an SLR = 1 person, running and gunning. 

A few more for the road. Damn does the F3 grade well.

The guy in the chinese video review said extended ISO means loss of highlight details (makes sense, and the same with other cameras when you lose DR by using extended ISO).  Everything else should be more or less the same, except of course you can use a lower base ISO.
The more I see the more I like in terms of features.  Chinese video nailed it for the most part, the S1H screen design is better, everything else is decent.  The one thing I "feel" when watching all these A7SIII videos is that it does not have the biting sharpness of oversampled sensors, and I'm constantly thinking, what is actually in focus here.  A lot of it looks oddly "soft". Most people here will probably enjoy it as it's more "cinematic" (I hate myself for using that word), but I actually like the option to have uber sharp footage. A small price to pay I suppose, but I really enjoy having the option to have that in your face detail.  You can always blur footage a bit, but it's you can't get the detail back if it's not there to begin with.
I'm surprised the footage from other people is so unflattering, especially when shooting in natural light which is basically "cheating" in terms of lighting.  Chinese vid was the first one I thought actually showed you could get decent color from it.