The Panasonic S1 II pricing is wrong, and so is the entire product strategy since 2018

[MrSMW]

On 5/16/2025 at 12:07 AM, EduPortas said:

It makes NO sense whatsoever and makes us long for the GH-1-2-3-4 pricing and innovativeness. 

Every single one of the original GH cameras had some sort of innovation that differentiated it from the rest of the Canon-Nikon-Sony parade. All of that was lost with the move to FF.

Funnily enough, a former client from 2014 contacted me today to say that she had 'lost' her wedding video and did I still have it?

After I stopped laughing, I thought hang on, it is probably still on Vimeo. And it was.

I thought it would look so dated and be an utter cringe-fest, but actually it wasn't and I was a bit surprised.

It was shot on the GH3.

[mtol]

17 hours ago, eatstoomuchjam said:

Not directly, but the Zoom F3 is close to the same size as the Panasonic XLR adapter, but only costs $300 where the Panasonic adapter adds $500.  It can mount on top of the Z3 and record 32-bit internally while giving a clean feed to the camera which can record 24-bit internally.  While it's less convenient to sync files in post, you would also only have to do that in cases where you actually need 32-bit which, for a vast majority of people, will be rare.

Also unlike the Panasonic adapter which will probably only work on Lumix cameras, it will work on any camera you want to use.  Less convenient, but the goal is accomplished.

I've thought about this and it is appealing on some level, but having to power multiple devices is still a drawback for me. Still, I do wonder how people are rigging up other systems - other than Sony / Panasonic - for run and gun sound, with the Tascam XLR shoe adapters seeming like a less than ideal setup.

[eatstoomuchjam]

3 hours ago, mtol said:

I've thought about this and it is appealing on some level, but having to power multiple devices is still a drawback for me. Still, I do wonder how people are rigging up other systems - other than Sony / Panasonic - for run and gun sound, with the Tascam XLR shoe adapters seeming like a less than ideal setup.

The Jazz Singer was released in October of 1927.  That would seem to indicate that people have made sync sound films for about 98 years now.  The first commonly-used 32-bit field recorders seem to have been the Zoom F6 and some Sound Devices something-or-other which were released about 6 years ago in 2019.

So... I'd expect that people who are shooting non-Sony, non-Panasonic cameras (or who are using those cameras without expensive 32-bit adapters) are probably still doing fine with 24-bit audio that everybody used for the 92 years before that, whether run and gun or otherwise.  😉

[mtol]

1 hour ago, eatstoomuchjam said:

The Jazz Singer was released in October of 1927.  That would seem to indicate that people have made sync sound films for about 98 years now.

1927 doesn't really apply here. I'm a solo operator doing run and gun doc work, and I want the most unobtrusive and functional gear I can afford in 2025. I'm curious what peoples' mirrorless rigs look like where XLR input is a priority outside of the Sony and Panasonic systems.

[eatstoomuchjam]

3 hours ago, mtol said:

1927 doesn't really apply here. I'm a solo operator doing run and gun doc work, and I want the most unobtrusive and functional gear I can afford in 2025. I'm curious what peoples' mirrorless rigs look like where XLR input is a priority outside of the Sony and Panasonic systems.

No need for 1927 technology!  As recently as 2018, people were only doing run-and-gun film shoots without the benefit of 32 bits.  Heck, even now nearly every sound engineer I film with has a 32-bit capable recorder, but records in 24-bit anyway because they don't feel that 32-bit is needed.  The others?  Never upgraded to a 32-bit recorder.

As far as how people are connecting XLR, on my Reds, I plug in an adapter from the built-in little mini double-XLR port to the XLR mic - after all, using a camera that natively has XLR inputs.  A Komodo with that is probably either smaller or nearly the same total volume as a Panasonic S1 with the XLR adapter on top.
Z Cam also use a dual mini-XLR port.  I bet some models of Black Magic do too.
All are 24-bit, of course, and that's enough for most things.
On the Ronin 4D, XLR plug into the expansion unit.
On the Ursa Cine 12K, there are full-size XLR ports.

Otherwise, you already mentioned the CA-XLR2D which is barely any bigger than the Fuji or Sony XLR adapter.  That's available for Canon and Fuji.  It won't give 32-bit, but as before, 24-bit is still enough for most things.  Otherwise, you can just jump up to one of their more cinema-focused bodies.  The C70 has mini-XLR.  I'd guess something like an FX6 does too.

Otherwise, for an unobtrusive rig, one can just simply not use XLR and connect any number of extremely decent non-XLR microphones to the camera's mic input port.  One example would be the Deity V-Mic D4, though I'm sure Sennheiser and R0de have some too.  Still 24-bit, but for many uses, it's also just fine, just like it was for many years before 2019.