New L Mount Camera coming next week…

[MrSMW]

…according to the smoke signals coming from the Dolomites.

It isn’t the successor to the S1H, but what remains to be seen…

Options:

A. A bit too soon for an S9II surely?

B. A photo-oriented version though maybe?

C. A new Sigma, next gen FP/L? With a faster sensor, tilt screen and IBIS, that would be ossum.

D. A Leica ‘Q3’ with interchangeable lens mount?

E. DJI enters the arena with a non gimbal, non flying camera?

Speculate below!

[stephen]

According to the rumor the L mount camera that will appear this year will be a Sony FX5 competitor. IMHO this camera will come from Panasonic or Blackmagic. Most likely Panasonic as it already has the Nikon Zr, Z6 III sensor in Panasonic S1 II and proved it can get better IQ than Nikon. Plus it has all the exposure tools already available. It seems logical Panasonic to try its luck with FX3/5, Nikon Zr type of camera.

The game changing camera will come next year. Until we know what is game changing we can only speculate. Here is my take: Sensors come from 2 companies - Sony and Canon. Canon keeps their sensors for themselves so in practice it is only one company - Sony. It already showed their best sensor in  FX5/A7R VI. So we have 2 options left:

    A. Sigma or Panasonic come with a new type of sensor: Sigma Foveon or Panasonic Organic. IMHO very unlikely in both cases.

    B. DJI which so far has proven to think and create out of the (Japanese camera tradition) box can come with something interesting. Recently I've leaned that DJI developed electronically controlled ND filter for Mavic 4 Pro which is not yet officially announced but already is selling on ebay and amazon by unknown Chinese sources:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHt0OaxKu4E 
    
    While not perfect it shows DJI has the potential to come with a camera that solves the ND problem for mirrorless cameras. DJI can come also with better price and user interface both of which company already proved is capable of.

Current and previous generation of mirrorless cameras are great so I doubt any of those can tempt me to go back to L Mount. It so good to forget for a while about cameras and lenses and just go and shoot something. 🙂  

[MrSMW]

2 hours ago, stephen said:

I doubt any of those can tempt me to go back to L Mount. It so good to forget for a while about cameras and lenses and just go and shoot something

I’m fortunate that I am all in with L Mount but currently 1 camera body short…

One of my S9 ‘B’ cams had an issue mid season and I worked around it with my EDC L10 for a few jobs and despite the quality of the output (it is the GH7 sensor after all!) it’s not suited for my needs.

That second S9 was going to cost more to fix than another used one, so I’ve re-purposed it as a photo camera for my daughter.

So a camera body short, season over, 6 months to the next one, just sold the L10, the gimbal and 3 lenses and twiddling my thumbs…

My ideal is a ZR/FX3 body with the ZR screen on the fully articulated mech of the S1Rii and ideally the sensor from the S1Rii and cheaper than the FX5.

Not asking for much then…😂

But seriously, the timing of this could be good for me as though I am considering a different photo camera, I would ideally keep it all in the same system for lenses and batteries and, well everything really.

I need either:

4 video units and 1 photo

or

3 video units and 2 hybrid (as I currently have less 1 defunct video unit)

So I am interested in either a more photo-orientated camera but in a more rangefinderesque body style à la ZR/FX3/FP, or a hybrid in this body style.

I don’t much care about the branding so it could be LUMIX, Sigma or DJI, or even Black Magic for photo, but ideally LUMIX for video as baking in my LUT is part of my workflow.

I don’t see BM making a stills-orientated camera and I’m not sure LUMIX are going to pop out an FX3 style body just yet so most likely a new Sigma or DJI and of the two, maybe DJI most likely as it has been rumoured for a while?

It will be interesting at the very least to see if it meets my needs, but if not, I’ve already got my options planned…

I’m going to guess in most likely order:

1. DJI

2. Sigma

3. LUMIX

4. Black Magic

5. Leica

[stephen]

It looks my first guess is correct except company is not Panasonic but Sigma. 24Mpx sensor in a relatively lower cost cinema type of camera body could only be the one in Nikon Zr, Z6 III, Panasonic S1 II. 

[MrSMW]

39 minutes ago, stephen said:

It looks my first guess is correct except company is not Panasonic but Sigma. 24Mpx sensor in a relatively lower cost cinema type of camera body could only be the one in Nikon Zr, Z6 III, Panasonic S1 II. 

Quite possibly, ie, an 'FX30 competitor' except full-frame with the FX3 'competitor' next year as the 'S1H2'.

I'm struggling to see where anything from LUMIX would fit in as the S5ii, S1ii and S9 already exist and it's too soon to replace even the oldest of these plus it would be direct competition and hurt sales of these existing models surely?

UNLESS it's a stills orientated camera, but even then...

So I am sticking with Sigma, DJI, Black Magic as the most likely candidates with the former two being the strongest contenders IMO.

I wouldn't expect Leica to be popping out a dedicated 'cine' camera and this thing is most likely to be that by the sounds of it, or at least heavily orientated as with the Nikon ZR...and they definitely do not need a competitor from within their own ranks for their M, SL and Q cameras.

But what do I know and all pure speculation!

[eatstoomuchjam]

Rumors have it being the FP II which might include the S1 II sensor for about $2,500 and in a body roughly the size of the original FP?  If it has internal 12-bit raw and PDAF, that could be pretty neat.  The S1 II sensor is, from everything I've heard, very good.

It's a little tricky, though, as just about any small/portable camera being released now exists in the same world as the Nikon ZR.  For me, if all other things are equal, I'd do an extra $300 for the better sensor (The S1 II sensor, that is).

[MrSMW]

An FP with the S1ii sensor, tilt screen and IBIS for me would be done deal.

Before the S1ii/S1Rii came out in basically a modified S5ii chassis…which I don’t mind, I had hoped and would have preferred the cine style body of the FX3.

I tested and loved the concept of the FP-L but just too many compromises.

I got why Sigma didn’t make a mainstream camera but at the same time, you have to have certain stuff or it will hurt sales.

As far as I am aware, the FP has never been anything but a low selling cult camera.

I don’t think a new model would change that scenario that much but surely at least addressing a couple of key areas is going to help in that regard.

If this new camera is an FP2 and if it has certain features, I don’t think it would be enough for anyone to be chucking away whole systems to go over to, but for those maybe already in L Mount or for folks that only need one camera, it could be viable.

It has to be a bit more than an S9 though…

[Andrew - EOSHD]

Really looking forward to this.

If it has all the missing stuff... Articulated screen, IBIS, built in EVF, Sony-level autofocus, then I'll be getting one.

A lot to pack into an Fp sized body but if anyone can do it, Sigma can.

And $2500 would be absolutely fine for something like that with internal raw and a unique form factor that goes after the FX5 and gives it a good mauling.

All without shareholder money too... Well done Kazuto san.

[Andrew - EOSHD]

21 hours ago, eatstoomuchjam said:

Rumors have it being the FP II which might include the S1 II sensor for about $2,500 and in a body roughly the size of the original FP?  If it has internal 12-bit raw and PDAF, that could be pretty neat.  The S1 II sensor is, from everything I've heard, very good.

It's a little tricky, though, as just about any small/portable camera being released now exists in the same world as the Nikon ZR.  For me, if all other things are equal, I'd do an extra $300 for the better sensor (The S1 II sensor, that is).

Hopefully S1 II sensor not S5 II!

[KnightsFan]

No way it has all the best features and also undercuts S1ii price. My guess is no ibis, not class leading af, and the evf is sold separately to make the total price higher than the S1ii. However, if it delivers on good image quality, low rolling shutter, small body with evf option, I would still be excited. It would be great to have a tiny, light body for hiking but have the option of an evf.

[Framed_By_Dan]

The rumours seem promising. Still no word on IBIS though.

I owned an OG Fp briefly as I fancied experimenting with Raw video, but ultimately didn't have the patience. It was quirky, small and light but the lack of IBIS and a tilting screen frustrated me.

It'll be interesting to see what Sigma do. If it uses the S1 II sensor, I certainly hope Sigma's processing for any compressed codecs will be better and more organic looking than Panasonic's current offering.

[MrSMW]

1 hour ago, KnightsFan said:

No way it has all the best features and also undercuts S1ii price

Could do as Panasonic are not Sigma’s master…but I don’t think it will have all the features of an S1ii, but no IBIS would probably be a deal-breaker for me as it would need to have a superb level of digital stabilisation for my needs.

I don’t know about others, but I’m not one for rigging stuff out and so few OIS L Mount lenses.

[eatstoomuchjam]

3 hours ago, Framed_By_Dan said:

I owned an OG Fp briefly as I fancied experimenting with Raw video, but ultimately didn't have the patience. It was quirky, small and light but the lack of IBIS and a tilting screen frustrated me.

Funny - the reason I loved everything about the fp and lack of those things don't bug me THAT much - but my problem was that to in order to get 12-bit raw, I had to make the camera bigger than a Canon R5 which has those things as well as 8K 12-bit raw internally.