I love Panasonic and the innovation they have brought to the market ever since the start of their Leica partnership in the early 2000s. They are pioneers and the result is that boring Canon are on 35% share of the market Panasonic started, and Panasonic is on a pathetic 2.5%. This clearly isn’t long term viable and I am starting to wonder if Panasonic have soft quit the market.
Today was a very strange launch, and the last chance in 2024 to get new gear out for the busy November/December period.
Today there was no S1 Mark II. Instead, the very old Lumix S5 OG got re-released with DJI drone compatibility, in Europe only! Who asked for this?
Rather than an exciting new S1H Mark II – we got an S9 kit lens launch. This is to be a full frame 18-40mm zoom, very compact (which I applaud since mirrorless lenses are getting far too heavy) but the trade off is that it is uselessly slow – F4.5-6.3. Again, and like with the strange pancake at launch – I don’t know who Panasonic thinks is begging them to shoot at 40mm F6.3. Who is it for?
The S1R Mark II meanwhile (SL3 with a Lumix badge), remains missing in action since 6 years now. This is not a normal time frame for a camera.
This is a normal time frame for a cancelled product. When Sony released the RX1R Mark II full frame compact, it was crystal clear come 4 or 5 years after that another one wasn’t forthcoming.
I don’t mean to stick the boot into Panasonic if they are indeed struggling, or on hiatus, or simply choosing to focus on the higher sales volume of mid-range cameras, but then – I will say that they should be honest with us and tell us as such.
In Panasonic’s current situation, only a soft quit makes sense.
Maybe they can continue the L-mount alliance with Leica and earn a share of a larger profit margin. Focusing their high-end R&D on providing for the Germans. They are well underway on this front and the Leica SL3 is the result, along with the Q3 and forthcoming SL3-S.
Then they can leave Sigma to focus on high-performance chonky glass, and whatever the Fp series does next.
Panasonic can sit back, draw Micro Four Thirds to a final conclusion with the GH7, and sell off remaining Lumix inventory of old full frame sensors and lenses by churning out a few S9 bodies and the S5 Mark II or whatever the S5D is supposed to be.
It is notable that none of those have a new sensor, they all reuse the very old but still capable S1 sensor, which is itself similar to the 2018 sensor in the Sony a7 Mark III!
It’s clear to me that there seems to have been a STOP on significant investment into any loss-making endeavours at the Lumix company. The question is WHY, and shouldn’t we be told?
The bad thing for us who remain invested in Lumix, is that they have hid it and not been honest. At least in my opinion, because I can see no other explanation for what we’re witnessing.
