EVA1: Panasonic AU-EVA1! Announcement and latest updates

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I feel ya! I swore years ago to not buy a new camera body, only used camera bodies. So, I'm on the edge, but hoping this can sway me. That was when things were maturing at a breakneck pace, and not that they aren't still, but S35 w/14 stops and 10-bit internal and 4K etc. is a pretty nice sweet spot. I think I'd feel ok about investing in that as it starts to reach a point where while I'll still long for 6K 120fps and 15.5 stops and cleaner high ISO and and and... an S35 14-stop clean ISO at 3200 with 4K good codec 10-bit is a real beast of a camera and the sweet spot many were longing for... a true film-like digital camera, basically matching film specs.

It's funny because in some ways it's a lot to hope, and in other ways, that list is super reasonable. But you're right, we'll see if Panasonic decides to deliver. I hope they do, because they'd kill it, and I think the LT offers enough distinction with dual ISO, simultaneous proxy recording, 240fps 2K RAW, and it's host of other features that it's target base will still spring for it. If Panny is going to launch just 1 camera to fill that gap, I hope they come out guns blazing and take back market share from Canon and Sony. And it's going to take something that makes some waves to do that!

Just a year ago I think we would have said the GH5 specs were an awful lot to hope for in a camera too, and they killed it, so we'll see! Fingers crossed...
 
At the end of the day are productions really any better with a $5,000 camera? I mean do the actors suddenly do a decent job and did the writing magically take care of itself? Of course the camera is better but how much better is really the question here.

I am with you re awesome options etc.. The difference is clearly how it's used in the field. At the end of the day images may look the same but during the day it could've been a huge hassle for the crew. When the stakes are high enough, HDMI alone is reason to not even consider the GH5. Ease of rigging monitors, wirless receivers for reference, measuring distances from sensor, PL mounts that can handle wireless follow focus units, a screen on the AC side for menu changes all contribute to a more reliable production. At some level, image quality is far down the list of what's important once productions reach a certain size.
 
This new Panasonic camera is getting some of the higher end cinematographers completely jazzed who are under NDA. Details are being released at CineGear for a reason so we can expect pretty big things from it, even if it is a camera that is in the 10K-ish price range. My true hope is that it has RAW capability presumably with a 3rd party recorder and that the high speed is not hobbled by insufficient bitrate. I expect it will have decent quality 10 bit 4:2:2 internal recording capability as well as decent built in mic pres, built NDs and the usual stuff we expect on a camera in this price range.

This is enough to make me attend CineGear this year.
 
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Mitch, do you personally - off the record in regards to your current position - think it's a good idea to wait possibly 6+ months to ship the camera?

I understand it may not be ready, and even if it was, a plan is a plan, but don't you think half a year is kind of a long time?

If Canon and Sony have new cameras in the 4th quarter that may compete with Panasonic's new offering, wouldn't it be beneficial to get it out as soon as possible? I just always feel that so many people would purchase a new camera immediately (even if it was purely on impulse) if it was available shortly after the announcement.

Of course it could be the best camera ever made, but I think many companies lose steam if they wait too long.

We're not "waiting" at all. Panasonic knows how long it takes to build a camera; they've certainly done it before. We're letting people know what's coming so that they can plan accordingly. We have a hole in our Cinema Camera line and we want people to know that we have heard the requests and there is something coming to fill that whole. As we move forward we will release more information about the camera. It's not like we are the only industry that does this. Car manufacturers announce new cars and then release them months later. Hell, when Apple first introduced the concept of the iPhone, it was about five months before the phone actually hit the market. This isn't something new.
 
To rephrase that: does anybody think it's a good idea to become the new BlackMagic of camera annoucements? (and not even that: BM at least gave us all the specs, and a price!)

My guess: it's an af105 with the same sensor and codec of the original af100, but a new button layout; selling for $15000. If that's not the case, please, Panasonic: say otherwise.

Panasonic has a solid history of shipping cameras on schedule.
 
>>>do you think it's a good idea to wait possibly 6+ months to ship the camera?

This is exactly what Panasonic did with the GH5, and I think it's a brilliant strategy to slowly build up market demand for their products. The GH5 has pretty much been a home run for Panasonic because of this strategy, and I think this new camera might do the same by following the same playbook.

Not gonna give numbers, but I will note that the GH5 is selling insanely well.
 
Just got this info about the new camera. It will have a S35 sensor and 14 stops of dynamic range. 4k up to 60fps. 1080p up to 120fps. All the usual stuff like ND, SDI/HDMI out. The body is very light weight at about 1 kg. Media used will be SDXC cards with dual slot capacity.

The camera pars can be broken down and the shape of the camera is a mix of C100 and FS5. As is the price in the league of a C100 mkII.

Not confirming or denying anything, other than to say I would not trust this information to be absolute fact.
 
Not confirming or denying anything, other than to say I would not trust this information to be absolute fact.

Take it for fact that that there's only one person on this forum that could possibly know all the details on the new camera and that's Mitch.
 
Panasonic has a solid history of shipping cameras on schedule.

I'm not worried about it not being released on the announced date. And I know announcing products months before they ship is completely normal. What I don't like is the total lack of information about the camera: no specs, no price, nothing. It could be m43 or FF, it could be $3,000 or $15,000. It just looks like Panasonic wants to drive more traffic to m43rumors. The announcement is that Panasonic will keep making cameras, and they aim at shipping one this fall. Hardly newsworthy, and completely different from the GH5 announcement: that one also took months to ship, but we knew a lot about the camera.
 
By not announcing anything useful Panasonic hope to kid some people into waiting for the unnamed unspecified camera instead of buying the FS7 which is still selling like hot cakes.

By not releasing specs it allows the forum speculators to go wild and announce their dream cameras at their dream price point and some people will actually believe this and hold off buying, end up being disappointed and kicking themselves for not buying the FS7 6 months ago.

If this new camera was going to blow the doors of the FS7 at a similar or lower price point you can bet Panasonic would be shouting this out at NAB.

It's classic marketing 101.
 
I truly hope there is an MFT version alongside EF. This would make this camera so much more usable with old glass and native MFT glass - plus with all sorts of adaptability. I would also like IBIS, which is amazing on my GH5, but i'm not assuming this will happen if its a bigger sensor.
 
No need for Sony fans to feel threatened or get their knickers in a twist about this teaser of an announcement - the specs will be out at Cinegear in a month, I'm excited - at least there's some camera news to look forward to
 
The specs I was given is from a trusty source but hey it can contain a few faults for sure. The codec is a 10-bit 4:2:2 format with lower quality options at hand. There are a few similar features to the DVX200 also.
 
It's classic marketing 101.

...And it keeps people talking about this un released camera. Panasonic did the same thing with the GH5, where they first announced only 4 features of the GH5 and kept people guessing for months until the full details eventually came out.
 
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