Panasonic did not show MFT cameras at the NAB

BobKo

BobKo

Well-known member
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention was recently held in Las Vegas. I was hired to shoot photos/videos for one of the exhibitors, and I brought my GH5. (I have a GH6, but I was going to be carrying the camera around my neck all day, and the GH5 is just a little lighter.) I brought two lenses (12-35 and 14-140) but used only the 12-35 for everything.

I stopped by Panasonic's large booth and was happy to see a LUMIX display. When I looked closer, however, all the cameras/lenses were full-frame and there were no MicroFourThirds products. I spoke to the guy manning that display, and he said that Panasonic was concentrating on the full-frame models for professional users (such as the attendees at the NAB). He left me with the impression that Panasonic will focus on developing and improving the FF line for professionals, and that the MFT line will be more for enthusiasts/amateurs.

FWIW, I saw at least one other photographer at the NAB taking photos with a GH4. I think my photos/videos turned out well, and hope they please the client.
 
I got the impression that the GH6 was the swan song for Panasonic and MFT. It was late to market, made them miss some market share as the other FF competitors became cheaper and more feature packed and in general is probably close to as good as it can be in a 'not so great' ecosystem demand environment. If I shoot only stills, I do not see the draw for MFT. If I only shoot video the GH6 is a solid choice. Would a GH7 keep me hanging around? They are probably betting no.
 
There is still a failure to understand that mft is smaller and lighter
For climbing or travelling or journalism this is useful.
to me there is clearly a place for mft.
just like s16 had a place even though s35 had less grain
 
This is not apples to apples by any stretch, but ARRI released a new S35 camera in the midst of the current FF craze and so far it seems to be an absolute hit.

It'd be unfortunate if everyone were just forced into a FF ecosystem (kind of the way consumers have been not-so-subtly coerced into the DSLR/mirrorless format for video).
 
Sure, the company makes cameras, they might make more MFT cameras. But the emphasis might have faded. The new FF cameras are quite small with the right lenses. Either way, it is a nice to have choices. I saw the GH6 kind of in a price gray area. The A7IV is relatively small and priced not too far away from the GH6 and has a s35 mode. It is tough competition in terms or price paid imho.
 
drboffa said:
This is not apples to apples by any stretch, but ARRI released a new S35 camera in the midst of the current FF craze and so far it seems to be an absolute hit.

It'd be unfortunate if everyone were just forced into a FF ecosystem (kind of the way consumers have been not-so-subtly coerced into the DSLR/mirrorless format for video).
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Not applicable. S35 is the sensor of choice for professional cinema for too many reasons to list. One could say its Apples to Oranges.

MFT is a decreasing specialty sensor size. They'll probably hang around for awhile but the market has spoken. Doesn't matter if it's right or not. Panasonic made a big misstep with the AF, the camera wasn't good for photograph, over the years people left the eco system, the whole market has been moving toward FF. You can't fight the inevitable .
 
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homestar_kevin said:
Not really a huge display, but Panasonic did have the gh6 at their NAB booth. I was there on Monday and saw it
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All Panasonic would have to do is put phase detect AF like the S5II has and they'd be right back in the game for me, never mind the FF buzz or lack of it for M43 format, never mind who is a pro or who is an amateur, don't care. I'm in it for the camera not the trends. And I'm not sure where the notions M43 isn't any good for photography come from. Olympus had a strong following for photography before it was a thing for video, and that was more about how GH3-5 and onward brought higher end video spec like 4K, 10 bit, 60P, timecode, and unlimited recording times to mirrorless than a lack of good still pictures which didn't all of a sudden get worse. If Panasonic doesn't want to suffer the ongoing epitaphs like people are writing here, put the dang phase detect AF in a new model and move on with business as before, where M43 had no direct competition from Sony, Canon and Fuji. Panasonic torpedo'd themselves by jumping into FF competition against Sony and Canon, and forced to undercut prices to get traction.
 
The MFT format is fine for stills. I own a GH5 and the stills output is meh compared to my then 5D 1-3 and now A7IV. The 5D was a fair amount more expensive than the GH5, the A7IV was not that far away. I probably would have owned a GH6 and stayed around for the FF models to upgrade my 5DMKIII but they were so late to the party that I moved on. Panasonic just seems like a company that has lost corporate support for the imaging business in general. They are not really playing that hard and miss opportunities imho. That is why I question if they will pursue a GH7.
 
Bassman2003 said:
The MFT format is fine for stills. I own a GH5 and the stills output is meh compared to my then 5D 1-3 and now A7IV. The 5D was a fair amount more expensive than the GH5, the A7IV was not that far away. I probably would have owned a GH6 and stayed around for the FF models to upgrade my 5DMKIII but they were so late to the party that I moved on. Panasonic just seems like a company that has lost corporate support for the imaging business in general. They are not really playing that hard and miss opportunities imho. That is why I question if they will pursue a GH7.
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If they do or don't, I won't lose sleep. I had the 5D1, still have the 5D2, and I actually felt the 1 was better for pictures than the 2 but didn't do video, the 2 did HD video but with horrible aliasing and moire that looked more like DV, so much that I stayed away from all other DSLRs (and Canon) until the GH5. My Canon EF lenses were collecting dust until the Pocket 6K gave them renewed life, as well the U12K. My brother is an award winning photographer and Nikon Ambassador, but has done beautiful stills work with the Olympus M43 series. He doesn't do video.
 
homestar_kevin said:
Not really a huge display, but Panasonic did have the gh6 at their NAB booth. I was there on Monday and saw it
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I was there on Sunday (the day the show opened) and stopped at the LUMIX display case. All the cameras were full-frame. I talked with a guy in a Panasonic shirt, and he said that they were not showing the MFT cameras, only FF.
 
BobKo said:
I was there on Sunday (the day the show opened) and stopped at the LUMIX display case. All the cameras were full-frame. I talked with a guy in a Panasonic shirt, and he said that they were not showing the MFT cameras, only FF.
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I posted a Panasonic own NAB video on the NAB thread. Not sure what day it was made, but it had GH-6.

BobKo said:
... I spoke to the guy manning that display, and he said that Panasonic was concentrating on the full-frame models for professional users (such as the attendees at the NAB)...
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That's what a Panasonic exec said in a recent interview. What he didn't say was that it was a cartel decision and Panasonic had to follow along.
 
DLD said:
I posted a Panasonic own NAB video on the NAB thread. Not sure what day it was made, but it had GH-6.
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I found that video and saw the GH6 content. All I can say is that the Panasonic guy I talked to at the LUMIX display obviously didn't know what he was talking about. It now does look like Panasonic still cares enough about the GH6 to demo it to NAB attendees.

So that others can find it easily, here is the video in question:

 
Matt Frazer was a long time Panasonic rep at these gatherings. From his Linked-in page, he's still there. And, from this recent video with Mike's Camera, he's still there. Now, Mike's Camera is a Colorado based chain and Matt, once again off his Linked-in page, is also Colorado based. So, quite possibly, the NAB didn't figure into Matt's itinerary. Or, perhaps, he was out to lunch. Literally.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyIYyKKIWog

Company reps, of course, are instructed what to say and what not to say by their superiors. Most follow orders; others, like Tucker Carlson, chose their own paths.

As to MFT in general - the advancements in technology mean more and more affordable gear and more and more affordable full frame hybrids (a 42 MPX Sony A7RIII for $2,000 is my current favorite buy, though I don't own it) and they are displacing both the MFT and the APS-C from the middle of the market. Technically, of course, both MFT and APS-C are quite capable of delivering great images but the photo-video industry is a "managed" competition. Which means that the overlap of the high end MFT and the low end full frame isn't likely to last. GH-6 is down to $1,700 E-M1 to $1,500. And S5II is $2,000.

On the other hand, the same advancements that made 4K/24 MPX full frame models come out at lower and lower prices mean that the next video-centric MFT will still be a very capable performer. And, as has been brought up on other threads, the quality of modern sensors are already at or even beyond the human ability to discern details, dynamic range, etc. anyway And the production of the MFT is likely to go on for quite a while too. How MFT is going to be perceived by the masses is a different story but a quality sample roll will still be a quality sample roll.
 
Don’t fully agree. I was watching a video that did objective tests. Sensor dynamic range hasn’t really advanced much for the past decade or more. The difference that manufacturers tout are too small to notice or make a difference. But dynamic range is still significantly less than our eyes. The advancements have been the features and processor speeds around the sensor . AF was one of those supporting features that Panasonic fell behind. While the GH is capable of taking photos that are good enough for casual purposes the sales and marketplace are driven by professionals who demand the best and want an eco system to support their needs. Most cameras today yield good enough image quality. No doubt Panasonic will continue to make as long as there are enough sales to justify doing so. No knows how quickly sales will decline and what’s the line in the sand before they discontinue m43.
 
Peter C. said:
While the GH is capable of taking photos that are good enough for casual purposes the sales and marketplace are driven by professionals who demand the best and want an eco system to support their needs. Most cameras today yield good enough image quality.
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M43 is capable of far more than "casual purposes". FF pulls ahead at the margins- if those performance parameters at the margin are essential for your uses... then yeah FF is the way to go. Otherwise, there is so much FUD about M43 lack of capability for stills. Far from the market being driven by pros, at this point the photo market appears to be driven by consumer marketing- spec sheet fixation and watching way too many "influencer" videos on them-tube. Thats the problem, as the pro market contracts- the consumer side of the equation is driving the bus.

While IQ has improved tremendously, the prevalent camera form factor(s) are going to hell in a hand basket. Cinema style cameras, mirrorless hybrids and the forced push to FF, with fewer and fewer alternatives. It's looking pretty damn bleak IMO. When I hear some newbe describe his franken-rig mirrorless as "run 'n gun", I want to scream. @%&...

For the time being, I too use mirrorless, trying to tolerate it's deeply compromised form factor. I don't want to spend 10k+ again on a camera, and I am not interested in FF. I may need to eat crow on both of those preference due to a lack of options in the market place. Yeah, I may end up with a FX6... not because I'm happy about it, but out of duress.

Aaaaand... rant over. :-0
 
Publimix said:
Funny that AF is a thing now, I remember the disdain a few years ago when AF was mentioned.
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It's been a thing for a long time now...around 2017/2018 many were shaking their fists but we're going on about 10 years of Canon's dual-pixel.

Sony's a6300 was their first AI AF system in 2016 and they've made leaps and bounds since then with currently the stickiest AF out there.

Face, eye, object, animal, car tracking...it's everything now...and more to come.
 
I hope my point was not misunderstood - MFT can be made better but, as mentioned above, it is allocated an entry level role into both video and stills. In the era when a half-an-inch Samsung sensor can deliver 200 MPX photos, a five time larger MFT is topping out at 25. And its pixel-shirt multi-exposure photography is limited due to the self-crippled processing that doesn't allow for the interframe interpolation of A7RV and SR1. None of that is format's fault It's a decision made at the corporate levels. A multi-corporate level, to be more precise. And that's where things stand in 2023.

PS. Samsung and the Chinese could have hypothetically caused quite a bit of market turbulence with 2/3" and 1" fixed lens models but neither chose to bother. There are rumors of new Sony bridge cameras but they've represent a pretty poor value, which is why their sales have tanked and the smartphones took over that portion of the photo-video world.
 
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