Panasonic S5

jdv said:
And it looks like shipping's been delayed. Today had been the official start of shipping, but that doesn't look like it's happening.

Amazon now saying release date is October 19th, while Adorama and B&H now saying Sept. 30th. I pre-ordered 2 weeks ago from B&H and was told that they'd be receiving enough cameras for me to get mine in the first batch, but no joy - my order also saying it won't be shipped until the 30th.

This seems quite odd considering that early reviewers have had copies in their hands for nearly 2 months now (and those copies looked to be pretty finalized). Perhaps Panasonic is jamming in new firmware ala Canon, but considering Panny just announced a small firmware upgrade yesterday (for uploading files to the cloud) that seems unlikely....

...As does over-whelming demand.

So not sure what is happening, other then I'm not terribly happy right now.
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It really doesn't make any sense... I am pissed as well... I was hoping to get and test before a month of shooting in October. Not happening now...
 
Maybe there's a secret cabal at Panasonic wanting us to buy the R6?

One thing's for sure - if they delay again, that's exactly what I'll be doing. I've already booked jobs with the expectation of having the S5.
 
B&H will be closed for like the first 10 days in October so hopefully they ship it right in that small window around the 30th/1st before they close on the 2nd early in the afternoon for the extended time.
 
jdv said:
Maybe there's a secret cabal at Panasonic wanting us to buy the R6?

One thing's for sure - if they delay again, that's exactly what I'll be doing. I've already booked jobs with the expectation of having the S5.
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A while back, I wanted to buy the GH2, but delays forced me to opt for different camera. So, this feels a bit common for Panasonic now.
 
NorBro said:
B&H will be closed for like the first 10 days in October so hopefully they ship it right in that small window around the 30th/1st before they close on the 2nd early in the afternoon for the extended time.
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You guys aren't exactly filling me with hope.

Good Lord - now I have sit through the latest round of R6 reviews....
 
Ironically, I was in a similar situation with the R5. A Jewish holiday fell on the day the R5 was officially released but they shipped it the night before so I had it on release day (when they were closed).

But I was practically #1 on the list, so your hopes might depend on where you are in that first batch.
 
No one is hoping that Panasonic had decided to activate those 355 phase-detect auto focus points?
 
I imagine it was more of Sony asking to push it back a week and not ship the camera 2 days before they ships theirs.
 
It's a coordinated schedule. The members try not to step on each other's toes out of courtesy.
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I think it might have more to do with their offer of the free Sigma prime if you order the S5 before the end of the month. I mean, that's as close to a rational reason as I can come up with.

Considering the resources Panasonic's put forward for the S5 - giving away dozens of review units, re-designing from the ground up autofocus system, bunches of promo videos (including from the CEO himself), the prime lens offer, and of course the camera itself - and the launch hasn't gone as smoothly as they'd hope.

All but a couple of reviewers completely trashed the autofocus & the lack of full size HDMI port; the free prime give away "while supplies last" is a needlessly confusing and potentially anger inducing method of luring buyers in; and now this delay (nearly a month if you ordered from Amazon) isn't going to thrill buyers who have all looked longingly at the A7sIII and R5/6....

...And of course, there's no reason the release won't be delayed again as Panasonic hasn't explained why the camera hasn't been release on time in the first place.
 
If Sony made the sensor, it's what DLD and I are saying it is...because unfortunately even giving away free lenses will not save Panasonic from eventually going out of the camera business (hope they don't) if the industry continues to move in the direction its moving.

Even as wonderful as the S5 may be, the combination of no auto-focus and the L mount is an absolute disaster, IMO.

I don't know how they got this short end of the stick...but looking back they had a tremendous run with MFT cameras while Canon and Sony watched for the most part, so maybe that's how it was meant to be.
 
NorBro said:
If Sony made the sensor, it's what DLD and I are saying it is...because unfortunately even giving away free lenses will not save Panasonic from eventually going out of the camera business (hope they don't) if the industry continues to move in the direction its moving....
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Rumors abound that Panasonic will either consolidate its photo-video division with mobile phones and/or consumer electronics or do a lot of co-development/co-production in the BMW Z4/Toyota Supra style. Both BMW and Toyota make a lot of different models but Panasonic could indeed turn to rebadging the full frame Sony products. Which is a dead end, due to the mount differences. What they had not said is that they'll drop out of the cartel.

As to S5, without a top notch auto focus, it'll be a tough sell. The Sony sensor has the built-in phase detect AF. Whether Panasonic has consented to disable it is a different question (that Gerald Undone, Sarah Dietschy and the B&H crew failed to ask Matt Frazer, the Panasonic rep, in an hour and a half streaming broadcast).

Of course, they could enable phase-detect without saying they enabled phase-detect. After what Canon had done with the R5 release, the level of trust for the cartel ought to be below the Death Valley.

Side note - Johnnie Behiri interviewed a Canon bigwig. Who responded with a "consipiracy" accusation.

Johnnie – CineD: To some people, it seemed as if Canon was trying to protect their professional EOS camera line by restricting recording times. That might have caused some trust issues between potential customers and the company. Is there anything you would like to highlight in order to reassure people that whatever was done, was not intentional but to technically protect the camera?

Katsuyuki Nagai-san – Canon: This is an accusation we’ve seen before which belongs on the conspiracy theory pile. It is simply not a sensible business idea as users are more likely to switch to competitor systems than buy a much more expensive camera to get a certain feature.
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https://www.cined.com/canon-interview-r5-and-r6-overheating-questions-answered/

PS. Of course, there is no real competitor in a cartel.
 
The sensor is the same one in the A7III, so I doubt Sony put any restrictions on when a camera sold with it might be released (it's a 2 year old plus piece of tech). The S1/S1H has been using the same one for over a year now.

No, I think the delay is 100% a SNAFU on Panasonic's part. Heck, even if there were restrictions on release dates placed by Sony, they didn't add them in today - they would have been in the contract for months, maybe a year.

Another indication that's true is the fact that Amazon - the world's biggest store - is receiving them nearly a month after B&H/Adorama receive them. Amazon had their release date of today posted for weeks. I'm sure they're not super happy about it either.

In other words, missing the release date is 100% on Panasonic any way you slice it. Perhaps why they haven't issued a press release about it.
 
Highly doubt it, but maybe some good will come out of this.

Nevertheless Amazon dates change all of the time; I would check back in a week and see what it says.

No reason for Amazon to get the camera a month later unless B&H/others are incorrect and Amazon is being open about it because they care less about video cameras and cartels and relationship pleasing.
 
NorBro said:
No reason for Amazon to get the camera a month later unless B&H/others are incorrect and Amazon is being open about it because they care less about video cameras and cartels and relationship pleasing.
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Yeah, that scares me - my first clue the camera would be delayed was because I noticed Amazon changed their date (I believe they've already changed it twice, each later than the first).
 
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