Few days ago we told you what could come next from Olympus. In the meanwhile some of our sources confirmed our Olympus camera roadmap. Now the question is: What’s coming from Panasonic?
Let’s start with the most reliable rumors:
1) The Panasonic GH2 will be unveiled at Photokina. New sensor design, more megapixel (14?), 1080/50-60p, AVCHD 24Mbit/s.
2) We are also almost certain that the Panasonic LX3
3) The Panasonic AG-AF100 m4/3 camcorder will be ready for the market by end of the year (certainly not at Photokina!)
And here the rumors we recieved from good sources but that still have to be confirmed by other sources:
1) The Panasonic GF2 will not come at Photokina! According to our source it will be announced by end 2010/early 2011. I was told that this is the current roadmap form Panasonic but may the competition will force Panasonic to release the camera earlier than expected. The GF2 will have a built-in Viewfinder (read our detailled GF2 rumor)!
2) Panasonic is also working on a ultr-slim m4/3 camera. But we do not have any concrete idea when it will be announced 🙁
In summary:
– no new camera until Photokina
– GH2 and LX5 almost sure to come at Photokina
– Panasonic is working on two GF cameras. Both could be announced after Photokina (or announced at Photokina but available later)
– new lenses like the 14mm f/2.5 will be announced in June-July (also before Photokina)
Contact me at 43rumors@gmail.com to confirm/complete the roadmap!
Thanks!
17 Responses
1.1) If GH2 is getting into the megapixel war again, users will not be happy. Hopefully, the new sensor shall achieve better S/N and dynamic range instead, and further optimized encoding parameters for AVCHD with better video and audio quality. The processor shall be fast enough to process video data and remove jerky and jelly effects resulted from the high-res and large sensor.
1.2) As everyone has been looking for a high-quality compact camera with the weight and dimensions that are similar to its LX3. An ILC is not suitable because the mount will be the limiting factor that the lens cannot use the in-camera space to make it as small as the Leica X1, even if it uses M4/3 sensor.
1.3) This is for the pro-market, the concern of this product will be the processing power issue as item 1.3)
2.1) Let’s wait and see the power of Sony NEX cameras.
2.2) I think lightweight and compact lenses are better than ultra-slim camera only. It will only make the camera to be more unbalanced than before.
That’s disappointing about the LX3 replacement. If it’s not m 4/3 I don’t see how it can possibly be much of an improvement.
Can’t wait for the GF2!!
Will it have the same sensor as the GH2?
This would be awesome!!
I need a camera before October so I can’t wait for the GF2. Leaning toward the GF1 but gonna wait for some NEX5 reviews.
Hopefully, these cameras are going to come out sooner rather than later and have some of the NEX-like modes in them such as HDR, panorama, quick burst etc. They also need to be a bit smaller than current m4/3, hopefully slimmer, but not as low as NEX. And we need a native prime AF lens faster than F1.7 as well as some moderate zooms ( 6x for example ), …
Nice news about GF2 and the viewfinder! Touch AF a la G2 would also be a killer feature.
@at The sensor megapixel count has to be bigger in order to have a true 1080p video, since every third line is used whilst recording.
@jt
Why a disappointment for LX3 successor? It only said to be not using M4/3-mount. That’s obvious it is not an EVIL/ILC, otherwise it will be called GF2. M4/3 is no magic, unless it is a similar product as Leica X1, at a much lower price…
I am sure that panasonic has been developing the CPU for their new cameras for more than a year now and I certainly hope that they have achieved both faster readouts and better implementation. The thing is that they will either have less features than the GH1 or they are going to charge a lot more. Otherwise they will have no target group for the AF100…
Interesting news about the higher resolution on the GH2 sensor. My concern is that Panasonic is turning it too much into a video camera and not thinking enough about it as a still camera. I’d love to have IBIS with the GH2 and other Panasonic bodies, otherwise I might end up going to Olympus if they ever release a DSLR-like body for their MFT line-up.
I can’t say I’ve used the video in my GH1 for more than 5 minutes total since I purchased the camera over a year ago. It would be a good idea for Panasonic to have a video version and a non-video version of their GHx luxury cameras (or perhaps a high-quality video vs. a low-quality video) if the stills-focused version would have added features like IBIS, improved manual focus assist, metal body, etc.
While I agree there should be high end and low end models, I don’t agree that there should be video-centric and still-centric models. Any model that they remove video from, will become more expensive, not cheaper, as their sales targets will be reduced. Video is a value added feature that will increase sales volume and is benign for stills shooters as the video features do not interfere with or take away any features that are important for still photography.
The low-quality video model of the Panasonic m4/3 lineup is called G10. The non-video version is G1 and was criticized for its lack of video, so was replaced with mid-quality video G2 model.
A higher resolution is not de facto a bad news. So what if it can be associated to the so called pixel race?
It will be a new sensor, lets just wait and see how it performs.
it’s sad to see megapixels rising because the cameras have inferior low light performance than NEX5 for example.
Yah the future is good 🙂
” (…) 1. We also almost certain that the Panasonic LX3 successor (the LX5?) will be announced at Photokina. It will not use the interchangeable MicroFourThirds mount. (…) 2. Panasonic is also working on a ultr-slim m4/3 camera. But we do not have any concrete idea when it will be announced (…) ”
1. That doesn’t mean it won’t use a MFT sensor 2. That only makes sense when the whole package is pockatable, which is not the case with lenses attached (except the pancake). Combine 1. and 2. by announcing the LX5/7 with mft sensor, collapsable lenses, hdr, sweep panorama, burst mode, full avchd (1080i60; p25; p50), manual focus (focus ring, touch screen).
“remove jerky and jelly effects resulted from the high-res and large sensor”
Or just use a Final Cut plugin instead:
http://www.coremelt.com/products/lock-and-load/rolling-shutter-reduction.html
Build-in Viewer (without compromizing size) and better high ISO noise performance (without larger sensor, nor lower resolution) are to my opinion the two biggest improvement potentials for GF2 over GF1.
– IBIS would be nice, but won’t fit in same body, so I am OK if Panasonic skips this even if it kind of forces me to buy lenses with IS (if needed for application, 20 mm F1.7 doesn’t need it).
– I don’t really need much better frame rates / video, but if it comes for “free” then I would for sure take it 😉
– But why no AF and IS for non-m43 lenses? Should that not be feasible with direct electronic contacts in adapter (between body and lens) and potentially some Firmware?
I just wanted to post my own shit. Everyone writes tons of shit, so why not add another half a kilo?
yes, I would like the new gf2 to come out. I want: the best camera, price: 100 dollars.