The Panasonic GF8 got registered in China (Source: Digicameinfo).
We will get two new 4K compact mirrorless system cameras at the Cp+ show by end of February:
- Panasonic GF8 (20MP sensor, 4K recording)
- Sony A6100 (36MP sensor?, 4K recording)
The new Olympus PEN-F will be announced in late January but likely have no 4K recording. And some of you will think…who cares about 4K? 🙂
9 Responses
yawn…4k
Sony a6100 is present in your rumors every month 😀 will it come, finally?
Dang. I hope so. And I hope Sony has spared no effort… I want some of the features seen in the other palette of cameras they’ve recently brought out: RX10M2, RX100IV, A7RII & A7SII.
Fingers crossed! I’d like to leave M4/3 (GH4, E-M1, BMPCC) and the D5300 for mirrorless APS-C E-mount (no real need for fullframe (pricey & bulky)).
Why would you like to leave M4/3? For me an EM1 for stills and a BMPCC for RAW video is a dream. I am sure the a6100 will be a great camera but don’t get why it would be enough to make someone change systems. What am I missing?
S35 for one. So less crop. Easier to find wide lenses that will suffice too. Also makes it easier to establish a nice shallow depth of field. For stills (hybrid use photo/video) as well. Add an up in resolution as a plus too.
Low light performance is a huge one. Noise levels. Below ISO1600 everything is still ok-ish on M4/3 (I feel like ISO1250 is the ‘make it or break it’-point), but I’d like to have a somewhat cleanish ISO3200/ISO6400 as well (no need for crazy A7S performance or noisy ISO409600 here though).
APS-C has overall better sensor data I find with better rendering. My Nikon D5300 does a tremendous job. Especially at color. Just having the OVF is a step in the wrong direction for me personally. I want liveview and EVF. Of course Nikon is just as basic as Canon, with solid focus on stills, not so much video, but for what it’s worth, the D5300 or newer D5500 and D750 are not half bad, just a little underwhelmingly specced. I do feel APS-C mirrorless is where it’s at for me. Just too bad Nikon doesn’t go there and I can’t really see a future for me and the Samsung NX1.
So… Sony makes APS-C mirrorless cameras. And pretty decent ones! The A5100 and A6000 are good value. Just, I don’t think they expected people wanting to use it for somewhat more serious video shooting. They’ve given both cameras XAVC-S in the end though, so that’s something.
Why not go fullframe already? Well, the Canon 5DmkIII is pretty much passé and they aren’t as innovative these days anyways. Then there’s the clear marketing separation between their prosumer and cinema lines, so you won’t get anything fancy anytime soon from Canon. Nikon has the pretty sweet D750, but is restricted to 1080p and it’s primary a stills camera and still has that OVF philosophy. Sony… A7-series. A7 nope. A7SII, ok, pretty sweet. A7RII, very nice hybrid cam. I like. But… do I really need fullframe? Nah, APS-C/S35 with a speedbooster can do a whole lot to approach that. And all that without spending crazy dosh on fullframe tech. Also, having a fullframe sensor, better cover that sensor with fullframe glass. Those lenses tend to get quite pricey. And perhaps even more of personal importance is the bulk those lenses add. I just want to be able to keep it very basic and minimal or rig it up crazy frankenstyle. But I need the option to have it very compact. Sure, you could argue I could just use APS-C covering lenses and shoot in S35 mode, but then why on earth would I get spend all that money on a fullframe camera… doesn’t make much sense.
Nah, I’m good with APS-C. The D5300 has proven itself to me. My M4/3 arsenal unfortunately can’t touch it on stills. Also, rendering of the video looks just right, even if it’s nothing fancy and just 1080p. I guess it is partly shallow depth of field and partly the brand’s/camera’s color science. Sure you can hit M4/3 with a f/0.95 lens or something speedboosted. But, for optimum detail, you need to squeeze the aperture a bit anyways, so it’s quite unforgiving in creating shallow depth of field.
I just need something that figures 1+1=3. Now… Sony might blow it. Because, like Canon, they might want some segment deviding going on. So I’m afraid it won’t get some of the sweet features found in the RX10M2, RX100IV, A7RII and A7SII, forcing people interested in somewhat more serious video shooting to look for the higher segment and buying an expensive A7x camera instead of a Axxx. But… maybe they’ll get it just right! So… my fingers are crossed.
The one thing I’m pretty sure they’ll not do with their next Axxx is adding a vari-angle touchscreen, like the Panasonic GH4 or Olympus E-M5II. Which is a real shame. Sensor stabilization is probably out of the question too. But, if they would offer a good 4K, solide picture profiles and color rendering, fine noise handling, solid codec, bitrates and a variety of 1080p framerates, I’d glady overlook some of the other stuff.
And just the E-mount itself is so valuable. You can mount everything to that, even M4/3 (not the other way around). It’s flexible, has future, Sony innovates. If they’re the only ones serious about APS-C mirrorless, that’s my path to follow I believe. Of course there are many trails you could follow and you might not have the same destination or means of transport in mind, so that’s all good. Just for me personally I’d like Sony to bring out something that would fulfill a lot of my wishes as they’re the most probable ones to be able to make it happen.
lot of text… and I share your opinion.
I hope Sony adds IBIS and touchscreen.
I was always thinking, a full articulating screen is best, but after using Canon 750D, I am not sure about this any longer. In most cases I only want to tilt it up or down. But it takes too much time to flip it out, first.
In general, I prefer tilting. The incoming pentax ff has a nice idea implemented for the tiltable screen.
4K? It is only intended for selling expensive TV screens and video editing software. If you are an advocate of corporate-led consumerism and insist on practicing it then fair enough. Otherwise,4K is required only for cinema-worthy content.
http://carltonbale.com/does-4k-resolution-matter/
I have looked into M4/3. I don’t like the 2x crop factor. Good lenses are very expensive. Wide angle is difficult. The body is physically too small for my hand. Sony put a lot of technology into the A6000. Just read Gary Friedman’s book. I would like to see: a variable angle tilt screen, weather proofing, IBIS, better continuous tracking, a real battery grip, and a touch screen.