Pruning the Panasonic garden ? 23 August 2018

In the heyday  of camera sales, around 2010-2011, many camera makers including Panasonic offered a plethora of models with annual updates.

Following the crash in sales especially of fixed lens models over the last few years some makers have drastically pruned their catalogue to concentrate on what they consider to be their core product offerings.  In the process companies like Olympus, Fujifilm and Nikon have pretty much abandoned compacts altogether, unless by some stretch of imagination you think the P1000 could be called “compact”.

This leaves Canon, Sony and Panasonic still offering a comprehensive catalogue of models in almost all categories.

With the least sales of this trio, can Panasonic afford to continue offering so many models ?

The LX100Mk2 was announced yesterday with barely enough changes to justify it being marketed as a new model. I suspect this lack of progress may be the result of Panasonic having insufficient R&D funds to upgrade all the models it produces.

A major Australian camera vendor currently lists for Panasonic 12 fixed lens models and 8 interchangeable lens models, not counting various lens kits as a separate model.

For the maker this must be burning up a lot of R&D money plus a lot of expenditure on inventory maintenance and manufacturing complexity.

For the buyer the number of models is confusing with very little to differentiate many of them.

I think that a smaller number of models each with better design and performance would be the best way forward for all concerned.

So I have put together a few suggestions for Panasonic’s product development people.

I have no idea if any of them read this blog but anyway………

The product proposals which follow are based on some underlying ideas of mine.

I think the future of camera photography lies with fixed zoom lens models.

This does not include the previously common small snapshooter’s compacts most with no EVF. This market has been taken over by smartphones.

I think that in the near future when small sensors have become good enough for just about any photographic purpose, interchangeable lens camera models (ILC) will become irrelevant for the majority of photographers.

Already we have models like the Sony RX10Mk4 which is almost at the stage of being good enough for anything.

It is hugely liberating to know that one does not have to buy, carry and mess about changing various different lenses.

For the present, however there is a place for a carefully chosen catalogue of ILCs.

Is there a place for cameras which use the previously ubiquitous “1/2.3 inch” (diagonal about 7.7mm) sensor ?   Some will say “no” because it can be difficult to get good image quality from this sensor size especially in low light.

However the small sensor allows camera designers to fit a really long superzoom lens into a compact, easily managed package and I think that will have enduring appeal to many different kinds of photographers who want to capture birds, wildlife and such like on a limited  budget.

I think every camera should have a built in EVF which is always ready for use without having to be raised.

So here is my suggested camera line-up for Panasonic.

* One waterproof/shockproof  take-it-underwater, take-it anywhere model.

* One model using the 7.7mm sensor. This should most logically be a bridge type superzoom with a proper handle and hump top housing an EVF. In terms of Panasonic’s existing models it would combine the best features of the FZ300 (wide aperture lens) and the FZ80 (60x zoom range). It would be a high performance model with capability greater than the FZ300.

* One ultra wide angle compact using the “one inch” (15.9mm diagonal) or similar sized sensor and a lens in the range 15-20mm (full frame equivalent).  Before Nikon aborted its DL trio of compacts the one which attracted the most interest was the ultra wide angle variant.   This makes sense ergonomically. It is much easier to pull a compact out of the camera bag than it is to dismount and stow the standard lens, then remove the wide angle one from the bag and mount it.

* One high capability, high performance bridge model with the 15.9mm or similar sized sensor to match or better the Sony RX10Mk4 which has no direct competition at the moment.

Neither the FZ1000 or FZ2000  provides serious competition for the RX10Mk4.

* One travel zoom. This is a popular category which I think would be better served by one really good model than the three or four on offer right now, (TZ80, TZ90, TZ100, TZ200), each of which is compromised as to the lens quality, sensor, or ergonomics. I think a focal length of around 200-300mm equivalent is plenty for this category.  The current TZ200 would be a good starting point for the shape and style of this camera.

* One advanced compact. As envisaged by me this would sit above the current LX100 in specifications and capability and would be a genuine alternative to the traditional 24-70mm f2.8 zoom on a full frame ILC. My advanced compact concept mockup (see attached photos) illustrates what I have in mind.

Panasonic has gotten itself into a complete mess in this section of the market with a muddled profusion of models which do not appear to form a coherent offering at all. There appears to be a mish-mash of legacy ideas and aimless pot-shots at the market with no overarching conceptual direction that I can discern. There are models without an EVF and various interpretations of both flat top rangefinder-style and hump top DSLR-style models all jumbled together in confusing fashion.

I think the previously popular category of “entry level ILC” would be better served by a well specified travel zoom (see above).

I would like to see just two Micro Four Thirds ILC bodies from Panasonic:

* Enthusiast level, very much in line with the current G85 model in shape, size and operation.

* Professional level, very much like the current GH series. This level could have a number of capabilities determined by firmware packages.

Panasonic is currently pushing the notion that the G9 is mainly for stills photographers and the GH line for videographers. This just seems ridiculous to me when the GH line could easily enough be configured for either mainly stills, mainly video or both.

The basic thrust of this post is a request for fewer models each with a more clearly defined market position and each offering a higher level of capability than existing models.

The total number of bodies would decrease from 20 to 8.

Hopefully this would free up more R&D funds for each model and provide us photographers with better cameras.