What will Panasonic soon announce ? Guesswork 7 September 2018

Panasonic is due to  make some kind of big photography related announcement on 25 September.

There has been much speculation on the internet as to the substance of this with several writers opining that a ‘full frame” camera (whatever that means) is on the cards.

Not to be outdone here is my totally wild guess as to what might be forthcoming from Panasonic.

1. Panasonic is heavily into video with rumors of an 8K camera to come. So I think 8K (7680x4320 px in 16:9 aspect ratio) is the first thing this new product (if the announcement is about a product) will bring.

2. It will fully integrate stills and video capture in seamless fashion. The user will just press the button and start recording. The resulting frames can be used as video or single photos at will.

3. It will have a multi-aspect-ratio sensor like the LX100.

4. There will be no mechanical shutter. The camera will use a global shutter or very fast scanning e-shutter to minimise rolling shutter effect.

5. If the pixel pitch is the same as existing 20 Mpx M43 sensors then the image circle will need to be about 29.4mm, say 30mm.

This compares to 43mm for traditional 24x36mm full frame, and 27/28mm for APS-C.  An image circle around this size would allow the deployment of smaller, lighter lenses than are required for the full 24x36mm format.

6. The M43 lens mount has an internal diameter of about 38mm which is larger than it really needs to be for the M43 sensor, so  the larger sensor could fit into the existing mount, using the ratio of  inner mount diameter to image circle (1.25) on the EOS R as a guide.   However the data connection pins appear to be  in the wrong place for a larger sensor.  There is a rumor that they will use a wider lens mount with shorter flangeback distance. If there is no focal plane shutter or even with one, that could be done and an adapter could be used to accept existing M43 lenses.

7. If Panasonic can actually do all this they will have built a category creating new product which will make all existing cameras look like throwbacks to a previous era.

I think the recent full frame mirrorless interchangeable lens offerings from Sony, Nikon, Canon and Leica are all boring, based on an imager size over 100 years old and lacking an adventurous approach to the whole business of imaging.  Some of the lenses are huge, heavy and expensive. The focal plane shutters are noisy and limit continuous shooting performance.

As camera sales continue to fall the big players have become cautious and risk averse which is understandable and might be successful in the short term. But I think that in the longer run he (or she, or they) who dares wins.

We shall see.