On the beach in Vancouver. Shooting in the rain with a Panasonic S5 and the Voigtlander 40mm f1.4 M Nokton.

 

For long time Texans cold rain at the end of October is not a "fail", it's a feature. Today we're a quarter of the way into October and just on the other side of my studio door, at 2:00 p.m. in the afternoon, it's a sultry 96°. A bit muggy. And feeling very hot. The idea of being in Vancouver, dealing with soft rain and a comfy 40 or 50 degrees seems like a bit of heaven. 

Rumors on the web speak to the idea that Panasonic will be making a new product launch tomorrow, the 8th of October. I'm holding out hope for a new flagship in the S line-up of full frame cameras. The first two generations of S1 cameras ( the S1 and S1R were introduced a year ahead of the S1H...) seem to have disappeared from the market and have been "quasi" replaced by the nice but not quite flagshippy  enough S5 variants. The S5mk2 and the S5mk2-x. Both of those cameras are wonderful bargains but lack the robust feel of their older, top line cameras; the S1, S1R and the video-centric S1H.

What am I looking for in Panasonic's new products? Mostly, I'm looking for a top line camera body that can hold its own against the Leica offerings. I'm thinking 60 megapixels of resolution. Little or no anti-aliasing filter. A fan-cooling scheme to make the camera the absolute best at withstanding the thermal loads that are routinely delivered in central Texas. A big, bright, 6 megapixel EVF. A bigger battery with more stamina; more "legs." 

I'd like for the new S-whatever to be robust, weather resistant, and if it has phase detect AF that's quite okay but if it doesn't it certainly wouldn't be a "deal-killer" for me. What I want is a stable shooting platform and 100% reliability. It would be nice to get all that in a package that's half the price of the Leica offerings that are similar.

On the video side? I don't really care anymore. If it does nice 4K video into the full frame and offers ALL-I codecs up to 60 fps I'll pretty much be happy. That's about all that most hybrid shooters need and want. Specialists in video will have their own set of needs. As long as we have a full sized HDMI port, 3.5mm ports for microphones and headphones, and the ability to use their very good audio interface accessory/xlr mic adapter I'll be happy.

Does anyone really need a new top-of-the-line Panasonic S camera? Maybe a handful of people who like the L mount lens system, find themselves routinely shooting in horrible atmospheric conditions, and don't want to splash out for the German stuff. I owned all three of the S1x variants and they were all rock solid. My only real gripe concerned their high ISO noise. Which they had. An issue now fixed with the S5 and all the other S5x models.

I have a feeling though that tomorrow's announcement, if there even is one, will be about a new S5 model with a 60 megapixel image sensor and a few odds and ends. Maybe a new lens...

My vote for the new lens? Or two? I'd love to see a 28mm f2.0 S lens that's fairly compact. That's a missing slot in their current line-up. The other lens that would be fun/nice/useful would be a 135mm f2.8 or f3.5 that's also small and light. I still really like that focal length for portraits with perfect backgrounds.

The dream scenario would be Panasonic launching a new camera body style. One which still takes the L-mount lenses but is set up in a rangefinder-like configuration with the EVF over to the left hand side as you face your camera back. Like a Fuji X-Pro only better. No need for an optical finder these days. A nice, mostly metal body. A smaller size. Basically similar to a Leica Qx body but with the glory of taking interchangeable lenses. It could happen. It would toss the overall market for better cameras into disarray. That's for sure. 

But where small, light and nearly disposable is concerned that Panasonic S5 I have is already just the ticket. The files are nice, the lens mount is all L mount all the time and the camera works very well with adapted M mount lenses. Best of all? You can pick them up all day long for less than $1,000. 

That's all I have for today. Remember! This is the photo blog with near instantaneous comment moderation and posting. Be sure to take advantage of that feature. Unless you consider fast moderation a fail....