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Panasonic and Stalin Team.
  • As the team continues to work feverishly to develop firmware for all of us that have contributed to the team and own the GH2. I hope all have given and continue to contribute , but as we watch and the team develop the new system, I believe that Panasonic is just waiting for this new firmware development to be released, Why,,,, it will increase their sales.
    Could the upcoming firmware be released only to owners and contributors? Why should Panasonic profit as others do their work?
  • 13 Replies sorted by
  • I believe it will get out regardless. More importantly than increased sales I think Panasonic could benefit from all of this free R&D. If I were them I would be open to people hacking their cameras with the caveat that they will not be held responsible. It'll be better for everyone in the long run IMO.
  • I think it is a bit of a wishful thinking. Every hack gh2 sold could be seen as a lost sale for an AF-100. Since now they have a product " proper large sensor video camera" at this price point they won't be happy at all to have a competitor coming from their own line. For the R&D I am sure that Panasonic engineers could give you a 10 bit 422 camera for $ 2000 if the management wanted. They just want milk the cow, the more they can.
  • @danyyyel I'm sure they still rather i bought the GH2 instead of a Cannon or Nikon in the same price range. Fact is if your budget doesn't say af100 price range then they would want you to choose GH2 and all this hacking and press means they get our business instead of cannon and Nikon in same price range, so i don't see how it can be a loss for them the more attractive we make it.
  • Does anyone else think that Panasonic is one of the few manufacturers that can afford to be truly innovative in for DSLR video since they don't have the same performance demanding pro-market that Canon do? For example I can't see Canon putting video features in their FF DSLRs/lenses that would compromise its performance for photography e.g. 'video optimised lenses' and mirrorless cameras. Panasonic can target consumers who don't mind a more hybrid camera, with video features at a compromise for some photographic ones. Canon have too much of a reputation/reliance on photographic performance for them to be able to make these sacrifices; ultimately this will always come before anything else.
  • Canon are in the privileged position of having strong sales and a leading brand. That means they don't have to innovate, can sit back, wait for technology to catch up at the factory over a period of 3-4 years and then release something extraordinary.

    However what Canon don't realise about today's world is how fast the market can shift. Nokia similarly were in such a privileged market leading position in the mobile phone industry 5 years ago. Suddenly the iPhone arrived and they are a dead man walking.

    Canon are lucky that their competitors are just as conservative and risk averse as they are.
  • @ danyyyel, I don't think the market works in the way you propose. Sold GH2 don't necessarily translate into less sales of AF100. If you can afford an AF100 or FS100 which are about the same price, chances are you'll get one based on the fact that they are superior devices in a professional setting. People buy those cameras for more than just the image quality. It's also about functionality and flexibility too. There are simply a ton of things that you can do in camera with an AF100 that will save time and money over and over again with each job. AF100 has ND filter, XLR, SDI, function buttons that make changing settings faster, Multiple frame rates, under and overcrank. Also I think that the people who can only afford a GH2 would be less likely to pony up thousands more for an AF100 if the GH2 didn't exist.

    I do agree that Vitaliy and everyone involved in the hack are doing Pany a favor in that they don't have to rush a new product to market, cuz the Hack improves the existing camera so much. This means that they can continue to make a bigger profit on the GH2, since they don't have to change anything with their production line. Canon is riding for 2+ years on the 5DmkII technology. Magic Lantern helped them out too cuz Canon sold more T2i's after the hack.
  • the stock gh2 yes, but not a super charged one that could ultimately give their $5000 camera a run for its money. now as we speak the gh2 has a superior image quality than a stock af100. we will have to see if with an external recorder, at least another thousand more compete against the gh2. it makes a mess of their product segmentation that something costing 5 times less does better in image quality. what the dslr revolution tell us is that people are ready to make a lot of functional compromise for image quality. if pana was so keen to show the powerness of the gh2 against at least the canon, they would have brought a gh2 to the zacuto test.
  • Working with the Japanese after many many years in gaming and TV, convincing them we could service their needs in audio, sadly convinces me you guys are on a development "island" somewhat - it's not that they don't care it's just this model - it is irrelevant in the light of the hordes working on the next model to sell us - it's not a sales ethic even - and I forget the word for it - as told by an old mate cycling thru Tokyo fishing brand new SKis TVs PCs from skips lol while he lived there, but they really do ditch anything not razor edge current - we operate on a different ethic of appreciation methinks
  • @soundgh2 Amazing story about the Japanese slinging stuff away if it's not fashionable. A different ethic indeed - and a pretty environmentally hostile one!
  • Thats marketing, forget it, and forget everything. Time for new developments is over, everything has to be cheap to get some rich and the rest poor.
    I hope next Gen does it better.
  • I think we probably enjoy a certain amount of benevolent neglect from Panasonic. They don't seem to be actively developing any advances for the GH2, but neither are they throwing up roadblocks to the firmware hack. Other corporations in similar situations might very well use legal action to stop or slow the development of the firmware hack.

    Not every Panasonic camera is a legend, but to me, the GH2 is technologically as groundbreaking as a DVX100 or HVX200 was at the time (with or without the hack) though inexplicably a marketing failure so far.
  • Not stirring just go to work every morning and see the offliners/onliners moaning ! I'm just a sound monkey with penchant for Rokkor and Konica lenses lol I personally love the look > 7d 5d but hey I just listen :) This whole DSLR revolution reminds me of the Yamaha DX series appearing when everyone had old analogue synths - took a long while to settle but hey the modern plugins now are damn close to the old clunky Rolands I owned and had to tune constantly...!
  • I really do not like speculations. Closed.
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