Petapixel chat on the SL3s and L mount’s future

[xaviergut]

I think the L-mount alliance added the PDAF feature something like 5 years too late. At least for video is very important. I really need a reliable AF-C modus that does not lose focus.

 

[Markuswelder]

Personally, I'm not really concerned about L mounts future. My S5 is more camera than I'll ever need, and there are currently more native lenses available than I'll ever need also. I think it's a bit like m4/3, whose death has been expected/predicted for as long as I can ever remember. Yet it's still just quietly ticking along, still making enough money that Panasonic hasn't killed it off. And they would have, no mistaking that, had it been costing them, looking at the various model lines that have disappeared over time. Some even returning when they thought the timing might be right again.
It's a bit of a fool's errand I think, constantly looking around, worrying about who has the "best" cameras. Are you going to jump ship, just because the Jones's next door have a bigger swimming pool? At the moment, all the latest camera's seem to be sacrificing image quality for speed, not sure if that's the best path to be going down at this point in time.

 

[dirk]

It's a bit of a fool's errand I think, constantly looking around, worrying about who has the "best" cameras. Are you going to jump ship, just because the Jones's next door have a bigger swimming pool?

No, but this is just us, the current customers. We will not switch that easy, if we did our homework before we bought into the LMount.

But for the brand new customers are important. First time MLU buyers, Smartphone owners, the next generation behind us.

Sales to new people to be able to sell more lenses and more bodies to survive when we, the old costumers, are all dead already.

Do not get me wrong. I think there is still potential for many improvements/new features, which even we would appreciate. But I disagree with the PetaPixel statement that

a) the most expensive models are the most needed for a brand

b) if Panasonic is not able to "duplicate" a Z8, LMount will die.

Especially b) sounds for me like kindergarden talk of someone who wants to have a specific model/feature combination and thinks everyone needs this AND is willing to pay the price for it.

If Lumix would have as many millions old costumers from the DSLR time, then the story would be different. 1% of these old 10/20/100 million Nikon users used to have a D850 and these loyal people will buy a Z8. They have the money, they have the need. R&D costs for the high end model will be covered by these 1%.

But Lumix does not have these millions old costumers, so the math is very different. My guess is that among the old Lumix costumers, percentage wise, there are not that many who are willing to pay 5k+ for a body than among Nikonians.

The reason why it takes so long for a replacement of an S1R and S1 is that sales have not been as high as expected compared to the S5/S5ii. Nobody knows the reason for sure.

It could be the price, the old costumer segment, the size/weight, the AF, wrong marketing etc. or a combination of these criterias. I think it is reasonable from Panasonic to be cautious with the next high end iteration.

They need to figure out what would sell more items of a S1Rii. Technology has to be advanced enough to make a meaningful improvement. Nobody buys a S1Rii just because the colour is different. Lumix' target group is not Leica's target group.

This is not as easy as we might think and without a high market share, the wrong experiment is more dangerous for Lumix than for other brands. You can not afford to test blindly many different models on the market as Sony did it.

Panasonic is big enough to have a very long breath. But even big companies like Panasonic want to make money asap with new models. There are similarities to Kyocera/Contax, when they faced similar problems. Both failed on the marketing side IMHO.

It is not enough to make good products, you have to tell the world also about it. Show it to them. Talk with costumers. Not just youtube reviews