L-MOUNT Forum
Register a free account now!
If you are registered, you get access to the members only section, can participate in the buy & sell second hand forum and last but not least you can reserve your preferred username before someone else takes it.
What’s on the Horizon for LUMIX?
- Thread starter Pete_W
- Start date
xaviergut
LMF-Patron
It is interesting. I saw some parts of it. I am sorry to say it, but my impresion with Sean is that he says all the time "Lumix listen to the customers" and they end up doing things that nobody understands. I mean some products, not all of them. So they have to invest a lot of effort explaining to the customers the idea behind those products. I don't know... 
pdk42
Moderator
I really can't be doing with a 45min ramble that almost certainly will reveal no new news - but I did dip into in a few places. One phrase I heard Sean say was "99% of the time I'm shooting JPEGs". Hmm - how can someone who shoots JPEG stills (and probably lots of video) have the faintest idea of what I need?
Nevyn72
LMF-Patron Gold
Because 99% of the users only shoot jpeg, especially now with a fancy lut over it.
The younger generations want everything quick, and looks that seem like 'pro', but with a few clicks.
But at least that makes Lumix sell gear, keeps the shop running, and that is the reason you stil CAN buy any Lumix, Nikon, Fuji and even Sony gear.
The Automatic modes are also the most important features of any camera.
Do I use them, no, I cannot remember when I last used them, but with the money of all those other buyers they cam still design new camera's.
Not that you would find these users here on this forum, but they are the majority.
Pete_W
LMF-Patron
There was no product news if that's what you meant? Panasonic would not announce or reveal information in this way. This video had some insights into how Panasonic operates, e.g. product cycles, design, firmware updates. I found this interesting.
Sean works in marketing and social media for Panasonic so isn't the person deciding what users need or what features go into cameras.
Pete_W
LMF-Patron
I agree John. A lot of people who buy cameras are unlikely to be spending time in forums like this or DPR. Or to put it another way, the hard-core camera enthusiast market, which is very vocal and demanding, probably does not represent the majority of camera buyers.
I do think with digital it is the same as with analog. 95% of the photographers do not develop their film. 95% of the photographers do not do post processing, no matter whether they shoot Jepg only or RAW. The better the sensors get, the lower the gap in image quality between Jpeg and RAW for the media you look at the images 99% of the time.
I watched the whole video. The purpose of that interview was not to announce new products. The title was a kind of click bait. The purpose was to explain what Sean is doing, his background, his responsibilities over the last 10 years at Lumix in different roles and the purpose of this weekly Lumix YouTube channel.
I found the information very interesting, because it helps to understand how Lumix/Panasonic sees itself in the photography/videography business and how they like to communicate with the consumer.
He is not a developer of new products. He has, because of jobs within Lumix in the past, a very good network to the Japanese engineers. His current "job" is to run the social media business in the US, run this weekly youtube channel to offer constantly answers to question of Lumix users and to collect feedback from user and then pass this to the appropriate people.
I thinks it is very important to understand how Japanese companies work/think to appreciate this job responsability of Sean. Japanese companies look normally only on the Japanese market and the demand there. Over the last +20 years with all brands I can tell you that with many brands, even the US and European management are treated as "second class" people who have no influence at all to products or influence on different regional needs.
I had meetings with top level people in Europe to find out later, that they have nothing to say and that a Japanese person with a lower title in a totally different department is the decison maker and the one who decides which information is forwarded to Japan. This is a cultural thing how decisions are made within Japanese companies.
The fact that there is a weekly FAQ Lumix youtube channel at all is already very impressive. Noone else is doing this.
Regarding new products Sean explains that a "normal" product cycle from the idea until it is in the shelves is around 5-6 years, like with the GH6. If it is not all brand new technology it will be shorter. Like with the S9.
Of course he can not announce new products in an interview with a YouTuber. But Sean made clear, that there is a product pipeline and they follow this pipeline. But they do not launch new products on a specific timeframe like i.e. every 2 years. They bring out new products if the improvements are siginificant enough so it is worth it for the user to upgrade.
Sean also said that Lumix want to emphase more on the photographers in the future. He said that all cameras will by hybrid anyway (with all brands), but Lumix needs to address more also in marketing the needs/wishes of the photographers.
I think we can all relax. We will get our Lumix wish list sooner or later. We just have to control our emotional desire to get everything immediately, "now".