Rumors have been swirling that Panasonic was going to announce a GH5 II (minor upgrade) and the development of the GH6 (potentially major upgrade) today, but instead we got a teaser. Panasonic’s teaser is that new GH Series cameras (plural) will be announced on Tuesday May 25 at 10:00am ET (7:00am PT). So, I guess the rumors are probably correct.
We are pleased to announce that we will present new LUMIX GH series cameras at an online launch event. The event will be held on Tuesday, May 25, 2021, at 10:00am EDT.
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https://shop.panasonic.com/lumix-live
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We are committed to further enhancing the G Series lineup and performance of conventional Micro Four Thirds mirrorless cameras and lenses to meet the continuous demands of creators who value the strong advantage that only MFT can offer.
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More information will be updated in the future posts on the official @lumixusa Instagram Account until May 25, 2021.
Panasonic has already moved to full-frame mirrorless cameras with their very successful S Series. The GH Series is their video-centric Micro Four Thirds (MFT) mirrorless camera and has been very popular, but getting dated. The release of the GH5 II means that Panasonic will still be keeping its MFT video-centric mirrorless line going as long as there is a strong enough demand for it. It will be releasing the GH5 II now to guage interest and reaction, and release the GH6 if and when there is enough demand for it.
What can we expect from the GH6? Well, a better battery to start out with (that from the S5, which will also be in the GH5 II) and I would not be surprised if Panasonic takes most of the best features from the S5 and ports them over to the GH6 with even further improvements since the GH6 uses a smaller MFT sensor, thus allowing faster readouts and processing. To successfully compete with its full-frame competitors, the Gh6 needs to be a major upgrade, potentially offering a higher resolution sensor, 8K video and class-leading Video AF — at half the price of its full-frame Canon and Sony competitors. If they can’t, then there might simply not be a high-enough demand for a GH6.
While it used to be that photographers were abandoning their large and cumbersome full-frame DSLRs to switch to smaller and lighter MFT cameras and lenses, it seems to now be the other way round: We are starting to see a reverse movement of MFT users migrating to the as small (or even smaller than MFT) full-frame mirrorless cameras. With Olympus having exited the MFT (and camera) business, and Panasonic offering only incremental improvements, these are your typical marketing signals that the future does not bode well for MFT.