Interview with Panasonic’s Director of Imaging Business Unit: Makes it clear a S1H successor isn’t far out!

CineD published a full interview with Panasonic’s Director of Imaging Business Unit. The English translated text of the interview can be read on their site.

Through COVID-19, the possibility of taking photos outside has been clearly reduced. And the demand for watching videos as well as making videos and releasing them from home will increase. Therefore, the G100, for example, which has a V-Log feature, the S1H update to output ProRes with the Ninja, or the LUMIX live streaming – we will help our customers enjoy motion pictures by using LUMIX. Also, we are trying to improve how we share new information. We have already introduced the G100 and the S5 via online channels. This was the first experience for LUMIX. And, since our customers might have difficulties with trying out our real products currently, we are creating workshops with influencers and reviewers, in order to inform you about our new products and their features.

We are targeting traveling Vloggers with the G100, yet, right now it’s quite difficult to travel, so we were worried before its introduction. But many Vloggers are releasing their own home videos, so the actual sales are much better than expected. We think it’s the selfie mode or the OZO Audio function, which supports the creation of videos, that are well accepted.

The S1 is handled as a stills image/video hybrid camera. It is more on the professional side, robust and resistant to environmental influences. Also, as a function for stills images, it has one rank higher image stabilization, and we considered deeply and tried/challenged to make it better especially for the viewfinder and shutter function. Therefore, the target audience is different than the audience of the S5, which targets a wider range of users. There are, however, some parts of the video functions that overlap with the S5 and the S1, so there may be some competition, but I think that these two models will broaden the range of target users, in general.

Of course, we are thinking about a successor model to the S1H. Regarding the video performance of the S1H’s successor model, I am thinking of one rank higher, so I think that the technical difficulty will become even higher, too. We are continuously developing technologies regarding heat dissipation, and we hope to develop this technology will make it an attractive product.

Nearly 3.5 years have passed since the launch of the GH5, and many customers are still purchasing GH5, but many creators still shoot movies in a Micro Four Thirds format. As I have assured many times, we will continue to develop products for Micro Four Thirds as well as Full Frame to meet the needs of a wide range of creators. Regarding the replacement model for the GH camera that you asked about, I will inform you but the information may be spread. Of course, we are considering it, and we look forward to seeing you there.

We are currently exploring the future potential and marketability of 8K, and continue to develop technologies for the future and the expanding needs of the market. I feel like the needs of the market are a little behind from what I thought 3 years ago.