The MixPre-10M musician’s feature set includes:

Overdubbing – including Punch In/Out
Track Laying – up to 12 tracks
Bouncing – to allow for more tracks
Premium Quality Effects – Vintage Reverbs & Vocal Air
Metronome
Render (Export) – for sharing files

For existing MixPre-6 and MixPre-10T users: Sound Devices will soon be releasing a studio-grade Musician Plugin adding a new dimension of recording capabilities to the already versatile devices. For US$99, the Musician Plugin will feature all the musician-inspired features, including overdub, track laying, reverb, metronome and more.

“Sound Devices has a rich heritage of employees who are also musicians – so the MixPre-10M is truly a product designed by musicians for musicians,” says Matt Anderson, CEO of Sound Devices, LLC. “It’s an incredible device that simplifies songwriting and production to allow musicians to focus solely on creating and recording music the way it was before computers took over. With built-in overdub, metronome, and effects like premium-quality reverb and vocal air, the travel-size MixPre-10M gives musicians the ability to record 12 tracks anywhere inspiration hits – from a tour bus, backstage, to a hotel room or live performance.”

The MixPre-10M retails for US$1499 and will be available in late March.

So now I’ve read up on this latest news, the first question I then have for myself is: “would this be a recorder for me personally?”

As while I’ve been very happy with my F4 recorder, I am thinking later this year (or perhaps next year) I will be upgrading from it. And the MixPre10T has been one possibility I’ve considered (along with a new 633 or 688, or a secondhand 664 or 788T. Or even from another brand such as Zaxcom or Sonosax).

So is this MixPre10M is simply just a MixPre10T without an internal timecode generator? (just like how the MixPre6 & MixPre3 also lack it) As if so it could be a sweet way to save US$300, if you already have a timecode box to use with it (or even you could easily buy one for less than US$300, they’ve become amazingly affordable lately!).

But it seems timecode in (no timecode reader whatsoever), metadata editing, Wingman app, and camera return are all a bit crippled in some manner or another in comparison to the MixPre10T.

Oh well, that 100% killed my interest in the MixPre10M as (slightly) cheaper alternative to the MixPre10T. No surprise though, as it is targeted at musicians. And it is easy to see the appeal for musicians, if you’re not intending to do any sound for picture with your new MixPre10M.

However, this is still overall good news for users if Sound Devices are expanding their user base. As this will help support further firmware development in the future for all MixPre users by bringing down the per user cost for development (so long as they keep the base firmware the same across all the new MixPre models, so it is easy to migrate improvements for one model across to all the others as well).

Most Popular Sound Recorders on B&H in 2018?

Posted on March 6, 2018 by David Peterson

Being curious, I was wondering the answer to the question of which are the most popular? Handily B&H allows you to sort your search results according to “Best Sellers”. I then refined my results to those that interest me: only recorders with timecode in them. (strangely the MixPre3 is not included! But the MixPre6 is??? Odd because they both have the same timecode capabilities, neither have an internal timecode generator but can work with an external timecode source)

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?ci=14934&fct=fct_time-code_1180%7cyes&N=3992462091

I’m a bit surprised at how Sound Devices has managed to out sell Zoom, even with their much higher prices for Sound Devices recorders.

The MixPre6 is DOUBLE the price (when you factor in a TC box purchase) of the Zoom F4 (even though the MixPre6 with TC in the bag, only has four input channels vs the six of the F4). The MixPre3 is even outselling the MixPre6! (MixPre3 is even out selling the F1!) Which I suppose makes sense as the MixPre3 is the cheapest of them all, but makes no sense to me personally as the MixPre3 isn’t “that much” cheaper for how much more crippled its functionality is?! Maybe the ultra miniature form factor is proving to be very popular.

Likewise the MixPre10T which is well over DOUBLE the price of a Zoom F8, yet the MixPre10T is also out selling the F8.

Guess this is why Zoom has recently put price drops on their F8 & F4! As even though I feel Zoom is out competing the low end Sound Devices when it comes to features and price, the market is speaking that the price gap needs to be even bigger if Zoom wants to out sell Sound Devices’ low end MixPre recorders.

Surprising indeed the Tascam DR701D is next on the list when the F4 is only $50 more to get (didn’t expect Tascam to be so high), but I presume this sorting by “Best Sellers” includes ALL historical data (which only makes the newer MixPre rankings even more impressive? As they came out after the F4/F8), thus perhaps the long ish time the DR701D has been around is what has helped push up its total sales volume.

Sound Devices 633 is next on this sorted list, no surprises here? As it would be easily Sound Devices most popular recorder ever, before they brought out the new MixPre recorders.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ns=p_POPULARITY%7c1&ci=14934&srtclk=sort&N=3992462091

Sadly the original Zoom H4n is the most popular recorder of all for sale?!?! :-/ Terrible. Shows how slow people can be in moving on, and instead rely upon old chinese whispers of advice.

Interestingly Tascam DR10L is #3, glad to see that is being widely picked up in the low budget world perhaps? And understandable why Zoom wants to then get a piece of that market with their Zoom F1.

A firmware update I’d love to see for the Zoom F4/F8: mirroring from one SD card slot to another.

Posted on February 10, 2018 by David Peterson

A damn cool feature I wish would be implemented in the Zoom F4/F8

We ALL have recorders which record to more than one piece of media at once (for a safety back up), thanks to the dual card slots in the F4/F8.

But why can’t we have recorders which allow you to pull out your back up SD card then pop in whatever rubbish SD card the production has brought along (because you seriously don’t want to dare risk recording takes to their card! And losing files or locking up a recorder. As they just don’t understand your specialized media needs) to then copy over from your main card the day’s shoot into their card they brought along (and you could have the option to throttle the speed if need be). Because of course you don’t want to risk using the production’s card during the day’s shoot itself! 😮

Sound Devices MixPre10T is kinda doing that, as they have a USB port which you can copy your single SD card slot to. But what if they don’t bring a USB drive? But a SD card instead…. the MixPre10T doesn’t have two SD slots. I wonder, can the MixPre10T copy from the USB drive attached to a SD card?? Guess that would be a work around, so you could handle either a USB drive or a SD card brought along by the producer,

Anyway…. I hope Zoom could implement this feature to mirror files (or rather, whole folders! 😀 ) at the end of your day.

Much much better option than either using their card during takes, or giving them your card… only to never see it again 🙁

Leaked: the specs of the Panasonic GH5S, & FINALLY we get the first stills camera with timecode I/O!

Posted on January 8, 2018 by David Peterson

This camera has not yet been announced by Panasonic (it will be in a few hours at CES), but the Panasonic GH5S got leaked by Tech Radar.

They put up a page too early, now gets redirected to their old GH5 review.

But Google Cache remembers!

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:nTmLu6vItjcJ:www.techradar.com/news/the-lumix-gh5s-is-panasonics-most-video-focused-camera-yet

Key info:

4k Cinema at 60/50p
Internal 4:2:2 10-bit
V-LOG preinstalled
Complies with 4k HDR with Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG) mode in photo style.
Bundled BNC terminal, built-in time code generator
Focus in lower light level -5EV compared to -4EV on GH5
Max ISO 51,200
10.2 MP sensor
Dual Native ISO
Multi-aspect sensor
GH5s available from end of January
US$2,499

Lots of interesting points there, such as Dual Native ISO like the Varicam LT & Panasonic EVA1, a multi-aspect sensor (means a wider field of view, like the famous GH2 had), and only 10.2MP sensor (“The Megapixel Wars” are truly over!).

But what excites me the most is that *FINALLY* we get the first stills camera with timecode input/output on the camera’s body!! (YAGH doesn’t count)

Because we have had the “HDSLR Revolution” for a number of years now, which have given us glorious image qualities at low prices, but DSLRs (and mirrorless cameras too) have always been rather crippled on the audio front in numerous ways. One example, is always lacking any way to jam timecode. Now all this is going to change with the Panasonic GH5S!

To quote the relevant part from the Tech Radar leak:

The Lumix GH5S is also compatible with Timecode In/out, making it easy to synchronize multiple compatible devices when filming, for pain-free post-production editing. A bundled coaxial cable for a BNC terminal connects to the flash sync terminal of the camera, allowing the camera to be used as a Timecode generator for other GH5S cameras and professional camcorders.

This is amazing news, as it has never been done before. Although the bad news is they’re not using any existing standard for TC I/O…. oh no, not yet another TC cable us soundies need to buy!! But wait, there is good news: it says the GH5S comes bundled with a cable for it to be used as a BNC connection, thus every GH5S owner will have one. Phew! We can just use our existing standard BNC cables with the GH5S that we already have in our sound kits.

Although it would have been nice to have seen a full size BNC on the GH5S itself (rather than using the bundled cable), it is very understandable that a small mirrorless camera couldn’t have this (but please could we get at least a DIN connection? At least that is used by some TC systems already, such as the Ultrasync ONE. But that is probably even less likely to happen).

And in a way, it is kinda ingeniously smart of the Panasonic engineering team to use the flash sync terminal of the camera as the timecode input/output. Because you’ll never ever need the flash sync terminal otherwise while doing video (the camera flash is only for stills! Not needing while filming).

And if they’d used the 3.5mm audio input or the smartshoe (which can be used for the Panasonic DMW-XLR1, which is an accessory for the original GH5 that allows 2x XLR inputs, & I assume the DMW-XLR1 will stay compatible with the GH5S’ smartshoe) then that would be two steps forward and one step back for the GH5S’ audio capabilities (as you’d gain TC, but lose flexibility in audio inputs).

But by using the flash sync terminal that keeps both the 3.5mm jack and the smartshoe free to be used as an audio input source, My hope (because as of yet, we have no detailed info at all as to how many tracks of audio it can record at once) is the GH5S will allow us to use both at once! To record 4 tracks simultaneously.

At a “minimum” hopefully the 2x XLR inputs via the smartshoe (the Panasonic DMW-XLR1) or the stereo 3.5mm input, plus the built in stereo mic. Thus allowing you to use a stereo camera hop from your bag to the camera, while also keeping a safety scratch track from the camera’s own built in stereo mic (to wish to record all six tracks at once is just greedy and dreaming! 2x XLR + stereo 3.5mm + built in stereo mic). I expect however my hopes will be dashed to pieces!

But if not now, perhaps we can push Panasonic for a firmware update to do this? Who knows. We are living in a brave new world of audio possibilities on a stills camera!

Panasonic GH5 with the Panasonic DMW-XLR1

Smartshoe of Panasonic GH5S used for DMW-XLR1

Just had one final closing thought: I assume the the Panasonic DMW-XLR1 for the GH5 will be compatible with the GH5S as well. But maybe they will be updating that too, bringing out a “Panasonic DMW-XLR2” with excellent pre-amps and limiters? But also this new “DMW-XLR2” for the GH5S would be the perfect opportunity for Panasonic to include an industry standard BNC connection for timecode (or at least a DIN connection!). Assuming the smartshoe on the GH5S can support not just audio being passed through, but timecode too. Would be wonderful!

Minor final final note: “what about the Panasonic GH4 with a YAGH??” Nope, that doesn’t count. As the Panasonic GH4 never had a timecode input on the body itself. (plus the YAGH was quite the flop, as it was awkwardly cumbersome, needed external powering just to use it!!) While the Panasonic GH5S doesn’t need any extra purchases whatsoever, as the TC input is right there on the body itself (and as a bonus: comes with a timecode cable for it! But you could easily make up your own if you wanted to).

Leaked: is a new Sound Devices MixPre-10T coming soon?

Posted on October 3, 2017 by David Peterson

An interesting content tag has been spotted on the Sound Devices website:

https://www.sounddevices.com/component/tags/tag/tn-mixpre-10t

Took a screenshot just in case it might disappear:

Sound Devices MixPre10T

From this info we can fairly easily deduce this is likely:

Uses AA / Sony L-type batteries.

Writes to SD cards.

And works with the Wingman app.

From the name I will guess it does 10 tracks, and has a time code generator built in (unlike the MixPre6 or MixPre3, which need time code to be permanently sent to it, as can’t keep TC accurately otherwise. Which is great news the next MixPre will have TC built in, as I was disappointed to realise the MixPre6 will lose tracks 5/6 if you need TC while it is in your bag).

Annoyingly when you click on the “MixPre-10T Tech Notes” link you get asked for a username and password:

Wonder how many XLR inputs it would have? I am very extremely doubtful it would have all 10 inputs be XLR inputs (like the Zoom F8 does with all its 8 inputs), likely only a few will be powered XLR inputs just like with the MixPre6, 663, and a number of their other products. Probably at least four will be XLR inputs, as that is what the MixPre6 has (but then again the 633 only has 3x full sized XLR inputs), and the rest will be something else like 1/4″, 3.5mm, or TA3F (I’m highly skeptical if we’ll see a digital input such as AES3/AES42 in a low end recorder series such as the MixPre).

Hmmmm…. I wonder what the price will be? I might have found my upgrade path forward from my Zoom F4! Depending on the exact mix of features/price that the MixPre10T has.

Presumable the price will between the Sound Devices 633 at US$3.3K and the MixPre6 at US$900, but that is a massively price gulf! And likely the reason why Sound Devices is bringing out such a product, to fill this niche?!

You will wonder what will the MixPre-10T would be missing so that it doesn’t compete too strongly with the 633/688, I imagine output options and Dugan automix would be a couple of many ways they could differentiate their products.

When will this Sound Devices MixPre-10T came out? If some details are already being put onto their website (and Google cache tells me it has been up since at least the 5th of September 2017) then you would assume the MixPre-10T is already reasonably far along with its development. However actual release might not be days away, but still months away. So I’d predict/hope the MixPre-10T will be announced by at least next years NAB 2018 in early April.

A little quirk in the URL that I’m wondering about is this, compare:

https://www.sounddevices.com/component/tags/tag/tn-mixpre-10t

https://www.sounddevices.com/component/tags/tag/mixpre-3-tn

https://www.sounddevices.com/component/tags/tag/mixpre-6-tn

Both the MixPre-6 and the MixPre-3 have the letters “tn” at the end, but the MixPre-10T puts it at the start! Why??

Does the Sound Devices MixPre-D give us a clue:

https://www.sounddevices.com/component/tags/tag/tn-mixpre-d

Hmmmm……. same pattern with the “tn” in the front like with the MixPre-10T?Does this mean the MixPre-10T is going back to its roots and is not a recorder but instead just a mixer / USB interface like the MixPre-D is?

I don’t think so, am probably just going a teeny bit crazy overanalyzing these tiny details and in reality this difference means nothing at all! Ha.

Because the name “MixPre-10T” with a “T” at the end very strongly indicates it is a recorder with time code in it, and not just a mixer, as we’ve seen from the past naming of the Sound Devices 788T / 744T / 702T. But Sound Devices has never ever released a mixer with a “T” at the end of the name.

But if you feel there is some deeper meaning as to what these “tn” letters mean, then hit me up in the comments and let us know!

Anyway, I’m looking forward to hearing more about the MixPre-10T when it does finally get announced. I’ll update my current overview of all the lower end recorders when it happens:

http://ironfilm.co.nz/which-sound-recorder-to-buy-a-guide-to-various-indie-priced-sound-recorders-in-2017/

Also worth checking out is my vlog from when I went to the Pro Sound Expo in Auckland recently, which features the Sound Devices MixPre-6:

And finally but not least, here is my favourite recorder in this price segment at the moment, my Zoom F4 getting unboxed:

Which Sound Recorder to buy? A guide to various indie priced sound recorders in 2017

Posted on July 21, 2017 by David Peterson

Wrote up a little guide for people new to this and looking to buy their first recorder as a location sound recordist. And is the way I see the world of low budget recorders is they’re ranked like this (starting from worst/cheapest to best/expensive):

Tascam DR22WL / Zoom H1 (I’d suggest skipping right over this tier of recorders! But hey, my first ever short film I did years ago was with a chinese shotgun running straight into a Zoom H1!! 😮 Shocking but true… everyone starts somewhere!)

Tascam DR60D mk2 (the DR60D mk1, before the mk2 came out, is what I myself started out using for no budget shorts as a budding location sound recordist)

Tascam DR70D (the *minimum* I’d recommend for a location sound recordist, even if you’re just a student / no budget guy. Although in desperate cases, you could scrape by with getting the DR60Dmk2, but doing the opposite and stretching for an F4 is very worthwhile. Certainly, I could travel back in time I’d just have gone straight for the Zoom F4 from the starts! *Except* the F4 didn’t come out until a few years later… you live in a very lucky time with so many wonderful options to choose from!) or Tascam DR680 (these can be found at bargain prices secondhand, which is what I did before I then later on purchased a Zoom F4 once that came out & I spotted an F4 at a good price)

Zoom F4 / Zoom F8 / Sound Devices MixPre6 (I skip right over the MixPre3, as the MixPre6 is very similar yet does so so much more at only a relatively small extra cost. Also I regard the three of F4/F8/MixPre6 as all on broadly the same level to each other, just varying slightly from each other in one area or another that ones might have a small lead over the other one. This is the tier where I’d see you’re now reaching the semi-pro level)

Sound Devices 633 / Zaxcom Maxx / Sanosax SX-R4+ (finally you have now got up to the “industry standard” when it comes to recorders people use for small shoots, especially when mixing from the bag. If you’re doing this full time as your job or hiring someone who is, then likely this is what is being used. Either that or similar gear, or even something better above this)

And if you considering ones priced above those last three…. you’re surely doing this full time as a sound recordist and getting a healthy income from that, so why are you asking us here on Frugal Filmmaker? ha! 😛 But yes, tonnes and tonnes more options exist at the higher end as well!

Finally, if you’re considering something in the budget range within what I just covered, but isn’t one of those that I mentioned, then it probably is *not* a good idea to buy if you’re intending to be a location sound recordist.

Something else only might *maybe* make sense if you’ve got in mind some other purpose for it, such as perhaps you want to record a band in a studio (which has very different needs / constraints), or you’re the rare exception which proves the rule, or you are getting lucky finding some amazingly priced deal which can make an otherwise bad purchase decision then make sense if “the price is right”.

For instance I didn’t include the Roland R88, as I feel it is extremely poor value for money in 2017! However…. there was a time at the end of 2016 when the Roland R88 got a huge price drop because it was being discontinued. Even with that massive price drop, the Roland R88 probably still wasn’t a smart purchase vs the Zoom F8, but the big drop in price at least made the R88 a somewhat competitive option worth mentioning in a round up of all the various choices. However, that sale is now long since ended, and the prices I see on eBay for a Roland R88 is even higher than what you used to be able to buy it new from B&H Photo! Clearly those eBay sellers are dreaming.

Anyway, that was just one example which might have been applicable but isn’t now, so I don’t rule out the possibilities of something like that perhaps popping up again in the future especially if you very keenly look around for secondhand deals. But for over 95% of people reading this, that won’t be applicable, and just stick to going with one of the main ones I mentioned earlier.

Such as my favourite, the Zoom F4:

Also worth a look, if you’d like an overview of the specs of some higher end recorders as well, is this guy’s blog post:
http://rtsound.net/professional-field-recorder-comparison/

Aputure is shipping their new microphone: “Aputure Deity” (meant to be a competitor to the Sennheiser 416, like the Rode NTG3 is)

Posted on January 13, 2017 by David Peterson

The Deity will retail at $369 USD or $429 in a kit with a Rycote Lyre shock handle.

Their launch video from yesterday:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyOTivakluM

Curtis Judd reviewed it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kom1nMM0DrQ

TubeShooterMag also reviewed it:

http://tubeshooter.co.uk/2017/01/01/aputure-unleash-chinese-deity-on-the-world/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POawJfj21g4

Other coverage:

http://www.redsharknews.com/audio/item/4251-aputure-takes-aim-at-prestigious-rivals-with-new-shotgun-mic

http://thehouseofvideo.com/2017/01/11/Is-the-new-Aputure-Deity-shotgun-mic-a-Rode-killer/

http://www.4kshooters.net/2017/01/10/aputure-deity-is-a-new-affordable-pro-grade-shotgun-microphone/

First Ever Panasonic GH5 Footage Spotted Online…

Posted on December 30, 2016 by David Peterson

Take a look at Griffin Hammond’s latest YouTube upload:

Check out what YouTube says: 4K 60p!

Yet it is shot on the Panasonic 42.5mm f1.2 lens….

& Griffin Hammond is a Panasonic brand ambassador.

You connect the dots! 😉 All the clues are pointing in one direction…. seems like GH5 footage to me! (the close ups that is)

Dpreview interview with Nikon: “video is too complicated for our stupid stills shooters”

Posted on October 27, 2016 by David Peterson

Wellllll…. that isn’t exactly what the Nikon spokesperson said, but it is a close enough paraphrasing!

Not only is this offensive to many of their customer base, it is also dumb of Nikon to ignore this growth opportunity for them.

Here is what he said:

“There are two types of high end users [using video]’ explains Kikaota: ‘those who started [their careers] shooting still pictures, but also there are a lot of customers who started with video. In our company we have two types of customer. It’s difficult to make one solution to fit for both of them.’ ..Shooting video with current cameras can often be quite complicated, we suggested. ‘[This] complicated operation is fit for the customer they started shooting from video. On the other hand there are professional [stills] photographers: they are not yet used to using video, their demand is easy operation. So there are two types types of people. It’s a big problem.”

What the hell Nikon!!! This is madness.

In a world in which the market share for dedicated stills cameras is massively declining each & every year, Nikon can not survive by focusing on only 1 or 2 niches, they need a broader platform to support themselves. The video/film world is an obvious & natural next step for them.

As Eric Calabros commented on this interview as well:

We’ve always been wondering why Nikon, that has no Cinema line to protect, literally resists to offer pro video features. and now, in this DPR interview, I can see why. They fear the pro video features confuse their conservative still shooter user base! Really unbelievable! Yea, maybe they’re right, many of their customers have no clue what video is, let alone stuff like log profile, focus peaking, color sampling, codecs, LUTs, grading,… and even if they need to record a short clip they want it to be just Start/Stop operation. But how on earth this can be justifiable excuse to not delivering features serious video shooters are asking for years? Just add a dedicated menu, or charge for Premium Firmware if you wish, whatever. Why it should be a “big problem” for a company that brought the video to the world of DSLR?

What many do not realise is Nikon are ahead of Canon when it comes to DSLRs vor video (if you focus on only comparing their stock DSLR bodies, and ignore Canon’s Cinema line up as they’re not DSLRs), but the gain in switching brands is not really large enough for everyone (it is for some though) to make it worth switching. Because people’s very large investment in lenses (and other brand specific accessories, such as batteries and flashes) makes it a considerable expense (in time & money) to switch brands. Thus people tend to be stick with staying with the same brand even if the improvements are only quite small each time.

As if you’re going to switch away from Canon…. why not just go to Sony or Panasonic instead? That is Nikon’s problem in attracting video shooters away from Canon, they can’t just moderately beat Canon in the video world by little bits (like they have with the D5200, D750, D500, etc). Especially not while they’re stilling lacking a pathway up from DSLRs for video shooters.

Many many many of the thousands upon thousands of Canon DSLR video shooters moved on up to using a Canon C100 (and of course many then moved on up to the C300 after that, and a few even to the C500. Thus the huge Canon DSLR base of video shooters acted as a feeder network into their Cinema range, which in turn then encouraged more people to start out with a Canon DSLR for filming with).

Nikon needs to also bring out a higher end above that is focused on video to complement their video DSLRs (such as the Canon C100/C300 and Sony FS5/FS7 does).

As for their DSLRs, Nikon needs to just have one setting: “Unlock Pro Video Settings”

Default send it shipped out set to “Off”, but then users can switch it to “On” which will enable several more pages and submenus worth of video settings to be viewable. Then when it gets enabled you can have access to all the goodies such as Waveforms, heaps of codec options, LUTs, log profiles, 10bit 422 internal, and more! (is what I dream of!)

But when “Unlock Pro Video Settings” is set to “Off” all that complexity is hidden away, and the user is presented with a simple interface just like Nikon has now for video. This is not a new concept in UI, this is often implemented on many devices already.

Confirmed: confidential Panasonic GH5 prototype exists, is being tested by users outside of Panasonic.

Posted on September 25, 2016 by David Peterson

UPDATE: nope, unfortunately it is just the Panasonic FZ2500 (unless Panasonic has another superzoom camera secretly under development it plans to release very shortly after the just announced FZ2500??? While an FZ2500 with a constant f2.8 lens would be wonderful, I highly doubt Panasonic is bringing out a new camera for this particular niche so soon after the FZ2500 announcement).

This does however strike me as very odd, that Panasonic lends “The Camera Store TV” a camera marked “confidential“ which has been announced in all its detail, can be pre-ordered, and even has had many multiple hands on reviews online already. So why on earth mark it “confidential“??

Anyway, you can see for yourself by looking at this picture of the Panasonic FZ2500 and comparing it with the image from Jordan Drake, they appear to be the same:

First photo of the Panasonic GH5 in action out in the wild! There had been doubters as to if Panasonic is up to the stage yet of having a prototype Panasonic GH5 body to hand out to outside testers to try out the GH5 for feedback to give Panasonic, well you can’t get a clearer confirmation than this:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BKvyqb-DPIo/

Clearly by just looking at the picture you can tell it is a Panasonic body! But if you need even further proof of this, you can see Panasonic Lumix Canada’s response on Instagram “Anything for you guys Jordan !!” (Jordan is the name of the videographer for The Camera Store TV) and on Twitter:

@TCSTVJordan always happy to help you get the latest gear

— lumixcan (@lumixcan) September 24, 2016

Next question is which Panasonic body is this?? Due to the placement of the viewfinder we can say there are only four possibilities:

1) Panasonic GH4 successor (a Panasonic GH5)

2) Panasonic G80 successor (a Panasonic G90)

3) this is just an old photo taken before the Panasonic G80 announcement (but only now being shared after the G80 announcement)

4) an entirely new line of cameras

As the Panasonic G80 only just came out, and we already saw the Panasonic G7 released after the Panasonic GH4 came out, it seems very unlikely there will be a Panasonic G90 coming out before the Panasonic GH5 is released.

While there is maaaaaybe a chance Panasonic is releasing a new line up of cameras, perhaps their take on a Canon C100 body but with a MFT sensor inside it? That however seems very unlikely.

If you compared this picture with the back of the Panasonic G80, you can see it clearly is not the G80. So we can rule out that possibility.

Thus the only reasonable conclusion we can have, is that this is the Panasonic GH4 successor, and we’re seeing here the first ever picture of the Panasonic GH5 body in action (and not just the mock up that Panasonic showed at Photokina hidden in a glass case).

How does this compare to the current Panasonic GH4 body:

We can see this Panasonic GH5 prototype has moved the Q.MENU button up to be next to the AF/AE LOCK button, and thus presumably the record button has been moved elsewhere? I wonder where…. presumably on the top, like we can see here on the Panasonic GH5 mock up shown at Photokina:

(one small notable difference between these two pictures however is that Photokina Panasonic GH5 mock up appears to have a button (small joystick?!) located between the AF/AE LOCK and the EVF, however you can’t see this in the Instagram picture? Unless maybe the angle of the photo means it is obscured by the eyecup, but I doubt it)

Couple of key conclusions we can take from this is that Panasonic is well developed along their process of bringing out the Panasonic GH5, so we can be very confident it is indeed on track to be released in the first half of 2017, and that it is very encouraging that Panasonic is actively seeking out and getting feedback from a wide range of top notch users (such as Jordan Drake, Illya Friedman, Griffin Hammond, Luke Neumann, Chris Niccolls, & Nick Driftwood, just to name a few). Means the Panasonic GH5 is sure to be an excellent and well polished product when it is launched! (just like the GH1/GH2/GH3/GH4 have each been!)

David Peterson

IronFilm Productions

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