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L-Mount Alliance

Knorp

Well-known member
Panasonic will announce a promotion soon where they’re offering a free battery grip and an extra battery with the purchase of any LUMIX S camera or kit which is an additional $440 value.
As it is 'big enough' already, I don't think I need that battery grip, but a 'free' spare battery is nice to have.
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
As it is 'big enough' already, I don't think I need that battery grip, but a 'free' spare battery is nice to have.
I agree but there’s rumors of a super telephoto lens coming later this year so it may be useful for that depending on the size of it. Especially if it’s like a 400/4 lens or something given how they’re touting the AI tracking for dogs, cats, and birds yet there are no “wildlife lenses.”
 

drofnad

Member
Interesting take on the LUMIX S background. Apparently development started on them around the same time the development began for the GH5 (so circa 2015-16 timeframe).

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/film-mavericks/id1202949402?mt=2&i=1000431630706

Also goes a bit into the future of Micro 4/3.

Here it is in YouTube form. https://youtu.be/bE5vrTMct74
Thanks. Yes, slightly prior GH5.
I'm finding remarks relevant to m4/3 --by quickly jumping late-- at minute 33:33 or thereabouts.
In short, Pana can walk & chew gum at the same time. (Also, that m4/3 is pretty well done now.)

(-;
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
Thanks. Yes, slightly prior GH5.
I'm finding remarks relevant to m4/3 --by quickly jumping late-- at minute 33:33 or thereabouts.
In short, Pana can walk & chew gum at the same time. (Also, that m4/3 is pretty well done now.)

(-;
I agree that Micro 4/3 is largely a complete system for most types of photographers/videographers. It’s the compact system I recommended to most fornthe longest time though now I’d add Fuji X to that recommendation for small and compact systems. Sony has nice compact bodies but their APS-C lens lineup needs to be further fleshed out for serious use unless one is comfortable with using FE lenses.

In any case the Lumix S is shaping up to be a great system and partnering up with other companies segmented at different price points may turn out to be a smart decision on the part of all. The biggest questions are can the market sustain so many players within the same segment in a shrinking market and who will be the first company to consolidate/exit the market. I don’t think Panasonic, Sigma, or Leica are in any real trouble assuming they plan on keeping their camera body numbers reasonable and perhaps use L-mount in some of their cinema cameras to offer users what Sony is already doing in E-mount as a “universal mount.”
 
I don’t think Panasonic, Sigma, or Leica are in any real trouble assuming they plan on keeping their camera body numbers reasonable and perhaps use L-mount in some of their cinema cameras to offer users what Sony is already doing in E-mount as a “universal mount.”
It depends on what their goals are and what market share they can capture. The haven't sold their first FF camera yet, so it's a little early to declare victory.
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
It depends on what their goals are and what market share they can capture. The haven't sold their first FF camera yet, so it's a little early to declare victory.
No one is declaring victory and Leica has been selling SL’s (in comparatively small numbers) for over 3 years. The rest is almost exactly what I stated and I don’t know that their goal is to overwhelming dominate the market by any single entity but to capture market across the board for a variety of customers across the imaging world (not just system cameras).
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
These prizes look very attractive in the current world of crazy high prizes for FF mirrorless lenses from almost all other manufacturers :thumbs:

This could form the base for me to get into the L-mount with a S1 or maybe even a S1R and add 1 or 2 FF Sigma L-mount lenses for the beginning.
They're identical to the Sigma prices for their DSLR and Sony FE lenses but yes they appear to be reasonably affordable. I find that the Panasonic lenses are fairly priced as well for what they are but some are complaining based on the idea of the $400 DSLR 50/1.4. The Panasonic lenses are all designed to be near parfocal and are to be optimized for both photo and video usage. This is an important factor for lens design IMO for those that want to do indie content creation/production or for general hybrid usage.

In any case, I'm not looking to adapt lenses personally as a base and I do believe this is the strength of the L-Mount Alliance. There are adapted options but there are also supposed to be nearly 40 native lenses within the first year as well (and another 20 or so if you're willing to adapt). If they allow a manufacturer like Voigtlander to join and add some of their newer manual focus lenses designed for mirrorless that would be another great more affordable option.

Exciting times for sure and I hope people give the L-mount a serious look. I feel like people will make a mistake (as they did with Sony) and not take the L-Mount Alliance seriously due to the perception of the "old guard" companies. I'd like to see Panasonic earn some respect and market share stateside but they have received negative press by those that have never touched one. Those that have used these cameras are heaping praise on them and that's very telling. I do believe they can survive as a niche/cult brand like Fuji does but if they go the way of Ricoh/Pentax (market saturation wise because they make capable products) that would be terrible.
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
?????? :banghead:
Its an old story before the firmware update was released for Leica cameras. The L-Mount lens protocol was changed/updated when the other members were added. This even Panasonic lenses didn’t work on the Leica L-Mount cameras until the first week of April a few days after the story was published.

“Everyone” like to believe theres a grand conspiracy regarding a couple companies - namely Leica and Sony. Sometimes there are business decisions to be made and sometimes there are just other directions that a business may choose to go. All that being said - it’s reasonable to believe there will be some functionality lost by adapting lenses. They after all aren’t native L-Mount lenses. Not saying this is the case but that’s the risk of adapting - you’ll lose communication between the camera and lens, EXIF (in most cases), and possibly functions like continuous AF.
 
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