Panasonic is launching a new camera next week!
Panasonic is launching a new Lumix camera next week, and the manufacturer is teasing the announcement with a video that gives us more than a few clues as to what we can expect.
The teasers have gone live across social media and YouTube, revealing that the launch will take place on September 12 at 10:00 EDT / 15:00 BST, which is September 13 00:00 AEST.
• The new launch will join the best Panasonic cameras – but where in the lineup?
Eagle-eyed observers will have picked up some not-so-subtle clues within the video, giving some pretty broad hints as to what the camera will be. In case you missed them, let's break them down.
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"New phase"
The tagline for the new camera is "new phase" (allcaps, though I won't subject your eyes to that here). "Get ready for another new phase" reads the description on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook, with the YouTube Live countdown page titled "Lumix New Product Launch".
This is clearly an allusion to phase hybrid autofocus – Panasonic's name for its hybrid phase detect AF system, which made its long-overdue debut on the Panasonic S5 II and S5 IIX full-frame cameras.
"Another new phase" would seem to be an overture to the technology making its debut on another camera system. Obviously Panasonic produces two formats: full-frame S-series cameras and Micro Four Thirds G-series cameras…
What up, G
As if the giant spinning "G" in the video weren't enough of a clue, the illustration of a Micro Four Thirds (MFT) mount is a big fat signpost that we're looking at a new G-series camera here.
Indeed, Panasonic hasn't launched a new MFT body since the Panasonic Lumix GH6 – which was released back in February 2022, and was conspicuously lacking any kind of phase detect (this being before Panasonic's eureka moment with the S5 II).
So it makes perfect sense that this new announcement will be the first G-series camera with phase hybrid AF – and this certainly jibes with recent rumors that such a camera was on the way.
Amazingly no images or specs have yet been leaked but, with less than a week to go, we won't have to wait long to find out more.
