This is probably going to be one of the more uninteresting product announcements in recent memory. Most of the major specs about the camera have already been revealed prior to the official announcement tomorrow, and there are only a few left that are still unclear. There is a chance that a few specs are incorrect, but for such a respected reseller like Samy's Camera to not only have the information up there, but also keep it there for a period of time, leads me to believe that these are the final specs and the final price. Check below for more details.
[UPDATE: final specs from announcement here] The specs from Samy's (with some added from the official video from before):
- 16.05 Effective Megapixels (17.20 Total Megapixels)
- Live MOS/17.3 x 13.0 mm Sensor (in 4:3 aspect ratio)
- 4-CPU Venus Engine -- Newly designed low-pass filter
- ISO 200 - 12800 (25,600 extended)
- 1080 60p/50p/30p/25p/24p
- Video Bitrate 50Mbps (72Mbps ALL-I)
- SD, SDHC, SDXC Storage Media
- 3" OLED Monitor with static touch control
- Exposure Modes: Program AE, Aperture Priority AE, Shutter Priority AE, Manual
- Shutter Speeds: 60 - 1/4000th
- Li-ion Battery Pack (7.2V, 1860mAh)
- Continuous Shooting Speed: 6 fps
- Magnesium Alloy Frame: Splash/Dustproof Design
- Smartphone or Tablet Linking
- Dimensions: 132.9 x 93.4 x 82.0mm / 5.23 x 3.68 x 3.23 in
- Weight: Approx. 470g / 16.58 oz (Body only)
- Price: $1,300 body only
There are a few discrepancies between what has already been reported, and now it seems Samy's has taken down the page. Obviously this was another mistake, as the camera hasn't been announced yet and it's likely that resellers are under embargo. I'm fairly confident about what was put there, as I'm sure anyone selling the camera would have the information already. The price at $1,300 definitely makes sense based on the improvements they've made, as there aren't any cameras in this price range with these kinds of bitrates internally. It's not much more expensive than when the GH2 was first announced, but now you've got the added benefit of proper codecs available internally from the start. From a performance/storage standpoint, I can't see a hack improving image quality all that much with this new camera. Once you're getting into 50mbps with codecs that are already very good, going higher doesn't greatly improve the image.
It will be interesting to see if either of these codecs are 4:2:2 and whether the HDMI will be able to be recorded. The GH2 gave a full HDMI but had a strange cadence that made recording difficult, so if Panasonic has also removed this limitation, this camera is a powerhouse. Many will still complain about the sensor size, but the M4/3s format is getting more and more support, and it's likely not going anywhere anytime soon.
It also seems Canon has another camera model up their sleeves, but we should know all of these details soon enough. The link to Samy's is down, so there's no need to link there anymore, but you can see the details at 4/3 Rumors. Check out the other photos below.
Link: 4/3 Rumors
