J
junk1
Guest
I doubt many GF7/GF8 buyers have the various models memorized and/or were waiting for the GF8 to come out. Supposedly the new features were popular on a Casio model in Asia...
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This came out of nowhere - Pany GF8 announcement today
- Thread starter One_Oldman_4U
- Start date
It is aimed squarely at an entirely different market.
Unfortunately, I don't think that market really exists. And even if it does exist, it might be an extremely tiny niche.
To be specific, I think this camera is meant for young people, especially Asians, who are obsessed with taking selfies and posting them instantly on social medial websites. This is why the camera has so many "selfie centric" features, WIFI and NFC, the front facing LCD screen, and all those beauty modes.
The problem is.... the people who this camera is aimed at probably don't want to carry a second device around with them. They already own smartphones that have cameras that can do everything they want done. It's not like the selfie crowd is making billboard sized prints, or submitting their selfies to the National Geographic.
I have always said "a successful product must solve a problem for someone" and I cannot imagine what problem this camera solves.
I suppose there are probably a handful of potential customers who think they need "better image quality than a smart phone can provide, so they might want a "real camera." But walking around with two cameras (err.... a camera and a cameraphone) certainly isn't convenient for people who crave convenience also.
You and I are an entirely different market. We crave quality, ergonomics, and the joy of travelling light. We rarely worry about convenience, because even though we own tiny cameras we insist on carrying around 9 or 10 lenses with us at all times. We do inconvenient things to get the results we want. In other words, we are the traditionalists in the world of camera geeks. Not much hip about us.
Unless Panasonic plans to blow this camera out at a rock bottom price (think $199, with lens) then it will be a hard sell because the GM1 and GM5 are much better cameras and are selling at deep discounts now. And the GF8 certainly will push the price of the GF7 downward, and that camera also has a selfie screen.
And if Panasonic actually DOES price this camera very low, then someone in Hong Kong will buy 10,000 copies and break up the kits to sell the lenses and bodies separately, for $149 each.
It's getting too crowded at the bottom of the market now.
What the heck was Panasonic thinking?
Unfortunately, I don't think that market really exists. And even if it does exist, it might be an extremely tiny niche.
To be specific, I think this camera is meant for young people, especially Asians, who are obsessed with taking selfies and posting them instantly on social medial websites. This is why the camera has so many "selfie centric" features, WIFI and NFC, the front facing LCD screen, and all those beauty modes.
The problem is.... the people who this camera is aimed at probably don't want to carry a second device around with them. They already own smartphones that have cameras that can do everything they want done. It's not like the selfie crowd is making billboard sized prints, or submitting their selfies to the National Geographic.
I have always said "a successful product must solve a problem for someone" and I cannot imagine what problem this camera solves.
I suppose there are probably a handful of potential customers who think they need "better image quality than a smart phone can provide, so they might want a "real camera." But walking around with two cameras (err.... a camera and a cameraphone) certainly isn't convenient for people who crave convenience also.
You and I are an entirely different market. We crave quality, ergonomics, and the joy of travelling light. We rarely worry about convenience, because even though we own tiny cameras we insist on carrying around 9 or 10 lenses with us at all times. We do inconvenient things to get the results we want. In other words, we are the traditionalists in the world of camera geeks. Not much hip about us.
Unless Panasonic plans to blow this camera out at a rock bottom price (think $199, with lens) then it will be a hard sell because the GM1 and GM5 are much better cameras and are selling at deep discounts now. And the GF8 certainly will push the price of the GF7 downward, and that camera also has a selfie screen.
And if Panasonic actually DOES price this camera very low, then someone in Hong Kong will buy 10,000 copies and break up the kits to sell the lenses and bodies separately, for $149 each.
It's getting too crowded at the bottom of the market now.
What the heck was Panasonic thinking?
Trevor Carpenter
Forum Pro
Seems totally impractical for selfies. It will never sell.
The sales figures seem to disagree. Of course, most people will use smartphones here's a list of the best selling cameras in Japan.
Canon dominates (with the top ten places), but the next are Nikon-1, PL6, PL7, (another canon), PL6, canon, PL6, canon, GF7, canon, a6000, canon, canon, canon, PL6, canon, a6000, canon, M10 II, M10 II, PL7, canon. Nikon-1, ....
If you did want to shift a lot of cameras, you can try for something to compete with the Canons (good luck with that), or aim at the selfie/rangefinder/"cute" market. Note the ONLY Panasonic appearing in the top 20 is the GF7... (other variants appear at #42, #60, GM1 at#75, but nothing else in the top 80 that page shows).
So it seems possible that Panasonic know their (Asian, at least) customers better than we do.
Paul.
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safaridon
Senior Member
The camera is not a bad size. I would have preferred that the flip up LCD could be reversed so it was a giant viewfinder. Prices are lower than GM! - could be a worse camera, but not for us. Will let the Panasonic marketing guys worry about that.
F.
F.
peppermonkey
Veteran Member
JimW-203
Well-known member
Several times you have made reference to the GX7 & GX8 in this thread. In each case I have been very confused:
Where do you find either camera being offered at such rock-bottom prices? Here in the US both cameras are still being offered as current cameras in the Panasonic line - with the GX7 @ $800 for the body and about $1000 with a kit lens; the GX8 goes for about $1000 for the body only. How either camera can be seen as "entry level" in the MFT scheme of things eludes me. I will admit, I would jump all over several GX7 bodies (if legitimate and not counterfeit) at the $180 price point you reference. If this is correct please post a link to these bargains.
Ranlee
Senior Member
One_Oldman_4U
Senior Member
Indeed.
There are over 6 billion people living on our planet, and according to CIPA the Japanese manufacturers have produced around 1 billion digital cameras. If you throw in camera phones as "digital cameras" then the number goes up to around 3 billion. If we assume that many people own multiple cameras, and many cameras and phones are no longer being used, then we still end up with over a billion camera users.
Yet, this website only gets 7 million unique visitors per month. Do the math. This means that much less than 1% of the people who own cameras visit this website each month.
Now lets define "camera enthusiast?" I would think that they should be people who visit this website at least once per month.
Bottom line.... we don't reflect the general market for cameras. We are the gearhead portion, because this is a gear centric website.
Odds are.... the Panasonic GF8 wasn't designed for us, but it will probably sell in much larger numbers than the Nikon D5 or the Canon 1DX II will.
So perhaps Panasonic knows exactly what it is doing?
TimboUK
Well-known member
My missus just recently bought a GF7 kit - new with 12-32 lens for 200 Euro's.
I thought it was a bargain to be honest.
Its actually perfectly usable and the little lens seems fine. She is a very creative person who focuses mainly on watercolour painting and she finds this camera perfect for dropping in her bag to capture scenes to either paint later or to help finish off scenes.
The image quality is superb - and the form factor very small
Of course she now has access to my range of m4/3 lenses which a non-interchangable lens compact style camera wouldn't have given her.
With my 42.5 mm f1.7 lens she has taken some absolutely lovely portraits and being used to using a camera phone before she bought this she has no issues with lack of a viewfinder.
Low down on a little manfrotto pixie tripod and using the tiltable screen she got some superb snowdrop pics as well
Being small and cheap this little camera it seems now to go everywhere we go - frankly the tiny little kit lens itself is probably worth the price alone!
Having said that I cannot see the point of the updated version and its certainly not worth paying the RRP but for £165 seems to be great cheaper alternative to the GM line.
Cheers
I thought it was a bargain to be honest.
Its actually perfectly usable and the little lens seems fine. She is a very creative person who focuses mainly on watercolour painting and she finds this camera perfect for dropping in her bag to capture scenes to either paint later or to help finish off scenes.
The image quality is superb - and the form factor very small
Of course she now has access to my range of m4/3 lenses which a non-interchangable lens compact style camera wouldn't have given her.
With my 42.5 mm f1.7 lens she has taken some absolutely lovely portraits and being used to using a camera phone before she bought this she has no issues with lack of a viewfinder.
Low down on a little manfrotto pixie tripod and using the tiltable screen she got some superb snowdrop pics as well
Being small and cheap this little camera it seems now to go everywhere we go - frankly the tiny little kit lens itself is probably worth the price alone!
Having said that I cannot see the point of the updated version and its certainly not worth paying the RRP but for £165 seems to be great cheaper alternative to the GM line.
Cheers
M
More Keepers
Guest
Selfie cameras sell more than other cameras. Cell phones sell more selfie cameras than any camera manufacturer. I'm not sure how this pertains to my interest in cameras.
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peppermonkey
Veteran Member
M
More Keepers
Guest
You are comparing a camera designed for selfie novices to other better cameras. Of course the low skill selfie cameras are going to sell more, just like cell phones sell more. You can't be serious about a camera that has such limited controls and a flip up screen for selfies.
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peppermonkey
Veteran Member
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