Also speaking of future Panasonic needs to do something about their Lumix Sync app. Couple of years out, but still unreliable, clumsy and dysfunctional. An update brought S5M2 support couple of days ago, but it's pointless, as an app is still unusable. An average rating of 2.7 to 2.8 depending on region in Play Store.

A G9 mk II with PDAF, the OM1 sensor, 5,7 MP 0.8x or so EVF, longer batterylife, higher res flipoutscreen, better IBIS and really good 4K video without cropping. That would do the trick for me.

As primarily a stills shooter, I would forego PDAF on a new camera if it meant I could get 8k shooting modes as well as actual "in-camera" image stacking. Yes, I know we could technically have both, but if one has to go, it would be PDAF for me.

Still limping along with my G85....

I am a G9 owner. Almost entirely shoot stills (Raw). But occasionally do shoot video. I have to say I have not seen the autofocus issues you seem to think any camera without PDAF must have.

As an Olympus shooter, I always stayed away from Panasonic m43 first because they had no IBIS and then because they had IBIS but no PDAF. If they do indeed introduce some m43 camera(s) with PDAF that's good news.

"what does this mean to the rest of the Lumix camera lines?" - It means eBay and Craigslist are going to be awfully busy...

Nice shout out to the GM series! TBH, now that I'm shooting multiple systems/formats, a new GM (or at the very least a GX950) is the only kinda new M4/3 body I'd consider besides say an E-PL7...

I know it's probably a very niche use case but I reach for my M4/3 stuff both when I want something as compact and inconspicuous as possible *and* when I carry a second body in the same compact vein that I can keep on a PD Capture outside of my bag. I love using the smallest teles (42.5/1.7, 75/1.8, 35-100) for either of those purposes as they're something I can't easily replicate on other systems (short of just cropping a short tele significantly).

OSPFAF and/or a faster reading sensor would be the main thing to make me upgrade my GX850/GM1. I imagine a G11 or G9 II is much much more likely at this point, or even a new G##... They've kinda painted themselves into a corner with model #s and the older G10 & G100.

Seems like so many people are missing that this especially benefits videographers - a market that Panasonic really seems to target.

What does it mean for past models? Sorry, we sold you inferior AF. We've corrected that mistake but that doesn't help you with your current camera.

I am sorry, but despite all the good efforts Panasonic will not recover from a near death and start flourishing because of a single release...

There is no roadmap, there has been a clear lack of support and commitment from Panasonic over the last few years for Full Frame. This can as well be Pana's last camera - like the NX1 was for Samsung - L-Mount is hardly a succes and fully carried by Sigma to keep it alive. Panasonic is in constant restructuring mode cutting the dead meat including consumer oriented products like TV's and cameras. If it doesn't stick this time, you can be sure Panasonic will quit producing mirrorless cameras... It is more or less what they said already.

A system is more than a single camera. And this is where it much hurts with Panasonic. Besides the fact that only few will jump systems because of a single camera release.

I am at least not going to put my money into a money pit that has an insecure future ahead. And I think I am not alone in that.

Yeah, people moan about Panasonic's dreadful AF (which is actually really good, by the way) and then take pictures of sleeping cats and mountains!

Yep, I am on my 3rd GF1, just got it recently. Mint from MPB.COM for like £50, a red one :-)

It is great but I also have GM1 & E-M1 mk II at the moment, and perhaps like to have GX80 again after coming to conclusion that I prefer GX80 to GX9, GX8 and PEN line.

GX80 with phase detect, 16mpx is fine with me if there is no crop in video (or slight one), add the drive lever from GF1, AF switch mode lever from GX9 & slightly better EVF - perhaps oled panel which is better for low light work as it does not blind you that much not having constant backlight.

Stay with flip screen only in this model as it is quicker to operate and less awkward than fully articulated one. That would be the best range finder style cam micro 4/3 have now, the two other best being PEN-F, GX8, GX80, & GX9. I name it for you Panasonic, lets be reasonable and call it GX10 (PD revolution).

In the meantime I think I am going to sell GF1 & get GX80 again, miss it badly :-D

The only thing that would bring me back to M43 would be a GM5 successor. Paired with the 15mm, 20mm and 45mm f1.8 lenses, it would be the most compact, capable system available.

The main advantage of M43 is just how small the system can possibly be and the GM5 and GM1 demonstrated that. It’s strange to me that Panasonic has gone the complete opposite direction and doubled down on it.

That being said, I’m sure they did it because that’s where the money is/was. I think there’s a real opportunity to market these smart phone alternatives to a new generation of photographers that actually car about image quality but don’t want to drag around giant cameras.

If in fact the best focus systems are always hybrid between CDAF and PDAF then surely Panasonic's effort in making the very best CDAF+DFD has been rewarding.

As much as their concentration on lens-IS for so long brooked dividends when they 'finally' found IBIS as they were able to quickly integrate lens and body stabilisation into a dual system. First off the mark there?

Panasonic S-AF is very quick with their CDAF technology alone.

Surely by adding PDAF to the very best CDAF is more rewarding than those other companies that went PDAF earlier and therefore had no need to fully refine their own CDAF algorithms?

Is it possible that Panasonic now has the very best of both worlds in their hybrid focusing system?

Several polls on the M4/3 Forum have demonstrated that M4/3 users that respond to them are mostly only interested in still photography with perhaps some casual video use. Despite all the concentration on improved video for M4/3 only a small proportion of those responding to the polls supported serious video use.

Despite the often doom and gloom of the piggy-in-the-middle sensor size the forum remains quite vibrant and well supported with entertaining posts.

Furthermore whatever genuine improvements that FF sensors might offer there is still a very strong sense on the the forum that the 4/3 sensor is well and truly good enough for most users purposes.

If the market for M4/3 camera bodies is slow, and I cannot tell 'how slow' then there must be a large number of happy users that are well satisfied with whichever M4/3 bodies they are using - for stills photography.

Therefore is is possible that the market is simply not warming to cameras that offer increasingly better video?

I think Panasonic will come out with a gh6 sequel with phase detect auto focus.

Panasonic would do well to provide a photo-centric camera for all those who have used - and may still use - medium to small sized cameras like the GX8, the GX7 and GX7 II, not to mention the GM5. FF or M4/3rds, Panasonic can provide a high quality camera like this in either sensor size or both,
For the future, youth are going to point and shoot cameras that are different than phones but not bulky . Sheer mass is not the answer.
F.

The S5 II seems to have very respectable first generation PDAF. It makes you wonder how long Panasonic has had phase detection in the product development timeline. Hopefully they've has been taking the time to update all their mirrorless ILCs across the board with PDAF and not just the S5/S1 series.

No G9 successor for half a decade hopefully means they've been working on a new version with PDAF, though personally I'm more excited about the possibility of a new GX/GM camera with PDAF and subject detection modes. Let's hope for the best.

Imagine all the battles that were raging in Panasonic's R&D dept before they succumbed to the pressure to adopt PDAF...

In IT industry, this stuff becomes public as enough time passes. That is why we now know why, say, bytes have 8 bits and not 6 (and the exact arguments of all parties). Panasonic, being a Japanese company, is very tight-lipped. So, not a chance.

Which is a shame, as "The Great Demise of DFD" would make a fascinating read (or viewing).

The S5ii is finally a genuinely competitive Lumix offering against the R6 and A7iv. Finally they realised that their contrast detect offer in a hybrid was an untenable strategy. Once they add some longer lenses and a flagship body they may well take a significant chunk of the market.

Pana S5IIx still lack most critical accessories: M.2 SSD grip which allow consumer attach own M.2 SSD.

I would love to see a new GM offering with better ergonomics and a tilting LCD. This is the space that m43 can drive in. I still have my GM1 and love it. The G100 has a lot of the same vibe, but let's get rid of the max shutter speed of 1/500th and add IBIS. That's be a killer travel camera.

I also wouldn't be mad to see Panasonic do a compact FF shooter. Something to go head to head with the A7c.

Solve the BIGGEST failing of your product line, and then people are forced to recognize the accomplishments.

For me, the Panasonic colors still look more "yellow" than everything else. Colors have been off since the Gh2, and there was a GH4 "Leeming Lut" that merely served to CORRECT the mis-aligned colorspace.

I shot a couple photos with an Olympus OM5mkII and I was blown away by the colors.
Operationally and menu wise the Olympus is annoying to unfathomable to use (respectively) but the colors, the colors right out of th camera
make it worth it.

Panasonic feels like the Pentax of mirrorless cameras. Some great extras, but always late to the party with the main features.

Hopefully this will be a new beginning and they'll focus on things that people want, instead of what people say they want.

People who are (deeply) involved with Panasonic and Leica still predict that Panasonic will stop making stills cameras and will focus on video-only cameras instead in the future. I don`t know about that, but: I believe that most people talking of "bad autofocus" just repeated what they heard elsewhere. I shot motorcycle races with an GX8 (!!!), and did loads of reportage work with S5 ,G9 & GX8 and I never had "no confidence" regarding the AF, the DFD AF worked perfectly well for the stills-work I chose to do with these cameras, and much better than some PDAF systems. When people are not getting good results, the problem may be behind the camera?. A G9 II must be a hybrid camera? No. I find the GH series covers that. The G9 II may very well become a true high speed, tank-like built stills-focused tool, with new sensor, processor and huge buffer. The AF has never been a problem for stills work in my opinion. Also, I would like to see a true GX8 successor, plus Capture One tethering.

I strongly suspect that over half of folks using a camera these days are still using DSLRs. So that alone is a massive MARKET for anyone to target. So no, it's not to late for Pana, nor anyone else.

Tried Sony (A7III, A7SIII, A7IV, A7RV), Canon (R5) and Panasonic (GH5, GH6, S1, S5). The most important points for me are image quality, IBIS and AF. The IBIS and image quality of the S5 and S1 are great, but the AF is really bad, especially with fast lenses (the 24-70mm Pro and 50mm Pro are among the best lens I've ever used but the AF is terrble).
With the S5 II, I have no longer reasons to switch back to Canon or to keep my Sony gear. The full frame Open Gate from the Panasonic S1 (and now S5 II) is the cherry on the cake.

I think that Pana will still develop its traditional focusing system at least for sometime, no matter if we will not see it in any of their cameras to follow.
Among Pana's strong points/USPs are the build quality and reliability as well its ability to present cameras from "workhorse" to agile, no matter if they are M43 or FF and also has nothing to envy in terms of IQ.
M43 is a highly respected system throughout the planet, not quite so in US, a lot of pro work is produced by M43, the existing interesting in US just proves it. Btw the system's lenses availability is huge. A niche of pros use it intensely.
APSC actually is Fujifilm's pit, CanIson's implementations are for revenue/image reasons as it is implied from their investments upon dedicated lenses.
I think that a well defined balance in Pana's future hybrid models will be the key point to success.

Panasonic was a big Innovator had very nice cameras, I had GH1 until G9 - but I don't see me using a S1, S2 or even S5II.
Canon EOS R, R6, Nikon Z6, Z6II, Z7, Z7II vere all not what I wanted, Sony was to far ahead.
But nor we will get an R5II soon, a Z7III must come, beside an Z8 - it is getting even harder for Panasonic and for Sony too.
Last year I bought and used a lot: OM-1 and Z9 - simply the best for my animal- and travel-photography.
The Z9 ist to big and to heavy for travel a lot.
But Sony A7RV is to slow, and A1 is getting a bit boaring, without better firmware.
So I hope for R5II (24 MP is not enough for me), for a Z500 or Z8 an a Alpha 7000.
And I would love to get a modern Panasonic GM5 and a fester G9II.

You kind of get the feeling panasonic missed the boat ,i loved my gx8 ,g9 and lx100 for m4/3 panasonics strengths. lets hope they stay the course they always make a good product build wise ,and competitvely priced they also need sonys marketing .

Great "improvement" but not wowed about the weight to battery life ratio. Half the battery time of competitors, at a premium price? No thanks.

Wow, Panasonic has phase detection AF! What took them sooo long? Honestly, it's been forever.. I don't think this changes much to the overall market. Panasonic makes great products but.. in photography they'll still be 4th place as far as I can tell in full frame. Videography a different story. It's where Panny's have long excelled. I hope this "new" technology serves them well and so glad to see them incoporating it... Even if it took forever..

I am a dedicated OM/Olympus user, so I am biased, but I do own a G85, LX10, and FZ300 that I shot with in the past. Because of my lens investment, I don't have any plans to move away from micro 4/3rds, so I will only look at that segment. I would imagine for them, L-mount is the way to go for the majority of their new work.

Personally, I don't think Panasonic has any interest in stills oriented micro 4/3rds cameras. Depending on whether you classify the G95/G90 as a stills oriented camera or video, you have to go back to either 2019 or 2018 for the last stills oriented body. And I suspect in terms of market, that may be the correct choice for them.

They have released 20 lenses since 2019. 14 lenses were L-mount. 2 m4/3 lenses were updates to existing lens (12-35mm f/2.8, 14-140mm f/3.5-5.6), 2 m4/3 lenses were video centric (12-25mm f/1.7, 25-50mm f/1.7). Only 2 m4/3 lenses were new lenses (9mm f/1.7, 50mm f/1.4) and not directly video targeted.

'Let us know if you disagree with us'.

I cannot let my employer know, but I have snuck GM5 product shots in amongst Hasselblad shots and all sorts, and this is at the highest level of scrutiny you could imagine in the retail world.

You put a decent lens on that thing and it offers image quality that no phone can get anywhere near to.

It might not have crossed your delightful communist Canadian minds, but the reason phone cameras are so popular, is because they're small and convenient. The GM5 came too early, before us big buck capitalists even knew it existed, now we know, it has become the most valuable M43 rangefinder on the used market. I think now is the time for a luxurious brass 20mp PDAF GM6. Suspect a G100 successor with IBIS and PDAF will be higher on Lumix's priority list though. That'd sell like hot cakes.

Panasonic is in a very fortunate situation. They have several recent models that by adding a more recent sensor with PDAF plus a more powerful processor would again become very competitive. Both the G100 (add IBIS and PDAF), GX9 (add PDAF and a mic jack), G95 (add PDAF and remove 4K crop), G9 (add PDAF) and GH6 (add PDAF) are great cameras for video and stills and could see a new spring. Then there are older models like the GM1/5 and the GX8 that have large followings. Dare I hope? The S1 models obviously need updates too.

There's also nothing wrong with the stills capabilities of Panasonic cameras. I've used them for stills (and video) for 13 years, and nobody has complained. These cameras also offer among the best ergonomics anywhere, for stills as well as video. With PDAF, there would be very little to complain about.

BTW this also could mean that we will see some Leica models with PDAF soon or a later.