Panasonic Lumix Japan has teased an upcoming new camera. From the video, we can see by the “G” that it’s going to be part of the company’s Micro Four Thirds lineup. A Panasonic G9 II has been expected for a while, and this could be it.
The use of the phrase “New Phase” in the teaser suggests that whatever the camera is, it will get phase detection autofocus, like the recently released Panasonic S5 II. This also suggests it’s a higher-end body.
The teaser video posted to Xitter yesterday by Lumix Japan begins with the Lumix logo. After flashing a few images at us, it says “NEW PHASE” followed by the single letter “G”. An image of a lens mount and sensor after the “G” also shows a Micro Four Thirds mount. Then we’re shown a date of September 13th (more on this below).
Given that it will be Micro Four Thirds and that phase detection autofocus is a new thing for Panasonic, it makes sense that they’ll put it into a higher-end camera body. Panasonic will want to make as big a splash as possible, and they’ll want to sell lots of them. Panasonic has also said they’re cutting down on their range of lower-end units.
With as recently as the Panasonic GH6 (buy here) was released, it’s unlikely we’re going to see a GH7 any time soon. So, the most obvious candidate is a successor to 2017’s Panasonic G9 (buy here). The fact that it was released in 2017 also suggests it’s ready to be replaced in Panasonic’s lineup.
The video above says an announcement is coming on September 13th at 10am Japan time. This would be 11pm UTC on September 12th. An event on YouTube, however, has been scheduled by the main Lumix channel for September 12th at 2pm UTC.
So, I guess we’ll find out for sure on September 11th at 2pm UTC.
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