GX7 replacement?

[Steven]

There hasn't been any rumors about GX7 replacement , right? I wonder what that means for future Panasonic model development. It's been out for almost a year now, so conceivably due for upgrade, but there's nothing major that Panasonic could do with it. The sensor is still best they have. Could they pull an Olympus and leave GX7 as top model and stuff the new sensor into lower end models like GF , the way Olympus did, releasing EM5 , waiting a while and putting the same sensor into EPL and EPM range?
Well... whatever they do, I hope GX7 price keeps dropping

 

[Replytoken]

It may drop a bit, as it was at $750USD around January for the body only, but I would not count on much activity below the GX7 other than the GM line. Panasonic is trying to focus on their top models as they have been having some reasonable success with the GH4. Most companies are trimming up their base line models as there is just not too much room for profit with the pressure from below. I believe that Olympus is not replacing the E-PM2, so there may be less bargains at the entry level price range.

Good luck,

--Ken

 

[Wasabi Bob]

I don't think a replacement for GX7 is going to come anytime soon. Development takes time and costs lots of $$. The new model would have to offer something substantial in order to generate a good return on the investment. Unfortunately it's not like the auto industry where you can expect a new model every year.

 

[Paul80]

Hi

The price in the UK has just dropped and I have just bought one.

Both those things together mean there is almost certainly a new one just around the corner.

Paul

 

[Tinderbox (UK)]

Dont forget to get you free lens & maybe an extra 2 year warranty but i am waiting to hear if i am eligible for that.

John.

 

[Darren Bonner]

Maybe later in the year or next year even, for me to be interested, it would have to have same focusing system as the GH4K and a better view EVF. If not I might get the GX7 if the price drops some more.

 

[Cederic]

Given the gap between the GX1 and the (Edit: Name of camera removed as I don't want to advertise some American fucking shopping site and someone's gone and updated my post with an affiliate link), and how (relatively) new the (Edit: Name of camera removed as I don't want to advertise some American fucking shopping site and someone's gone and updated my post with an affiliate link) is, I wasn't expecting to see anything for another year.

This is a good thing, it saves me money.

 

[meyerweb]

I think the manufacturers are slowing the update cycle, for a couple of reasons.

The most important is that frequent updates cost a LOT of money. Not only in the cost of R&D and manufacturing of the new model, but in revenue lost when they have to keep dropping the prices of the older model. Look at what happened to the price of the still very good G5 when the G6 came out.

Second, the technology has matured a great deal. There's no dramatic improvement in sensor tech to make the IQ of a GX8 noticeably better than the GX7. All Panasonic would be adding are new features (and the current crop of cameras are already so full of features no one knows how to use them all), and things borrowed from the GH4. Not to say that a GX8 with DFD and 4k video wouldn't be nice, but it would just cannibalize sales from the GH4, and why would Panasonic want to do that?

Release cycles tend to slow down as technologies mature, and that's where we are now. Until one of the new sensor technologies in development becomes production ready, or there's a dramatic advance in some other technology, I don't think you'll see annual product cycles for these products.

 

[T N Args]

Yes there was a rumour just a few weeks ago. Just ignore them.

 

[val]

research and development takes a lot of time and money, I don't think they're going to do a Canon and update the model number but not the sensor.

I reckon the GX7 successor would be announced later next year assuming that the Fuji-Panasonic sensor is in the final stages before mass production.