What is the ramifications for the M43 system?

A significant price drop in the future? The one and only thing which has never been small with M43 is the price level.

Pressumably no more 2000 euro GHx cameras. Will Panasonic still make a GH6 when they might only ask 1500 euro?

You can understand Panasonic here somewhat. Why sell a 1500 euro camera and make 200 euro in profit, when you can sell a 2000 euro FF camera and have a 400 euro profit.

After the Canikons mirrorless systems have the blast at Photokina and Panasonic announces FF developement it might kill any future interest in the M43 format.

As for the current GH5 it probably need both a price drop as well as an updated firmware with new features to stay current until the summer of 2019..

@zsound

Well, may be it uses "Nikon style" sensor, I mean where top engineers are designing company logo being added to Sony sensor (and for all else they have IR to make fake PR).

The Leica of the people.

• The sensor is made by Panasonic and it’s not “borrowed” from current Sony FF sensors
• The camera will start shipping out in March 2019
• The camera is said to have high video quality

For first - I do not believe this. I believe in such marketing, but not reality, same as Nikon.

About March - I am sure March 2019 will be final controlled announcement, first preorders in April and real mass shipping - next summer.

Panasonic wants to repeat their last PR moves with GH5s and EVA1.

Also note - camera won't be for ordinary shooter, main goal for management is to try to make record margins. Actually it was main reason going full frame.

@EspenB

It is also answer to some gifted people here who do not want to know anything about economics around, so for them it comes as surprise things all main camera manufacturers are doing.

@Firworks

I think they work on both. I think EVA1 and EF mount on it tell a lot (I think this one had been accident due to Panasonic slowdown with their new mount, so Panasonic had been forced to use EF instead). I think Panasonic constantly watch Canikon and adjust accordingly, top management is not sure and want to follow.

If you go back to GH6 leaks topic I made - I was only one who told right about announcement and release dates with 43rumors telling that it is all false.

@EspenB

I think new FF camera is considered ala "GH6" inside Panasonic. At least for now.

I, for one, am just glad that Panasonic have the guts to introduce yet another lens mount option. We were pretty much starving for lack of weird mounts.

I should go check if metabones is a public company. It seems like there will soon be a bunch of wealthy folks who need adapters to use more than the 4 lenses released with their shiny new full frame mirrorless camera with increasingly unnecessarily short flange distances...

Among other things, they will maybe consider finally releasing the A7s Mark III. Given how many leaks there have been about it over the last year and the most recent rumors that they are just sitting on it, waiting to rain on some other vendor's parade, I wouldn't be too surprised if they stole Canon's thunder by releasing it shortly after their announcement.

Beyond that, I think that Sony's answer to a lot of this will be something like "That's cute that y'all are finally joining the party. Hey, have you seen the A7r III or the A9? They use our mature lens mount which has dozens of lenses available as well as tons of existing third-party adapters to use lenses for other mounts. Also, if you don't want to break your back carrying gear when on the road, we have some f/4 zooms available as well as f/2.8 ones."

How many lenses can they manage to put out before next summer?

Or are they targeting Canon lenses with an adapter.

Without saying names or more than I should, I have talked with Panasonic, and met others in the industry with interesting tidbits. There is a large crowd that believes the good stuff including the 8k organic global shutter sensor (the one with the voltage sensitive "organic" filter" is rolling our just before the Olympics. However the impression I got from Panasonic is that this was the original plan, but since others are coming out with 8k global shutter, and also because they want to allow users to adapt to the new system, they will be releasing it early. How early is the big question. But basically I think they made the realization that peoples videos from the Olympics will be their greatest free PR for higher end products they will develop upon this/these new sensors. I am taking great liberty and yes putting words in their mouth, but in Japan often more is said with the eyes than the mouth. My uneducated reckless (but possibly correct) take on this, is they will release this new FF mount system as a sorta GH3 stepping stone for what's to come, along with a new Micro four thirds either together or shortly on the heels of the FF camera. The new M43 will be something very special, and Olympic ready with very high frame rates, global shutter, etc.. The FF will share some of this, but they will wait till just before the Olympics to release something with higher frame rates, and other bells and whistles, and doing so make upper management relax about releasing 8k global shutter so early. Then after the olympics ride the wave of sales on the camera's that got all them purdy shots, and prepare a massive marketing campaign for new and improved features, and a bunch of small camera's sharing key features so everyone can feel they will get shots just like they saw from the olympics. But I am probably wrong about all of this = )

The Sony A9 already accomplishes something pretty similar - just with a very fast rolling shutter vs a global one.

There's not a lot to be gained by making flanges even shorter than they already are, though, other than potentially some interesting wide angle lens designs.

Internal ND would be really nice, though - though E mount is already capable of that with a mechanical shutter.

Well, if Panasonic's goal is to set to new records for margins on lenses, selling (more) Leica-branded lenses for a special Leica mount is a good way to achieve it...