Today, I'm gonna share
with you the most impressive camera I've ever tested,
but unfortunately, it's a restricted prototype.
So I can't show you the body
and I can only share certain results with you at this time
but it's in this nondescript box and it is amazing.
Let's get undone!
♪ Gerald Undone. ♪
♪He is crazy ♪
- What's happening, everybody.
I'm Gerald Undone, and I will never stand
between a Komodo dragon and a tree.
Alright, so this exciting camera is the result
of a brand new partnership between Panasonic and Sony
to make a camera with all the features you've come to love
and expect from the LUMIX lineup, but with the speed
and advanced tech of Sony cameras, including of course,
a hybrid phase detect auto focus system.
I'm told that likely the name
of the initial flagship will be the Sonosonic Alpha 1H
and they're planning to announce it on April 1st.
I don't have any concrete information on price,
but I'm told they're looking to place it somewhere
between $500 and $15,000.
And neither party has sponsored this video
nor do they get any input on this video's production.
And I don't get to keep the camera.
Let's talk a little about the sensor that's in here.
It's using a brand new EBTALF sensor that
I'm told internally stands for "even bigger than Alexa LF."
And it comes at just over 130 megapixels and it's capable
of recording 16k up to 30 frames per second!
And it can also do 8K at 120p,
or 4k at 240p with no crop or overheating.
You can also shoot 130 megapixel raw photos at a burst rate
of 60 images per second, with an unlimited buffer.
Because camera takes dual M.2 NVMe drives
for extremely fast recording with redundancy.
and it comes with a caddy
for those drives to connect directly to your computer
for fast and efficient editing right off the drive.
They manage to solve any overheating issues
by making the frame of the body out
of a new magnesium, tritanium and adamantium alloy blend
that keeps the internal operating temperature
below 42.0 degrees Celsius at all times.
It uses a new battery type that I'm not
able to show at this time, but I was averaging
about six hours of 16k recording before I ran out of juice,
but it can run for longer via USB power delivery.
As I mentioned, the auto focus is extraordinary.
I'd say it's about 10% better than the best we've seen
from Sony already, which was already impressive.
And it can, auto focus goes
down to -10 stops underexposed with no issues.
Look at this shot here for example,
it was completely pitch black
but the auto focus kept me perfectly
and focused the entire time,
regardless of what I did, truly outstanding.
And of course it compensates
for any focus breathing your lens might have.
So that's great.
I'll be going into more detail about the body and ergonomics
at a later date when I'm allowed to show the camera
and when they've improved of some of the cosmetic touches.
But so far I can say that has been an absolute
pleasure to use.
I particularly like the new 6-way tilt/flip screen.
The IBIS doesn't have the latest firmware yet,
so I haven't been able to fully test it
but they're using a new internal 4D stabilization system
that seems to be incredibly promising.
Think of it like the new Ronin gimbal camera
but with that built right into the sensor.
I'm very excited to test this further.
Oh! and speaking of firmware,
they have a long list of great updates planned
for this camera in the coming months.
Currently, the rolling shutter is solid
at around 12 milliseconds, but they plan to change that
to a global shutter via firmware by the end of April.
They also are planning to add an SDI port,
an extra record button,
and a higher resolution viewfinder
all via firmware in the coming months.
That kind of thing is always great to see.
Lastly, let's talk about dynamic range and image quality.
I was able to test it using my Xyla 21,
and I'm happy to announce
that this is the first camera I've tested to
be able to read all 21 stops on my test chart.
And when you factor noise into the equation, even
with noise reduction turned off,
I managed to get a clean 18 stops
with a signal noise ratio of two.
This is an exceptional result.
The best I've ever tested.
but what's even more impressive,
is how this camera handles noise.
It doesn't have a dual native ISO,
but instead uses a new technology
called a triple gain turboencabulator,
which allows you to shoot all the way up to 1.6 million ISO
with barely any visible noise in the shot.
Here, check out this shot of the color checker
as I go through the ISO range.
I bet you can barely see the noise change
even as we get past a 102,400 ISO.
It's wild how far we've come when it comes
to controlling noise like this.
Now I don't have the manufacturer LUT, yet,
to test the color accuracy of the new log profile
which is being tentatively named Captain's Log.
But things are looking good so far based
on the Rec. 709 modes in the camera.
Finally, because this is a partnership
between Panasonic and Sony,
you're gonna have two mount options.
You can get it in Sony E-mount,
or you can continue to take part
in the L-Mount Alliance if you wish to do so.
And that's all the information I can share at this time.
Be sure to check back on April 1st
for the official announcement of this incredible camera.
Alright, I'm done.