MFT Body Battle Coming with OM, Panny Launching New Flagship Bodies

Both Panasonic and OM System (Olympus to you oldsters) will be launching new flagship Micro Four Thirds (MFT) mount bodies in about a week. Of course, the success of the winner of this coming battle may be determined by which one can supply, um, cameras.

Rumor sites and pre-announced specs combine to give the impression that both bodies will be very similarly specced. The Panasonic GH6 will have 4K 4:2:2 unlimited recording, likely with downsampling from a 5.7K frame. 60p video should be available in that larger resolution as well.

Rumor has it that the OM System’s “O-M1” will shoot 120p 12-bit RAW DCI and 4K60P 10-bit 4:2:2. The O-M1 is rumored to cost a bit over $2,000 USD and – importantly – is supposed to start shipping just a couple weeks after its February 15 launch. The GH6 will be launching a week later, with an as-yet-unknown price.

The O-M1 is also rumored to have astro tracking and improved autofocus tracking – something MFT cameras have not been able to do as well as the state-of-the-art major brand full frame offerings. This camera has been referred to by OM System’s managing director as the ‘wow camera.’ Pundits have been wondering if it might instead become the ‘meh’ camera, but these specs seem to indicate it would at least attain a ‘ah camera’ rating.