Panasonic camera can't be rolled up at all? Crazy sample fraud exposed!

A while ago, Panasonic Imaging launched the LUMIX S9, a new full-frame camera in the LUMIX S series. As the first compact camera in the series to feature retro styling, its arrival has attracted the attention of countless camera enthusiasts. However, foreign media photorumors revealed that many netizens discovered that Panasonic had faked the promotional images of this camera, which caused controversy.

Most of the official promotional samples of LUMIX S9 come from other well-known photo sharing communities. For example, the puppy samples showing its dynamic shooting effect can be found from the image storage website Shutterstock. Netizens also discovered that the interface captured in some of the LUMIX S9 samples even came from Panasonic’s competitor Nikon. Due to fake proofs, Panasonic's new camera caused a lot of abuse from netizens as soon as it was released. After the incident, Panasonic said it would immediately investigate the official promotional images and issued an apology statement for the incident.

(Photo source: Nikon Rumors)

On June 27, Panasonic officially issued a notice. After investigation, samples of a total of 77 Panasonic cameras and lenses were suspected of being fake, including There are 8 models of S series cameras, 17 models of S series lenses, 6 models of G series cameras, etc. It has to be said that Panasonic Imaging, as a long-established camera manufacturer, although it is no longer on the front line, has created many best-selling cameras and lenses and has a large number of loyal fans. Now it has been revealed that the samples of 77 products are suspected of being fake, which has simply chilled the hearts of consumers.

More importantly, Panasonic Imaging has finally had to fight a turnaround on LUMIX S9. Under such public opinion, it may be a bit difficult.

LUMIX S9 sample fraud, this matter can be big or small

Fake imaging product samples have always existed in the industry, such as Nokia 808 Prueview and Xiaoyi Camera, etc. The discrepancy between the sample and the performance description caused controversy. However, the probability of such incidents occurring in the mobile phone field is relatively high.

Of course, large-scale sample fraud like Panasonic Imaging’s is extremely rare in the industry. In the list of suspected sample fakes disclosed by Panasonic, the number of fake lens samples is much more than that of cameras. This is actually the problem. After all, it is difficult for lenses to use hardware parameters to judge the authenticity of the samples like cameras. The imaging effect is often more likely to mislead consumers.

(Photo source: Panasonic)

The biggest impact is the just-released LUMIX S9. On the one hand, this is a new product launched by Panasonic Imaging, and it is still in hot sales. A major public opinion incident, the sales volume is unavoidable and worrying; on the other hand, considering the positioning of LUMIX S9, it is obviously a product prepared for entry-level full-frame enthusiasts. Such users inherently lack higher judgment on this type of camera. , in this way, it may cause a big blow to Panasonic's brand image.

Fake samples also make people question the performance of LUMIX S9. For example, when introducing the focus/focus performance part, the LUMIX S9 selected past photos in the gallery as proofs. Now that the proofs in this part are exposed to be fake, it is inevitable that people will suspect that its focusing capabilities are lacking. There is also the animal recognition part. Panasonic used Nikon's sample of birds as a sample of LUMIX S9, which actually brought more popularity to its opponents.

(Picture source: Panasonic Japan/Apology letter regarding LUMIX S9 sample fraud)

It is not difficult to see that the Panasonic Imaging Brand Promotion Department is mainly responsible for this incident, whether it is For any reason, you should not choose to promote your product in this way. Now that the incident has come to light, it not only makes the LUMIX S9 the most controversial camera product this year, but also affects Panasonic's brand image. However, Xiaolei believes that there is indeed some controversy about the performance of LUMIX S9 itself, and this is the part that consumers are most concerned about.

"Forced" to fake, Panasonic wants to overthrow Fujifilm

After Panasonic Imaging was exposed for sample fraud, many netizens believed that Panasonic was too hasty and wanted to quickly establish itself in the LUMIX S9 The position of the compact full-frame camera market, this is why fake proofs are used to reflect the power of this camera.

Panasonic teamed up with Leica and Sigma to form an L-mount joint brand in 2018, and began to launch full-frame cameras in 2019. The first full-frame cameras were LUMIX S1 and LUMIX S1R. Compared with Sony, Nikon and Canon at the same time, Panasonic has no obvious advantages. Whether it is brand recognition, product professionalism and product accessories (lenses), Panasonic is excluded from the "Yu Sanjia".

But the advantage of Panasonic Imaging lies in its in-depth research on compact cameras. Friends who are familiar with Panasonic know that before entering the full-frame camp, Panasonic has always been one of the core members of the M43 format alliance. The LUMIX S5 series models subsequently launched by Panasonic also gained many fans due to their compact body design.

(Picture source: Panasonic/LUMIX S5M2)

Obviously, today’s camera market is completely different from the previous decade. Fuji, which has become popular with retro design and film filters, has occupied the high ground of public opinion, even after its launch The X100VI, a mirrorless camera with a non-interchangeable lens priced at 10,000 yuan, is sold out of stock all over the world, making it the envy of many camera manufacturers. Fujifilm was followed by Nikon, which launched the APS-C format retro mirrorless camera Zfc and the full-frame retro mirrorless camera ZF. Both cameras achieved quite good results.

LUMIX S9 has the same retro style, and in order to cater to entry-level consumers, it cancels the shutter curtain, cancels the hot shoe opening, has no built-in flash, and even has obvious overheating problems when shooting 4K videos. Of course, the weight of the LUMIX S9 is reduced to 403g. Moreover, LUMIX S9 is still a video camera, and the lack of peripheral configurations also makes it uninteresting for video creators.

(Photo source: Panasonic)

In order to beat Fuji, Panasonic also released the Lumix Lab APP together with the LUMIX S9. In this community, users can share their color palette, that is, luts file, and S9 users can download and use it directly with one click. According to Xiaolei’s observation, the first products to be launched on the Lumix Lab APP are the Classic Chrome and Negative Color film filter luts that imitate Fujifilm. Panasonic’s goals are also quite clear.

Although the LUMIX S9 wants to take advantage of the full-frame to seize Fujifilm’s retro camera market, its hardware is too emasculated compared to the LUMIX S5 second generation, resulting in a lack of professionalism as a full-frame camera. The advantage brought by the frame is that the S9, which is priced at 9,599 yuan, is a bit expensive. It's not as good as the top, but it's more than the bottom. This makes Panasonic Imaging unable to completely cut off the image of this camera with high performance, which leads to a large number of fake proofs being used as official promotional images to confuse the public.

Of course, for now, many Panasonic cameras, including the LUMIX S9, whose samples have been confirmed to be fake, have not seen an obvious return wave or a decline in order volume. This may be because Panasonic is not even willing to hold a conference Press conference to give an official apology.

Panasonic Imaging needs to embrace a larger market

2023 is a year of recovery for the camera market, thanks to the return of the tourism industry to a period of rapid growth, represented by Fuji, Sony, and Canon Camera manufacturers have achieved their best sales results in recent years. Take the ZVE10, a portable Vlog camera released by Sony in 2021, as an example. It became the best-selling Vlog camera in Japan's BCN camera retail rankings in 2023. Sony has also launched the second and third generations non-stop, which is enough to prove the high popularity of this series.

In the BNC camera rankings, Sony, Canon, and Nikon have made great achievements, each achieving good results in their respective familiar fields, while Panasonic has made no gains in the main list, even being beaten by the only camera in the M43 camp Olympus has won three best-selling seats.

However, Mr. Xin Feng, the head of Panasonic Imaging, believes that the LUMIX S5M2 launched by Panasonic in 2023 has achieved many achievements as an all-round full-frame camera, and the performance of the entire imaging department has far exceeded expectations. The goal in 2024 will be to focus on a more diversified camera market.

It is not difficult to find that Panasonic’s first product to embrace the diversified camera market was the LUMIX S9, but it caused controversy due to sample fraud. Of course, LUMIX S9's current sales performance in the global market is pretty good due to its excellent appearance, especially in the Chinese market, where the first round of pre-sales on JD.com were sold out instantly.

(Photo source: Panasonic)

This year is another wave of new camera products. In addition to the third generation of Sony ZEV 10 mentioned above, Fuji, Nikon and Canon will all be in the market. This year, various product lines have been updated. For example, the Z6 III released by Nikon not long ago has reached full performance, which has also put a lot of pressure on Panasonic.

If you can put aside the fake LUMIX S9 sample, this compact full-frame camera also has many advantages that competing products cannot match, such as a 403g body, independent Luts button, retro body and 5-axis anti-shake, and it also simplifies the difficulty for users to get started, allowing entry-level consumers to enjoy the comfort of carrying a full-frame camera when traveling to take photos and record scenery. But the same problem is that entry-level consumers tend to pay more attention to the performance of official promotional pictures. If the reference value of the sample pictures is no longer great, then in this case, consumers may not firmly choose LUMIX S9 .

It can only be said that Panasonic discovered this problem in time and responded to this incident, but consumers’ stereotypes about this camera already exist. How to save the reputation of Panasonic imaging and the sales of LUMIX S9 at the same time may be the next issue Panasonic needs to consider.

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