Monday, September 15, 2014

Panasonic GM1 vs GM5

I was looking at the Panasonic GM1 within the last two weeks.  It is an interesting camera body, having the power of micro Four-Thirds in the smallest possible body.  With an adapter, it can even use various lenses from other systems, and for me, my current Four-Thirds mount lenses.

GM1 with Four-Thirds Leica 25mm f/1.4
GM1 with Panasonic/Leica 15mm f/1.7

I stopped myself from buying it, just because the GM5 was rumored to be released soon.  Today, they made that announcement and the GM5 should be available in November.  I'm even more interested because it is an improved model, which includes a hot shoe and an EVF.

Why is this important?  I live in a very sunny part of California and using the rear display works fine in a store but not necessarily during a very sunny day.  Trying to see my smartphone or tablet display is nearly impossible, though I've become very good at taking photos using muscle memory.  Even if the EVF of the GM5 has the rainbow/tearing effect that plagues the GX7 for some people, it's better than not having an EVF at all.

The lack of a tiny built-in/inbuilt flash to make room for the EVF is okay, since they've included a hot shoe, so that you can now use the included flash or another, more high-powered model.  The GM1 has no such ability to use an external flash unit.

Being able to take 1080/60p video is a worthy enhancement, though I haven't seen anything about 25p or 50p.  Those in PAL areas may be disappointed.  It's possible the press releases I've seen were tailored for each country.

Of course, the GM5 kit is more expensive than the GM1 kit--US$899.99 vs $759.99, I believe was the price I was quoted at the store.  (I have no desire for the 12-32mm lens but the pre-orders seem to be stuck with it.  There are still no Panasonic/Leica 15mm f/1.7 kits.)

Update 2014.10.10: Adorama has the GM1 and kit lens for $597.99 and you get a $100 Adorama gift card.  Getting the GM1 for just under US$500 seems a great deal to me.  It's still tiny and functional.  The deal makes the GM5 seem more expensive but I can't (for me) discount the usefulness of the EVF and flash hot shoe.

Update 2014.11.30: I was waiting for the GM5 and suddenly, I found that the GH4 was both available and $200 off.  Since I bought the GH4, I have to postpone my purchase of the GM5.  In-between, I'll probably buy the 15mm f/1.7 lens because having a low(er) light wide(r) lens would be good, given that my only other such lens would be the Leica/Panasonic 25mm f/1.4 shown in the photo.  That works fine on the GH4, including the aperture ring,  but it's not always wide enough for skate park shots.

Update 2015.04.03: Adorama currently has deals on the GM1 in blue and in orange with a US200 gift certificate, effectively making the cost US$500.  That certainly sounds like a good deal, if you were on the fence about it.

Update 2015.10.18: Panasonic currently has a US$200 instant rebate on the GM5, making it roughly US$700 with the 12-32mm kit lens until October 24th.  I keep thinking about it, but I've taken the GH4 into a restaurant within my backpack.  I don't really go without a camera bag of some sort.

Update 2015.11.29: Currently, Adorama is selling the GM5 for about US$400 off.  That's a great deal.  There is a rumored GM7 but I believe adding 4K video to such a small body will be a disaster.  They might increase the size of the body somewhat, as they did from the GX7 to GX8, but I don't expect a minimal change to work.

I really want the GM5 but I've spent a bit of money on other equipment.  The GM1 has been reduced, as well, but in sunny environments, there is nothing better than a viewfinder, even one that isn't optimal.

Update 2016.06.19: Got the GM5 at a Mike's Camera store tent sale.  US$399.99 was a good price, and I got the 42.5mm f/1.7 Power OIS lens at the same time but with US$100 instant rebate.

The tiny battery will require that I have another 14 batteries, if I plan to do much with it.  I was looking for a way to carry it and I put it into the soft case for the 42.5mm f/1.7.

The viewfinder is unusual, but in sunny California, I'll need it and I can adapt to most any equipment.  The shutter release is not where my finger expected it.  It isn't exactly an action camera anyway.  I need to get a wrist strap for it.  Set up was about the same as for any other Panasonic camera body, once you switch it from the Intelligent Auto position on the dial.

There is more here.

GM5 with Olympus ZD 35-100mm f/2.0

Saturday, September 13, 2014

Thank you, Nikon, for the D750!

(No, they didn't give me one.)  If it's not everything you think it should be, you probably don't understand reality.

This was a good surprise (and makes me think less about the D400 and D7100).  A reasonable resolution from the sensor, plus good low light performance (technically, so far to ISO 12800 within the suggested range), and an auto focus unit that goes almost as low as the Panasonic GH3/GH4, to EV-3 gives this camera body a lot of appeal for a reasonably low price.

You can say that Sony has something smaller and cheaper, but if you want great performance, you don't go to Sony yet.  I'm not saying that the Nikon D600 or D610 are great but it seems that we'll get great performance from the D750 that sports photographers would love--something that didn't quite make it all the way into the D800/D810.

The Expeed 4 processor seems to help quite a lot.  It's showing up everywhere now, and it feels as though Nikon has smacked Canon up one side and down the other, even as a replacement for the 7D is around the corner.

Is US$2299.99 a huge price?  I don't think so when you compare what else is available, even if you just look at Nikon's products.

I wonder if the use of polycarbonate will compromise the weather-proofing of the D750 body.  It's certainly a possibility for damage during a drop.  The lighter weight should be useful, though, as long as the balance with the 70-200mm f/2.8 lens is still good.

Why is this important?  That would be my main combination, especially for sports.  I'm betting for a lot of those with the D700, it's an easy switch.  Handling the file size will be the real problem, going from 12 MP to 24 MP should be a bit troubling but no more than going from 6.x MP to 12 MP, right?  Big cards are required.

I'm guessing that the pre-orders are going to be excessive.

(Oh, I've seen some comments that seem as though Nikon has done a terrible thing--that the D750 cannot be the replacement for the D700, emotionally or otherwise.  If I look at camera bodies as more than tools, I would have to say that the Olympus OM-1N was the best 135 Format film camera body ever created.  It was good, but I don't believe that it was the best.  Life goes on.  We'll survive the changes.)

Update 2014.10.15: I handled a D750 at Best Buy yesterday.  It was not as heavy or large as I expected, definitely smaller than the D810.  That said, you'll probably find it heavy and large.  I still like my dSLRs.  It felt as though it would be well balanced with any 70-200mm f/2.8 lens, though they had something of a normal zoom mounted that brought up the price another US$700.

Update 2014.12.17: I still don't understand the emotional backlash.  The body seems to be everything that it needs to be, at a reasonable price.  Some of the bundles are consumer-oriented but then, the body is almost as consumer-oriented as the poor D610 with the D7000's I-guess-I-got-it AF but impressive as a semi-professional model instead.

Update 2015.01.01: There seems to be a problem with flare in certain D750 bodies.  It's worse with some lenses than others, apparently.  Take a look at The Imaging Resource's article in the link.

Update 2015.03.22: Seeing the DPReview review, I've been surprised about the results.  It seems the image noise is lower than that of the Canon 5D Mk III, and that's impressive.   Even though the D750 is a bit less rugged, it's also lighter and smaller.

Update 2015.04.08: Having photographed a scooter competition at the indoor skate park of Woodward West recently, I'm seeing the need for better image quality at ISO 3200.  I'm not exactly what will work for me, but the D750 seems a good fit.  The Tamron 15-30mm f/2.8 lens also seems good for me, as it is weather-sealed.  The limited 2x zoom may be a bit wide in contrast to my 135 Format effective 24-80mm f/2.8 that I use regularly--24-70mm f/2.8 would probably work better, but the pricing may be too much.

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Sprint is still amusing me instead of amazing me

Since I moved to a rural area of California along I-5 and SR 99, I haven't seen more success in a great network experience than I had at the last place.

In fact, Sprint doesn't even have a store here, though they have 3 kiosks in malls (two of them in the same mall) about 15 miles from here.  The Sprint reseller in this town is next to SR 99 and is on the edge of LTE and a large roaming area.  The fact that I'm on another edge of those area is frustrating.  My bedroom has LTE near the street and 3G toward the back of the apartment complex and the phone searches for service in the middle.

Truth be told, Verizon is not really great here, so I'm not getting any real satisfaction on the computer or tablet.  It's just less worse.

Occasionally, I'll send a tweet to @sprintcare.  Recently, I asked @sprintcare why their reseller didn't get good coverage (there is a roaming hole near the shopping area), and I was told that the majority of the 95336 area was in the Fair rating.  It is, but that is Sprint's rating for "Virtually unusable".  Using Yelp to Check-in often results in a time-out after 3-4 minutes.

He completely ignored the large roaming area in town and told me to go check their AIRAVE device.  The last time I looked, it was not a portable device that I could take with me.  It also required a wired internet connection, which they were unwilling to provide the last time they pushed me toward the option.

Tell me why it is my responsibility to fix their network problems by paying more to use a device to work around their shortcomings.  I'd really like to know.

That said, I can see the LTE signal becoming stronger.  In recent days, it's working in the living room.  LTE works fine in the San Francisco Bay Area (around 50-75 miles away) in most places.  I have hope.  They're just not working as quickly as I expected.  It's already September and many places are not working with LTE as they should be.

I need more patience but this is something that is stretched far too thin since say, 2008, when I moved out of a strong area, before the death grip of Nextel took hold.

Update 2014.10.29: They have increased their LTE reach into my apartment, although it too often changes to 3G when I try to use it.  Service is slowly, incrementally improving.  I still receive too many timeouts at stores.  Sometimes, even in stronger areas.  I see too many times when the service switches between LTE and 3G and it's basically unusable unless I force it to ignore LTE.

Update 2014.11.18: The hole in Sprint's coverage is now gone from the map.  They've filled it with non-existent LTE.  My apartment is covered, also, with the strongest LTE possible--none of that Fair business.

Best LTE, yet frequent time-outs

Perfectly covered, yet 1xRTT often
Obviously, all of this time I'm spending on 1xRTT is in my imagination.  The multiple time-outs are also imagined, apparently.  It couldn't be the work of simple easily flowing orange on a map, because no company would ever cheat.

The only thing making sure I don't go to T-Mobile is that their service here isn't very good, either, and they're still working over a rather insecure GSM.  When VoLTE (Voice Over LTE) becomes available, I'd be glad to jump ship, although I don't talk much, but it only takes one call to give away information that someone else can use to empty your accounts and CDMA may not be great, it's secure.

Going to Verizon would be expensive and going to AT&T would be stupid, since it's likely they will still overcharge, plus as many people here complain about them as love them.  Verizon's service for my mobile hotspot is good but not incredible.

Update 2014.12.09: I had a little chat with @sprintcare recently and they said that the roaming area is still visible to them.  When I finally Tweeted the maps I saw (like those above), they didn't reply at all.

I went to talk to someone at a Verizon store and they played a little game on the price of service, at $40 more than I had found on their web site.  I was uncomfortable giving that person a commission for withholding the best deal from me.

I went to the local Sprint reseller and said "Give me a reason to stay with Sprint." and he did but there is a still a lot of hope for the future.  However, I saw something on CNBC's app today where they finished the Stockton area and the service is much better.  That city had horrible service.  10x from 0.30 Mbps is a good improvement for 3G service.

The only real problem with the report is that they jumped over the city where I live, choosing to modify the map.  They may do more--they should do more because the Sprint reseller is also on the edge of the roaming zone.

Now that I have a three band LTE phone, it seems as though the service is somewhat better.  They weren't planning to turn on Spark (three band LTE) over here, but if they have 800 MHz and 1900 MHz, that would be good.  If the 2500 MHz band they got with Clear isn't supported here, that's okay.  If it's only 1900 MHz and 2500 MHz, that would be so-so.

2015.02.14: After a roughly 450 mile trip to San Diego and then, to Disneyland, and back, I think that Sprint still has much more to do across the state.  However, it's good to know that they're taking care of the area around their headquarters continually, since the people working for the company aren't paying as much as the other customers are.  At least, they're not blaming their customers as AT&T always do.

Apple didn't bring Elvis back, either

Another Apple announcement--nothing to report, really.  Yes, I'm kidding.

I've already seen the fanatics on both sides hammering out comments.  Geez!

I suspected that unless the company brought back Elvis, there was nothing really important, and the company would go out of business in short order.  It's an obvious conclusion, isn't it?

I'm glad to see a number of phone choices with realistic storage sizes.  (It's odd that my 32 GB iPhone 4S was enough but not my 32 GB iPhone 5c.)  Double the storage is good, especially since the world has changed.

The fingerprint scanner will be available for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.  That's a good thing because they're introducing a rather comprehensive payment system and payments can be done with a touch of your thumb.

Do the new phone sizes (4.7 and 5.5 inch) change things?  They will make a difference for those people who think bigger is better without being able to discern much of anything else.  Of course, for people with huge hands, the 5.5 inch model will be helpful.  The bigger model's 1920x1080 resolution ticks another box as it meets full HD resolution.

The operating efficiency enhancements are more important and they've switched to more powerful and more capable processors, switched to larger batteries, and you may get better battery life in your real world experience.  Of course, a lot of your battery life depends on your carrier, and how much you use those new, bigger displays.

I'm a bit enamoured of the LG G3's display but of course, not with the battery life.  Samsung has also been showing its best components with little regard to real life usage but they do have great displays.

My only question is whether a bigger phone will suit me?  I remember looking at the HTC One (M7) and thinking that it was too large, along with its Android competition.  I was so close to buying one of those or the LG G2 and I wanted something smaller.

I'll be looking forward to iOS 8 at some point, but I doubt I'll be an early victim, errr, adopter.  Too often Apple doesn't finish their thoughts and leaves users hanging.

Is anyone interested in the Apple Watch?  I wish that I was.  It is interesting, but starting at US$349, I won't be buying one.  Do I wear a watch now?  No, so it would be something new for me to take off and forget somewhere.  I have a load of watches I have not worn since 2004, so it would take a very good reason for me to wear one.

The user interface looks incredible and I think they've got good ideas in there, unlike the other brands--something Samsung will want to borrow.  (Even if you don't like Apple, it's obvious that Samsung has used products from Apple, Nokia, Motorola, BlackBerry and others as design templates for many products, coming close to verbatim copies in many cases.)

I've seen people who are crazy about watches, and I know for a fact that shopping channels like ShopNBC/ShopHQ have special programming just about watches.  There are customers out there.

I've been wondering how Apple will collapse not just health-oriented watches and monitors business but the industry of runners' watches.  I could see the company buying Polar and other smaller companies in the business.

The only real surprise I got was the lack of iPad replacements.  Update: Late October launch event?

Oh, and what's not a product but a change in the way we'll all do business is Apple Pay.  Strange to think about it but it may finally put to rest checks, cards, and even cash within 20 years.  Apple has a way of putting together procedures to make life easier.  I'm not saying that it will be perfect and it will take a few generations of devices before it's into everyone's wallet, but it has a good chance of making payments easier.

There need to be a lot of things in place before I would trust it, but I say that about everything.  I'm not trusting of current physical cards and procedures.  I want to sign for purchases of $10 or more--not $50 or more.

Of course, the government will have to do some research because Apple is claiming some counter fee that card issuers should pay it for sales going through their system.  It should be interesting.

Update 2014.09.19: The iPhone lines are being satisfied all over the world.  I can't imagine how or why people would switch so often.   Would I pay the ETF (early termination fee) to get a newer phone?  It had better wash dishes and cook for me, if I'm going to pay extra.  They cost enough with or without subsidies.  I know both sides of the story, and yes, if we didn't have contracts but could get similar service without it, I would pay the full price for a phone.  Standing in line for a new phone that hasn't been tested by millions of people yet?  No, thanks.

iOS arrived the day before my birthday this week.  I'm interested but considering the typical flaws, I would rather wait until version 8.1 but considering how long it took them to get to 7.1, I might turn blue in the face holding my breath.  We'll see how many security issues are outstanding in 7.x.

Oh, and if you're on the iPhone 4S, you might want to wait--there may be issues, as there were with iOS 7 and iPhone 4.

Update 2015.01.01: I had updated to iOS 8.x and was constantly up against my storage limits.

About three weeks ago, I got an iPhone 6, even though the products were in somewhat limited supply still.  I went from the 32 GB iPhone 4s and iPhone 5c to a 64 GB iPhone 6.  This was the second iteration of the 64-bit processor, so I felt a bit comfortable.  However, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are still not fully supported by third party apps.  There are some strange bugs, also.  iOS 8.2 is in beta testing.

Performance is great, and battery life is better, even though the display has increased in size.  It seems odd being past 480x320 pixel displays.  It also seems odd having switched once a year.

Monday, September 1, 2014

4K, 3D TV on the way (it's here and it's working well)

This was a very weird decision to make.

Months ago, I traded my 3D TV and Blu-Ray player for some help in getting things to the garage from other levels of my house.  I knew that the heavy TV panel on the flimsy pedestal would end up in millions of pixel-sized pieces at the other end of the journey, so I did the best thing.

I've been looking for a TV to replace it.  If the 3D craze had gone better, it wouldn't have been a big search.  Of course, had I not chosen an LG 3D TV in November 2011, I wouldn't be looking for one now.  I found enough movies that I liked in 3D that I wanted to see them in 3D again.

So, I started to search, starting with the same Blu-Ray player/3D TV combo deal.   Nothing was available.  Many of the TVs just weren't available and various web sites would produce links that went to whatever models were available, none of which had any 3D capability.

So, I noticed that all of the 4K TV models had 3D capabilities, until recently, that is.  I tried various models at Best Buy, where I was shown a Sony 1080p TV in their Magnolia Home Theater department, which was very good.  The price was somewhat high, but given the area, I could understand.  Recently, I went to try the 3D effect.  The heavy, active 3D glasses caused some kind of odd feeling in my nose as they sat there.  Perhaps, it was like getting a buzzing in your ear.  It wasn't exactly a vibration but maybe an electromagnetic resonance that was uncomfortable.

The 3D effect was rather good but within a few minutes, I couldn't wear the glasses any longer.

I was told the only alternatives were LG and Vizio.  I had reasonable luck with the bargain LG TV but I continue to hear how people have wildly variable experiences with Vizio.  So, I was thrilled when someone showed me a 49 inch class (class? Just say that it's 48.5 inches) LG 4K 3D TV (LG 49UB8500) at $1499.99.  Yes, that is not cheap, but it was a small difference from the 1080p Sony TV.  It's actually the same as my first 41 inch rear projection TV I bought in 1994 at Macy's.

I've seen several 1080p movies played on it and it's obvious that they're pixelated here and there, but no more so than on other 4K TVs I've seen--or for that matter, 1080p TVs.

There are two big deals for me--substantial processing power and passive 3D glasses.

Obviously, with the ability to decode 4K content, it will do just fine with 1080p and 1080p 3D content, and that's plenty.  Do I expect 4K to hit it big?  No, not in the least.  I expect that 8K will have the major content re-work behind it.

I heard that DirecTV is planning to deliver (some) 4K content any time now, but whether I want to pay extra for that (if there is an extra fee), is unlikely.  I'm finally making the switch to 1080p/1080i content, since I started with them in December 2008.

In any case, I got an extra $100 off because of the Labor Day weekend sales.  I wanted to buy through the same store in NYC that sells me cameras but their sale went off earlier than expected, probably because of the East Coast/West Coast time difference, and I had to wait a bit to transfer money.  Having a 6% points coupon would have been good, along with the $100 discount.  In any case, Best Buy is getting my money and they have free delivery, which will probably come from one of the local stores where I viewed the TV.

The only thing really left to do (for the TV itself) is to get an upscaling 4K Blu-Ray player some time in the future, especially if the current one just doesn't do the job.  I need a sound system and haven't decided on anything.  Being in an apartment has changed my options a bit and having a 900 watt system is probably not as good an idea as it was.

Update 2014.09.05: The TV was delivered between 3:30 and 5:30, as promised.  With free delivery, there was no setup.  That left the assembly to me. The box was strapped and the reason for it became quickly apparent.  The box wasn't much.  There was a small stand with the styrofoam holding the panel and the outer box that had no bottom.

There was a box reminiscent of something Apple would do with various adapters, the remote control and batteries, as well as instruction manuals and some screws for the assembly.

The assembly took a little work and was best handled by two people.  I had my buddy keep the panel upside down, while I secured the stand to the panel.  It wasn't exactly difficult.  Why do these stands never seem substantial?

Once finished, the TV required a brief setup and found my internet connection.  For such a TV, it shouldn't be a surprise that it had built-in WiFi.  This also has webOS as a base, using their Magic Remote as a pointer.  Getting anything done with the pointer is an exercise in frustration.  However, the TV looks good, has a tiny bezel, and the image quality even from DVDs is quite good.  I haven't checked too much about screen dimensions--4:3 seems to cover everything but 16:9 has a letterbox setup.

I noticed that my 16 MP JPEG photo files were displayed just fine using a rear USB port.  One of the three ports seemed to be USB 3.0 compatible.  There are ports, with cabling adapters, for composite and component video.  My old HDD/DVD recorder works well with it.  I supposed it will be a while until I adjust but the image quality is quite good and even the 3D was quite good.  Only the extremely cheap 3D glasses (cheaper than those from the cheapo 2011 set I had) let it down a bit.

Update 2014.09.06: Went to Best Buy to retrieve the Sony upscaling 4K Blu-Ray player, which was on sale for US$149.99.  It feels incredibly cheap, but it's a bit bigger than the 1080p model.  The remote control is exactly the same.  It works well enough.  I'm waiting for Yamaha or someone else to provide something amazing for more money, but I think it won't matter much.  I just wish I could enhance the firmware.  It keeps requesting a USB drive in back to keep information about Blu-Ray discs--their way of cutting costs to keep the price low, whereas other units I've had kept the information internally.

Update 2014.09.19: I need more and better sound.  I've been looking at sound bars and I'm just not sure.  Certainly the US$300 sound bars aren't going to give me much better sound, if any, than the TV already gives me.

Best Buy sales people push Jamo, which is owned my Harman International, which own Harman-Kardon, JBL, Infinity, and more.  Is $799.99 too much?  I'm not sure.  They also talked about Sonos, which makes a lot of portable music speakers.  It was $100 cheaper but seemed to lack the subwoofer, and I found the subwoofer later for an equal amount, which could make a comparable Sonos sound bar system as much as Bose.  I even had a convincing Bose Cinemate 1SR demonstration, but Bose stores are quiet.  That sound bar system was US$1499.99, which is probably not the highest you'd find

Update 2014.10.09: I changed my mind about the sound bar and DirecTV is working now.  I was ready to buy the Jamo sound bar and no Best Buy location seemed to have them.  They had a big drop in price on the Cinemate 1SR to US$1099.99 and I was ready to go for that, but they also didn't have those.  Something odd about Bose selections--they don't have HDMI inputs at the mid-level, so they couldn't handle higher resolution audio, even though optical connections don't seem to be constricted as copper is.

I was really thinking about buying a Yamaha receiver and buying a set of Infinity speakers, along with my Bose center channel speaker which is really thin.  Then, I noticed a premium Yamaha sound bar (YSP-2500) for US$999.99.  Of course, I kept looking and at $1499.99 and $1799.99, the capabilities and power became much better.  The top end model, the YSP-4300 had all of the DSP sound modes I wanted, claimed to deliver 7.1 sound (as did the YSP-3300), but also had FM radio and a USB connection for devices, just like my previous Yamaha receiver.

The only problem with a sound bar--like many central channel speakers--is finding a place for it.  Either it blocks the TV or it won't fit on the shelf.  Currently, I'm looking at buying a large piece of heavy, sturdy glass to lay under the TV that will extend past the ends of the top shelf of the TV stand in order to hold the sound bar comfortably.

As far as DirecTV is concerned, the HD (1080i or 720p, depending on the channel) video quality is generally amazing though many channels still don't have HD broadcasts.  I haven't seen anything about 4K video, but then, that will probably be as great as the 3D video that has come and gone.

Update 2014.10.27: About a week ago, I went into a Fry's Electronics store.  The last time I had visited one, it was a circus of sorts.  I didn't expect much.  They seemed expensive on TV pricing, and they mostly had the lowest end of sound bars and other electronics.  They had a small section labeled 4K/3D in the movies area, but naturally, they had no 4K content available at this point.  It was amusing to see that they had full Blu-Ray/DVD/digital copy packages for less than the DVD by itself.  At least, they're somewhat prepared for 4K content, even if it never arrives.  If scanning and correcting photos (negatives, positive slides, or paper) into digital formats is a pain, I cannot imagine having to do that for motion picture film

Update 2014.12.19: I just saw my TV available for US$1199.99 or $200 cheaper than I paid and $300 cheaper than the typical price.  It's been three months, so I'm not upset.

This is the first TV I've had where I've gone to stores like Best Buy and I've not been jealous of the TVs on display.

What's more, a couple of weeks ago, I bought the Panasonic GH4 camera body, capable of Cinema4K and 4K video recording.  It should be interesting to see how good the video actually is.

Update 2015.01.01: I took a few 4K videos a couple of days ago, and played them through a USB 2.0 port.  The clarity of video and audio was great, but there was a problem with performance at times.  I don't think that it was because of the camera.  It could be either the USB 2.0 speed, which isn't tremendously fast or it could be the decoding of the raw video.  I'll buy a USB 3.0 drive to see how that works.

Update 2015.12.07: I've finally got a Bose sound bar.  That took a while.