Lumix G9II Custom Settings & Download

[@EwenBell]

I've updated my CamSet files on the website to work with the newer G9 Mark II firmware update V2.1 released in October 2024. Anyone still wanting the older V2.0 please drop me an email and I'll flick that across. Always a good idea to keep up with the firmware changes though :) ewenbell.com/blog/Custom_Settings_for_the_LUMIX_G9II

[@PartisanZoya1941]

Thanks for your instructions and the link. I've uploaded your CAMSET to my G9 Mark II. I'm going to try some of these with my camera . I will probably change the RAW only to JPEG and RAW.

[@EwenBell]

@@PartisanZoya1941 hope you enjoy experimenting!

[@Democratiser]

I have a G9 and had convinced myself that my next camera would be a S5IIX. But last month I had a holiday in Bali. I took my G9 and left my 5DIII at home. I was reminded why I bought the G9: size and weight advantage. I packed 5 mft lenses covering 20mm-600mm FF equivalent which totalled 1.25kg: 80% of the weight of my Canon 70-200mm f2.8L IS. So after returning from the holiday I started to rethink the S5IIX idea. I had been seduced by the ‘best image quality’ and ‘full frame magic’. Comments from some reviewers about the G9II looking ‘slightly more digitised’, ‘processed’ and less ‘natural’ fed my full frame bias. I am now rewatching G9II reviews and was pleased to find yours. I am seeking to shake my ‘full frame FOMO’ and get content with the idea of buying a G9II instead of a S5II. Well done on your review. Your insights are appreciated.

[@EwenBell]

Thanks so much for the kind words :) I think your struggle is a very common one. Lots of others will share you experience and uncertainty. There is a different feel to the images when shooting on MFT compared to Full-Frame. I suspect it's all about the pixel density. I recently spent a lot of time shooting with a very low-pixel full-frame and I loved the feel of those images, it reminded me of the old days with my early DSLR. So yes there is a crispness to the images off the G9II. And you have to work harder to extract bokeh, if that's your thing. For wildlife there's no comparison, the G9II is marvellous and I'm super happy with the images. You've already covered the difference in lens weight between MFT and full-frame! The two major differences for me are the Dual ISO of the S5II and access to finer bokeh. The second ISO circuit on the S5II is really key to image quality in bad light. That S5II is just such a great camera, for anyone committed to full-frame. The other question that many people are struggling to answer, is whether the G9II is really that much better than the original G9? The original was so good! For video the benefits are obvious and compelling. For stills, not so much. Nice to have extra pixels. Nice to have Phase Detect, although I always enjoyed the performance of the AF on the original G9. Most people spend too much money on the camera and not enough on the lenses. But that's perhaps for another video.

[@Democratiser]

@@EwenBell Thanks for your thoughtful reply. Indeed it is a bit of a dilemma. As the price of the G9II is high I am inclined to wait a while - prolonging the dilemma! I will keep your advice and feedback in mind!

[@bbas3008]

Many thanks for your custom settings Ewan. I moved to Thailand from Melbourne 2022 at age 68 so can use a little help in organising the G9II I purchased yesterday. I did download V2.1 once I had the camera in my hands. I find you easy to listen to mate, some of those other accents and speed they talk is a trial for my 70 year old Aussie ears. I am now very excited about getting out with the dog and my new G9II with some of your helpl

[@EwenBell]

Haaaa can't say I've had many compliments on my voice over the years, but I'll take it! Glad this has proved helpful. We live in the CBD and our favie Thai eats is Me Dee (in Paramount Court) so I'll recommend that whenever you need a fix of proper Bangkok street food. The moo-ping is very good and the ka na moo krob is spot on!

[@bbas3008]

@@EwenBell cheers, I live in Chiangmai.

[@EwenBell]

@@bbas3008 Sorry, my brain misread and I thought you moved TO Melbourne instead of FROM Melbourne :)

[@RayTaylorQ]

For birds I set the two front function buttons. The upper one to focus near and the lower one to focus far. It works brilliantly!

[@EwenBell]

Yeah that near focus option is a great feature on the LUMIX models :)

[@IronChefShellie]

I don't wanna know a world without custom settings!

[@EwenBell]

Less brain and more heart.

[@PaulVotava]

Will be using this in my new G9ii! Thanks so much for sharing!

[@EwenBell]

That's great Paul :)

[@patrickbenthamradley5429]

Thank you Ewen for this super pedagogical tutorial :-) I subscribed directly !

[@EwenBell]

Thankyou Patrick!

[@idioticidealist]

This is an excellent video. If you make more g9ii content, I will watch it all!

[@EwenBell]

Thankyou! I do plan to do that, but haven't been quite as productive with making videos as I planned :)

[@SueFerreira75]

Thank you - your CamSet is very helpful.

[@EwenBell]

Thanks Sue :)

[@mw0ellie]

Great video, thank you!

[@EwenBell]

You're welcome:)

[@John-fj2kq]

Brilliant informative video thank you. I don’t seem to be able to open the .dat file though to load to my camera? I don’t think I’ve got the grasp of it yet 😊😊

[@EwenBell]

Check the image of the folder structure in the blog post. It's key. You need the CamSet file in the right folder and only then will it appear as an option to load in (restore from).

[@John-fj2kq]

@@EwenBell thank you Ewen, it’s the actual folder I can’t open with the cam set inside I don’t seem to have the correct software to open it with but I will keep trying 👍😊😊

[@EwenBell]

Hey John. Only the camera itself can load it through, can't be opened or edited on your computer. You just drop the DAT file onto an SD, in the correctly named folder, and then through the cameras menu system you load in the new settings. @@John-fj2kq

[@John-fj2kq]

@@EwenBell ahhh got it now Ewen,thank you so much 👍👍😊

[@jdogbirdeye]

Great video thanks for sharing, Mine just came in today, where to download your Custom Settings if I may, thanks

[@EwenBell]

There's a link in the video description, see above ^^^

[@FieldingSmith]

Any chance you’ve found an L-bracket for the G9ii/S5ii? Haven’t found any yet from known brands, and tried universal ones like the 3 legged thing Lexie, which weren’t stable at all and blocked the ports.

[@EwenBell]

I've been using a SmallRig cage designed for video, but adding an Arca Swiss plate to the side of the cage. It's overkill but it works! Their Black Mamba cages have Arca Swiss on the base already. Hope that helps!

[@FieldingSmith]

@@EwenBell So what’s interesting is I emailed SmallRig asking if they were make an L-bracket or if what you described could be done with their cages… and they told me no to both. Mind sharing what arca plate you used for the side addon?

[@EwenBell]

Haaa how abotu that! I guess it's not official procedure what I'm doing :) I used the Peak Design plate, it's very very small and thin, so not too intrusive when sliding in and out of my camera bag. I did the same when I road tested the GH6, so here's a shot that shows the setup in action... ewenbell.com/10k/mcache/aaa2022/Brachina_PEB10549_DxO.jpg @@FieldingSmith

[@FieldingSmith]

@@EwenBell They probably don’t acknowledge it because it’s not their product. But thanks, this will go on my short list of things to pick up! Might even put a 2nd pd plate on the bottom so I could carry it 2 different ways

[@FieldingSmith]

@@EwenBell So I got the Smallrig Black Mamba with an arca plate for the side… so much better than anything else I’ve tried so far! Thanks for your advice

[@rchangus]

Can I test your settings in G9?

[@EwenBell]

Hi Richard, sorry these settings will only load onto the G9II, not the older G9.

[@stefffoto]

Sorry, but I really struggle to keep the settings on the C-buttons. I cannot figure it out. Anyone?

[@EwenBell]

If you change the settings, but want to keep the modified version, you then need to resave your custom settings before doing anything else. They get restored each time you power off our switch mode.

[@stefffoto]

@@EwenBell but how do I save the settings? Thats my issue

[@EwenBell]

@@stefffoto There's a link in the description to an article on my website blog, which has a screenshot and details on that. Give it a go :)

[@vincenzopromedia]

Dude, I can't get images that sharp. What's the deal? Is it my update for my lens? Is it my camera is broken? is it my settings for my camera? Is is my lighting? Is it my type of lens? Is my lens broken? Something is off because even my g7 was getting sharper images when it was new.

[@EwenBell]

I haven't seen your photos so I can't say what might be giving you trouble. Sharpness is invariably an issue with the lens, not the camera. I suggest you borrow a lens of someone or visit a store to try out a lens in the shop, and compare the results. Good light helps bring out the detail and colour of a scene. Shoot across the light for contrast.

[@haploguy]

You can also basically have unlimited custom profiles by having multiple .dat files saved on the SD card, each with 13 custom profiles.

[@EwenBell]

That is a very very good point and I've found myself with a video-heavy CamSet vs a photo-heavy CamSet for that very reason :) Thanks for sharing this!

[@stevehoge]

Nice that Panasonic allows Custom preset naming, and file save/reload! But shame on them for implementing it as an uneditable binary dump instead of something intelligent like an .XML file that would have opened the door to offline editing, creation and distribution of presets by 3rd parties like yourself. I've had the unfortunate experience of having to work on embedded systems where the original implementers thought a simple-minded preset RAM dump was "good enough" and subsequent developers and users struggled for years with a brittle and non-scalable scheme until it all got chucked in a bottom-up rewrite.

[@EwenBell]

Ohhhh yes that's a great idea. Editable XML would be awesome.