Panasonic Lumix G9 Full Review | Over 1000 image sample | Original G9

[@MrEdxwx]

I have the g9 and found a lot of problems with low light , noise , even with fast 1.4 prime lens . it was a bad decision to sell the olympus em1ii , i wish i had the olympus and not the g9

[@Tropic-cat]

It is one of the BEST OVERALL camera ever. I use it in 2024 and actually I think G9 is one of the most money effecrive cameras now, when you can buy one in perfect condition for 500 USD.

[@xiaotai]

As a G9 user whom transited to the G9II. I definitely missed the G9 and that top plate LCD. It was almost a perfect camera even for today's context. Don't harp on the DFD, as long you are not shooting non-humanly subjects moving at a very fast pace, the hit rate is exceptional and in fact might be better than the G9II which makes it perfect for events, weddings and even sports. Moving to astrophotography, the G9 definitely has the better sensor over the G9II especially in the ability to gather more light and have cleaner noise/more manageable noise pattern than the G9II.

[@Emerald_City_]

My first visit to your channel, and an instant success! I applaud your decision to come up with a review of a 7-year old camera. And you did it remarkably well. The proportions are good and the retrospect factor fully deployed. Most surprising of all, your script and command of English are exceptional. I come from the times when such English was unimaginable for a German, especially the (lack of) accent. Very refreshing this video. But both your voice over and your samples reveal a somewhat biased approach. After 4 years with this camera I’ll try to compress my experience on it. As half a century of doing photography makes me insensitive to fashion and fan clubs, I’m less enthusiastic than you about the G9 orig. My experience with it is a love-and-hate relationship. There has been so much said over this camera that I will repeat the most common quote: when it works, it works so fine that you cannot not love it. When it doesn’t work, it feels like a broken camera that needs to be repaired. The AF can be as stubborn as a donkey that refuses to move even if you beat it up. Sometimes you feel like a handicapped person taking part in an athletic competition. But it can work just fine for a while and have you relaxed. The worst thing about it is its unpredictability. You don’t know when it will fail you, you just know it will happen. No problem for amateur work at all but when you are on an assignment, it can drive you crazy. Just the thought of missing that crucial moment on a wedding is unnerving. Birds in flight? Forget it. It’s possible but a real challenge for your utmost skills and patience. Perhaps a good practice to really develop your skills you need hard challenges. The color. I think they purposefully went for a subdued color, to imitate the Olympus E-M1 mark I original gamma. It can be very nice, but also dull and lifeless. If you use an SD card larger than 64GB, and have accumulated some material there, the camera will crash when reviewing the stuff manually and you have to switch off and on. Or you’ll even have to take battery out of it. The IBIS is not that great, or my copy could have a problem - my slightly newer G90 has better IBIS. The color accuracy of the back screen is questionable, which is a problem when manually setting custom white balance and selecting a picture profile. • Some rarely mentioned pluses of this camera: the shutter button is so soft and sensitive that pressing it induces no camera shake. And it can be programmed to be even softer, with half-press position acting as taking picture. The idle management is so efficient like you have switched it off altogether, many days will not drain the battery much. In face detect, one press at the joystick will activate the tracking mode and change the person to focus on (except that it refuses it sometimes). All in all, the G9 is a capable tank with AF weak points/frustrations and a now outdated sensor. Those points may paradoxically create unrealistic expectations of its next iteration, the mark II. With which we have no experience yet. Is solid AF worth spending extra €1500? If I earned my living with those events, I’d say yes. Or with too much money on your savings account, heavily prone to inflation in this titanic EU-battle to finance the US gas, their MIC and the war on UA and RF.

[@AiurMedia]

Thank you very much for your kind words! I usually shoot with 128GB cards and have never come across any issues, maybe has something to do with card speed. If the flaws you mentioned are true then G9II indeed would be a perfect upgrade for you, I bought it new for 1900euros! Now it's only 1500-1600euros, big discount since GH7's prompt release.

[@mmartel]

Some fair feedback here. I will add on just a bit with some points. IBIS. I have the G95/G90 (shot with it for 3+ years) and G9. My G9 is capable of giving me up to 1-1.5 stops better results for stills at medium-to-long focal lengths (say >=25mm) while at shorter focal lengths the difference is much less noticeable. For video, they're both very good but, again, the longer the focal length, the more apparent the G9's better IBIS becomes. Sensor. The G9 indeed a bit cleaner than my G90/G95 but... I was surprised to see that my tiny G100 outperformed the G9! Noticeably cleaner RAWs at ISO 3200 and especially ISO 6400 under carefully controlled comparisons. That said, the G9 still more than meets my quality needs. Autofocus. Agreed that if I were a pro, I would need better to feel confident. But as an amateur/hobbyist who doesn't shoot birds in flight, the G9 is more than good enough. What I really wish is that you could adjust the video AF sensitivity and speed like you can on so many other Lumix cameras. Why this never made it to the G9 in a firmware upgrade is beyond me. All in all, I agree with the conclusion: The G9 was ahead of its time. If you don't need better AF than the camera offers, it's a terrific buy used and it's possible to be served well for years to come.

[@Emerald_City_]

​@@mmartel Thank you! Probably my copy. I bought it from the first owner who did birding with it. The G9 was ahead of its time, right. But it's a common misconception that it had video of the same quality as the GH5. Now you see the same statements over the G9m2 and the GH7. I would just like to cite *RED35* and his simple statement in 2023... because I believe you could have said the same for the G9m1 in its own time: _"Jack of all trades, master of... some. G9m2 is a very, very capable camera. No doubt. But is it great for video? No. Is it great for stills? No."_ In each compartments there seem to be better solutions. But boy I need them both and can't afford one camera system and model for video, and another system and model for stills... Our gear has long been much ahead of our talents and even intention to make some good content anyway. Just look at the GH2. There were fantastic, even artistic films shot on it. I believe there is now far less good content made on GH6 and GH7 than there has been on GH2.

[@Emerald_City_]

​@@AiurMedia _maybe has something to do with card speed_ --you are welcome, thank you for your kind words. No, the card speed is top, way too fast, and it happened with more cards. It's the combined question of the amount of recorded material on the card plus the capacity of the card (I think). Now before any event I plan to cover, I format both cards and start from clean. But I bought big capacity cards to have backups just in case, now I actually make no use of it.

[@bingbong4848]

Great all round camera. I've used it for wedding photography. Use the right lenses and it'll do a great job.

[@Princeton_James]

I sold all my G9s to get the G9ii. Overall the 2 is better but there is something that was so special about the MI that i still miss. Mostly the grip was the best grip ive ever felt. G9ii and S5/S5ii doesnt feel as good.