Panasonic LUMIX DC-G9LEB-K G9 Mirrorless Camera with LEICA 12-60 mm Lens - Black

I've been using a Sony a6300 for the last year and a half. Very fed up of Sony's colour science and prices, I decided to try something different and picked the Lumix G9! Here's my experience with it...FOCUSAuto focus is nice and quick. Very quick! A little hunting in low light but being an MFT camera, you will expect that. Daytime shooting in both photo and video is excellent! There are the usual suspects here:AFS - for Single Shot,AFF (F stands for Flexable) – for moving subjects,AFC (Continuous) – you'd mainly use this for video, and finallyMF – Total manual control.All work good enough. May not be a advanced as Sony's but no other camera manufacturers are, and it's certainly good enough. Face tracking is great. Also this camera has animal detection. This means it will recognize most animals you'll encounter and track it while keeping focus on it.The camera's focus modes are:Face/Eye and animal Tracking – Self explanatory,Tracking – This is where you aim at your subject, then half-press the shutter to set a lock on that object, you can then release your finger from the shutter and it will track that object.225-Area – for un-centered subjects,Custom Multi – you can set the shape of your focus area! Not sure how this works as I don't use it.1-Area – this focuses on the subject that is in the auto-focus box, you can touch focus to select it.Pinpoint – when you half press the shutter button, it'll enlarge the focus cross area to see more clearly. I love this!STILLSColours are good. Skin tones are nice. More like Cannon, way better than SONY!The shutter button is sensitive! But I think this is to help eliminate CAMERA shake while taking stills, and it does do that. Keep in mind, this camera has a small sensor (MFT). So if you find you need to shoot with a shutter speed as low as 20-30 indoors, then having a sensitive release means you don't have to press it hard to take a shot. Therefore the camera doesn't move from the pressure of the shutter press. Genius really, and you do get used to it quite quickly. I like it.The sensor is 20.3 MP so not the biggest and best out there, but it's certainly enough for most users. There's really no point going bigger than that unless you plan on printing billboards. And even then you don't need to go higher as billboards are made to be seen from a distance.The pictures are sharp (but of course that depends on the lens anyways) and give nice detail. There is a HDR mode that takes multiple shots at different exposures and combines them in-camera to create a high dynamic range image, and this works well.The most exciting thing about this camera though is the 80mp stills mode! You have to use a tripod for this though, as it needs to be still. It uses the in body stabilizer to move the sensor while it takes multiple shots and then stitches them together to make one huge image. Keep in mind though the images it creates are MASSIVE in size. But they are awesome. Seems you'll have no problem printing billboards with this camera after all!So we also have a 4k and 6k photo mode. This is cooool. There's a few options with this but in short what this allows you to do is:when you press the shutter release, it'll start recording a 4 or 6k video. In 30 fps and each frame will be 18 MP. You can then cycle through the frames and choose one (or more) to save as still images. This way you never miss a fast moving subject again. It can also be set to start recording images BEFORE you even press the shutter release. The images are just as good as stills too. It's pretty amazing really!VIDEOHas a lot of picture profiles, including 'CINELIKE' but no LOG profiles without paying around £80 extra – sucks! (available from Panasonic's website)The G9 used to be mainly a photography camera, with few video features. Not anymore! After the November 2019 update we've seen an increase in video capability. The video options of this camera include:4k 60p.4k 50p.4k 30p.4k 25p.4k 24p.FHD 60p.FHD 50p.FHD 30p.FHD 25p.All the above is recorded internally as 8bit 4:2:0. But you can also record externally in 10bit 4:2:2.And in FHD you can go as high as 180 FPS in high speed mode!Since the November update you can now record internally at 10bit with hybrid log gamma in 4k 24, 25, and 30fps in HEVC mode.There is IBS built in to this camera. This means that it uses a mechanical stabilizer inside the body to counter move the sensor to eliminate shaky hand movements. And it is awesome! With the ninja walking technique you can achieve gimbal-like shots no problem. Use this with a lens that has Optical stabilization and you're videos will be smooth!FUNCTIONMonitor and EVF are awesome! They're both bright and clear and give you all the needed information including histograms, audio levels focus peaking, zebras etc.But, I don't like that it doesn't tell you on screen what your focal length is. Nor does it say in the playback mode. The only place you can get this info is in the meta data of the file, once you've transferred to PC. I find this very strange! So focal length marking on a lens is a must for this camera.Luckily with the Leica 12-60mm, it does have markings you can use.This camera has lots of customizable buttons. And as it has dedicated WB, ISO and EXP COMP buttons, you have more options for FN buttons. There are 3 FN buttons on the back and two unmarked custom buttons on the front. I love the placement of these. You also have an FN switch on the front too.FN switch is good to have, but could of easily worked as a button too. Don't know why they went with a switch design. It is a little stiff to use. Would of rathered a toggle button. But I still love it none the less.Wi-fi connection to phone is A star. Works quickly and easily. The app is good. Allows you to control ISO, Shutter Speed, WB, F-Stop, Exposure Comp. Shooting mode, focusing mode - basically everything except manual focusing. It is low latency, meaning there isn't much lag between action in front of the camera, and the display on your phone screen, so can be used for video too!ERGONOMICS/ DESIGNCamera ergonomics is OK but I find it is a little on the large side for a mirrorless camera (I'm used to Sony a6300). I have smallish hands though so may not be a problem for you.If you use an L bracket for mounting to tripod, the side articulating monitor will not rotate all the way around as L bracket prevents this. But this is the case for all cameras with this style monitor. Personally I'd rather the monitor rotate upwards like the Sony A6400, but I know a lot of people wouldn't agree with me as the hot shoe will be an issue. But I have no problems using a cold shoe relocation bracket to solve this. Just my opinion.Weather sealing seems good. I've used in light rain, and no problems. Of course you have to have a lens with weather sealing too for it to be effective. The Leica 12-60mm does have this so you're good if buying this as the kit lens.There's probably loads more features that I've missed but I think I've covered the most important ones. Hope this was somewhat helpful to you, if so click the button below so I'll be able to see, thank you very much :)Weight lens (Leica 12-60mm) with camera: 1031gWeight of camera: 657gWeight of lens (Leica 12-60mm): 374g

What to say... I shoot mainly photos, but some video. I have a Panasonic G7 and GX80 and a small collection of lenses, and I was looking to upgrade the G7 to a beefier dslr style camera. Both are great cameras in their own right, but in particular the G7 was missing a few features I wanted, such as in-body stabilisation. I always worried whether the G9 was more camera (and money) than I needed. I agonised for ages whether to go for the G9 or the G90 which has some great video features. I even considered the Nikon Z50, as I have had, and loved, a Nikon in the past So this came up on a special and I took the plunge.I really regret not having jumped at it before. It takes everything up a notch. Higher resolution, better colour science, faster everything. It's photo focused, but has nearly the same video capability of the GH5. It's a wonderful camera to use, and feels great in the hand. It's so customisable, I'm still trying to work it all out. I won't list the specs, as if you're looking at this camera you'll do your own research, but it is loaded with pretty much everything you could need, and will perform excellently in anything but extreme low light, and even then it does pretty good. Battery life is very good.I'm keeping the GX80 as a pocketable solution, but the G7 will be finding a new home...

Although this camera is quite large for M43, in fact larger than some FF camera bodies, it never feels cumbersome, and it's ergonomics are second to none! It's a real shame that other camera manufacturers don't put the same effort into ergonomics that Panasonic do. The tactile controls and the simple UI make driving this camera an absolute pleasure.The bundled Leica 12-60 is also a great optic and has pretty much replaced my Lumix 14-140 as my all rounder lens, working great for landscape, street, and portrait photography.I regularly use the camera body with larger tele lenses of the M43 catalogue and the balance that it offers with them is fantastic. I would say if you err on the side of smaller lenses there are probably better options, but for my wildlife and travel photography, this really is a Goldilocks camera/system, a powerhouse of a body, combined with a great catalogue of comparatively small, light and affordable lenses.In summary this is a great camera, sure it won't be the answer for everyone, but I think every system is about compromise. For me this ticks the boxes for usability, affordability and image quality.