I have been a Lumix GH-series man for many years, starting with the original GH1. And yet I've rarely used them for video.
So historically, why did I pick the GH cameras over the regular G or GX series? Because they tended to have more horsepower under the bonnet to process the high-definition (and later 4K) video files, larger buffers, and usually the latest sensors - and this made them very snappy cameras for photography.
When Panasonic announced a top-of-the-range photography-centric camera based around the GH5, my interest was piqued - looking at the specs and comments coming out, this seemed like the ideal camera for me. And so a couple of months back, I received my annual bonus at work, and mere hours later I was the proud owner of a brand new Lumix G9 (the advantage/disadvantage of having Park Cameras half an hour drive away).
First things first - it is larger than the GH4. And I don't mean slightly larger, I mean substantially larger. The GH4 look and size were an evolution of the GH3's already established body, and I remember when the latter was released that there were plenty of comment stating that it was too big for a Micro Four Thirds camera - that it was the antithesis of what the system was about. And yet here we are, seven years later, with larger bodies still.
I'd compared my GH4 against my mate's Olympus E-M1 Mk2, and while slightly chunkier, didn't necessarily dwarf it. The Lumix G9 definitely does, in both size and weight.
What does the increased size give us? Fantastic ergonomics to start with. It fits the hand like a glove, with nearly all dials and buttons falling within easy reach of finger and thumb without the need to move your hand. Speaking of control, there are plenty of them. Following on from the GH-series, individual white balance, exposure-compensation and ISO buttons are on the top plate just behind one of the dials. In addition, there are functions buttons aplenty, including two between the front-grip and lens-mount. Again, all within easy reach.
The G9 also now has a joystick to move your focus point, but I have to say that it is the one control that my thumb fails to find with the EVF to my eye. Not too much of a trouble, as I've used the touch-pad focus-point of the rear-screen to move focus point ever since it was an option on Lumix cameras. It could just be because it is the first time I've had a joystick available.
Both the Mode and Drive Mode dials have been combined on the left of the top-plate, giving room for an LCD. Having never used a DSLR, this is new to me, and despite shooting with the camera for a couple of months now, I've never used it. It may be like the joystick - something I've never had to use, but will grow to appreciate. I can certainly see it being of use to those migrating across from a legacy DSLR system.
The deeper grip also provides some good comfort when using longer or heavier lenses. My lens of choice is still the Voigtlander f/0.95 17.5mm - a quite long (for m43 anyway), solid-metal lens whose heft you definitely feel. It is comfier on my fingers and wrist than it was on the GH4.
Enough about the ergonomics; lets talk features. The main internal changes that sold the camera to me are the 20 megapixel sensor, and in-body sensor-stabilisation. Both of these really allow the aforementioned Voigtlander lens to shine, particularly in low light. Simply set ISO to 800, aperture to f/2, and minimum shutter speed to 1/15 (remember, the lens is a 35mm full-frame equivalent), and allow the IBIS to keep everything nice and sharp. It really does work wonders. In fact, I've managed a full second hand-held shot that is sharp across the frame - a feat I'd never be able to achieve with a non-stablised camera.
Believe it or not, but sometimes I do mount auto-focus lenses to the camera, and this is where the Face Detect auto-focus really astounds me. One of the big selling points of the camera was how good the tracking is now, despite not having phase-detect auto-focus. Panasonic utilise Depth from Defocus, a comprehensive database of how out-of-focus areas render on Lumix lenses, to calculate where a moving subject is in the frame. And I have to say that it works, and works well.
I've taken many shots of my son running across Saltdean beach, either towards me or across the frame, and the camera locks on nearly all of the time. In the EFV, you can see the camera puts a big rectangle around his body, then an amber square around his head. When close enough, a crosshair then appears, showing you the closest eye in focus. Both the Panasonic Leica f/1.4 25mm and Lumix f/1.7 42.5mm lenses work brilliantly, even when wide-open - I took ~400 model shots at a photography workshop in London this weekend that put a friend's A7RII to shame.
I haven't tried any other tracking to show you examples, but the G9 is coming with me to the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford in July, and I hope to show plenty of shots from that. I've never been confident in the continuous auto-focus abilities of prior GH-cameras to shoot in anything other than AF-S, so this will be a major test.
And this will also be a good test for the very impressive burst-speeds that the G9 is capable of - 20 fps with continuous auto-focus using the electronic shutter (9 fps with mechanical) and 60 fps with single-point AF (12 fps mechanical). As someone who likes to see proper blurred propellers, I'll be sticking with the mechanical shutter, though even 12 frames per second may see me quickly filling memory cards!
It has taken me a while to "get" the G9 - for a few weeks, I worried that I'd spent too many pounds on a camera that was too big and not necessarily that much better than my GH4. Real-world use has opened up the possibilities of the camera to me, and now, I honestly believe it is the best camera I've ever owned. Would I want it smaller? Yes, I think so, but there's no getting away from the fact that it is a very comfortable camera to use, and in the process output very impressive results. If you have the opportunity, walk into a camera shop and give it a try.
So historically, why did I pick the GH cameras over the regular G or GX series? Because they tended to have more horsepower under the bonnet to process the high-definition (and later 4K) video files, larger buffers, and usually the latest sensors - and this made them very snappy cameras for photography.
When Panasonic announced a top-of-the-range photography-centric camera based around the GH5, my interest was piqued - looking at the specs and comments coming out, this seemed like the ideal camera for me. And so a couple of months back, I received my annual bonus at work, and mere hours later I was the proud owner of a brand new Lumix G9 (the advantage/disadvantage of having Park Cameras half an hour drive away).
First things first - it is larger than the GH4. And I don't mean slightly larger, I mean substantially larger. The GH4 look and size were an evolution of the GH3's already established body, and I remember when the latter was released that there were plenty of comment stating that it was too big for a Micro Four Thirds camera - that it was the antithesis of what the system was about. And yet here we are, seven years later, with larger bodies still.
I'd compared my GH4 against my mate's Olympus E-M1 Mk2, and while slightly chunkier, didn't necessarily dwarf it. The Lumix G9 definitely does, in both size and weight.
What does the increased size give us? Fantastic ergonomics to start with. It fits the hand like a glove, with nearly all dials and buttons falling within easy reach of finger and thumb without the need to move your hand. Speaking of control, there are plenty of them. Following on from the GH-series, individual white balance, exposure-compensation and ISO buttons are on the top plate just behind one of the dials. In addition, there are functions buttons aplenty, including two between the front-grip and lens-mount. Again, all within easy reach.
The G9 also now has a joystick to move your focus point, but I have to say that it is the one control that my thumb fails to find with the EVF to my eye. Not too much of a trouble, as I've used the touch-pad focus-point of the rear-screen to move focus point ever since it was an option on Lumix cameras. It could just be because it is the first time I've had a joystick available.
Both the Mode and Drive Mode dials have been combined on the left of the top-plate, giving room for an LCD. Having never used a DSLR, this is new to me, and despite shooting with the camera for a couple of months now, I've never used it. It may be like the joystick - something I've never had to use, but will grow to appreciate. I can certainly see it being of use to those migrating across from a legacy DSLR system.
The deeper grip also provides some good comfort when using longer or heavier lenses. My lens of choice is still the Voigtlander f/0.95 17.5mm - a quite long (for m43 anyway), solid-metal lens whose heft you definitely feel. It is comfier on my fingers and wrist than it was on the GH4.
Enough about the ergonomics; lets talk features. The main internal changes that sold the camera to me are the 20 megapixel sensor, and in-body sensor-stabilisation. Both of these really allow the aforementioned Voigtlander lens to shine, particularly in low light. Simply set ISO to 800, aperture to f/2, and minimum shutter speed to 1/15 (remember, the lens is a 35mm full-frame equivalent), and allow the IBIS to keep everything nice and sharp. It really does work wonders. In fact, I've managed a full second hand-held shot that is sharp across the frame - a feat I'd never be able to achieve with a non-stablised camera.
Believe it or not, but sometimes I do mount auto-focus lenses to the camera, and this is where the Face Detect auto-focus really astounds me. One of the big selling points of the camera was how good the tracking is now, despite not having phase-detect auto-focus. Panasonic utilise Depth from Defocus, a comprehensive database of how out-of-focus areas render on Lumix lenses, to calculate where a moving subject is in the frame. And I have to say that it works, and works well.
I've taken many shots of my son running across Saltdean beach, either towards me or across the frame, and the camera locks on nearly all of the time. In the EFV, you can see the camera puts a big rectangle around his body, then an amber square around his head. When close enough, a crosshair then appears, showing you the closest eye in focus. Both the Panasonic Leica f/1.4 25mm and Lumix f/1.7 42.5mm lenses work brilliantly, even when wide-open - I took ~400 model shots at a photography workshop in London this weekend that put a friend's A7RII to shame.
| Picture info: Lumix G9, Lumix f/1.7 42.5mm, ISO200, f/2, 1/640 sec |
I haven't tried any other tracking to show you examples, but the G9 is coming with me to the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford in July, and I hope to show plenty of shots from that. I've never been confident in the continuous auto-focus abilities of prior GH-cameras to shoot in anything other than AF-S, so this will be a major test.
And this will also be a good test for the very impressive burst-speeds that the G9 is capable of - 20 fps with continuous auto-focus using the electronic shutter (9 fps with mechanical) and 60 fps with single-point AF (12 fps mechanical). As someone who likes to see proper blurred propellers, I'll be sticking with the mechanical shutter, though even 12 frames per second may see me quickly filling memory cards!
It has taken me a while to "get" the G9 - for a few weeks, I worried that I'd spent too many pounds on a camera that was too big and not necessarily that much better than my GH4. Real-world use has opened up the possibilities of the camera to me, and now, I honestly believe it is the best camera I've ever owned. Would I want it smaller? Yes, I think so, but there's no getting away from the fact that it is a very comfortable camera to use, and in the process output very impressive results. If you have the opportunity, walk into a camera shop and give it a try.
"It fits the hand like a glove"?
ReplyDeleteThat doesn't seem to me to be a very illuminating or accurate simile. Maybe "it fits the hand like comfortable well-designed thing held in the hand" would have been better.
How many stars? If it's not four, I'm furious.