Phase detection autofocus, incredible stabilization and surprisingly good video.
Panasonic’s 25.2-megapixel Lumix G9 II has arrived with great fanfare, as it is the company’s first-ever Micro Four Thirds camera with hybrid phase detection autofocus. And from the first day of its launch, Panasonic promoted it as the ultimate wildlife and action camera with a small sensor, thanks to its ultra-fast shooting speeds of 60 fps and its relatively high resolution.
However, I noticed (and others) that it was also promising for content creators. The superior hybrid AF is also more suitable for video than previous models, offering up to 5.8K 60p video, 4K at 120P, incredible stabilization and even SSD ProRes Capture. On paper, it is superior to the GH6 dedicated to the company’s Vlogging, although it lacks its fan and some other minor features.
This gives the G9 II a certain identity crisis. Is this the ultimate content creation camera, an Action shooter’s dream, or the ultimate hybrid camera? To find out, I have a retail camera with the final production firmware and RAW photo support.
Body
Bodily, the G9 II looks more like the full-frame S5 II than the six-year-old G9. Gone is the Softer and rounded G9 Design, in its place a bolder and more angular body. It is relatively large for a Micro Four Thirds camera and weighs 658 grams (OM System’s OM-1 weighs 599 grams), although it has exactly the same weight as the original G9.
The Design is more factual than pretty, but I like the practicality of it. The fluted handle is secure and has all the controls you need, including a joystick, front, back and rear dials, a dial, a fire wheel and many buttons. A few things have changed compared to the G9, because the double wheel on the left side is now just a single shooting wheel, the on/off switch is in a better place and it has a front shooting wheel. This is now a template for Panasonic cameras. So if you are used to models like the GH5, you will adapt quickly.
The menus are also easy to use, but I would like it to have a dedicated photo/video switcher with separate controls. For example, if you set V-log on videos, this setting will also be applied to photos – and you definitely don’t want this. To separate photos and videos, you must use one of the custom “C” numbering settings.
The 1,840 K dot LCD display is of course fully articulated for vloggers and Autoguiders, and most controls are available via the touch screen. It comes with a decent OLED Dot 3,680K viewfinder, comparable to other cameras in this price range, such as Fujifilm’s x-T5. I would prefer a slightly higher EVF resolution on a flagship camera, especially for shooting birds, but it’s not bad.
Panasonic G9 II mirrorless camera review
The G9 II uses the same battery as the S5 II, allowing 390 mediocre shots on a single charge. However, the video endurance is better than the GH6 and lasts almost 100 minutes in 4K 60p.
One feature I didn’t expect is SSD recording. It allows you to save high-bandwidth ProRes files to an external drive via the USB-C port. This requires a little rigging, but it is an incredible time saver because you can edit the files directly without the need for transcoding. It also has a few SD-UHS-II card slots, but does not support CFexpress like the GH6.
There is a nice full-size HDMI port, but the G9 II does not yet support RAW video recording. You also get mic and headphone jacks, as well as a USB-C port that supports 10 Gbps transfer speeds and Fast PD powered.
