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I wonder if it will ever get the 'Red-lite' raw codec 'everyone' wants... If that ever happens, what a fucking camera it would be.

The problem is that people online gather to complain (if they are happy they are usually silent), and the more appealing the price is, the more they seem to want to be sure they are getting their money's worth, assuming that every missing feature is an attempt to scam them of their money. The ZR price puts it into the radar of bargain hunters who have this mindset. I'm confident enough that Nikon will improve h.265 log footage adequately to make it satisfying to use for those situations where RAW or Prores footage takes up too much space. It might not be the best h.265 nor does it have to be, given the price of the camera, but it shouldn't be noticeably soft, either. I also hope the Prores LT codec comes soon, and that the noise reduction can be adjusted when using Prores HQ and LT formats.

I agree - back in early 2025, I'd been looking for a camera that could do good 4k50 in a compact, lighter, body (smaller and lighter than the Pana G9 and OM-1 that I already owned). Never really thought it would be a full-frame camera, but when Pana seriously dropped the S9 prices in the UK in Feb 2025 I grabbed a 'like new' red S9+18-40 lens bundle from Amazon, basically to try it out properly. The outcome was I now own two S9 bodies and five L-mount lenses... 🙂 (and rarely use my OM-1) I didn't think I'd make much use of the real-time LUT capability, but I now use it all the time in conjunction with V-Log. My handheld 'general video' S9 is in a SmallRig Half Leather Case, which is nice to hold, adds a small grip and looks good. I use the Pana 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 lens sometimes (which supports Dual-IS), and the S9 stabilisation is good enough to shoot hand-held video at 300mm (with EIS enabled). The Hybrid Zoom feature is great too (although for video that only works up to 30fps).

Definitely the best value of it’s kind… For not much more than 500€£$, what it’s capable of is nuts! It’s only real Achilles heel for me is the build. Mine is in the XLCS cage so it’s like Robocop visually, but that does’t change the rear LCD, buttons or dials. I’m not one for chasing the next gen camera for the sake of it, but for real world upgrades that would make a genuine difference. Bring in the S9ii…

Whoa, nice! 🤩 With the discount, used prices are below standard used prices.

For people in the US, at least (I'm not sure abroad), Panasonic are running some trade-in deals. The one for the S9, in particular, is fantastic if I understand the terms right: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/a/trade-in/61933 The S9 is $1,197 normally, but there's a $300 instant rebate and if you do a trade-in, you seem to get an extra $350 + trade-in value of what they describe as "any working digital/film camera." I wonder just how much of a potato would still quality - $547 for a brand new S9 is genuinely tempting. It's pretty much the most pocketable full frame camera on the market now - would be nice if it had internal ProRes, but I think Panasonic's HEVC implementation is decent. Also, kind of crazy to get sensor shift stabilization on a FF camera for that size/price.

If the h265 is still 4:2:0, of what use is this slightly different log profile?