John Matthews

After you mentioned this camera the other day, I also watched a few reviews; indeed, the hiss is real. Also, the EIS is of the older variety and basically doing it in post will blow it away in 2024. In the same budget if you're in Europe, I think the Olympus E-P7 is better and about the same price new (with the kit pancake lens). I had that camera a couple of years ago and it was great except for the faulty IBIS unit- they ended up replacing it with the E-M5 iii due to inventory concerns. There are 2 gotchas with the E-P7: 1) it feels flimsy; 2) no EVF. Neither of those are a big deal for me.

Back when I saw this release, it looked compelling. Then, I heard the audio hiss. On, paper this camera seems great with its big 3.5" screen (nearly viewable in sunlight), mic jack (albeit 2.5mm), PDAF, S35 sensor, some sort of IBIS, and decent codecs. I'm not certain if they fixed the audio problems or it was a faulty unit. Here's the review:

Listening to the story and watching the video on a 4.5k screen, I found I was taken out of the story at 288x144 pixels. Any less, I thinking something is wrong with my monitor, my connection, or compression. Interesting.

The point of IBIS cannot be understated. How many people are there who practically never use a tripod? I bet the answer would be very high. Also, what surprised me the most was the 1080p, which is what I really care about. I think the S5ii bettered the others at 25fps in FF. I'm fairly certain it's a 6k-ish downsampled image, making it the best of the bunch, but they're all fairly good at 200%.

I thought I might share this. It would be interesting to hear some thoughts on resolution, moiré, aliasing, etc.

Markuspix just compared some video cameras:

Yeah, you're probably right.

I also think it would be hard to beat the D750 for anything photography at $600 budget. The used market is absolutely flooded with that body with all the wedding/wannabe wedding photographers moving to mirrorless. Granted, I'm not 100% sure you'll be able to sell it; so, the "cost" comes with a heavy caveat.

Panasonic aren't really playing to their strengths in some ways. To think they were the creators of the GM1 over 10 years ago; now, they can't seem to make it work. It baffles me that they would agree to lose so much money to Fuji and Sony. Meanwhile, OM System keeps selling out of the E-P7 and the OM-5 (a much more capable photo camera than the S9) is going for over 1149 euros. Did Panasonic also shut down the group of engineers who know how to design something small? I swear the S9 was designed by someone in the fashion industry because all the camera engineers were busy. It's as if their prototypes were given to the YouTubers and no engineer (who shoots photos) ever tried.

There are certainly more expensive cameras, I just can't think of any at that price with so many glaring omissions for photography. $1500 was a significant stretch IMO.

It's really a shame that the pricing is wrong for enthusiasts. It's even worse that Panasonic doesn't really offer any real lenses either. Still, they're selling a bunch; so, someone must be buying them. My guess- people look at it and buy it, never mind the lack of some major photography features. It just looks cool. I'm sure there are lots of trust fund babies who have this camera because they can.

The S9 seems like a winner... EXCEPT (this list is long). We all wish it were just slightly better in some way, but it's not. Still, Panasonic is selling tons of them I believe. Sadly, it's at the detriment of the MFT line IMO. As you said, the EM-5/GX85 lines just need some small updates. I think the sensor and battery are the major hiccups to get that 25MP sensor in a small body. I'm sure they've been trying, but they haven't had success on getting something "releasable".

If it were to only take videos, I could make do with the camcorder and a phone. However, I find the phone too limiting and ergonomically a black hole of no return. Like you say, "thread the needle" is the name of the game on holiday and travel. Don't want to get too noticed by family or others. There are a couple of lenses that can make the MFT system unique for this purpose: Olympus 75-300mm, at only 423g, it covers a lot; Panasonic 12-32 kit lens, at 70g, why wouldn't to take it?; A favorite fast prime; there are many- just pick and choose your favorite(s). There are lots of options and I often find myself in the weeds.

I'm back from holiday. In retrospect, although the camcorder was fun, I suffered from "camera paralysis", a horrible disease where you don't know what to take with you. In the middle of my stay, I realized the GX800's display couldn't cut the mustard in any sort of bright conditions on the beach or in the Palouse area of Washington State. I did the right thing by obtaining a E-m5 iii, an old fav from a few years ago that I had sold. I'm now reconverted to MFT. I'm not sure what to do with my S5ii. I'll probably sell and pay down my car. Might sell the GX800 too (though it's a fun camera). Or, not sell anything. Next time, I will be bringing MFT lenses that cover ultra-wide to 600mm equivalent and I'll have no need for the camcorder.

Funny enough, the LX-10 is more expensive than the E-m5 iii (if you already have M43 lenses) on the used market. Also, no EVF.