John Matthews

I was checking some French language YouTube videos and wasn't surprised they simply say exactly the same thing as in the English speaking videos. In the comment, as in the English speaking video comments, there are many criticisms about Panasonic's choices. This is also exactly what happened to the G100 when is camera out minus the wining and dining of YouTubers due to Covid. However, it's important to note that the G100 was still a very successful camera according to Panasonic. There's no telling how young buyers will view this camera; so, who knows if it's going to sell or not? What I find funny is some YouTubers like Micro Four Nerds (love her channel and it was the first video I saw) was super critical about the G100 for its video time limitations in 4k; yet, in the S9, it didn't seem like a big deal even though she was critical of other aspects. Once again, you really have to wonder about how wining and dining affects the final review... or maybe she changed her mind.

It's amazing to see all the Panasonic features in general, even though many features are available on the S5ii but not on the S9. Geeky Nerdy Techy show many of the things Panasonic cameras can do in 2024. Here's a good complete walkthrough of the S9:

I keep finding more stuff that the S9 doesn't do that the S5ii does as I'm trying to help the "reviewers" out there. (Re)(Re)updated list: Pros for S9 258g lighter Smaller body $300 cheaper than S5ii LUT mayhem if you're into that Cold shoe Pros for S5ii EVF Mechanical shutter Dual card slots Headphone jack True unlimited recording with a fan Way more buttons and customisation in the body Proxy recording 14bit Raw files Better grip Weather sealed body Hot shoe for flash photography and XLR adapter Full-sized HDMI Charging via USB-C while using the camera

Steve Huff (Hifi Huff on YouTube) had spoken quite a bit about some of the same topics that Gerald Undone is speaking about, but unfortunately the video is now erased from YouTube, which sucks. EOSHD had another thread on this topic.

There was a lot of talk about the Panasonic marketing concerning the S9:

I've never asked for more megapixels. I was happy with 8-12MP. Glass is evil, the more you have, the more "corrections" there are, to the point of not having any dimensionality. It's very difficult to show dimensionality in only 2D.

The hipster youtube ladies and gentlemen! I think we found the main customer for the S9!! I'm not worthy. I don't have any tattoos, no funny hats, and I certainly don't know how to juggle my camera and phone at the same time. I haven't seen a video like that in a long time.

About 2-3 months ago, I asked Sean with Panasonic in the livestream why can't Panasonic make a version of their 14mm f/2.5 on full-frame. He replied by giving me a lecture on how the 14mm just had "WAY too many image quality compromises." Now, Lumix give us this:

And that says a lot.

Here's Canon's 28mm (notice the price): An one from NIkon: Panasonic gave us a 26mm FIXED f/8 MANUAL FOCUS lens for $200. What the hell, Panasonic? And where's the pancake 35-50mm? We need that too for this camera! With the F8 lens, this is actually debatable. It shouldn't be, but it is! After a couple days of processing the news and the leaks fiasco, I, along with so many others, am most disappointed in the that drilled-out hockey puck of a lens cap. I give them an "A" for inspiration and a "F" for usability and value. The other thing is the lack of any sort of a mechanical shutter on a slow, old, 24MP sensor. Why didn't they include a stripped down version of a mechanical shutter, like what they had on the GM1, GM5, G100, GX800, GF(all of them), etc. We had up to 1/500 in mechanical, making the cameras so much more usable in many more situations. Also, the option of a flash is possible. In essence, the S9 is a l-mount video centric camera without a headphone jack and all kinds of overheating limitations. It tries, and loses, to compete with the sharing abilities of a phone. With that F8 lens, it barely competes on the image quality. The IBIS, as good as it is, is only comparable to a phone. Its saving grace is the fact you can change lenses and make much more of it, but even then, you still don't have a mechanical shutter for general photography. Again, it's an "A" for looks, but a "D" for a photo or video camera. I say all of this with a grain of salt because I base everything on the specs and what I've heard. With time, I might completely change my mind. Also, it looks super cool and that would be a trump factor. M43 (or other real cameras) are much better suited for general photography.

Panasonic is offering a few deals in France: S9 + 18mm f/1.8 for 2000 euros. The trouble is all those primes are a little big for it. It's a shame.

We've come so far in 9 years! The S9 is much bigger, no hot shoe, no EVF, no mechanical shutter, less of a time limit in 1080p. It does have WAY better codecs, a full frame sensor, IBIS, and PDAF. The killer is the lack of lenses. The GM5 had so many primes and zooms that were/are a perfect fit. I'm jealous of your red one!

This was a good release (and WAY less expensive than flying YouTubers from all over the world to Kyoto).

Others are also ragging on this lens:

What about the 14mm f/2.5 M43 lens. I want a 28mm f/2.8. Others are doing it; why not Panasonic? Seriously, if they can may a 100mm macro that small, a 28mm should be a breeze.

I would say yes, but it'll take time I'm sure. Dream on. Won't happen. I shoot with the electronic shutter all the time. It really doesn't bother me either. The problem is that if that were the only thing they stripped out, it would be ok. Unfortunately, the list is very long and the price is only $300 less. I plan on getting this camera too as a travel camera (if nothing else comes out for M43), but it won't be for $1500! Also, this camera is only as good as the lenses and panasonic is in desperate need of some very small AF f/2.8 primes (like Canon and Nikon). Yes, the lenses are the problem. I can live with the audio though. The MF fixed F8 "lens" for $200 (for beginners?) looks so great on the camera, but EVERYONE was wishing for different specs. You're right, it's laughable! Panasonic is going to get hit pretty hard in the teeth over this one. There will be blood. :-)

As always, Gordon has a decent review:

The GM5 will never go out of fashion. I've been watching it on the used market and it's been going up and up. Soon, it'll surpass the brand-new discounted prices of 8 years ago- crazy!!! Why isn't Panasonic listening? Oh wait, they were and they came out with the S9. I agree that this is cool. I like that and I'd assume that feature would make its way into the S5ii as well. Actually, I wish it were one of the proxy settings. There are also the 3x digital zoom feature which is fantastic; no more having to switch into pixel to pixel mode to get closer. The 20-60mm now goes out to 180mm equivalent field of view seamlessly without too much loss in quality in good light.

There should be more stuff coming out- fingers crossed! :-) They really went all-out again with the social media crowd with the S9. However, comments have been turned off on the release video (they were up for some time but I think everything went sideways). The $200 body cap is going to go down in history as the coolest looking thing that no one wants to use. Did all the good Panasonic engineers get replaced with disgruntled Pentax ones? Is that too harsh? Where's that Z6iii? Are there problems with parts?

(Re)updated list: Pros for S9 258g lighter Smaller body $300 cheaper than S5ii LUT mayhem if you're into that Cold shoe Pros for S5ii EVF Mechanical shutter Dual card slots Headphone jack True unlimited recording with a fan Way more buttons and customization in the body Proxy recording 14bit Raw files Better grip Weather sealed body Hot shoe for flash photography and XLR adapter Full-sized HDMI Clearly, if anything, the S9 is a true testament to how good the S5ii is in terms of engineering and size. For the form factor and l mount, would you prefer the almost 5 year old Sigma FP or the brand new Panasonic S9? The Sigma is 64g lighter and has a fan, but no IBIS or decent AF.

The problem is when you look at the footage 2-30 years down the line or even after just a few hours in some cases. Some of that stuff will be impossible to fix. Hell, how long did it take Sony to come up with OK color science? They had engineers, colorist, and programmers figuring it out. Now, Panasonic wants Joe Blow to figure it out in unlimited lighting situations on a 3 inch screen. It doesn't sound like it's going to end well. Maybe I'm taking this way too seriously; after all, it supposed to be a fun camera. I can only imagine the dad/daughter conversation 30 years from now. Why do the videos look so weird, Dad? Was I ill? No, I put on this super cool blockbuster theme. I was going for the Micheal Bay look. Sorry.

Finally, I will personally hold Panasonic responsible for effing up millions of hours of footage with Realtime LUTs. You're asking people (often beginners) to judge their footage on a 3 inch screen. What could go wrong. I'm watching footage from these youtubers that looks awful IMO! There's got to be a reason you don't do this in camera.

Updated list: Pros for S9 258g lighter Smaller body $300 cheaper than S5ii LUT mayhem if you're into that Cold shoe Pros for S5ii EVF Mechanical shutter Dual card slots Headphone jack True unlimited recording with a fan Way more buttons and customization in the body Proxy recording 14bit Raw files Better grip Weather sealed body Hot shoe for flash photography and XLR adapter The more I think about the S9, the more I think it really has a "it doesn't have an optical low-pass filter" as a feature kind of vibe. Also, I'm truly baffled by the 26mm fixed f8 manual focus "lens" for $200- WTF. What were you thinking, Panasonic?

Based only on specs: Pros for S9 258g lighter Smaller body $300 cheaper than S5ii LUT mayhem if you're into that Pros for S5ii EVF Mechanical shutter Dual card slots Headphone jack True unlimited recording with a fan Way more buttons and customization in the body Proxy recording 14bit Raw files Better grip Weather sealed body These are just off the top of my head and there are probably more. The S9 will never have those things, but I bet the S5ii will also pick up the S9's LUT features. That's a HELL OF A LOT for the price of 258g and $300 more. You'd really have to love the looks of the S9 I think (and it does look cool). If the S9 were sub $1000, maybe (for me).

Don't worry just yet. There might be a fix for the S5ii if they fixed it in the S9- and that's a big "if".