Pana S9 is definition of an underrated camera

[eatstoomuchjam]

3 hours ago, FHDcrew said:

Might be worth a shot though what I land is still an amazing deal for just the body. Might give it a go though. 

Absolutely - it's a fantastic price for just the body and I'm envious that you found it!  If it were me, I'd still at least make a request that they give a partial refund since the item wasn't as-described and then I'd just take whatever they suggest, whether it's $20 or whatever.  It never hurts to have an extra $20.

[FHDcrew]

Camera is in my hands.  Feels a lot more premium with the cage. Good way to beef it up as an a-cam without feeling like a huge rig. My weird plan was to rock the sigma 18-35…i already own it and it covers 24-35mm roughly on full frame. But the darn viltrox EF to l mount adapter, while great, forces the camera into an apsc crop no matter what I do. Thinking of selling it and snagging a used canon 16-35 2.8 l or 24-70 l EF. 

[MrSMW]

10 hours ago, FHDcrew said:

Thinking of selling it and snagging a used canon 16-35 2.8 l or 24-70 l EF

Have you considered the Sigma 18-50 f2.8 even though it is a crop lens, or do you need the full frame?

it’s an exceptional tiny zoom with a 27-75 FF equivalent range and I’m still considering whether when I pick up my second S1Rii if I don’t sell the S9, would this work for me in any viable way, or would I just be trying to keep hold of it?!

[ac6000cw]

2 hours ago, MrSMW said:

Have you considered the Sigma 18-50 f2.8 even though it is a crop lens, or do you need the full frame?

it’s an exceptional tiny zoom with a 27-75 FF equivalent range and I’m still considering whether when I pick up my second S1Rii if I don’t sell the S9, would this work for me in any viable way, or would I just be trying to keep hold of it?!

Having bought the Sigma for my S9 (largely because of your enthusiasm for it 🙂) I have to 100% agree - it's a perfect companion to the S9 in size and weight, with nice smooth zoom and focus rings.

As I normally shoot video in 4k50p which forces an APS-C crop anyway, it being an APS-C lens is actually a plus for me as it forces APS-C for everything so I don't have to deal with changes in viewing angle between stills and video. The 12MP APS-C stills are OK for my purposes, and I have the compact FF 18-40 f4.5-6.3 if I really feel the need for 24MP stills. So I tend to regard my S9 as an APS-C camera with a bonus FF stills mode 🙂.

13 hours ago, FHDcrew said:

My weird plan was to rock the sigma 18-35…i already own it and it covers 24-35mm roughly on full frame. But the darn viltrox EF to l mount adapter, while great, forces the camera into an apsc crop no matter what I do.

The adaptor is only doing what it's supposed to do with an APS-C lens on the front, same as using a native L-mount APS-C lens (e.g. the Sigma 18-50 f2.8).

[FHDcrew]

Had one of my first intense shoots with the S9; this was a concert with a well-known rapper in the Christian Music scene.  Used the Panasonic S9 with my Sigma 18-35 (haven't sold it yet).  So was using the APSC crop mode; honestly this is a great faux-APSC camera, image quality still phenominal and noise performance isnt bad.  I filmed using the 3.3k 4:3 mode which is lovely and allowed me to really easy make a 9:16 edit while still framing for 16:9 or 2:35:1 as well.  It's nice too that I can do 48p or 60p without a FOV increase.  I am content with this mode so don't have a massive urge to sell my Sigma 18-35 and get proper full frame glass.  Eventually i will though.  Double aspect ratio markers on the S9 is sweet; I had a 2:35:1 AND 9:16 aspect ratio marker going at once making framing for both mediums so easy.  IBIS is so good; I filmed 90% with e-stabilization set to high; this did crop pretty heavy but you forget about it when shooting, and the performance was so good I rarely had to post-stabilize and could easily replicate gimbal tracking shots with a heel-toe walk and holding the camera a bit loosely.  The cage and hand-grip definitley helps, and I don't find the camera to be uncomfortable; the Sigma 18-35 is definitely front heavy, but the setup is still a lot more comfortable than my old Z6 with the Atomos Ninja V bolted on.  I will say over time the smallrig handle seems to come slightly loose so i have to tighten it every now and then, but when not shooting I also tend to hold the camera in one hand by the grip.  

Other notes:

Battery life is great.  Only used two batteries for the entire shoot filming multiple concerts over a few hours.  Didnt' even fully run through the second.

Lack of viewfinder is not a dealbreaker for me as I only do video; screen could use to be a bit brighter but still usable in direct sunlight.

The rear dial feels so cheap; you can easily nudge it half-way between its click points.  I don't like it.  At least it's very functional.  I do find the function button placements to be good, and i can efficiently change settings.  A joystick would have been cool. 

Lack of hot-shoe a non-issue for me as I am 98% video.  If I really need it I can whip out my Nikon Z6 for photo work.

Camera never overheated once, and it was a very hot day.

 

Definitely love this camera.  I do see myself picking up an S5 II on ebay down the line, but I don't see myself ever needing anything better; just would like weather sealing and a more robust build.  But the S9 is still totally usable as an A-CAM and can work really well in that capacity if your needs are comparable to mine.  Given that I paid $860, its easy to overlook the flaws of this camera.

 

[MrSMW]

2 hours ago, FHDcrew said:

But the S9 is still totally usable as an A-CAM and can work really well in that capacity if your needs are comparable to mine

Yep and is still currently my A cam.

It’s going to become C cam after the next job, but only because a pair of S1Rii’s will be in the house by then and my future approach of shooting hybrid 2x identical units albeit with a different focal length on each and in 7.2k open gate allowing me to additionally pull the highest res stills I can whilst retaining open gate for 16:9 and 9:16 edits.

If they ever do make a mkII version with nothing more than the S1Rii sensor, I’d be all over that. But they won’t as the S9 body has no fan.

I would like to see a cinema style body a la FX line though…

[ac6000cw]

5 hours ago, FHDcrew said:

So was using the APSC crop mode; honestly this is a great faux-APSC camera, image quality still phenomenal and noise performance isn't bad.

5 hours ago, FHDcrew said:

It's nice too that I can do 48p or 60p without a FOV increase.

I agree completely.

5 hours ago, FHDcrew said:

The cage and hand-grip definitely helps, and I don't find the camera to be uncomfortable; the Sigma 18-35 is definitely front heavy, but the setup is still a lot more comfortable than my old Z6 with the Atomos Ninja V bolted on.  I will say over time the smallrig handle seems to come slightly loose so i have to tighten it every now and then, but when not shooting I also tend to hold the camera in one hand by the grip.

With smaller/lighter lenses like the Sigma 18-50 f2.8 APS-C I find the S9 well balanced and easy to hold, with left hand under the lens and right hand around the body. I have (but don't use very often) the Sirui grip, which is deeper than the Smallrig one and has a high-grip surface on the 'bump' - this is someone else's comparison photo of (top to bottom) the Sirui, JJC and Smallrig grips

Even with a (small/light/decent sounding) Sennheiser MKE200 mic mounted on the cold shoe the combo still feels relatively small and light, which is exactly what I wanted when I bought the S9.

 

[FHDcrew]

Decided I am selling my S9...I know.  It's a killer camera.  I realized I want something more durable as my a-cam.  I got it for a killer deal, but that also just makes it all the more easy to sell as I am pricing it low at around $900 WITH the Smallrig cage.  After further thought, I want a camera that is weather sealed, and reports about the rear dial going out (it feels soooo cheap) do not give me the most ocnfidence.)