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.)

[FHDcrew]

13 hours ago, FHDcrew said:

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.)

Final update, selling both my S9 and Canon R7 (been trying to sell it for a bit), and am reverting back to my OG Nikon Z6 that I’ve used the past 4 years. Really does all I need, 10 bit to the ninja just as good as anything else. And I need to put money toward other things right now lol  

 

Sometimes it’s not until you spontaneously buy new gear that you realized what you had before was really all you needed and you just need to keep creating more content lol. That’s how I feel right now haha

 

But still, the S9 is great. I don’t love it as an a-cam cause of the stupid rear dial, but great camera nonetheless. 

[MrSMW]

1 hour ago, FHDcrew said:

But still, the S9 is great. I don’t love it as an a-cam cause of the stupid rear dial, but great camera nonetheless. 

If only it was lockable…

I keep jogging it myself and then discovering I am shooting 1/80th or 1/125th when I have set 1/100th, but I suppose it is built to a price.

I don’t mind needing a cage for video or a decent grip for photo so any next gen, the format is fine. I prefer modularity.

I didn’t think the lack of a mech shutter would bother me, but it did when I tried using it for stills and got either quite a bit of jello effect and/or banding in certain lighting conditions. This reverted it for me to being a pure video unit.

I would rather it was weather sealed but not a big issue for my needs. If it was going to be my only camera or camera type, it would need to be.

I did almost sell it a couple of weeks back with that second S1Rii inbound, but then decided I might have taken my kit streamlining one body too far and it made more sense to keep it as at least backup due to the not so great trade in price.

In the end, I decided to simply ‘repurpose’ my S9.

That second S1Rii has not turned up in time for my next job I leave for later this day but when it does, both units will be fully hybrid use shooting 7.2k open gate and stills.

My sole remaining S5ii with battery grip, lives on a sturdy video tripod and shoots 4k longer stuff where there is no fear of overheating or running out of card space or battery life. Not for my use. Just plain old reliable workhorse. I’d rather use the 6k mode, but for the 30 minute recording limit. My only crit for this unit.

The S9 now lives on it’s very light but sturdy freestanding monopod (or lightweight tripod) for ceremonies and speeches and has 3 roles: longer fully stabilised clips, clips when I also need to shoot stills at the same time, gimbal mode (ie, highest e stab) and slow mo in 6k except for the latter two options which are about 2% of my needs.

I think if I had sold it, I would have regretted it so now it has found it’s true role, I am even happier with it despite it’s limitations.

Is it an A cam? It could be but not for me. It shines though as that second or third purpose unit where anything larger or bulkier would just be a pain.

I miss my Zf and the A7RV I sold to go fully L Mount/Lumix, but have no regrets and genuinely am 100% happy with that decision with zero criticism of my new set up. It just works.

[FHDcrew]

1 hour ago, MrSMW said:

If it was going to be my only camera or camera type, it would need to be.

Yep...that's my problem.  I really want this to be my a-cam, but it only truly makes sense as a b-cam.  Yes, it could be an a-cam.  Heck, none of the blackmagic bodies are weather sealed and tons of people use them as a-cams.  But something about the S9 just doesn't make me love it as an A-Cam.  Now ironically, my Z6 + Ninja is technically not weather sealed because the Ninja V clearly is not water-protected, but at least the Z6 body is, so if needed I can strip it down and the body will survive.  And the Z6 image still kicks butt.  10 bit NLOG below, skin tones came out great.

[MrSMW]

4 hours ago, FHDcrew said:

But something about the S9 just doesn't make me love it as an A-Cam

Ultimately a combo of trust/knowledge based on: build/lack of weather sealing + no mech shutter for stills + single card slot.

Now arguably, 99.9% of my use, the lack of weather sealing/ultimate build quality, is not an issue.

The single card slot isn't either as I have my S1Rii set up for stills to CF Express and video to SD.

But mech shutter, or lack there of, dealbreaker. Probably with something like the Nikon Z8/Z9, it would not be an issue, but with the S9, it is. But then also to be fair, I didn't buy it for that, but simply tried it and it did not work so...

[FHDcrew]

2 hours ago, MrSMW said:

Now arguably, 99.9% of my use, the lack of weather sealing/ultimate build quality, is not an issue.

Same…one of my most used lenses for my Z6, an old Nikon 17-35 2.8, is not weather sealed lol, but there’s the 5% of times where it’d be nice for the body to be weather sealed.