Panasonic has its flagship camera, the Panasonic GH-5 primarily aimed at videographers, with this new Panasonic G9 Micro Four Thirds camera, it has taken most of these features and added extra stills photography features and bundled it all into an impressive smaller, lighter camera which is also, importantly, less expensive than both the GH-5 or the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II.
Specs compared to the Olympus OM-D E-M1 II:
Both cameras offer a 20mp sensor with in-camera 5 axis image stabilisation, 6.5EV Dual IS and weathersealing with sports features of fast burst rates with continuous autofocus in either mechanical shutter or electronic shutter.
The newly announced Panasonic 200mm f/2.8 OIS lens may well make a compelling reason for many to look at purchasing the G9 (I for one would love a 200mm f/2.8 OIS lens with 6.5EV IS but alas, at $US2999 that is not likely to be an option for me) – although I presume Olympus are working on a similar lens – it is just extremely frustrating for Micro Four Thirds users than Olympus and Panasonic refuse to allow cross-compatibility of their optical image stabilisation functionality, aperture ring functionality and DFD AF functionality. I can understand the commercial reasons but, seriously guys, you promised a Micro Four Thirds system – please make it completely cross-compatible!
| Panasonic G9 | Olympus OM-D E-M1 II | |
| price | $US1699 | $US1999 |
| electronic shutter burst rates | 20mp RAW: 20fps CAF, 60fps SAF; 18mp 30fps, 8mp 60fps | 20mp RAW: 18fps CAF; 60fps SAF; |
| mechanical shutter burst rates | 9fps CAF; 12fps SAF; | 10fps CAF; 15fps SAF; |
| EVF | 3.68mDot; 120fps; 0.86x mag. | 120fps, 2.36M-dot EVF; 0.74x mag |
| AF points | 225 CDAF only; DFD CAF | 121 DUAL crosstype PDAF and CDAF; |
| Pre-capture mode images prior to shutter release: | 0.4sec of RAW files | up to last 14 RAW files |
| 4K video | 30p/60p | 24/30p 237Mbps |
| HiRes mode: | 8 image 80mp | 8 image 50mp |
| Dual card slots | both are UHS-II SD card slots | only one is UHS-II SD card slot |
| weight: | 579g | 574g |
| other features: | top LCD status screen; USB charging; Dual IS and DFD CAF only with Panasonic lenses; | in-camera Preset MF focus range settings; Live Composite; LiveTimed; 3 MySets on top dial; Dual IS only with Olympus OIS lenses |
