When the Panasonic G9 II was released, we were very hyped. It was a camera that was majorly pitched to us as being forwardly for photographers. With that said, a lot of video features that were in the GH6, for example, weren’t in the G9 II. Firmware 2.0 is being announced today for the camera, and photographers aren’t seeing many benefits from it. Instead, it’s all targeted to the video crowd. So, if you don’t care about video, then you probably wouldn’t necessarily care to proceed. But if you understand that Micro Four Thirds is incredibly good for video, then consider what the G9 II can do for you.
Below are the details that we were given on the new announcement with firmware 2.0:
RAW video output over HDMI to Blackmagic Design external recorder
[5.7K] / [C4K] / [5.8K(4:3)] / [4.4K(4:3)] 12-bit RAW video data can be output over HDMI to Blackmagic Video Assist 5 “12G HDR and Blackmagic Video Assist 7” 12G HDR, to be recorded as Blackmagic RAW.
*DaVinci Resolve or DaVinci Resolve Studio is required to playback and DaVinci Resolve Studio to edit Blackmagic RAW data.
*Please refer to the Blackmagic Design website for the information on the corresponding firmware version of Blackmagic Video Assist 5″ 12G HDR and Blackmagic Video Assist 7″ 12G HDR.
*All functions may not be available depending on the situation.
*When recording in C4K 120p/100p or 5.7K 60p/50p, constant bitrate 5:1 or less is recommended for SSD recording and 8:1 or less for SD card recording.
RAW video output over HDMI to ATOMOS external recorder
[5.7K] / [C4K] / [5.8K(4:3)] / [4.4K(4:3)] 12-bit RAW video data can be output over HDMI to ATOMOS “Ninja V” “Ninja V+” “Ninja” “Ninja Ultra” “Shogun” “Shogun Ultra” “Shogun Connect” devices, to be recorded as Apple Pro Res RAW.
Is Anything Else Coming for Photographers?
The new update for the Panasonic G9 II is great and all for the company’s versatility. That’s going to add to sales for sure. But what about photographers? There are things that could be given to the G9 II to make it a better photographic instrument. A few thoughts:
- In our review, we cited that the high ISO output could be better. Panasonic can do this through processing with the camera. This is one of the hardest things fro Micro Four Thirds to also get well. But Panasonic could embrace the look of high ISO noise a bit more as Fujifilm does with the X Trans sensor. Technically, you could do it here too using Real Time LUT. But that color starts to fall apart very hard with higher ISO settings.
- It needs autofocus improvements, for sure.
- Panasonic removed the multiple exposure mode from their cameras, and we’d love it back.
- We’d like a few Real Time LUT options from Panasonic added to the camera that they’ve made themselves.
- Micro Four Thirds cameras kill it with computational photography — at least the ones from OM System do. I’d like more of those in Panasonic’s cameras.
These are just a few of the things that we’d like to see. And still, overall, for only $100 more, you can get the Panasonic S5 II. Believe it or not, that’s been one of the best cameras that we’ve used in a long time and it’s only become better with time. While we’re sure it won’t age like a fine whiskey, its nice to see certain cameras mature and become better products.