Last Updated on 01/28/2026 by Chris Gampat
I remember when I first saw the Panasonic LUMIX S9 in the green colorway. I was so excited that I had to call it in. To this day, it’s still on my shelf, and I continue to use it. It is still one of the most beautiful full-frame cameras on the market and that’s available within reach of most photographers. Now, the camera that captured my heart despite the flaws got became an absolute silver fox. By that, I mean that it now comes in a silver variant with either white or black leatherette.
I usually prefer silver cameras whenever I can get my hands on them — and my last favorite was the Fujifilm X Pro 3. But this is even more affordable than that camera was. Available for $1,599.99 with a matching lens, it’s hard to pass this one. Granted, it’s not a perfect camera.
The Lumix S9 has a full-frame sensor, great video capabilities, Real Time LUT, a small size, and enough buttons to do everything you could possibly need. But where it falls short is with weather sealing and having a functional hot shoe. On top of that, it only has an electronic shutter. In real life, that isn’t always much of a problem.
Otherwise, the Panasonic S9 has a 24MP full-frame sensor, phase detection AF, up to 6.5 stops of image stabilization, and access to a ton of luts and presets using the Lumix LIVE app on your phone. I’ve customized mine to shoot Kodak Kodacolor 200, and I haven’t wanted to change it from that in a very long time. That’s part of what makes using this camera so fun — it makes me no need to do any post-production and instead just focus on getting great photos in-camera. Of course, I still shoot RAW and JPEG. But often, I really don’t need to edit my RAWs at all.
Oh, and I really enjoyed it for street photography. I keep the TTArtisan 40mm f2 on it, and it pretty much never comes off.
This is what I really think that the industry needs: they need luxury-style products that look nice and that people actually want to shoot with. Otherwise, all the brands are making variations of the same cameras. We need things to be done differently. Nikon gets this and delivers this experience with the Nikon Zf.
What this also signals to me is that the Panasonic S5 II is truly on its way out since the S9 is pretty much the same camera. In order to sell the components, LUMIX needs to make something really pretty. And wow, have they done a great job.
I hope that if and when the Panasonic S9 II comes out that they give it a mechanical shutter, a working hot shoe, and weather resistance. Sure, a viewfinder wouldn’t be bad either since we really need a rangefinder-style camera very badly.
I applaud Panasonic for doing something different than every other camera brand that otherwise is going after the same group of photographers and creators.