Fuji XT2 or Panasonic G9 or Sony RX10 IV

After shooting many years with Canon, and with a recent theft of my 6D I am considering my options.

Buying a camera is a highly personal decision, and many times not an easy choice. Living in a small city I do not have access to rental gear to evaluate my options, but have to rely on the internet to make an informed choice.

I have reduced my choices down to a XT2, or Panasonic G9 or Sony RX10IV

All three cameras are excellent. I shoot around 40% landscape& buildings, 20% wildlife, 10% Macro , 10% Cycling, 10% people and around 10% other. I would like to dab my toes into video however.

The biggest advantage of the G9 for me is the excellent IBIS. On my 6DM1 I really lost a huge amount of images due to out of focus issues. If I choose the G9 it will be mainly for this strong feature. The other obvious big advantage is that it is brand new with all the latest technology like 6k images, pre-burst , focus stacking etc. It is also supposedly to be weather sealed, but I can not determine if this is better than the XT2’s weather sealing.

The Sony RX10IV is a different animal. I travel abroad once a year and I am a huge fan of carrying light with a single lens. On the 6D this brought a huge trade-off for me in terms of quality when using a 16-300 travel lens. I have a suspicion that the 24-600 on the Sony will surpass a 6D with an average zoom like I had. At this stage of my life I prefer to sacrifice zoom for quality.

The quality of the RX10IV’s images is in my opinion really good and this camera is a jack of all trades. It should be able to stand its own against the rivals mentioned here.

Being very fond of my X100T this obviously plays a big role in giving the XT2 an edge on its rivals. I am hugely impress with the quality of theXT2’s images as seen on the internet. I like the solid feel of the X100T and I would imagine the XT2 to have the same build and feel. In terms of size it appears as if there are no huge differences between the three contenders for my wallet. Although the XT2 is a bit narrower (92mm vs 49mm) (https://www.apotelyt.com/compare-camera/panasonic-g9-vs-fujifilm-x-t2) Being mounted with a 100-400 it looks like the Panasonic wins by quite a margin. (http://naturalexposures.com/mirrorless-telephoto-comparison-leica-fuji-nikon-olympus)

Interesting it appears that here in South Africa the three cameras are fairly similar priced. As the G9 is not available yet, price in rands is unknown, but looking at conversion the G5 to rands from dollar it appears as if the G9 with a basic lens will be close to the XT2 and Sony. A big concern, however , is that it appears as if Panasonic cameras have really a limited amount of reliable resellers in South Africa, comparing with Sony and Fuji. The XT2 with a 18-55 is around 500USD cheaper than the Sony. Obviously, this change dramatically when adding a 100-400 to the basket. So, all in all price between the three not a critical factor for me.

DPReview is flooded with posts requesting advice. If I post this in the MFT forum I expect the comments to be very different from posting it in the Fuji forum. I am not interested in arguments about equivalence or system bashing(trolling). Having a larger sensor I expect the XT2 to perform better in low light or at higher ISO. This is however not a deal breaker for me.

Following my lengthy rambling it comes down to the following. If you have the opportunity to start afresh with one of the three cameras mentioned here, what choice will you make and what are the two most important aspects that you would have considered in making this choice?