Just ordered a Panny GX9!!

Very excited to "leap" ahead with this camera. I currently shoot a GX7 and am looking forward to the improved IBIS and colour tech/sensor upgrade. Now I need to sell my GX7 and GM5 to fund the purchase,.. (I may sell my ZS200  but not too sure yet,..) will be saddened to see them go but I feel like a two-to-three-generation upgrade is warranted.

Any advice with the GX9? I hear that upgrading the GX9 to the newest software can also muck up the IBIS,.. is this true?

Cheers and happy shooting

Mike F

MikeF15 wrote:

Very excited to "leap" ahead with this camera. I currently shoot a GX7 and am looking forward to the improved IBIS and colour tech/sensor upgrade. Now I need to sell my GX7 and GM5 to fund the purchase,.. (I may sell my ZS200 but not too sure yet,..) will be saddened to see them go but I feel like a two-to-three-generation upgrade is warranted.

Any advice with the GX9? I hear that upgrading the GX9 to the newest software can also muck up the IBIS,.. is this true?

Cheers and happy shooting

Mike F

Good choice.  What were the deciding factors for your new camera?

I use GX9 for nearly a year.. Thinking to get "second" GX9 to replace GX85 as second camera body.. GX9 useability is big improvement over GX85, and should be well over GX7.. Something I find very useful over GX85..

- setting mininum shutter speed

- touch options to AF only, shoot, and disable

- More useful display detail

- EC dial use in M mode

- extra mp for crop in Ext Tele Conv mode

- S/C/MF switch (useful for both still and VDO)

- My menu page

- much better screen resolutions

- Faster and smoother VDO AF

- better rear grip

- L Monochrome D

Enjoy..

MikeF15 wrote:

Very excited to "leap" ahead with this camera. I currently shoot a GX7 and am looking forward to the improved IBIS and colour tech/sensor upgrade. Now I need to sell my GX7 and GM5 to fund the purchase,.. (I may sell my ZS200 but not too sure yet,..) will be saddened to see them go but I feel like a two-to-three-generation upgrade is warranted.

Any advice with the GX9? I hear that upgrading the GX9 to the newest software can also muck up the IBIS,.. is this true?

Cheers and happy shooting

Mike F

Congrats! GX9 is quite a camera that I'm sure you'll love!

Selling the GX7 certainly sounds sensible enough. As for selling the others...if there is ever a time where you feel the GX7 is just too big to carry around and you end up carrying the GM5 or ZS200 instead...well, it would be the same for the GX9 so I would, at the very least, keep one of the two.

I myself have the GX8...which is sometimes too big to carry around. Instead, my carry anywhere camera is the Sony RX100 M2...which is pretty much like the ZS200. Yes, I know the lens range is vastly different but daily usage is, in general, the same.

And for those times when the GX8 is still too big but I want something more versatile with better lenses, I carry my GM1 which is surprisingly quite often.

So...at least for my usage, I have use for both the GM1 (i.e. your GM5) and RX100 (i.e. your ZS200). If you can swing it, I would consider keeping your two cameras and just sell the GX7. Or at least keep one of them.

Anyhow, have fun with the new camera

Great choice, going to upgrade my gx80 myself. Even with the very good A6400 and x-t30, the gx9 is still my choice under 1000$ as the Sony and Fuji lack IBIS, which I have come to appreciate very much.

Any advice with the GX9? I hear that upgrading the GX9 to the newest software can also muck up the IBIS,.. is this true?

curious about this too! I do assume that camera’s fresh from the factory already have the latest firmware? Could still be an older batch of course.

Cheers and happy shooting

Mike F

Hello Toxic Tabasco

A few of my choices include the improved IBIS, the slight bump in resolution (for cropping photos of two very fast boys of mine!), which also goes along with the faster AF, and lastly the improved jpeg images.

Cheers

Mike F

Hello Peppermonkey

I see your points about the smaller camera options,.. I just find that I take my Fuji X70 everywhere with me and although it is not a zoom there is a digital crop from 28 to 35 to 50mm "equivalent images.

Perhaps the ZS200 would be a good keeper for travels,. I just don't like using the zoom on compact cameras,. they feel sluggish compared to zooming with an interchangeable lens. (which I knew when I bought it, but assumed I wouldn't mind as much as I do),..first world problem I know! I also think that I never really use the zoom range past the 175-ish range and so a shorter but faster lens would maybe be more enjoyable. Perhaps if the LX10/15 was a 24-90 range that would be more my camera???

I now think that if there was a way to get a more "manual zoom" type lens attached to the small form factor of a compact camera that would be amazing!!

Selling the GM5 would be hard because it is very portable, but I find it tricky to use because of its smaller size.

Cheers and thank you for the comments!

Mike F

As a newbie to MFT I was agonising over the Gx9 vs. Gx80/85 at half the price...went for the latter, but I can always sell it in a few months and get the "9" Baby steps...

Hello Tony

Great photos and thank you for the comments, it’s nice to see that my choice to “upgrade” is affirmed by several people here and I too usually decide the aperture and exposure comp but to know I can rely on iAuto+ is reassuring.

as for battery life I intend on having a portable battery charger for iPhone and camera with me at all times.

cheers

Mike F

Elyharbour, the gx85 at half the price is a really good deal. You will thoroughly enjoy that camera.

Yes, there are some interesting iAuto features on the Lumix cameras.  Some are interesting like the old days, and starburst effect.

Terry, I gave your post a thumbs-up! I've spent much of the past 8-9 years trying to become a knowledgeable and "technically proficient" hobby photographer, and with some degree of success - I can take control of any camera, understand and even contribute to all the nuances that are discussed endlessly on DPR, but I've never lost sight of the fact that in the end what my audience (and indeed myself) react to is the emotional impact of a picture, and some of the "best "shots have come from a camera on Auto. Maybe just good fortune...maybe not, but if it does allow me to focus on the light and compositional elements within in a scene I will happily use Auto or P-mode, especially if I can quickly step with an EC+/- change. But maybe as you've found out here, there's a good case for going out for a few shoots on a 100% iAuto basis and just see what the camera does - I think I'll do that when the GX80 arrives this week, rather my usual more controlled approach. For video I've no idea what I'm doing anyway, so Auto is my only option!

MikeF15 wrote:

Selling the GM5 would be hard because it is very portable, but I find it tricky to use because of its smaller size.

Mike F

I think you are doing the right thing selling the GM5. If you find it tricky to use, you will not enjoy your photography and probably use it less and less.

There is still good demand for this camera, but if you keep hold of it, you may find demand, and therefore prices, waning.

The GX9 is a great camera. It is a good compromise for size when travelling and, to be honest, fits in the same section of my bag as the GM5.

Hello

well my GX9 arrived today (one day early) and I took it for a spin in a museum as well as outside.

brief first observations:

1) autofocus is noticeably faster and more accurate than the GX7

2) the 20mm 1.7 focuses faster on the GX9 (so very happy about this!

3) the kit lens 12-60 is quite good (only taken about 15 shots but already enjoyed the extra reach over my 12-35 2.8)

4) low light of any museum will be tricky for most cameras but the GX9 handled it well, I shot in Aperture mode and auto iso and the camera performed admirably!

super excited to use this camera for the next few years (5+ hopefully). I got about 6 out of the GX7 and it’s still a great camera and fun to use.

as for the grip on the GX9, it felt good for the short time I used it today. Different from the GX7 yes, but better or worse is hard to say at this point. I enjoy the extra thumb grip but wonder if I’d like a few extra mm on the front,.. time will tell.

cheers and happy shooting

Mike F

Mike, I tried the optional grip for the GX9 when I was in a camera shop a few weeks back and it transformed the handling of the body IMO especially with the larger lenses.

Hello Ely

Thank you for the comment!

yes I have seen it (online/in pictures) and it looks like it would be a good addition. I feel the extra grip would be good while using the 12-35/35-100 2.8 lenses (those are my largest,.. gotta love m4/3 for the IQ and size!!),. But I may hold off for some time to become better acquainted with the camera.

cheers

Mike F