M43 cameras are just too small so I am jumping ship...

... from my Oly em5 mkii to a Pana g9.

Sorry, couldn't resist. Ship jumpers and hand wringers took a toll on my patience lately.

Yet I really bought a g9, cheaper that my wife's paid in 2012 or so for her GX7... go figure!

BTW, if you live in Canada you'll find out that the body alone is priced most places at CAN$1495. This does not reflect the price of US$995. If you look around a bit though you should find the right price which is CAN1349$ in canadian currency.

To finish: I love that camera already to a surprising degree.

Good choice. I prefer bodies with a nice grip and buttons that have enough space to work. Despite what people think about the camera size matching sensor size. I always felt that camera size should match hand size to have a comfortable hold. Plus, bigger lenses really feel better with bigger bodies

Albert Valentino wrote:

Good choice. I prefer bodies with a nice grip and buttons that have enough space to work. Despite what people think about the camera size matching sensor size. I always felt that camera size should match hand size to have a comfortable hold. Plus, bigger lenses really feel better with bigger bodies

Well, my E-M5 was kept fully gripped most of the time. It was somewhat nice to have it naked some times, with just the Pana 14mm or the 20mm on it but otherwise no thanks, even though that camera's grip is the most freakish invention ever...

... and I also bought the battery grip. Because that way the camera feels lighter. Ergonomics, you know...

Like the ocean, the tide comes in and then retreats back out.

All of last the couple of weeks there was a well attended thread titled:

"So here is why our camera's are "so big"!

People were saying that the m/43 concept had strayed from small being the main advantage to the format, and if you were considering the larger sized Olympus and Lumix m4/3 cameras such as the G9 and E MX1 you might as well jump ship and go full frame!

This week's thread M4/3 camera are just too small.

I'd say that m4/3 is perfect..... perfect for myself. My GX8 and soon to arrive G9 are the perfect size for myself. The 20mp sensor is  perfect, perfect for me and my underpowered laptop. Albert, I understand that your thread was a bit tongue in cheek, but it did elicit a response from myself. I do feel this way about  the m43 format.

D4vith wrote:

Then I saw the G9 and couldn't resist. I feel like it has the best ergonomics of any camera I've tried. For me the strength of MFT is not necessarily the size of the bodies but of the lenses.

Agree 100%. That is why I moved over from APS a few years ago

I think a good compromise regarding size is the G80 which feels great in the hand. I didn't like any of the Olympus cameras except for the EM1 mk II.

D4vith wrote:

My first MFT camera was a GX9.

Quickly I found the handling to be quite uncomfortable due to the small grip. I'm sure I would have dropped it at some point. So I added a grip.

Then I saw the G9 and couldn't resist. I feel like it has the best ergonomics of any camera I've tried. For me the strength of MFT is not necessarily the size of the bodies but of the lenses. I shoot a lot (took more than 30k pics in a year) so it has to be comfortable.

I think a good compromise regarding size is the G80 which feels great in the hand. I didn't like any of the Olympus cameras except for the EM1 mk II.

The GX7 was just about the right size for a m43 camera -- for me! A good grip is important, though, and sometimes the half-cases with some grip, or an add-on grip takes a good camera and makes it into a great camera.

With m43, I shoot the GX8 mostly but I do have other bodies. The GX8 is a bit larger than I like, but it's still very manageable. The G9 added some heft and lost the tilting EVF, so even though it's a great camera, it's not for me. I think the PenF would be a fine size (but it could use a tilting EVF). I think the EM5iii is a good size (but it could use a tilting EVF). The EM1 looks like a great camera, but like the G9, it's just too large for my taste. I might add an EM1iii or G9 at some point just for some of the bigger lenses (and I don't mind using larger cameras at home), but I won't carry a camera like that with me anywhere.

if I jump ship with a m43 camera, which camera lens should I add to my body and will fun to dive in the water with?

pattymeboy wrote:

Like the ocean, the tide comes in and then retreats back out.

All of last the couple of weeks there was a well attended thread titled:

"So here is why our camera's are "so big"!

People were saying that the m/43 concept had strayed from small being the main advantage to the format, and if you were considering the larger sized Olympus and Lumix m4/3 cameras such as the G9 and E MX1 you might as well jump ship and go full frame!

That depends on what lenses you bolt onto them,

This week's thread M4/3 camera are just too small.

I'd say that m4/3 is perfect..... perfect for myself. My GX8 and soon to arrive G9 are the perfect size for myself. The 20mp sensor is perfect, perfect for me and my underpowered laptop. Albert, I understand that your thread was a bit tongue in cheek, but it did elicit a response from myself. I do feel this way about the m43 format.

The PL15 1.7, if you can pick one up used, to save a little dough

That is a fine upgrade!  Enjoy the new camera body.

Joe

FourthHorse wrote:

... from my Oly em5 mkii to a Pana g9.

Sorry, couldn't resist. Ship jumpers and hand wringers took a toll on my patience lately.

Yet I really bought a g9, cheaper that my wife's paid in 2012 or so for her GX7... go figure!

BTW, if you live in Canada you'll find out that the body alone is priced most places at CAN$1495. This does not reflect the price of US$995. If you look around a bit though you should find the right price which is CAN1349$ in canadian currency.

To finish: I love that camera already to a surprising degree.

Congrats and enjoy! The m43 size advantage is in the lenses. The body comes down to personal ergo preferences. But for my money, the G9 has some of the best ergonomics on the market. Happy shooting!

The G9 is the ultimate M43 camera, enjoy. Lumitix are very happy people, they have the best cameras and lenses in the m43 world backed by a viable company. Welcome to the club!

The Lamentable Lens wrote:

FourthHorse wrote:

... from my Oly em5 mkii to a Pana g9.

Sorry, couldn't resist. Ship jumpers and hand wringers took a toll on my patience lately.

Yet I really bought a g9, cheaper that my wife's paid in 2012 or so for her GX7... go figure!

BTW, if you live in Canada you'll find out that the body alone is priced most places at CAN$1495. This does not reflect the price of US$995. If you look around a bit though you should find the right price which is CAN1349$ in canadian currency.

To finish: I love that camera already to a surprising degree.

Congrats and enjoy! The m43 size advantage is in the lenses. The body comes down to personal ergo preferences. But for my money, the G9 has some of the best ergonomics on the market. Happy shooting!

My own discovery was that it takes perhaps a month to six weeks to get a feel for a camera as talented as the G-9,. Below some comments from a forum member whose name got dropped from my cut and paste, but ddoggoe I have it and aknowledge then and now his inspiration.

Heed and learn is my offering today. And be well always---

from a forum user Cyvan is the handle….and many thanks to him for some ideas like four months ago....good stuff to learn more about this amazing Panasonic.

I have a GX8, G85 and G9 and had a G7 and GX9. The GX8 and I have been thru hell and back and its built like a tank and a trusted friend but , alas, I realise now that I prefer DSLR styled bodies. Every time I get a RF style body I get a grip or half-case and an extended eyecup for it. So I usually reach for my G9 and G85 when going out now.
The other reason is the fabulous IBIS of the later models. I have a lot of primes so when I got the G85 and placed my 75 on it it was a revelation how slow and accurate I could take shots with it. If I'm doing an event with all 3 cameras I tend to put the primes on the later bodies and put a DUAL IS lens like the 12-35 on the GX8 so it more closely matches the effectiveness of the other two.
I agree with what a lot of persons have said re the G9's pluses like IBIS etc but one thing I haven't seen mentioned and that I absolutely love are the software features:
- First the sheer number of customizable buttons on the body , including the directions on the 4 way dial and joystick and the switch in the front; and the fact that you can re-assign any button by simply long pressing it. Brilliant.
- My Menu - I no longer have to rummage through menus to find an item I use often but don't want to assign to a fn key. I can just add it to my menu and it's 2 presses away.
- Exposure Compensation in M-mode with auto iso. I first saw this on my GX9 but its a great feature for when I need to control aperture and SS but still want the camera to compensate for small exposure changes by adjusting ISO, but I might tell it to bias a lil brighter or darker than what its choosing. eg I usually add about +1/3 EV EC by default anyways but I'd lose that with my older cameras. So I'd have to lift them in post. With the G9 I can get my desired brightness even with auto iso now. Great for events with unpredictable lighting. However this feature almost becomes unneeded because of the next feature:
- Min Shutter speed - Usually you'll want to use the feature above because u're shooting in marginal conditions. You control Aperture for DOF but u need to control SS so it doesn't go too slow for motion blur or stay too high and push up ISO /w auto ISO. With this feature you can tell it the min'm SS you want it to go to before it starts increasing ISO. That coupled with your max ISO setting +EC basically frees you up to adjust for Aperture and for composition and the camera will deal with exposure changes within the limits you set.
- Separate focus points for landscape vs portrait. This makes switching between them a lot easier. Using this method I can set the focal point to be at the head when I'm shooting a fashion show regardless of my orientation. Great when I'm shooting with the grip too.
- AF-Scope mode. Love it , I have it assigned to a direction on the D pad so I can quickly press it to to get a magnified view to make sure I have critical focus before pressing the shutter. [PS. I loooove the hair trigger shutter. I miss it when I switch cameras]
- AF-Near / AF-Far shortcuts. Handy for when it gets stuck on a foreground or background element. Just press the appropriate one to force a refocus in the right direction instead of having manually focus or do something like point at the ground first to break focus and try again. Great for shooting thru fences for example.
- Better integration with the ImageApp. I've used it to tether my camera to my tablet during a food shoot so that the client could more easily make her tweaks to the food positioning and even take and review the shot herself w/o either of us having to fuss about with the camera once it was in the right orientation. She was very particular about how she wanted things to look so in previous shoots there were a lot of shots taken and back and forthing with composition. Saved a TON of time. With the bluetooth connection connecting it was painless.
Basically, once you've set it up the way u want to I love how the camera generally gets out of the way and u can just shoot. Coupled with the amazing video features it just feels like the camera that I can do anything with.
My only gripe is that, yes , sometimes it's just a little too big to carry around.

Albert Valentino wrote:

Good choice. I prefer bodies with a nice grip and buttons that have enough space to work. Despite what people think about the camera size matching sensor size. I always felt that camera size should match hand size to have a comfortable hold. Plus, bigger lenses really feel better with bigger bodies

There's actually an argument to be made that larger sensor bodies are too small, just look at the overheating issues in the top tier bunch. Bigger sensor, higher rez video which is a big selling point in ML, too much heat and too little space. I think MFT's bigger bodies are at just the perfect ratio of sensor to body size.

FourthHorse wrote:

... from my Oly em5 mkii to a Pana g9.

Sorry, couldn't resist. Ship jumpers and hand wringers took a toll on my patience lately.

Yet I really bought a g9, cheaper that my wife's paid in 2012 or so for her GX7... go figure!

BTW, if you live in Canada you'll find out that the body alone is priced most places at CAN$1495. This does not reflect the price of US$995. If you look around a bit though you should find the right price which is CAN1349$ in canadian currency.

To finish: I love that camera already to a surprising degree.

Congrats! I just went from GX9 to G9 myself, and man I am in LOVE with this camera. Just love the size and grip, the robust quality feel. Th e layout in general is genious. The viewfinder also, just brilliant. I have tried a lot of cameras these last years, and the G9 must be one of the most well engineered bodys out there, regardless of format. The best m43 body there is, no doubt.

Max Iso wrote:

Albert Valentino wrote:

Good choice. I prefer bodies with a nice grip and buttons that have enough space to work. Despite what people think about the camera size matching sensor size. I always felt that camera size should match hand size to have a comfortable hold. Plus, bigger lenses really feel better with bigger bodies

There's actually an argument to be made that larger sensor bodies are too small, just look at the overheating issues in the top tier bunch. Bigger sensor, higher rez video which is a big selling point in ML, too much heat and too little space. I think MFT's bigger bodies are at just the perfect ratio of sensor to body size.

Just for the record : I have run some video in 4k I had sessions using high rate bursts web de G9 quite warm but never gave up.

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