Panasonic G9 or a 100-400 lens

I currently have a GX9 and the 100-300ii.

I'm massively into wildlife photography and i thought both the lens and G9 would improve that, even if not by a huge amount.

I've toyed with apsc or full frame but i have realized that i will never enjoy carrying 6 or 7lbs around or enjoy holding it up for 200 or so photo's

I really want both but i just hate spending so much at once I will probably end up with both so i should just get them now. But i won't.

I'm usually cropping with 600mm. I'll still be cropping with 800. But a 2x crop with 800mm is a fair distance right.

I went out yesterday and out of about 5 birds i tried to photograph, only 1 i was happy with.And even then i think that extra bit of range would have made all the difference. It was just one of those days when you can't get close enough.

I know i'll be happy with the 100-400 but i'm not sure if the G9 will be more beneficial than i'm giving it credit for too?

Is the animal detect helpful. Will my keeper rate improve. Is it a total waste of money.

I have been after a new camera for a while.Sometimes its just easier, especially on a windy day or at short notice, to have a 2nd camera ready to go. I know i'll probably be upping the weight but still saving at least 1kg over say a nikon apsc setup and the gx9 in my backpack with a small lens , i won't know its there.

I had a tz90 but i gave that to my daughter and tbh i did want a bit better quality.

So i thought a G9 would be nice to have for two reasons.

But then 800mm. That would be nice too

Anybody had experience of going from GX9 to G9 or the 300mm to the 400mm?

The lens.

Hi there,

I have had both and I can say, I do not regret getting the PL100-400mm, it was a huge improvement over the 100-300. The quality of the pictures are just delightfull.
The GX9 is a great camera but not very suitable for wildlife and long lenses IMHO. I struggled with its small tiltable evf that also would always move up as I put my eye to it as I use glasses and also not having a decent grip. So the evf on the G9 is truly superb and  the grip is too. I do not have the G9 anymore (which I regret) as I wanted something less pro and smaller, and  I now use the G95 which is a bit more compact, but the image quality, the viewfinder and the grip are very good too and better than the GX9.
So a G95 and a PL 100-400mm is what i used most for wildlife and am completly happy with that.  I combine that with my FZ1000.2 for wider field of view instead of switching lenses.

Hope this helps. Cheers

Eightace wrote:

I currently have a GX9 and the 100-300ii.

I'm massively into wildlife photography and i thought both the lens and G9 would improve that, even if not by a huge amount.

I've toyed with apsc or full frame but i have realized that i will never enjoy carrying 6 or 7lbs around or enjoy holding it up for 200 or so photo's

I really want both but i just hate spending so much at once I will probably end up with both so i should just get them now. But i won't.

I'm usually cropping with 600mm. I'll still be cropping with 800. But a 2x crop with 800mm is a fair distance right.

I went out yesterday and out of about 5 birds i tried to photograph, only 1 i was happy with.And even then i think that extra bit of range would have made all the difference. It was just one of those days when you can't get close enough.

I know i'll be happy with the 100-400 but i'm not sure if the G9 will be more beneficial than i'm giving it credit for too?

Is the animal detect helpful. Will my keeper rate improve. Is it a total waste of money.

I have been after a new camera for a while.Sometimes its just easier, especially on a windy day or at short notice, to have a 2nd camera ready to go. I know i'll probably be upping the weight but still saving at least 1kg over say a nikon apsc setup and the gx9 in my backpack with a small lens , i won't know its there.

I had a tz90 but i gave that to my daughter and tbh i did want a bit better quality.

So i thought a G9 would be nice to have for two reasons.

But then 800mm. That would be nice too

Anybody had experience of going from GX9 to G9 or the 300mm to the 400mm?

I have both the G9 and the GX9, and the 100-300ii, and while is definitively a huge difference in handling and responsiveness, af, speed, etc. Nothing will get you any closer than the 100-400mm. I'm considering one myself, but a little bit farther away in the future, as I'm not really into wildlife just yet.

So I'd go with the lens first.

Eightace wrote:

I'm happy with the GX9. I wanted a small body and thats why i bought that first.

I prefer articulating but not had any problems with the tilt-able even if i don't use it much at all.

I think i will find it fine with the 400mm.

But i've found myself doing wildlife photography more so the G9/400MM combo would work better.

Just wondered if i might be so impressed by the camera that it was worth buying first.

This is one i missed yesterday.

I think it was just my poor technique and it can happen with any camera but tbf it was like a spec of dust in the evf. Another thing that may help with the G9.

Would also have been a bit larger with the extra mm too , although probably not by much.

I need both really don't I

The 100-400 would not have helped.  A common thread on these forum has been I just bought a 100-400 and it's rubbish.  They then post a picture like that to prove it.  Remember a long lens is great at making close subjects even closer, it is not great at making good pictures from distant subjects

Eightace wrote:

I know i'll be happy with the 100-400 but i'm not sure if the G9 will be more beneficial than i'm giving it credit for too?

Is the animal detect helpful. Will my keeper rate improve. Is it a total waste of money.

In my opinion the G9's animal detect is pretty much worthless. My keeper rate when testing animal detect was significantly worse than when setting the focus point myself. There were too many shots where it detected the animal and highlighted it, only to actually focus on something else in the background/foreground.

On the other hand, G9 features like focus scope (zooming in while focusing) and near/far priority AF are genuinely useful. It also has much better C-AF for moving subjects, like birds when they're in flight, rather than on a stick. Not to mention a bigger buffer and faster dual SD cards for long bursts of shots. To me those are all nice to have when shooting wildlife.

But then 800mm. That would be nice too

Anybody had experience of going from GX9 to G9 or the 300mm to the 400mm?

I use a GX9 and G9 with my 100-400mm. If I had to choose between the G9 and 100-400mm then keeping the lens would be an easy choice. The G9's features and C-AF are nice, but I actually prefer the size and handling of the GX9 even when using a relatively large lens like the 100-400mm. Outside of shooting birds in flight, I'd definitely miss the extra reach more than I missed the higher end camera body.

Whatever you do, wait a few days for the sales!!!

If your budget will support it, both would good. I have both the G9 and GX9, and the G9 always gets the nod if I'm going out for some bird photos.

This photo clearly shows that the grasses behind the bird are in sharp focus, so the camera chose the wrong subject.

The G9 has AF tools, such as near & far focus, that would make it easier to ensure that the subject you want is what's in focus. The bigger EVF helps a lot too.

Of course, the extra reach of the 100-400 in that sort of situation helps too.

The G9 is a much better camera than the GX9 IMHO.

I have the GX9 and the 100-300 II. You can not hit at distance with the same accuracy as you can on the G9.

Program the scope button to the front you can hit a subject at distance, exactly where you want with much better certainty. The GX9 I can hit a rough area but the G9 you can zero in and once you program that muscle memory you can scope something super quick and hit the eyes, make sure the autofocus isn't hitting the background etc.

I bought another G9 since i split between an long and short zoom / prime for my work. The GX9 is good for street photography since it is small but it isn't a great camera. The G9 is a great camera.

Then get the 100-400.

That scope can be set to 10x magnification so I'm able to to pick out a street sign from serious distance away and hit it.