G9ii vers the S1ii, S1iie and the S5ii.

[stephent]

Hi everyone, looking to add a new body to my systems. I have an S1r and 24-105 for full frame. And a G9 with the P/L 10-25 f1.7 and Olympus 40-150 f2.8 and the Olympus 45 f1.2 PRO lens as my main M4/3 kit.

With the S1r my main landscape camera the G9 covers the rest of my shooting.

Looking at the new S1ii body range 24mp is plenty, with that in mind the G9ii has finally come down in price here in OZ. It would be around $1600 OZ dollars cheaper than the S1iie and half the price of the S1ii. The S5ii is around $400 dollars more, and is the closest match for the G9ii.

Still is the grass greener with the newer models?

The three lens I have mentioned for the M4/3 are the main reason for going the G9ii route as they are some of the best lens I have ever used.

So is anyone running a G9ii alongside one of the 24 mp Panasonic bodies? I love to hear what you think about the two systems.

Cheers.

Steve.

 

[vcxz]

Hi everyone, looking to add a new body to my systems. I have an S1r and 24-105 for full frame. And a G9 with the P/L 10-25 f1.7 and Olympus 40-150 f2.8 and the Olympus 45 f1.2 PRO lens as my main M4/3 kit.

With the S1r my main landscape camera the G9 covers the rest of my shooting.

Looking at the new S1ii body range 24mp is plenty, with that in mind the G9ii has finally come down in price here in OZ. It would be around $1600 OZ dollars cheaper than the S1iie and half the price of the S1ii. The S5ii is around $400 dollars more, and is the closest match for the G9ii.

Still is the grass greener with the newer models?

The three lens I have mentioned for the M4/3 are the main reason for going the G9ii route as they are some of the best lens I have ever used.

So is anyone running a G9ii alongside one of the 24 mp Panasonic bodies? I love to hear what you think about the two systems.

Cheers.

Steve.

I planned to run the G9II in conjunction with an L mount body. Generally, I found the L mount non-pro Panasonic lenses to outresolve the PL M43 lenses even on a 25ish mp sensor (G9II versus s5ii). Along with many L mount lenses having lower equivalent aperture and comparable weight (especially the 14-28 and 28-200), it feels like the L mount lenses are the Mark 2s of the M43 PLs. I imagine it's the same lens designers, and additional years of experience allows them to learn and reflect and do better in the next iteration.

One caveat is I do not have the mega zooms, the 10-25 and 25-50. I was mostly testing against the 8-18, 12-60 and 50-200. Those are arguably a class above.

I would say generally with those three lenses, it might be closer to a lateral move. The L mount has the 16-35 F4 and Sigma 16-28. You can save a little size and go slightly wider.

The Panasonic 85mm f1.8 would get you some fractional stops and it might weigh slightly less.

The Panasonic 70-300 also has fractional stops versus the OM 40-150 f2.8. They're roughly the same size but the Panasonic definitely has much nicer bokeh.

Right now, I use the G9II mostly for larger wildlife. M43 still has a weight advantage for lenses like the 50-200, and the 200mm f2.8 is an ideal focal length for larger mammals. Then both use the same teleconverters for emergency reach. Then I keep an assortment of other lenses as complements like the 8-18. But if I'm shooting under 100mm, the L mount generally is better even on the same 25ish mp sensor.

If the Sigma 500mm comes down in price, I might consider that as a replacement for the 200 f2.8. But again this seems overall close to a lateral move. And the G9II is better for wildlife with the better buffer, etc. So I might do this in the next round of new bodies, which could be 3-5+ years later.

Panasonic could use their own version of an OM-3 and come out with a mark 2 of the PL 15 that's weather sealed. It would also be good to have HHRS as fast as OM to compensate for the higher noise in the smaller sensor. I'm hesitant to use the PL zooms with an OM3 due to possible purple blobs and weather sealing issues.

 

[jalywol]

Well, long time M43 user (Panasonic almost entirely), and also now Panasonic L-mount user.

For M43 I have (currently) the G95, G100D, and the very long in the tooth GM5.

For L-mount I use the S9, and just got the S5II to replace the original S5 (got a very good deal on the S5II, so I traded the S5 in towards it).

(I am solely a stills shooter, so I can't tell you anything at all about the video end of things)

My M43 gear has been my primary system for a long time, with an occasional foray into FF, as the other brands' mirrorless FF formats evolved. I went with the Panasonic L-mount gear a few years ago, though, as I still vastly prefer the Panasonic color science over the competition.

As I get more into using the L-mount, and acquiring lenses that work for what I like to shoot, I find I am using the M43 for more selective stuff, and the L-mount for most everything else.

For instance, the G95 and the PL 100-400mm II is my bird and long tele system. I tried the Sigma 150-600mm for the L-mount bodies, and it just simply was too darn heavy to enjoy carting around when out and about. So, the M43 is the long telephoto system I am using instead.

That being said, there are some drawbacks to the non-PDAF bodies, so when the G9II had a big special about a year ago, I ordered one.

It does some things very well. And the AF is a big advance from the DFD only on the prior bodies. But, I really didn't care for its output. I don't know what they did with their color rendition algorithms in that body, but it just did not get things quite right, esp in the blue color ranges. I tried all sorts of settings and adjustments, but it just was...different...from their usual color/WB behavior, and I really didn't care for it. I also find its output kind of brittle and crunchy looking, especially when shooting complex fine patterns (like reeds or distant foliage, especially if it's in the brown or tan color range).

The particular body I had also had a fairly pronounced flicker in the EVF, which I couldn't get rid of, no matter what the settings, so after a couple of weeks with it, I called the dealer and asked them if this was normal for this particular camera. I just figured it was a quirk, but they actually told me to send it back, as that was not the normal behavior. So, I did, and I decided to hold off on reordering it. I just went back to using my G95 for my long work, and that was that. And, this year, I added the S5ii in, which is a big improvement in the AF arena over my prior S5, rather than updating my M43 bodies (not really interested in the OM1II, which would have been my other PDAF option)

So, my opinion is that if you can live without the PDAF, stick with your G9. I think its output is actually nicer than that from the G9II.

However, this is for sure a "YMMV" moment, so...Can you rent or borrow a G9II to give it a quick test? That would tell you all you need to know.

-J

 

[Jamajuel]

Hi everyone, looking to add a new body to my systems. I have an S1r and 24-105 for full frame. And a G9 with the P/L 10-25 f1.7 and Olympus 40-150 f2.8 and the Olympus 45 f1.2 PRO lens as my main M4/3 kit.

With the S1r my main landscape camera the G9 covers the rest of my shooting.

Looking at the new S1ii body range 24mp is plenty, with that in mind the G9ii has finally come down in price here in OZ. It would be around $1600 OZ dollars cheaper than the S1iie and half the price of the S1ii. The S5ii is around $400 dollars more, and is the closest match for the G9ii.

Still is the grass greener with the newer models?

The three lens I have mentioned for the M4/3 are the main reason for going the G9ii route as they are some of the best lens I have ever used.

So is anyone running a G9ii alongside one of the 24 mp Panasonic bodies? I love to hear what you think about the two systems.

Cheers.

Steve.

I have a G9ii, an S1 and now the S1Rii. I really like m43 but the use cases for me have vastly reduced to two:

• long range telephoto for birds (PL100-400)
• very compact travel kit - which frankly does not exist right now since there is no small PDAF m43 body

in every other regard, FF can do the same and a lot more.



Even with these nice m43 lenses. I would wager that even the non “pro” lenses on the S5ii will give you bottom line better IQ. If you take something like the Sigma 24-70 and Pana 70-200 f4 likely loads better.



That said, if you don’t care much about bokeh and shallow DOF and you don’t have issues with high iso and low light, the G9ii is an absolute top camera.

 

[stephent]

Thank you all for your great replies, way more than I hoped for.

I plan to take my G9 into a store and make a few images with each camera and compare the results.

The reported different colour out put of the G9ii is an issue as I really like the colour I getup of both my G9 and S1r.

Thanks again for taking the time to give me such detailed responses, they have been really helpful.

Cheers.

Steve

 

[Tom Caldwell]

Hi everyone, looking to add a new body to my systems. I have an S1r and 24-105 for full frame. And a G9 with the P/L 10-25 f1.7 and Olympus 40-150 f2.8 and the Olympus 45 f1.2 PRO lens as my main M4/3 kit.

With the S1r my main landscape camera the G9 covers the rest of my shooting.

Looking at the new S1ii body range 24mp is plenty, with that in mind the G9ii has finally come down in price here in OZ. It would be around $1600 OZ dollars cheaper than the S1iie and half the price of the S1ii. The S5ii is around $400 dollars more, and is the closest match for the G9ii.

Still is the grass greener with the newer models?

The three lens I have mentioned for the M4/3 are the main reason for going the G9ii route as they are some of the best lens I have ever used.

So is anyone running a G9ii alongside one of the 24 mp Panasonic bodies? I love to hear what you think about the two systems.

Cheers.

Steve.

When we talk about the G9II a lot depends upon how invested we are in lenses for the M4/3 system. I own far too many to start investing in lenses for yet another mount system.

That I have quite a few of the premium M4/3 lenses adds to the dilemma. They cover the complete spectrum of what I might ever need.

I opted for the S1 when it was released and do very well with adapting from my old EF mount stocks and Legacy MF Lenses. I did consider the (then cheaper) S5II when the G9II was released but after considering just how many M4/3 lenses I owned I opted for the G9II. I have found it a worthwhile update on my G9. It is more a refined G9 than a completely radical new offering. I suppose that if the G9 was so successful there was no need to throw the baby out with the bathwater when the G9II arrived.

Anyone with a small investment in M4/3 lenses might find a complementary investment in L-Mount attractive. But completely swapping mount systems requires more thought.

I am more than happy with my S1 and use it in more serious situations where overall camera bulk is not an issue. There is one of the new range of L-Mount bodies in my future acquisitions - probably the S1iie as I have no interest in video.

If the price of the G9II has come down I might also even consider another G9II if I only could figure out what to do with my much loved G9.

 

[Joe Lynch]

When you get to the store to try the G9ii, you might want to compare it to an S5ii just for future reference. The bodies are essentially identical.

With your lenses, I would also go G9ii for now. I decided to get a G9ii when they first came out to use with my Olympus long lenses primarily for video and as a backup to an OM-1 instead of getting an OM-1ii. I liked it so much it became my primary m43 camera. When I was looking for a videocentric hybrid full frame, the S5iiX filled the bill, and I now have two of them. Since the bodies and menus are essentially identical, it's like using one system instead of two.

I've been using the S5iiX's for both kids' sports stills and video and the G9ii with the Oly m43 lenses for all the long lens needs. This is working out well for me as I can use the full frame for low light high iso and get clean results yet still have very capable m43 long lens setup for daylight wildlife/insects, all with great video capabilities with both.

Joe L