DPReview TV: Panasonic G9 vs. Olympus E-M1 Mark III – who's the king of Micro Four Thirds?

It would be nice if they compared one or both of these with an equivalent camera that didn't have the ugly faux pentaprism on the top. Pentaprisms were necessary for SLR, of course, but were ugly in the last century and seem even uglier now when that bump is unnecessary (and is in the wrong place, whether you are left- or right-eye dominant). <sigh>

The fact that the Panasonic G9 is competitive with the E-M1 III being 3 years older and less than 2/3 the price should be the headline.

If not, what are they for??? And I automatically apologize.

If all the "beeps" are for what beeps usually are for... why? Can't the guy get through a few minutes without words that must be beeped? His first one makes me worry. His second beep ends his review - for me. A limited vocabulary(The reason for almost all beeped words.) goes along with a limited mind... I'll get my reviews elsewhere.

NOT having silent shutter....E-shutter, for “longer than 1 second” is unacceptable on the G9 as you can still get camera shake for longer lenses. I use silent shutter for almost all of my photography, and don’t have to switch over in menus for tripod mounted work on my EM1II. Why Panasonic?? A serious omission. Unsurprisingly though the EM1 III is “unlimited silent shutter!

After changing systems (Pentax, Nikon, Sony and Fujifilm) over the past 8 years I settled on M4/3 for my needs about 2 years ago. I've an EM1-MkII and Pen-F now and could not be happier. I chose Olympus as I appreciate design/build quality and to me they are unequalled in the industry. Panasonic make great bodies/lenses but it's Oly for me. Oh, the Olympus Pro lenses are something else, and to me the main reason to choose Oly.

The only thing that bugs me about the G9 is the very sensitive shutter button. It's so easy to go past half-press and take a photo, or switch off video recording when you're trying to refocus. Setting up back-button focus deals with this, but the shutter is still so tricky! Apart from that, the G9 is a superb camera with excellent menu system, great ergonomics and haptics, and highly versatile video functions. I haven't tried the E-M1 III, but I have an E-M5 which I still enjoy.

King is always the person behind a camera. Believe in these comparisons only if you want to keep changing your cameras every six months..

I think you did a great job covering the high points in your comparison. I started out with a Panasonic m4/3's a couple generations back, then switched to Olympus. I really like the Olympus cameras, and like you said, some of the specialty features really stand out when you start using them. I just hope Olympus has the financial strength to stay in the game. I was really hoping for the EVF upgrade this generation. I just bought a Mk III body. Hopefully, there will be a Mk IV with that EVF upgrade.

Correction: you certainly *can* use Raw on the Olympus Pro Capture Mode

The current king of M43 is E-M5 Mk3, because its small and compact. Which is the entire point behind M43. Until a new GM or PM comes out, E-M5 Mk3 is best.

Does anyone get the feeling the industry is pushing us towards professional video? It's getting so that the only way to get good stills is to pay for a professional video camera.

Hmm.. I think this video missed the "usual-has become now customary-Chris-Nichols_'sexy video clip'".... You guys are going downhill now...

(kidding)

Oly for me. Name one photo camera with Built-in ND filter, hand-held hi res, stabilizer.

If it matters - and it does to me- another point in favor of the Panasonic G9 is that Panasonic offers a three year warranty with this camera as a permanent "promotion" whereas Olympus offers one year.

The king of MFT: Panasonic GM1. If I wanted large bodies I would go FF.

Panasonic is the clear winner. I wanted to add a Micro Four Thirds system to my Sony Fullframe cameras. I tested both Olympus and Lumix. Lumix is so much better in ergonomics and sheer playfulness.

Pricing makes this easy. G9 plus a nice lens beats EM3 body only.

enjoyed your panasonic olymous review
but one thing you didn,t mention was the in camera focus stacking system of
the g9 i use it very often, it is great.

Oly has changed everything for me. I was about ready to give up on the hobby. I just couldn't carry all the Canon stuff any longer. Panasonic makes great cameras but the post -purchase support from Oly is so much better that they would really have to screw the pooch for me to switch now.

This would have been a good one to video on the GH5. 😀

I have the Panasonic G9 and the Olympus M5 Mark III, which is almost mini M1iii. Best of both worlds imo.

The review was slightly OLYMPUS biased. A camera costing twice the price of its competitor can’t be only HHHR better than...
The fact that it’s ‘sexier’ doesn’t add value and it’s on the personal, truthfully.

Also, I find the additional features such as post focus and 6k Photo add a huge load of value....

You have become the best in the business, bar none. Please just continue.

That was fun to watch, thanks again. You missed a couple of the strongest features of the E-M1iii though. Other reviewers for video and stills are finding the facial recognition AF to be very good, Canon Dual Pixel good. Also, that EVF refresh rate makes it among the best for framing moving subjects. Poor camera didn't even get a chance to work up a sweat in this challenge.

Still giggling at the Starry AF

I sometimes feel that there is some misunderstanding about the capabilities of the MFT cameras. In the last 5 years, this format has become more than good for many applications, including (see the link below) landscape. If you are printing 36 inches by 24 inches, as this guy shows, this is quite adequate. For many applications (such as sports and fast moving objects, or poorly lit situations also needing high shutter speed to freeze movement or situations needing continuous focus with high hit rate) there are better cameras.

https://www.philnortonphotography.co.uk/

Phil is one of the best landscape photographers in the UK and uses Olympus.

I never used MFT but I can see its virtues.

Regards
Nilangsu

I find the Panasonic continuous AF is better than people realise.

The keeper rate is actually pretty high even though you can't always tell that when shooting.

I own a G9 and a mkII. I really liked the features and PDAF on the mkII. Since I often shoot 2 cameras, I got the G9 as my second camera based on price. At events, I found myself using the G9 more because of how well it picked out faces. When shooting wildlife, I expected the PDAF would make a great difference. However comparing the G9 and mkII, I found a better hit rate with G9 (latest firmware). When I pick up one camera to go out and shot with or to take to family gathering it is the G9 that I pick up. It just feels better to me. Perhaps the best way to chose would be to shoot one for a full day and see which feels best. With a 100-400 lens, at the end of a full day shooting, my hands feel better with the G9. And, no matter what the IBIS numbers are, I can personally hold the G9 steadier which enables a slower shoot. It is just hard to tell how I will bond with a camera until I use it for awhile. I still prefer the Oly for rafting and foul weather use.

If Panasonic had Sony A6600 class AF it would be a no brainer for sure. Even as it is it’s great if you don’t shoot fast action sports or wildlife. I can’t get over how Olympus is still putting crap EVF’s in their flagships, even the EM-1X and AF-C still not a scratch on Sony A6400, 6500, 6600 let alone Nikon D500. Such a shame as it’s featured packed, but people who think Sony menus are bad haven’t used Olympus, simply woeful.

Too bad Olympus won’t ever make cameras with larger sensor, their ergonomics and design are superb, imagine FF Olympus with Sony AF, Panasonic video, Canon menus, and 5.7MP EVF.

Similar to almost every other comparison i have made myself, the newer is usually more capable, while the discounts on the older one make it a better bargain. But it's good to see MFT getting some attention.

I love Panasonic cameras and have owned a few. I currently have the EM1 MKIII. I can't wait to see the Panasonic G9 replacement. I bet it kicks you know what.

It seems the best choice is the Olympus in 6 months. Knocking $200 off shows they are not yet aware of the pandemic and it's effects on the economy, on travel and on photo hobbyists. Once they exhaust the supply of early adopters, I hope they will get real. But they still want $900 for Pen F which is lovely camera but in the digital world, it's an oldie.

Don’t think they mentioned, but the G9 has a faster readout speed and the E shutter is actually usable, no shutter life issues. Video features are quite a bit ahead of Olympus. CDAF is fairly usable in practice, whatever Panasonic did, works well. Super would be the Sony system. The pana G9 is a stupid functional camera.

Both are loaded with lots of great features, but Olympus has PDAF, and Panasonic only has Contrast Detect with wobble. I didn't even have to watch the video because CD is always a deal breaker for me.

The only decision for me is whether to drop back from the Em1.2 to the Em5.3 to save 100g in the bag. I don't have to decide for a few years though -- it's got to drop down to my price range for used bodies, and that takes a few years LOL.

I'd really like to have HHHR and built-in ND to fully eliminate tripods. I already don't take tripods, but I occasionally have that "should I have brought a tripod for this?" kinda thought. That would go away (for me) with those two features built-in.

Also note that some Panasonic lenses have an aperture ring that doesn't work on Olympus cams.

For me, they are almost Tweedledum and Tweedledee. It would likely come down to nitpicking about how it feels in the hand, the viewfinder experience and lens choices,... and $$$.

I'm actually a lot more excited by what Olympus has done with the handheld high res mode on the EM1.III than anything I've seen from any full frame manufacturer lately. Bringing smartphone tricks into the ILC world to achieve handheld, better-than-full-frame (on static subjects) results.