These days I won’t even consider a camera without good IBIS and a flip up screen…they’re just too useful for stealth as well as down low and above head shots. The pivot screens are deal breakers for me as I’m not interested in video.
Great video. Hope to upgrade from my GX7 some day. I am surprised you did not mention the tilting EVF, which is one of my favorite GX7 features. Not a street thing?
I use a Lumix G100 for this sort of thing, I wanted the GX9 but it was above my budget at the time. My favourite lens (at the moment) is the Olympus 17mm F1.8 lens. I chose that over the Leica 15mm because I preferred the manual focus option on the Olympus lens- it works better for me. My big camera is the G9 with that 12-60mm lens you have there :)
Many of those features are also in the somewhat larger GX8, for which I have a 20mm and a 12-50 (Olympus) lens -- the latter of which is a trifle obtrusive, I admit. As a retiree and photography hobbyist, in careful what I spend on, and had tossed up between the GX8 and the GX85 before deciding the GX8 was more what I wanted. As I think of the Panasonic cameras, it seems to me that they built some great cameras, but lacked an overall vision for the rangefinder like range. Is the GX9 really the GX95? Is the GX8 in the GX line at all? Is the GX85 actually the real GX8? Whatever, a GX9/ii or a GX10 sounds like a great idea to me!
I use it for photowalks, travel and trecking. When I want light gear than can fit in a pouch. Another factor that is great is it cheap price. As for the exposure compensation button: it was one of the reason of my purchase but I find it too stiff (it has to be) and sometimes when I turned the weel it also turned the pasm dial. So I had to disable it and use the back wheel instead. It's now purely a decorative wheel but it works the same as my other cameras so I am fine like this.
I recently sold my GX80/85 in mint condition and regret it. I started looking for another one equivalent, but I couldn’t find a decent one at the same price I sold it for. I then discovered the GX9 which is similar or even better and felt in love. I found one with less than 1k shutter and in mint condition with 3 batteries and bought it straight away. This time I won’t make the same mistake. If you search online there are many users regretting selling a GX and buying it again that’s why the prices are going slightly up. There is something special about those GX I couldn’t find on other cameras
The GX9 is a fun camera to use with an excellent selection of lenses from both Panasonic and Olympus. I have more Olympus lenses to use with it, but the DG Summilux 25mm f1.4 is my go to street lens for this camera. If anything I wish the battery life could be better. I do love the tilt viewfinder, as I often feel that less people feel threatened when I and holding the camera in a lower position.
I wasn't familiar with this camera until today. I'm going to Italy in the fall, and I wanted something smaller and lighter than my Canon 7D and 6D Mark II. After looking around, I liked the Fujifilm X100V, but they're next to impossible to find. My next choice was a Leica D-Lux 7, but those are out of stock/back ordered at my local camera stores. The next choice was the Panasonic version of the D-Lux, the LX100 II, and both Glazer's Camera and Kenmore Camera showed them as being in stock. So this afternoon I went to Kenmore Camera, and while I was looking at the little Panasonic and worrying that dust getting sucked into it when zooming might be an issue as some have reported, I looked down in the display case and saw a box labeled "DC-GX9." I asked to see it, and it was love at first sight. The kit, including a 12-60mm kit zoom lens, was the same price as the LX100 II, and the interchangeable lens meant I could clean the sensor when needed as well as have flexibility in choosing more lenses in the future. "Ring it up," I said. "Oh," said the clerk, "my computer says there's a $200 instant rebate." SOLD! The clerk also said that that was their only one, and that they might not get any more. Lucky timing!
The GX9 rocks for street photography! Been down the Fuji and Sony route and really liked the Fuji film simulations but with a few lenses was expensive. Use this with the PL 15mm and the jpegs are beautiful and lightning fast af is significantly quicker and more accurate than Fuji. Few weeks ago picked up the G9 after trading in my other gear and have the PL 12-60mm on that and also snatched a PL 25mm...... all mint condition second hand 😊⭐️👍
That’s the same setup as mine. I had the G9 first, which is a terrific camera and last week, I purchased the GX9 (from watching this channel, honestly) and paired it with the PL 15mm having had my eye on it since I bought the G9. So your comments are really encouraging! Thank you 😊
Almost none exists on the used market. When it launched in Australia it was priced at $1399. I found old sales listings in 2021 with a kit lens for as low as $399. This seems to be about the time Olympus sold its camera division and that must have spooked buyers.
I don't know why Panasonic or Olympus haven't made a fixed lens m4/3 camera to rival the x100. They could get it smaller than a x100 due to the sensor and it would sell like crazy if they retro styled it.
I have a fujifilm xt20 and really like it except for I find the user experience in regards to file transfer and management frustrating as heck. Getting it to connect and transfer is akin to solving a rubiks cube every time to the point I use it less. The fact that you mention the Panasonic app as a feature is promising. Not all of us own a studio and want to spend hours post-processing back at a computer.
If you want a really unobtrusive lens for street I have to point you at the PZ14-42. You'll probably hate it because it is all electronic, no zoom nor focus rings. And it is not the fastest aperture, but is is an X lens as good or better than Leica (better glass than the 12-32). But it is a really small pancake folded down. I use one on the PEN-F (which ought to have had a tip screen) and the other almost permanently on the E-PL7 (which does).
I´m a Fuji shooter, and I love the X system, but… Even with the tiny X-E line of bodies, as soon as you add a zoom lens, it’s starting to be kind of big. Therefore, I’m picking up a used GX9 with the 12-32mm kit lens later today. If I like it, it´ll be a great travel camera or something to just throw in the bag/pocket. I even think that it can be great to add some tiny long lenses to the kit as my Fuji 50-140 (75-210) and the 100-400 (150-600) are huge.
Been a happy owner of this camera now for 5 hours. Love the files it delivers, and must say I’m impressed with the dynamic range after taking some shots of the kids in harsh light conditions.
I have the GX9 and I love it. But I'm looking to get something that can produce images something closer to a Leica q. I have been looking at the sigma lp (but it's just not easy to use), 'm guessing the S5 is where I need to go. It's just a shame about the size increase.
Agree, this is a fabulous camers. 2 things would make it even better. 1 the viewfinder that flips up, no need as the back sceen is OK, the viewfinder is too loose and bugs me. Second, it should be weatherproof. Love this camera!
I have a LUMIX G5 with a 25mm AF lens, still working good and the best part is I won't cry much if I loose it because I will have an excuse to replace it with something that has image stablization.
I'm a Fuji user (XT4), and I can't help myself buying a micro four thirds camera (GF10) for travel. The aperture control on Fuji lenses, yes it's quite classical, but I prefer the rotating control hubs on the camera to change aperture and shutter speed. And the setup is so small. I've been trying to convince myself to buy the GX9 for stabilization, but no budget for now.
Hey Grant, thanks for the video! Just wanted to say I love the edit of the family sequence, really nice pictures! I'm currently considering purchasing gx9 and I think after this video I'm gonna give it a go
This is what I don't get about MFT - I have an Olympus em5mkii, which is small and compact like this gx9 and I also use a small prime - but on a lot of these bigger bodies like your GH series and g9 with a zoom, you're really diminishing your returns on size to performance. The gh5ii with the 12-60 is the same size and weight pretty much as a s5 or s5ii full frame Panasonic with the 20-60 (granted, not the same focal range) but even the 24-105 adds a bit more weight and length but not that much more that it would make the difference for me in most situations. If 300grams more was going to be too heavy for a situation, it's likely I wouldn't be taking a gh5 or g9 out anyways, I'd take the smaller gx series or Olympus em5/10. I guess I don't see much advantage weight/performance-wise in not going FF for your bigger zooms/bodies. I get the readout advantages of the MFT sensors, especially for high frame rate video but I always found the weight and size difference to be not really worth it if you're going to be taking a big ol camera and huge zoom anyways. I hope Panasonic changes this in the next g9 to bring more advantages with the PDAF system but as it stands, I think my em5mkii will be my first and last MFT camera and I'll be shooting Panasonic full frame for everything that doesn't require stealth/max portability
Get them both. I have the griix but im considering getting this as my interchangeable lens camera for added versatility. I always carry a shoulder bag with me anyway :D
I started on the gx7 with panasonic and I really liked the form factor. skipped the gx8. by then I had picked the G9 which I still really like a lot + more lenses. one of which is the the leica panasonic 15 mm. BUT, when the gx9 came out I just had to purchase this little beauty. I also purchased the screw on hand grip and this really adds a lot to make this smallish camera/ lens super comfortable. this combo is my daily carry, go everywhere set up. zen billings in canada
I had one a few years back .Although it was the only camera that checked ALL of the boxes, (You know what they are🤫) I was unable to ever get the evf dialed in. It always seemed a bit out of focus. Some other folks mentioned it as well. How about you? Sometimes think of trying another one...
You talk a lot about GX9 and street photography, but why don't you try something like street POV walks and such? Talking gear is nice and all. But would be cool to see you behind a camera. I see plenty of these POVs for Sony cameras. But not many do it with their M43 cameras.
I don’t know the best way to do POV videos as yet - Once I work out a good way of doing it and get a suitable action camera THEN teach myself how to do it correctly - Then I will add POV to my channel
