Panasonic Lumix S9: Mini full format
22/5/2024
Translation: machine translated
Small cameras with large sensors are the trend. Panasonic is jumping on the bandwagon with the new Lumix S9. It packs the technology of the larger Lumix S5II into a small housing.
The Lumix S9 full-frame camera is Panasonic's answer to Sony's successful 7C line. The housing weighs less than 500 grams including battery and SD card and comes in four different colours: black, red, blue and green. It is compatible with L-mount lenses. Most of the innards come from the larger Panasonic Lumix S5II.
In order to keep the camera as compact as possible, Panasonic has dispensed with an electronic viewfinder, unlike its competitors. You therefore only take pictures via the display. This can be folded out and rotated. It has a good resolution of 1.85 million pixels. The most important specifications at a glance:
I have already tested the sensor extensively in the Lumix S5II, where it delivers a very good dynamic range. The phase detection autofocus is now also on a similar level to the systems from Canon, Nikon and Sony. It recognises faces and eyes as well as animals, cars and motorbikes. An in-body image stabiliser compensates for camera shake by up to 6.5 f-stops.
Panasonic is aiming the camera at content creators, among others. It can record "open gate" videos in 6K resolution - i.e. utilise the full sensor in 3:2 format. This is useful when different formats are edited from a single recording. For example, a YouTube video in landscape format (16:9) and a TikTok video in portrait format (9:16). In open-gate mode, the maximum frame rate is 30 frames per second (FPS). In 4K it is 60 FPS.
Source: Samuel Buchmann
Panasonic has also developed a new app so that pictures and videos can be shared on the go: Lumix Lab. It is designed to simplify the connection between camera and smartphone and offers functions such as cropping to the desired image format. You can also create your own picture styles (LUTs) and transfer them to the camera. The LUTs are then also available live during recording.
Two new lenses
In addition to the Lumix S9, Panasonic is also launching two new lenses. The Lumix S 26mm F8 is a minimalist pancake lens. It has a fixed aperture of eight and no autofocus. However, the lens weighs only 58 grams. Probably the more interesting newcomer is the Lumix S 18-40mm F4.5-6.3 - a lightweight and compact wide-angle zoom. With its focal length range, it should be particularly exciting for vloggers.
Lensesavailable in a few weeks
EUR271,31
Panasonic Lumix S-R26E
L-Mount, full size
The Panasonic Lumix S9 and the Lumix S 26mm F8 will be available from June. The Lumix S 18-40mm F4.5-6.3 will not be available until autumn.
Header image: Samuel Buchmann
Samuel Buchmann
Senior Editor
Samuel.Buchmann@digitecgalaxus.chMy fingerprint often changes so drastically that my MacBook doesn't recognise it anymore. The reason? If I'm not clinging to a monitor or camera, I'm probably clinging to a rockface by the tips of my fingers.