Panasonic G9 Review
Image Quality
All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 20 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 8Mb.
The Panasonic G9 captured images of excellent quality. It produces noise-free images at ISO 100 to 3200, with limited noise starting to appear at ISO 6400. ISO 12800 exhibits quite visible noise and loss of fine detail, and the fastest setting of ISO 25600 is even noisier but still usable for small prints and web use. The night photograph was excellent, with the maximum shutter speed of 30 minutes allowing you to capture plenty of light.
Post Focus and Focus Stacking is a great feature inherited from the Lumix GH5. The Intelligent Resolution, Intelligent D-range and HDR modes are all effective features for capturing more detail in both the shadows and highlights, while the new High Resolution Mode is capable of creating 40 megapixel and 80 megapixel images. The plethora of Creative Controls and Photo Styles allow you to quickly and easily customise the look of the camera's JPEG and Raw images respectively.
Noise
There are 9 ISO settings available on the Panasonic G9. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting for both JPG and Raw files.
JPEG |
RAW |
ISO 100 (100% Crop) |
ISO 100 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 200 (100% Crop) |
ISO 200 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 400 (100% Crop) |
ISO 400 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 800 (100% Crop) |
ISO 800 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 1600 (100% Crop) |
ISO 1600 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 3200 (100% Crop) |
ISO 3200 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 6400 (100% Crop) |
ISO 6400 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 12800 (100% Crop) |
ISO 12800 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 25600 (100% Crop) |
ISO 25600 (100% Crop) |
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File Quality
The Panasonic G9 has 2 different JPEG image quality settings available, with Fine being the highest quality option. Here are some 100% crops which show the quality of the various options, with the file size shown in brackets.
Fine (7.56Mb) (100% Crop) |
Standard (3.63Mb) (100% Crop) |
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RAW (23Mb) (100% Crop) |
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Night
The Panasonic G9's maximum shutter speed is 60 seconds and there's also a Bulb option for exposures up to 30 minutes long, which is excellent news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 30 seconds at ISO 200. The camera takes the same amount of time again to apply noise reduction, so for example at the 30 second setting the actual exposure takes 60 seconds.
Night |
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Image Stabilisation
The Panasonic G9 has an antishake mechanism which allows you to take sharp photos at slower shutter speeds than other digital cameras. To test this, we took 2 handheld shots of the same subject with the same settings. The first shot was taken with the stabilizer turned off, the second with it turned on.
Shutter Speed / Focal Length |
Image Stabilisation Off (100% Crop) |
Image Stabilisation On (100% Crop) |
| 1/6th / 24mm |  |
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| 1/6th / 120mm |  |
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Post Focus and Focus Stacking
Post Focus is a function that enables users to select the in-focus area after shooting simply by touching it on the LCD screen. The first three images show the effects of switching between the three memory cards.
The Post Focus Stacking function enables users to take multiple images of the same frame with different areas in focus, then combine all or selected focus areas into one image. The fourth image below shows the effect of merging the first three images into one stacked image.
Right |
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Middle |
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Left |
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Focus Stacking |
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High Resolution Mode
The Panasonic Lumix GH5's new High Resolution Mode combines 8 shots into either a 40 megapixel or 80 megapixel image to create a super high resolution photo. The resulting Raw files are 125Mb in size.
Off (100% Crop) |
LL 40 Megapixel - 7296x5472 pixels (100% Crop) |
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XL 80.5 Megapixel - 10368x7776 pixels (100% Crop |
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Off (100% Crop) |
LL 40 Megapixel - 7296x5472 pixels (100% Crop) |
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XL 80.5 Megapixel - 10368x7776 pixels (100% Crop |
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Intelligent Resolution
The Panasonic Lumix GH5's Intelligent Resolution feature identifies outlines, texture areas and soft gradation areas of the image and then automatically optimizes the edges and detailed texture areas while using noise reduction to make the soft gradation areas smoother. There are three available strengths - low, standard and high.
Off (100% Crop) |
Low (100% Crop) |
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Standard (100% Crop) |
High (100% Crop) |
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Intelligent Dynamic Range
The Panasonic G9's Intelligent D-range setting adjusts the exposure setting to record more detail in the highlights and shadows, with three strengths available - low, standard and high.
Off |
Low |
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Standard |
High |
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HDR
The Panasonic G9's HDR mode combines three pictures taken at different exposures to create one image with greater dynamic range than a single shot.
Off |
+1EV |
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+2EV |
+3EV |
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Multiple Exposure
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-G9's Multiple Exposure mode combines two or three different pictures to create one composite image.
Multiple Exposure |
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Photo Styles
Panasonic's Photo Styles are preset combinations of different sharpness, contrast, saturation and noise reduction settings. The 9 available Photo Styles are shown below in the following series, which demonstrates the differences. There are also some Custom options so that you can create your own looks.
Standard |
Vivid |
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Natural |
Monochrome |
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L.Monochrome |
Scenery |
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Portrait |
Cinelike V |
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Cinelike D |
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Filters
The Panasonic G9 has an extensive range of creative Filters with 22 different options on offer.
Expressive |
Retro |
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Old Days |
High Key |
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Low Key |
Sepia |
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Monochrome |
Dynamic Monochrome |
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Rough Monochrome |
Silky Monochrome |
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Impressive Art |
High Dynamic |
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Cross Process |
Toy Effect |
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Toy Pop |
Bleach Bypass |
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Miniature Effect |
Soft Focus |
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Fantasy |
Star Filter |
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One Point Color |
Sunshine |
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