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Here's Canon's 28mm (notice the price): An one from NIkon: Panasonic gave us a 26mm FIXED f/8 MANUAL FOCUS lens for $200. What the hell, Panasonic? And where's the pancake 35-50mm? We need that too for this camera! With the F8 lens, this is actually debatable. It shouldn't be, but it is! After a couple days of processing the news and the leaks fiasco, I, along with so many others, am most disappointed in the that drilled-out hockey puck of a lens cap. I give them an "A" for inspiration and a "F" for usability and value. The other thing is the lack of any sort of a mechanical shutter on a slow, old, 24MP sensor. Why didn't they include a stripped down version of a mechanical shutter, like what they had on the GM1, GM5, G100, GX800, GF(all of them), etc. We had up to 1/500 in mechanical, making the cameras so much more usable in many more situations. Also, the option of a flash is possible. In essence, the S9 is a l-mount video centric camera without a headphone jack and all kinds of overheating limitations. It tries, and loses, to compete with the sharing abilities of a phone. With that F8 lens, it barely competes on the image quality. The IBIS, as good as it is, is only comparable to a phone. Its saving grace is the fact you can change lenses and make much more of it, but even then, you still don't have a mechanical shutter for general photography. Again, it's an "A" for looks, but a "D" for a photo or video camera. I say all of this with a grain of salt because I base everything on the specs and what I've heard. With time, I might completely change my mind. Also, it looks super cool and that would be a trump factor. M43 (or other real cameras) are much better suited for general photography.

But that's comparing current 'street' price of S5ii with launch price of S9 - here in the UK the S5ii was around £1999 at launch, £1649 now. I'd expect the S9 to follow the same sort of price curve, by the end of the year it'll probably be at least £200-£300 cheaper (depending on how good sales are). It's pretty obvious that it's designed to be as small and cheap as possible - no mechanical shutter, no headphone jack, no EVF, cold shoe only, minimal dials and buttons. That keeps the build cost down and helps the product cope with 'price erosion' over time. If they were making a more cutting-edge camera it might have a much faster stacked sensor to compensate for the lack of mechanical shutter - but then I suspect everyone would be saying it's nice but way too pricey...

Love the look and size of the camera, but yeah, seems to be quite a few compromises up front. and that pancake makes me feel great about snagging an open box nikon z 26mm 2.8 for $325 this week.

You can click right the fuck off lol

SHHHHH... I think Cam is listening....

About 2-3 months ago, I asked Sean with Panasonic in the livestream why can't Panasonic make a version of their 14mm f/2.5 on full-frame. He replied by giving me a lecture on how the 14mm just had "WAY too many image quality compromises." Now, Lumix give us this:

I think right now, if I was going to get/use one, I’d treat it as an APSC camera and go with the Sigma 10-18 and 18-50, both f2.8, for an equivalent pairing of 15-27mm and 27-25mm and be done with it.

Depends on your priorities? (speed of turn around / stills vs video / etc) And what type of traveling you're doing?? Certainly something I've been pondering myself lately, as I'm hopefully going overseas next year for a few months. What do I bring? My Panasonic GH4 + Fujifilm X-E3? Or more cameras? (my Nikon D5200/D90 as well? Or my Panasonic G6) Or less... just one of them?? Or buy yet another camera?? Maybe splurge out like a nut case and buy a brand new Sony FX30 to rule them all? Or something less crazy, a secondhand Panasonic G9mk1? Or a Nikon D750 or Nikon Z6mk1?? Or an old school Sony a7Smk1 with the Monster Adapter LA-FE2??? (or a7S mk2? Or Sony a7Rmk2 because it does better S35 filming?) Or Sony ZV-E10?? Should I go out and get a point and shoot such as a Sony RX100mk3? Or a cheaper Panasonic LX7?? Do I bring my crappy GoPro Hero 3 Black? Or go out and buy a fancy Sony RX0? Or a DJI Osmo Pocket 2?? And don't even get me started on the question of what lenses to bring... (or even worse, I haven't even touched upon discussing what sound gear to bring... !!!)

Or maybe they want to place another order with the factory but there is too much stock out there to make it an easy decision, so it could be part inventory management, part PR, and part market testing. I'm just guessing of course, but I have noticed that retail tends to prioritise moving units over profit. I've heard people before say that they'd prefer to be moving units even if it was without any profit margin at all rather than make profit but have very low throughput. I don't pretend to understand why..

For it to be full frame then f2.8 might be tricky ish to keep it super compact. But at the very least a 28mm f4 (i.e. roughly doubling the 14mm f2.5 specs) should have been possible!! (or heck, why not at least f5.6??? Why does it have to be f8 for goodness sake??) Maybe third-party lenses will have to come to the rescue to say the Panasonic S9 as a true "everyday walk around camera". Such as this pancake lens for only US$99 (manual focus only), 35mm f5.6: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1628287-REG/7artisans_photoelectric_a006b_l_35mm_f_5_6_lens_for.html Or the Sigma 17mm f/4, or Sigma 24mm f/3.5 , or Sigma 45mm f/2.8, all are autofocus lenses: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1757611-REG/sigma_415969_17mm_f_4_dg_dn.html https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1605137-REG/sigma_24mm_f_3_5_dg_dn.html https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1492965-REG/sigma_360969_45mm_f_2_8_dg_dn.html Or adapted M Mount lenses: Voigtlander 21mm f/4 or Voigtlander 28mm f/2.8 or Voigtlander 35mm f/2.5 or Voigtlander 35mm f/1.4 or Voigtlander 40mm f/1.4 or Voigtlander 40mm f/1.2 or Voigtlander 40mm f/2.8: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/483740-REG/Voigtlander_BA211P_Color_Skopar_21mm_f_4_0_P.html https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1781163-REG/voigtlander_ba379e_28mm_f_2_8_color_skopar_m_type.html https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/326913-REG/Voigtlander_45BA245C_Color_Skopar_Pan_35mm_f_2_5.html https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1494427-REG/voigtlander_ba347c_nokton_classic_35mm_f_1_4.html https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/355977-REG/Voigtlander_45BA246B_Nokton_40mm_f_1_4_M_Mount.html https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1378116-REG/voigtlander_ba342a_nokton_40mm_f_1_2_aspherical.html https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1695929-REG/voigtlander_ba324e_heliar_40mm_f_2_8_aspherical.html Or instead of Voigtlander, go with a cheap Chinese brand of lenses, TTArtisan 28mm f/5.6, 7artisans Photoelectric 35mm f/5.6 (same US$99 lens as before, but in a more versatile M Mount instead of L Mount), AstrHori 40mm f/5.6, 7artisans 28mm f/5.6: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1711280-REG/ttartisan_f2856blm_28mm_f_5_6_lens_for.html https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1628285-REG/7artisans_photoelectric_a006b_35mm_f_5_6_lens_for.html https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1794221-REG/astrhori_a11b_40mm_f_5_6_lens_for.html https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1702411-REG/7artisans_photoelectric_a011b_28mm_f_5_6_lens_for.html Nah, as it is adapted M Mount (unless there is an adapter which grants AF to manual M Mount lenses?? I've seen such amazing feats accomplished with an E Mount adapter, has anybody done this for L Mount too??) The Panasonic S9 is however a massive improvement of any smartphone camera, and so long as they make it nearly as very easy to post immediately to social media as it's possible with your own smartphone, then perhaps the S9 still has a niche for the social media addicted content creators. The integrated gimbal the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 has is hard for anything else to compete against in this market niche. It's better than the IBIS of the S9 for sure! But for photographers, then the S9 is going to be more appealing than a DJI Osmo Pocket 3

Thanks for turning me on to this guy. I just listened to a great podcast with him and his crew on NFS. He embodies a filmmaking philosophy that I definitely strive for.

Whoa. This is pretty terrible 😕 Thanks for sharing this.

It's usually to free up capital tied up in the stock, generate cash to run the company and pay to manufacture new stock of something that is selling better with higher profit margins. Also retailers may get sales volume-based discounts or bonuses from suppliers which are extra income to them.

Have a good story to tell that holds the viewers attention. Everything else is secondary, as without that they won't be watching the content for very long anyway.

The hipster youtube ladies and gentlemen! I think we found the main customer for the S9!! I'm not worthy. I don't have any tattoos, no funny hats, and I certainly don't know how to juggle my camera and phone at the same time. I haven't seen a video like that in a long time.

From the specs on the Panasonic UK website:

Hey, I can talk about shoes also!

Yes. I shoot all my longer form static stuff 4k 25p and all the handheld elements, ie, ‘clips’ 4k 50p so am in S35 mode for most of it really and for that, the S9 could work. I would not trade an S5ii for one, (ha no!) but as something small & discrete, I guess it would work, especially with either/both of those small zooms or any one of the 3 compact primes. And as a fan of; smaller, lighter, faster, it’s something I might have considered if I did not already have the S1H in the static role and the S5ii as that handheld option, but for me otherwise, nah. To be honest, I’m not even sure how any S1 line replacement would even be an option… What could an S2H do that my S1H cannot do? For my needs. Nothing I want or could think of. What would something new give me above what the S5ii gives me? Ditto, nada. The only real thing the S5ii lacks for me is a better shutter mech for stills and I wish it had a higher res rear screen, plus was a tilt and not a flip out, but for my video needs, ‘Peak Camera’. Not ‘PC’ if we’re talking pulling stills from video, but that is another topic and I am resigned right now and this late on my career to probably see that out with separate tools for stills and video. Which is why I fooked off to Nikon for stills where my needs are better served. But that is also another subject and not pertinent to this discussion!

Actually.....

Optics are different than the specs. One thing that isn't widely discussed is the optical formulas of lenses and what impacts they have on size and image quality. In general, the higher the optical performance the higher the quality..... For example, here's the Zeiss Otus 1.4/55 vs. Zeiss Planar 1.4/50mm The more everyone online keeps talking about megapixels and sharpness the larger all our lenses get. It's pretty simple really - we're getting what we asked for.

Who are you talking about? Always grateful for your recommendations and point of view. Phil Ohs looks very interesting btw.

And that says a lot.

Just reread my last post and realized I meant to write that you guys can be discussing 16K and I'll still be praising... anyway you get my point. Also in my haste, @BTM_Pix I forgot to mention that one thing I noticed from that video which really helped was his use of old Hollywood close ups with a glowing blurry background. I think it helped to add to the feel of the piece. And with that, I think the feature film he was working on is almost completed. However I assume he shot it on the Komodo because I think that's his camera of choice now.

I think for some who don’t want to spend time in post, these software features are truly moving the needle forward in a very positive way.

I've used it on my 700D and yeah, it's not winning any UI awards that's for sure. Then again, I hear that the Sony menus give people nightmares so who knows. But when it comes to the image, it's like I said, different people wanting different things. All the professional colourists are taking the high-end Alexa footage and doing NR, softening / blurring, adding grain, and sometimes adding halation and diffusion - even on top of the vintage primes many movies were shot on. Then on the forums everyone is like "Dune looked AMAZING, I wish my films looked like that... anyway, who wants a 16K camera with no noise at ISO 100,000 and sharper Sigma Art lenses?" Yeah. People are even converting 24p movie clips to 4K 60p using AI and uploading those to YT. I suppose that's in-keeping with our current phase of revisionist history 😂😂😂

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zai08FOZ0fU

Sorry, I have been meaning to reply to this for the past few weeks but life has gotten in the way. You know, it's so easy to not even mention or think about the obvious production value he had by shooting at that event. In some ways, I even glossed over that in my praise of the video and it may add to the reason why I liked the camera in the first place. Now I'm a stubborn prick, so I cannot move on from it until I have made a proper film with it. You guys can be discussing 6K and I'll still be yammering on about the 1080p image from the 5D3 and ML Raw.

We've come so far in 9 years! The S9 is much bigger, no hot shoe, no EVF, no mechanical shutter, less of a time limit in 1080p. It does have WAY better codecs, a full frame sensor, IBIS, and PDAF. The killer is the lack of lenses. The GM5 had so many primes and zooms that were/are a perfect fit. I'm jealous of your red one!

I've hit saturation after this one - well made video. Still boils down to: 1. The software improvements with LUTs are really inspiring and hopeful moving forward 2. The image is top notch and can't complain, absolutely beautiful 3. The body size is overshadowed by the large lenses - might as well just use an S5II 4. If they can figure out a good audio solution and a true pancake 2.8-4 lens i'd consider this as the ultimate EDC/travel combo (until then, i'll stick to my Ricoh and possible a pocket 3)

Some TVs and media players interpolate frames. It can be turned off of course but if you're not around for that then it's up to whoever on the other end to do that and they might not even know about things like that. It's pretty simple, just in Final Cut (or any NLE), make a timeline at 30 or 60 FPS, then put the 23 FPS file in it. Make the settings such that the NLE doesn't interpolate but just duplicates frames, then output. The same with deinterlacing, it's better if I do the deinterlacing (and upscaling of SD videos). Then they receive an HD progressive file that technically at a high frame rate so any equipment down the pipe doesn't mess with it.

Sigma have a set of small Contemporary primes - the 35mm f/2 have almost the same size of a Fuji 23mm f/2... https://camerasize.com/compact/#825.951,869.596,ha,t But yeah, the pancake is a joke. If Fuji could do a 27mm f/2.7 APS-C pancake, Panasonic could easily do a 35mm f/4.5 one.

The major problem is that a lot of people thinks that ths is a X100VI contender. It is not. It is a competitor to ZV-E10 / ZV-E1. A very video-vlogger centric camera, that could also take photos, where the user wants the content to be online ASAP. Never intended for serious stills or video work - hence the absence of more controles or even a grip. We are all crappy old dudes / cinema-quality crazy people here, the opposite of the targeted group of this camera. There is some style / nostalgia think ocurring with (some) young people, the X100V / VI mania was just a part of it. Saw a post from a photographer in Tokyo that noted another parts of this trend - he was looking around in streets and subways and saw a lot (and he meant, A LOT) of young people carrying point&shoots. Old Powershots and Cybershots everywhere, and very few taking photos with phones. Hetalked to some of them and they said that is a new stylish trend between them, that they are tired of the same pictures that every phone take, and that the P&S photos have more character. Prices of used P&S CCD cameras are skyrocketing. And I guess that this was the targeted crowd of the S9. They made a P&Sish full frame camera. With a stylish exterior, few controls, geared towards video - but MUCH more stills capable than a ZV-E10 / ZV-E1 (the latter have only 12mp, remember). And for the "character", there is the LUT ecosystem. Which, for me, is BRILLIANT. They made what I was telling Fuji to do - embrace custom film simulations, instead of making it hard to work. Using "film recipes" in Fuji is a pain in the ass - you have to assign it to a custom setting position, but if you want to use the shooting parameters of the custom position (like a Portrait setting, with shutter speed, of setting, etc) and want to change the film recipe - no way. Yes, there will be some WB balance problems with the LUTs in the S9 - and a lot of confusion when people put a V-Log lut and the ISO don't go down from 640. But the easy of use, and the promise from the newer Lumix Lab app, makes kind of a interesting ecosystem. They made a new MP4 codec with a 50mb/s bitrate. Looks crap? In a computer, is not bad, but the quality drop is visible. In a smartphone screen? Looks almost the same a pro codec - but since the file is much lighter, you could take a short clip, that the new app is already transferring on the background (yes, the new app could do it), when you end and store the camera the video is already on the app, you could apply the LUT if is already not applied (even with tranparency % of the LUT!) and send the file (which is lighter since the beginning) to social media. Still not perfect, but looks (and some reviewers, as Manny Ortiz said) that is the best camera->app->social media implementation to date. Will not buy it, but looking how I use my X-S20 nowadays (remembering, I'm an amateur), almost only the EVF and two more buttons would be dealbreakers.

I'd take the S9 over the fp. I had an fp and an fp-l for a while. I used them on some personal stuff and they were a lot of fun with M mount lenses, but in the end, even using the DPL cages for them, by the time you made them even remotely usable, they were much bigger than something like an EOS R5. Without an external SSD, they're limited to 8-bit codecs - and if I remember right, there's no log profile anyway - just a "flat" one which didn't really seem to add much DR vs neutral. Anyway, 10-bit v-log on the S9 would be just fine and give some flexibility. Also, I'm not sure what RS is like on the S9, but it'd be pretty shocking if it were as bad or worse than on the fp. Also, FWIW, there is no cooling fan on the fp (that I remember), but it does have vents for airflow. Overheating was never a problem with mine. Anyway, I sold my fps because other than "it's a bit smaller," they didn't do anything better than any other camera than I own - and while the smaller argument is valid, it evaporated as soon as I turned them into something that I would actually shoot with. I still hold out hope that they'll come out with a newer one with 10-bit or 12-bit internally, though. 😄

Yup, that's what I want to know. Fingers crossed it is the camera I hoped the S5ii would be, but isn't quite... Not by much, but 'enough'. I suspect it might have something to do with the RED acquisition as maybe...just maybe, they have delayed it in order to at least roll out 'something' with it. I thought April as did many, but it's June next week and still no actual sign. I've got the tools right now I need, so for me it's more a streamlining want. Sorry; ZE V1. (I can never remember what order the letters and numbers come in) Bit of an issue I agree. The Sigma 28-70 f2.8 even is a bit much for a so called 'compact' camera and the 18-50 f2.8 is a much better fit, but takes everything down to APSC crop mode. Which is not necessarily a bad thing for the intended market of this camera. But the f8 lens, come on. Not necessarily the lack of any shallow DOF which is more an 'artistic' thing, but it's a killer for anything remotely low light without cranking up the ISO to stupid levels. Concert/gig photography for instance at f8? Err, no thanks. And also having to potentially fight that e:shutter and banding. I don't want to hate on the thing and could even make a case as a back up/personal camera...but actually even that would be a very weak case and I just would not. Not for me but maybe is for some others.

Sorry, but if you shrink the body to be “portable” and don’t have small lenses to compliment it - waste of time. F8? It’s laughable. lack of audio monitoring features even for short clips? Get outta here. For this style of creation a pair of a pocket 3 and Ricoh GR 3x makes a tone more sense and despite being two devices is more usable and portable. software is the win here. Other brands need to jump on board with RD into onboarding LUT features for jpg and video. The x100 crowd would eat it up. if Panasonic had pancake lenses that hit 2.8-4 and an updated audio solution they’d have a killer combo. The image for video is better than Fuji or Sony at this compact level with Lut features. No need for “velvia” if you’ve got out options. Fully frame and no need for a gimbal? Yea I’d buy one in a heartbeat.

Yeah, if you go to their main site which defaults to USA then the offer is up there at the top of the page. https://www.blackmagicdesign.com Change it to the UK (or any European country) however and it is not there. https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/uk But if you fancy a little break in Cancun, though, you are back in business https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/mx

I wonder if that indicates they've ceased production of this camera?