Panasonic announces G9 II: 5.7K video and phase detect autofocus

Panasonic has announced the LUMIX G9 II, a Micro Four Thirds mirrorless camera that appears to pack some serious punch.

The LUMIX G9 has always been a well respected camera, albeit one that seemed to be a bit of a dark horse, taking second fiddle in the eyes of camera enthusiasts to the 'sexier' GH5 and S series models. Panasonic never forgot about the G9, giving it some incredibly capable video abilities long after most had expected its useful firmware update cycle to have finished.

This week, Panasonic announced its successor, the G9 II, and it appears to offer some extremely compelling features for the price bracket. The new camera takes cues from both the GH and the S series, taking weather sealing and toughness seriously. With its 25.2MP Micro Four Thirds sensor and light body weight, this could make it great for wildlife photography.

LUMIX G9 II features

The G9 II features a hybrid phase detect autofocus system with 779 AF points, which will be a relief to many, given how slowly Panasonic adopted such a system for its other mirrorless cameras. Panasonic says that its human and animal recognition systems have been improved over previous cameras, and can now recognise objects such as vehicles. Of particular note is the body stabilisation system, which gives an 8-stop advantage, while a dual IS system gives a 7.5 stop advantage when the BIS system reduces.

Panasonic claims that the camera's Active IS and electronic IS systems give full stability even when running, with perspective correction apparently taking place. This could potentially give best in class built in video stabilisation, although the proof will come when we get our hands on a review sample.

It's the video capabilities that really stand out, however. With support for ProRes recording, 5.7K resolution at up to 60fps, and 4K at up to 120fps, with 10-bit colour precision and 4:2:2 sampling, the G9 II looks like a very affordable video powerhouse. V-Gamut and V-Log are fully supported, and it's also possible to attach a USB SSD and record externally to that device. LUT files are also supported as well.

The rear of the camera features a fully articulating 1,840k dot LCD monitor, while the viewfinder is a 3,680k dot OLED affair. The body weighs in at only 658g with SD card and battery loaded, excluding lens.

Conclusions

The G9 II retails at £1699, which with its specification would seemingly make it an attractive proposition. The MFT lens mount makes it adaptable to a huge range of lenses, while keeping the camera itself compact and highly portable. It's smaller than the original G9.

There are two questions that might cross your minds, however. How does the G9 II affect the GH5 II and the GH6? Well, the G9 II, despite it being aimed more at the stills market, would appear to eclipse the GH5 II quite comprehensively when it comes to video capabilities. The GH6 on the other hand is designed very much with video in mind, complete with a fan system for cooling. Therefore, if you want the ultimate LUMIX camera for video, the GH6 is still the flagship model.

However, if you are looking for something affordable, compact, and extremely capable with the MFT sensor format, the G9 II looks like it might well be the answer you've been looking for.

The G9 II will be available to order from November.