Panasonic Lumix GX9 Review - Photography Blog

The Panasonic Lumix GX9 is billed by the company as a premium street photography camera. It slots into the range alongside the GX8 and GX80, replacing neither of these models. It's most readily compared to the GX80 and any new features mentioned in this review are generally against this camera.

The Panasonic GX9 retails at £699 and shipping is scheduled for 12th March 2018. Those that preorder the camera will get a free 25mm f/1.7 lens with it - that’s a great promotion.

As well as being available body only, there are several kit options, including one with the 12-32mm lens, one with the 12-60mm lens and the twin kit with 12-32 & 35-100mm lenses. Prices TBC. 

And what do you get for your money? Well quite a lot really. A 20.3 megapixel micro-four-thirds sensor without low pass filter, meaning the images will be a little sharper. 4K video is included here in MP4 format, up to 30fps, plus FHD videos up to 60fps in AVCHD format. 

Images are stabilised with Panasonic’s 5-axis dual image stabilisation, where up to 6.5 f-stops of stabilisation is possible, depending on the lens in use (give it a try, it’s pretty darn good).

Like in the GX80, you get that lovely tilt EVF with 0.7x magnification and 2.76-million-dot resolution. The 3in touchscreen is still the tilt type, plus its resolution has been improved to 1.24-million-dots. 

There are a few new tricks included and the handling has been improved through the GX9's redesigned body. You can charge the camera via USB through the new sliding type socket cover (it’ll put a smile on your face, trust us) and the power save mode boosts the battery life from 260 shots to 900 shots. Any improvement in the battery life department is welcome.

4K Photo Mode at 30fps now offers Auto Marking, which detects movement and/ or faces in a sequence and marks it to help you find your best shot. No more scrolling through every frame in a 30fps sequence. There’s new Photo Styles too, including L Monochrome D and a Grain Effect for any monochrome mode.

Bluetooth wireless connection has found its way into the GX9 alongside Wi-Fi. Bluetooth consumes less power than Wi-Fi and you can remotely control and share images using a smart device via the Panasonic Image App.

At a Glance

•20.3MP sensor with no low pass filter •5-axis dual in-body-image-stabilisation (IBIS) that can be combined with 2-axis lens stabilisation  •Tilt EVF with 2.76-million-dot resolution and 0.7x magnification (full frame equivalent) •3in LCD touchscreen that tilts up 80° and down 45° •4K videos up to 30fps in MP4 •4K Photo Mode with Auto Marking and Sequence Composition functions •Redesigned body •Live view boost for clear viewing in low light •MF assist up to 20x •Silent Mode (electronic shutter) •NEW: Grain effect in all monochrome modes •Burst shooting up to 9fps single AF, 6fps continuous AF •AF 'obstacle avoidance' and 'prevent false focusing’ features •'Post Focus' mode •Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless connection •USB power charge, sliding type socket cover •Power save LVF mode ups battery life from 260 shots to 900 shots

Let’s now take a closer look around the Panasonic Lumix GX9 camera.