I received my new to me Lumix G9 MKII today. Never having had a Lumix camera before, I believe I have a steep learning curve ahead of me. I have downloaded the 900+ page manual, and have been watching a couple of YouTube videos. For the time being, I will be shooting mostly stills. If anyone has any hints or suggestions as to how to get started pretty quickly, I would appreciate it.
I am not sure if this should be useful.
Some of the key camera settings on my G9II, for general photography (not for people or wildlife)
Aperture Priority with auto ISO
Photo Style Vivid
ISO Sensitivity 100 (lower limit) 1600 (upper limit)
Min. Shutter speed 1/2s
Focus Frame Moving Speed Fast
Shutter type ELEC.
--This one might or might not be good-- Exposure Offset Adjust. Multi Metering +4/6EV
(it seems that the camera may have the tendency to underexpose in multimetering compared to my other cameras, but I need more time to make sure this is correct)
Focus/Shutter Priority Focus
WB/ISO/Expo. Button WHILE PRESSING
Constant Preview ON
Live View Boost OFF
You can customize the buttons and dials to suite your preferences.
I have three cameras in my kit: Sony A1, OM-1 II, and G9 II. I like G9II the least of the three. If I had to buy only one micro four thirds camera that would be OM-1 II. This might be a personal feeling, not objective.
You don't say how experienced you are in general with cameras, but if you have some experience with other models, at least you understand the exposure triangle, white balance, different shooting modes, and maybe customization. I own cameras from all the major brands, and it wasn't too difficult to go from Canon, Nikon, Sony to the OM-1 and G9ii.
Here are some youtubers I've had luck with, in no particular order: Marlend Hielema, Nature's Image Photography Workshop and Tours, and Geeky Techy Nerdy.
One outstanding feature I use often is the high resolution mode. Subject has to be reasonably still, but you can do it handheld since the ibis in the 4/3 cameras seems to be very effective.
Of course, lenses make a big difference. I often use OMD lenses on the g9ii. The 12-100 f/4, 40-150 f/2.8 are very sharp. The 100-400 leica/panasonic is noticeably smaller than the OMD equivalent.
Your depth of field will be more forgiving getting you an advantage with landscapes and macro.
I also prefer the OM-1; it has more computational modes, and they aren't just gimmicks. Built in ND filter, hi res mode handheld, in camera focus stacking (macros mostly, but landscape too where you need extra depth of field.)
I call myself an advanced amateur. I have taking photos for 70 years (yep, I am old), and have owned various Nikons ranging from film cameras to the mirrorless Nikon Z system. I am currently watching tutorial videos by Geeky Nerdy Techy and Marlene H. I think she is the same as Marlend Hielema. I will check out those other two. I have purchased two lenses so far both of which arrive today, a Panasonic Lumix G Vario 12-60mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH and a Panasonic Leica DG Vario-Elmar 100-400mm f/4-6.3. I have one or two others in the medium telephoto range and perhaps an ultrawide for landscapes. My plan is to figure out the basic shotting moded as opposed to going through the 990+ page manual.
graham_martin wrote:
Thanks for your advice. If I may, why do you like the G9 II the least, and what is it about the OM-1 II that you like better?
In my experience, OM-1 II has significantly (that is substantially or noticeably) better IBIS and C-AF performance. G9II struggles when the subject is lacking contrast. To the best of my knowledge, maintaining the dynamic range of G9II depends on maintaining the "dual output gain" of the sensor, which provides two parallel readout paths with different gain levels that are then combined. Apparently, this dual output gain works only when the SS is 0.8s or faster. Thus, trying exposing for 1s or longer in low light means sacrificing the dynamic range, when it drops below that of the OM-1II. You can see this for yourself: take two images that have shadows, one with SS 1s and another with SS 1/2s, then lift the shadows in post. You should see more noise in the image taken with SS 1s.
The body of OM-1 II is very comfortable in my hand. The G9II feels a bit more like holding a brick, with a grip that is not deep for me.
As this was already mentioned, OM-1 II feels more like a "smart" camera. The stacked sensor in OM-1II has a faster readout speed. The camera is considerably more "agile" and is better suited for action photography.
G9II has some of its own strengths, such as better hand-held high resolution mode raw image quality, marginally better dynamic range at ISO 100 with the dual output gain, and marginally more pixels.
In many situations, one can obtain images with G9II as good as those with OM-1II. I don't mean to say that the camera is bad, no. It just doesn't inspire me as much as OM-1II, but this is a personal, irrational feeling that I can't defend.
Here is an example of what happens on G9II when the SS becomes 1s.
I took two black frames without a lens, at ISO 100. One with SS 1/2s and the other with SS 1s.
The raw files were opened in DxO PL8 without any corrections except the exposure was lifted by 4 stops.
The following are central 1823 x 1026 crops from the images.
I think it is pretty obvious that one may want to keep the Min. Shutter speed setting at 1/2s.
For comparison, these are crops of the same size as above and processed as above, taken with OM-1 II with SS 1s and 1/2s at ISO200 (base ISO).
I see more noise from OM-1 II vs G9 II when the SS is 1/2s. The dynamic range of G9 II is better at ISO 100 when the dual output gain is working. When it does not, when SS is 1s, then OM-1 II has a better dynamic range, even if the ISO is higher.
The practical point is that one can comfortably use OM-1 II with SS as long as 2-3s hand-held (the camera has an excellent IBIS) in low light. I wouldn't use G9II with SS longer than 1/2s.
