Panasonic Lumix S9 First Look

Panasonic is a relative newcomer in the full-frame camera market and it has made significant inroads in the market since the Lumix S1 and S1R were launched back in early 2019. The brand now has 17% of the full-frame kit market and it’s the fastest growing business in this very competitive market sector.

The Lumix S9 is a 24.2 megapixel camera using a similar sensor to the Lumix S5 II but unlike that camera with its faux pentaprism profile, the Lumix S9 is a flat style, monitor only full-frame camera. 

The Lumix S9 body only is priced at £1699; it’s £1799 with the 20-60mm standard zoom and £2249 with the 28-200mm superzoom. It will be available in Classical Blue, Dark Olive, Crimson Red and Jet Black.

Launched at the same time as the Lumix S9 was a 26mm fixed aperture f/8 pancake lens. This lens is potentially a great partner for the new camera weighing a mere 58g and is priced at £219.99.

A production Lumix S9 was used for this first look, but the Lumix Lab app discussed here was not the final version. Please note that I used the camera at a pre-launch event so in my product shots the Panasonic branding and camera name have been hidden from prying eyes with masking tape.

Panasonic Lumix S9 Features

The Lumix S9 is a true hybrid camera and many of its features match the Lumix S5 II including 24.2 megapixel resolution, 96 megapixel handheld pixel-shift high res mode, and 6.5EV five-axis dual IS2. 

Headline video features include 14+ stops dynamic range with V-Log, dual native ISO and 6K 24/25/30p open gate which means that all social media aspect ratios including 1:1 and 9:16 upright are possible from one shot. A new smartphone-optimised video format called MP4 Lite is also available and enables super quick upload using the Lumix Lab app. The app also offers auto background image transfer and the ability to create and share LUTs with the camera.

The Lumix S9 is monitor only and no optional finder is offered by Panasonic. This design allows the flat top-plate to keep size down. The camera measures 126×73.9×46.7mm, so it’s impressively petite for a full-frame model and it weighs in at 486g with battery and SD card. For comparison, the Sony A7C II is 124×71.1×63.4mm, weighs 514g and is more expensive at £1999 body only.

To enjoy the camera’s LUT feature, a dedicated button is provided on the camera’s rear, which means colour style modes can be brought into play even as you’re framing up a shot. LUTs (look up tables) are a quick way to alter an image’s colour and tone, so it’s like a unique filter or simulation mode that you can apply to stills and video. With the Lumix S9 and the new app, LUTs can be created on your smartphone and transferred to the camera. It also means you can enjoy LUTs made by other creators, and it’s all possible in real-time.

Other key features include autofocusing handled by a phase hybrid AF system with 779 points and human/animal/car/motorcycle detect, extended battery life and new Crop Zoom and Hybrid Zoom features. The Crop Zoom tool means the camera crops into the central part of the image, so you have a zoom effect with prime lenses. The Hybrid Zoom uses the Crop Zoom together with the zoom’s focal length to deliver a longer focal length. Using the 20-60mm zoom, the Hybrid Zoom gives up to a 187mm focal length and is controlled by the zoom ring.

Panasonic Lumix S9 Key Features

• Prices £1499.99 body only, available end June 2024
• Available in Classical Blue, Dark Olive, Crimson Red and Jet Black 
• Full-frame hybrid
• 24.2 megapixels
• L-Mount
• New MP4 Lite format
• Shoot and share to social media in 30secs with Lumix Lab app
• Phase and contrast detect hybrid AF with DFD
• Subject detect: Human/Animal/Car/Motorcycle (except in pinpoint AF)
• 1728 zone multi-pattern metering system
• Dedicated LUT button
• Real-time LUT function
• Native ISO 100-51,200 (ISO 50, 102,400, 204,800 extended)
• Dual native ISO
• Zoom function – Hybrid and Crop Zoom
• Image stabiliser with 6.5EV benefit
• 3in monitor with 1.84million dots
• Electronic shutter 60secs to 1/8000sec
• Claimed 470 frames with S-R2060 battery
• Continuous shooting at 9fps, SH30 30fps, SH30 PRE 30fps
• Measures 126 x 73.9 x 46.7mm
• Weighs 486g with battery and SD card

The Lumix S9 shown here with the 20-60mm standard zoom in place – this combination, DC-S9 KE, will retail at £1799.

The Lumix S9’s swing out monitor works well, as you’d expect, and you can see the dedicated LUT button conveniently placed for thumb activation.

The L-Mount dominates the Lumix S9’s front and you can see there’s no sensor blind protector. This is the Dark Olive variant.

From above, you can see the small thumb outcrop at the rear of the camera’s right side and the lack of any contouring on the front of the camera.

To give an idea of size, here’s the full-frame Lumix S9 sitting next to my taped up APS-C format Fujifilm X-S10. Note the ‘markings’ on the Lumix 20-60mm are actually dappled sunlight.

Panasonic Lumix S9 Handling

I spent an hour or so with the camera shooting in London’s West End using a full production sample together with a 20-60mm lens. I had also an early sample of the app.

The Lumix S9’s menus are similar to the brand’s other full frame models, which I know reasonably well, so setting up for basic stills shooting was straightforward. I selected JPEG and Raw format shooting, turned off the various confirmation beeps and set the AF to use a large zone. Most of the shots were taken in aperture-priority and program AE modes with auto white-balance set. The camera takes a single SD, UHS-II compatible card which sits next to the battery, and in this test, a Lexar 2000X card was used.

The battery is an S-R2060 and in the time I had the camera, I took 255 shots. By the end of the session, the power level indicator had dropped by one bar which I thought was very good with all the fiddling around in menus and powering up and down.

Camera handling was generally sound. The raised rear thumb ridge helped to provide a secure hold on the camera but gripping the flat front fascia grew less comfortable as time passed. I walked around with the camera in the right hand most of the time and a contoured right-side would definitely be a handling benefit.

I own cameras with viewfinders and although I often use the monitor, my default shooting procedure, honed with years of practice, is to use the finder. Consequently, it took me a little while to get used to viewing and composing with the Lumix S9’s monitor and I did find I was raising the camera to the eye before realising what I was doing and then stopping myself. Creators used to shooting stills and video with their phones and who prefer their vari-angle monitors will have no problem at all, and I eventually got the hang of it too. 

The Lumix S9’s is designed to have an extra appeal to hybrid shooters so the EVF free design won’t be a concern to those potential buyers. For those who are predominantly stills shooters, it might be more of a detraction. 

The Lumix S9’s monitor is responsive for touch focus so no issue there and the only drawback was using the monitor in full sun when it was difficult to see what was going on, but of course that applies to even the brightest camera monitor.

During my brief shoot with the Lumix S9 I was blessed with sunshine so contrast was a potential trip hazard but the camera’s exposure system handled scenes well, as you can see from the out of the camera JPEGs shown here. The camera’s AWB system also dealt with the light conditions very capably and results looked lifelike.

Image quality was very good. The 24.2 megapixel sensor gave clean, colourful JPEGs shot and I tried some of the supplied LUTs too. 

I shot an ISO series in a low light hotel interior from 100 to 51,200 and the images are shown below. ISO performance looked impressive, giving very clean images even at ISO 12,800. Shooting super-high ISO images for critical use is potentially one of the Lumix S9’s fortes especially with the help of denoising software now available.

The hybrid AF system worked well, and human detect was responsive and held on well to the subject once acquired. I did some point and shoot street photography and the large zone AF responded well to the challenge and focus was spot-on more often than not. When AF missed the target it was probably my lack of skill rather than the camera’s.

Announced at the same time as the camera is the free Lumix Lab app. This allows high-speed image transfer to the smartphone and quick editing of MP4 Lite video files for social media. You can also create LUTs and transfer them to the camera. 

The app I got to try wasn’t the final version. It did take a little time to pair up, and stability didn’t seem too good. Our full test will check out the final version of the app.

Panasonic Lumix S9 Sample images

I shot JPEGs and Raws with the Lumix S9 but at the time no Raw processor was available, so all the images shown here are JPEG originals.

The Lumix S9’s native ISO range is 100 to 51,200 with expansion to ISO 50, 102,400 and 204,800. The set below covers the native range shot with default settings using the Panasonic 20-60mm f/3.5-5.6 lens with the camera on a Gitzo travel tripod. 

The location was a dimly lit hotel lounge and the base ISO 100 exposure was 6secs at f/8.

Panasonic Lumix S9 ISO

The Lumix S9’s AF system worked well for grab shots. Taken with the Lumix S9 with 20-60mm lens at 60mm. Exposure 1/1000sec at f/5.6 and ISO 1600. Out of camera JPEG.

The camera delivered richly coloured, saturated JPEGs. Taken with the Lumix S9 with 20-60mm lens at 25mm. Exposure 1/640sec at f/8 and ISO 200. Out of camera JPEG.

Natural colours were handled accurately by the Lumix S9. Taken with the Lumix S9 with 20-60mm lens at 31mm. Exposure 1/100sec at f/4.2 and ISO 250. Out of camera JPEG.

Aperture-priority AE handled this high contrasty scene very competently. Taken with the Lumix S9 with 20-60mm lens at 56mm. Exposure 1/250sec at f/14 and ISO 400. Out of camera JPEG.

Intricate detail showed up very nicely. Taken with the Lumix S9 with 20-60mm lens at 44mm. Exposure 1/320sec at f/5 and ISO 250. Out of camera JPEG.

When you need a higher ISO to cope with low light, the Lumix S9 doesn’t disappoint. This ISO 3200 interior shot was clean and full of detail. Taken with the Lumix S9 with 20-60mm lens at 24mm. Exposure 1/320sec at f/4.5 and ISO 3200. Out of camera JPEG.

Taken with one of the camera’s sample LUTs. Taken with the Lumix S9 with 20-60mm lens at 23mm. Exposure 1/250sec at f/13 and ISO 200. Out of camera JPEG.

Normal colour shot to show non-LUT scene. Taken with the Lumix S9 with 20-60mm lens at 23mm. Exposure 1/250sec at f/13 and ISO 200. Out of camera JPEG.

Panasonic Lumix S9 Initial Verdict

The Panasonic Lumix S9 shows enormous promise and has a great appeal whether you shoot stills, video or both. The fact that it comes in different colours is an extra attraction; Classical Blue would be my pick.

It wouldn’t be fair to make a judgement on a camera after a couple of hundred shots taken in just over an hour. There are so many features and set-up configurations that I simply didn’t get the chance to explore and of course I couldn’t work on the Raws either. Our full test will be much more revealing. 

All that said, after such a brief acquaintance my thoughts are positive. Yes, there is no EVF and that was an initial handling headache for me, but it is not a deal breaker even though I am predominately a stills photographer. There are many plus points, including the big one of image quality which looks potentially very good. The camera’s diminutive stature is also a big plus, as too is the 85 (as of February 2024) strong collection of L mount lenses available.

Visit our Equipment Database to see more images of the Panasonic Lumix S9 along with specs.