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00:00This is like the spider-man meme where everyone's just pointing their camera at each other.
00:06I have a new camera and it's this the new Panasonic Lumix S9
00:10I'm actually here in Japan to test it and it is basically a sort of compact shrunk-down version of the Lumix S5 II
00:19And it will cost you
00:21£1,499 same in dollars for the body only
00:24So if you are new to the world of Panasonic cameras
00:26Then you'll also need to buy an L-mount lens from the likes of Panasonic or Sigma or Leica
00:31But anyway 1,500 quid for this by itself isn't cheap
00:35But for context the Sony ZV-E1 and here's one I made earlier
00:39Which is a very similar size similar specs and really a direct competitor. The Sony retails for around
00:46£2,350 although right now on Amazon is about two grand
00:48But still the S9 here is between 500 to 800 pounds cheaper and with that in mind
00:54It's actually pretty good value for what you're getting
00:5724 megapixels a 3x2 6k sensor full-frame and
01:02This is designed not just for your horizontal YouTube videos like this
01:05But because we have this open gate technology and this 3x2 sensor
01:08what it basically means is that you can shoot it in that high resolution and then crop afterwards whether you want horizontal or
01:15Vertical because one of the biggest ball aches of being a creator is shooting everything landscape for YouTube and then doing it again
01:20Vertically for Instagram for tik-tok. So with this I should just be able to capture the one shot and then change the resolution
01:27But what's equally interesting is not just the camera and hardware itself, but also the new Lumix Lab app
01:31So it will automatically transfer to the app on my phone and then I can add LUTs
01:36I can customize it and basically just do everything all in one without having to edit just shoot and share
01:43That's the idea
01:44So the s9 is aimed lesser
01:46Professionals are more at quote-unquote creators for social media for YouTube vlogs
01:51maybe for small businesses getting b-roll and product shots and just for anyone who wants to opt their game from a
01:57smartphone or a more basic camera for both photos and video and
02:01Also for those wanting a quick workflow of shooting to sharing and maybe also like the idea of dabbling with shooting in log and using
02:08LUTs there's literally a LUT button here on the back where you can scroll through the different color profiles
02:13You've added to your camera giving you more
02:15Creative options and you can make or import your own ones or download ones from Lumix or the other creators have made via this new
02:21Lumix Lab app, which is actually a lot of fun to play around with
02:25So this kind of camera is absolutely aimed at people like me and also to be honest my wife Sarah
02:30She runs her own wedding florist business called the way to bloom and she shoots her content for socials with a pixel a pro
02:37Which is fine, but she wants a higher-end more professional
02:41This is for her and also for me and it comes in four colors, although obviously this olive green one is the best
02:48coffee check
02:50Now to be clear this video is not sponsored
02:52I was simply invited on a press trip to Japan with
02:55Panasonic for the launch of the s9 with a whole bunch of far more knowledgeable photographers and creators as I am by no means a
03:02Professional I just know what I want from a camera as a tool to create my content for YouTube and Instagram and tik-tok and straight
03:09Away, I can tell you this is not a perfect camera
03:11There are a few issues I have which I'll come to in a second and it's also definitely not for everyone
03:16But after shooting over 2,000 photos and videos over the past week in some incredibly beautiful places
03:21You literally can't take a bad photo in Japan
03:23It turns out there's just so much texture and life and beauty and there's someone who is well more of a creator than a professional
03:30Photographer or videographer. This is what I think of the s9 and I reckon there's five reasons why you might want one
03:37Number one the size this is as I say, basically a shrunk down Lumix s5 mark 2 and for any Sony shooters out there
03:44This is what the Sony ZV-E1 is to the a7s 3 and while it's not gonna fit in your pocket like your phone
03:49It is much easier to carry around less intrusive for shooting in public and also much lighter for holding as you walk around and trying
03:56To not look awkward as you're recording sample footage versus the big full-size cameras
04:00This is a lot more manageable and versus Sony's rival
04:03It's about the same weight, but it's a tiny bit taller and also quite a bit thinner
04:09Although that's mostly a result of a lack of this grip area, which in my view is actually a downside
04:13I do wish the s9 had some kind of grip or protruding area here for me to wrap my hand around
04:18But still for a full-frame sensor with a fully articulating screen. It is a good portable size
04:25Number two the image quality which is pretty fundamental when you're buying a camera and I have to say I am
04:30Dead impressed with the s9 being full frame
04:33You're getting a much higher quality sharper less noisy and more professional look compared to smaller micro four-thirds or APS-C sensors
04:40Because the bigger size of a full-frame sensor means it captures a lot more light making low-light to nighttime shots look
04:46Incredible with gorgeous natural bokeh and that paired with the dual native ISO, which is at 640 and 4,000
04:53It means you have a ton of flexibility to whack up the ISO
04:56Brining up even really dark scenes and as I meandered through the streets of Osaka late at night
05:01I even found up to 12,800 ISO more than usable with the s9 with minimal noise
05:06And you are absolutely not gonna get shots like this from your phone
05:14Plus the 24 megapixel resolution double that of the Sony means that you have a good amount of information to play with if you need
05:20to crop in and
05:22From a purely subjective point of view. I really do like the look of the Lumix color science even just shooting in their standard mode
05:28It's more characterful and less clinical versus my Sony but maybe that's just me and for this video
05:34I've been using a Lumix s 2460 lens and also the Lumix s 100 millimeter macro prime lens
05:40Which I love the look of particularly for portrait shots like this
05:43Although it is quite expensive and I think ideally you're gonna want the smallest lens possible given
05:48This is a compact camera and don't forget to pop on an ND filter for shooting in the daytime
05:57At number three we have this open gate sensor with its 3 by 2 aspect ratio
06:02You can see the green outline here. This is a border for what is essentially a 9 by 16 aspect ratio. So this is the
06:08Aspects that I'm taking with my camera and that's what basically if I were to crop it to a 916 for a vertical story
06:15Or a tick tock or whatever. That's what I would guess out of it
06:18You are still going to get more in the frame if you shoot it vertically for vertical content
06:23But the idea is that you can get away with just doing it in one
06:26Orientation and then you've got enough information there with that open gate 3 2 aspect ratio sensor to switch between them
06:33But let's talk about video just for a second and that open gate because you have two options
06:37Basically, you can either shoot at 6k 30fps. Although that's using the MOV
06:43Profile codec which means actually it doesn't transfer to the Lumix Lab app very easily by default. You're set to 3.8
06:49K 30 using a new mp4 light format
06:53Which makes it much easier and faster to transfer to your phone and edit and upload after that
06:57So if you do want the absolute highest resolution possible, you'll want to shoot in that 6k
07:00Then you know take the SD card out put your laptop edit it that way
07:03But if you want to go through the Lumix Lab app and making as quick as possible
07:07Then stick with that 3.8 K mp4 light the downside is regardless of whether you shoot at 6 or 3.8 K
07:13It's all set to 30fps. In fact, I don't even think you can shoot 4k 60 with the full frame
07:18You have to switch it down to APS-C
07:20so there are definitely some
07:21limitations of this and the big one the big one which a lot of people are getting a bit frustrated about here is that if
07:26You are shooting in 6k
07:28You've got a 10 minute recording limit at the 3.8 K the default mp4 light setting you've got 15 minutes of recording
07:34Which is a bit frustrating and I'm told it's just so that the internal temperature doesn't go above 40 degrees Celsius
07:39So that's why they've put those limits there
07:41But the idea is this isn't supposed to replace your main on a tripod a roll camera that you shoot for 30 60 minutes back
07:47In the studio. This is your you know out and about point and shoot tick-tock Instagram content creation device
07:54And you can literally just stop and start recording. So you get 15 minutes 15 minutes 15 minutes
07:58It's plenty for what you should be using this camera for. Okay, number four has to be the stabilization
08:04I'm literally holding the s9 in my hand here as I walk down these stairs
08:07And this is without the extra is boost option that you can turn on in the settings
08:11I would say it's two-thirds the way to what you get from using a gimbal and for me particularly for a product shot
08:17So if I'm doing a piece of camera and walking and talking being able to rely on this in-body stabilization is so helpful
08:23How does it compare to the Sony? Well, have a look for yourself
08:26Okay
08:26So this is a stabilization test and also an internal microphone test because why not just walking down the street shooting at
08:334k 30 on the
08:41640 ISO f8 60 shutter speed and with their default image stabilizations and
08:49Yeah, what do you think
08:52And at number 5 we have the software not the UI
08:56I should say the menus and the buttons and the settings all still feel a bit
09:00Clunky and it might all be a bit overwhelming if you're not used to using a proper camera
09:04But it's the software in terms of how simple they made adding Lutz to your footage or lookup tables
09:09Which are basically color profiles and also how streamlined your workflow can be with this brand new Lumix lab app
09:15Now this isn't a full replacement for the Lumix sync or the Panasonic image app as it doesn't give you remote control access
09:20For example, they will be adding more features to this over time
09:23but for playing around with the Lutz and tinkering the settings and more importantly for sharing your shots as quickly as possible from the
09:29Camera, it's actually pretty great. So one of the use cases for me is that I'm somewhere interesting
09:34I'm here in Osaka and there's a lot of cool stuff to shoot and let's just say I want to take a high-quality photo
09:39I put it up on my Instagram stories as quick as possible. That's something I do quite a lot
09:43So, let me just snap a photo right here and I've got the Lumix app the Lumix lab app on my phone
09:50I'll just pull that up here
09:51It's automatically connected as the sirens go past and then immediately it will start auto
09:56Transferring the photos and videos I've taken and this is literally the shot
09:59I just took of that lady standing over there. So I have it in the Lumix lab app gallery here
10:03I already shot it in the V log 709. So, you know, I could just throw that into Lightroom
10:07That's what I would normally do apply my presets and Lutz
10:09But I'm in the Lumix lab app here and here I can really quickly change the LUT that is on top
10:14I can change the opacity of the LUT
10:16I can also tinker and tweak with the different settings and actually this streetwise LUT that I'm using here was made by another creator
10:23There's a whole bunch of them that you can download and then either install straight onto the camera itself or apply on the phone afterwards
10:28And then let's tweak that a little bit. I can change the color
10:31Perhaps make the white balance a little cooler of the saturation a little bit
10:35You can play around and you can also have two LUTs
10:37So let's say you shoot in log
10:39You can then add a rex over no 9 on top of that and then your own
10:43Custom color LUT on top of that which is very cool and then change the opacity the intensity of it
10:47So I'm happy with that photo. I'm now going to save it to my gallery
10:50Pop into Instagram
10:53Let's go up here. I'm literally doing this live
10:57There's the story
10:59posted
11:00Now I know there are other quick workflows that you can have with other cameras as well including the Sony's
11:05But it's this Lumix lab app and also the very fast 5 gigahertz Wi-Fi transfer
11:10Which means the photos you take up pretty much instantly in your phone's photo gallery and also in the Lumix lab app gallery where you?
11:16can then as I say apply all those LUTs or do none of that if the idea of LUTs and color profiles and rec 709 and
11:22V logs and manual mode all that stuff kind of freaks you out or you just don't care then that doesn't really matter either
11:27I have to say and a lot of the photographers on this trip will probably tell me off for doing this
11:31But I've been shooting a lot of this stuff in just intelligent auto mode
11:35I a in the standard color profile not messing around with anything because I do actually really like the Panasonic
11:41Aesthetic the color so you could take a high quality snap have on Instagram within about
11:4530 seconds it's pretty cool now for photos
11:48I shoot in the raw plus fine mode
11:50so I always have that raw option to play with if I don't like the left or the color of the JPEG or just want
11:55The better dynamic range and detail that you can pull from a raw and for videos
11:58I've been mostly shooting in V log and then adding a rec 709 LUT afterwards and tinkering the color and adding further LUTs from there
12:05So far so good then but there are a few compromises here for instance
12:09There's no EVF or electronic viewfinder
12:11So you have to rely on the screen which is less of an issue for video
12:15but it can be annoying for photos and kind of takes away from this being a bit more of a street photography camera and
12:20To be fair the Sony doesn't have an EVF either and it's mainly to save space
12:24Although there does seem to be a lot of unused room up here other compromises versus its bigger brother the s5 mark 2
12:30Well, there's no headphone jack
12:32We only get one SD card slot not to micro HDMI rather than a full-size one
12:36The USB C ports don't support video out
12:39So you can't use it as a webcam or for streaming and I also wish there was a little grip here to make it easier
12:44To handle there are some mounting L plates that can give it a makeshift grip
12:48But I also found I would accidentally push the lens eject button with my middle finger
12:51So three or four times over the past week the screen went black and I realized I had to twist and lock the lens in
12:57Again, and I wasn't the only person to experience this and we're getting 10-bit 4 2 0 color not 4 2 2
13:04Also rolling shutter can be a bit of a problem here whether you're making a quick pan or have a fast-moving subject
13:09On the plus side if you pair the s9 with any Lumix mechanical zoom lens
13:13You can use the new hybrid crop zoom feature
13:16Which combines the optical zoom with a crop zoom letting you punch in even further while retaining a surprisingly good amount of detail
13:24So that is the new Panasonic Lumix s9 as a semi pro Sony shooting content creator
13:30I've had a great time with this. It's not perfect
13:33It's not for everyone
13:34But given how much cheaper it is than the ZV-E1 and I don't know if there's a better combination of image quality
13:40Compact size and the quick workflow you get with that Lumix lab app. But what do you reckon?
13:45Are you tempted to pick one up?
13:46Let me know what you make of the s9 in the comments below if you did enjoy this video
13:49Which I hope you did because you watched it till the end a cheeky like and subscribe would be fantastic
13:53And I'll see you next time right here on the tech chat