Photography News Issue 54

Photography News | Issue 54 | photographynews.co.uk

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Built to compete Panasonic’s LUMIX G9 is designed to keep pace with the world’s finest athletes, as Getty Images’ Jan Kruger found out at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games Price £1499 Sensor

Elite level – LUMIXG9

Shot Mode providing massive resolution for large prints. The G9’s expanded ISO of 100-25,600 also means that you can shoot under the toughest lighting conditions. “In good daylight on the slopes,” says Jan, “I thought the camera was fantastic at low ISO and high shutter speeds to capture athletes flying by. Overall, I thought the tracking workedverywell and the Leica lenses supplied were excellent.” PASM, iAuto, scene modes Exposure compensation +/-5EV in 0.3EV steps Monitor Free-angle 3in touch screen LCD with 1040k dots Viewfinder EVF (3680k dot) Focusing Contrast AF (EV -4 to 18 (ISO100 equivalent)) Focus points 225 area Video 4K (60/50p) Connectivity Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HDMI-A, micro-B USB Storagemedia 2x SD/SDHC/SDXC cards Dimensions 136.9x97.3x91.6mm Weight 658g (with battery and 1x SD card) Contact Panasonic.co.uk 20.3-megapixels Sensor format Four Thirds Live MOS (5184x3888 pixels) ISO range 100-25,600 in 0.3EV steps Shutter range 30secs to 1/32,000sec (depends on mode) plus Bulb Drivemodes 20fps with AF (60fps 4K Photo) Metering system Mult-segment, spot, centre-weighted Exposuremodes

Speed. Concentration. Endurance. These are just some of the attributes you need to succeed at an Olympic level. The very best athletes combine them and win gold. So what does it take to make a champion camera? What features create an imaging powerhouse that can keep upwith the best of winter athletes? And can they be found in Panasonic’s newLUMIXG9 camera? According to Getty Images’ JanKruger, who trialled the LUMIX G9 at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games, they certainly can. These were Jan’s third Olympic Winter Games as part of the Getty Images commercial assignment team, which services all picture requirements for major sponsors during the Winter Olympics. “So when the office asked if I’d be interested in using the new LUMIX G9 camera I jumped at the opportunity. As a sport photographer, documenting the world’s best athletes competing at the Winter Olympics is a fantastic privilege and experience. I have enjoyed putting the LUMIXG9 to the test.” Jan received the LUMIX G9 and lenses a couple of days before his departure to South Korea and immediately started to play around with it, using the body’s highly customisable features: “I set the camera up in a way that felt familiar tome; but these settings changeddaily as I got to know the camera and realised that different focus points and shutter choiceswork better for some disciplines and not others.” Fortunately, the LUMIX G9’s Status LCD also makes it easy to see and change settings with just one quick glance. Strength. Power.

As a pro sports photographer, Jan says it’s “important to get to know your equipment and work to maximise its strengths to get the desired images. “The Winter Olympics are fast in nature, in a cold climate, andmostly in the evening under artificial light, and the camera performed well. The more I used it, the more confident I felt in achieving the shots I was after.” A complex range of conditions then, but problems that he felt the G9 mastered, with its record-breaking 20fps burst mode with Continuous AF, the world’s fastest AF speed of 0.04sec, DUAL Image Stabilization giving a massive 6.5 stop advantage, and blackout-free electronic viewfinder, meaning that you can concentrate entirely on the action, and keep it pin sharp at all times.

The LUMIX G9’s 3680k dot EVF also has a clever switchable magnification, going from 0.83x to 0.77x or 0.7x, allowing you to pick out the subject more easily. The camera is tough, too, with amagnesium alloy chassis and weather sealing to keep it dust and splash proof. In the extremely harsh conditions of the Korean winter, operating temperature also becomes a big factor, and the G9 can shoot down to -10°Cwithout missing a beat. Of course, this all counts for nothing if a camera can’t record the action with perfect clarity, but here again the LUMIX G9 excels, with its 20MP optical low pass free sensor boasting exceptional image quality and improved resolution. If you need even more detail, the LUMIX G9 has an 80MP High Res