PANASONIC LUMIX G9 II
Panasonic doesn’t say this is a dual base ISO system, but when shooting stills there is a novel i.Dynamic feature which creates a real-time HDR shot in a single frame by combining two versions of the images shot at high and low ISO. It does offer an improvement in noise levels – welcome on such a diminutive sensor – and you can select different levels of i.Dynamic processing. However, this is for stills only. For video, the G9 II has 4:2:0 10-bit recording in 5.8K at a 4:3 ratio from the full sensor and 5.7K in 17:9, which allows lots of framing options for social media platforms. The 5.8K open gate setting gives the maximum image size and therefore flexibility when cropping, allowing for vertical or horizontal footage. However, at this resolution you are limited to just 30fps. Switch to 5.7K widescreen and you can reach 60p in 4:2:2 10-bit All-Intra. For more conventional shooting, there is 4:2:2 10-bit All-I in C4K/4K up to 120fps for slow motion. Film in Full HD and you could crank as high as 300fps. You can even use an anamorphic mode. Footage is recorded to a pair of UHS-II SD cards. Here, the spec is actually lower than the GH6, which uses a CFexpress card and an SD. The G9 II offers Apple ProRes 422 recording for high image quality at low compression. This reduces the load on the computer during post and enables fast editing without transcoding. However, SD cards aren’t quick enough to access this, so you need to export the files to an external SSD. In the menu, you have to select the external SSD option. This will disable internal recording, though, so there is no way of using the twin card slots as backup recording. You also have to buy an external SSD drive holder and cage to bolt it to. You can power the G9 II through its USB-C socket while it’s in use,
“Images are clean and natural-looking, and control of rolling shutter is good – a benefit of a sensor this size”
but there is only one socket. You therefore have to choose either using it for power delivery or external recording. Recording to the SSD enables ProRes 422 in 5.7K to 30p, C4K and 4K to 60p, and HD to 240p. Actually, the camera can record ProRes 422 and 422 HQ internally to its SD cards at up to 240fps – if you don’t mind shooting in HD. Panasonic has always tailored its cameras towards filmmakers, and the G9 II continues that trend. It offers Real Time LUT recording to simplify workflow and colour grading, with support for .CUBE, .VLT and .TXT formats for V-Log View Assist in real time to give a good idea of what the final look of your footage will be. The included full version of V-Log features a flat, neutral gamma curve that’s easy to grade and seamlessly matches higher-end Panasonic cameras. Dynamic range is claimed to be more than 13 stops when using
V-Log/V-Gamut and Dynamic Range Boost; there is definitely lots of highlight and shadow detail – far more than you might expect from a Micro Four Thirds sensor. In fact, when viewing the footage on a large screen, the results are seriously impressive – certainly better than many would expect from a sensor quarter the area of full-frame. The images are clean and natural-looking, and control of rolling shutter is good – one benefit of using a sensor this size. It’s easy to grade and there are lots of LUT options to convert V-Log to standard Rec. 709. Noise can be an issue on Micro Four Thirds sensors. Up to around 1600 ISO, the G9 II’s results are of high quality. Realistically, this is where most work is recorded. Go higher and noise creeps in, meaning work will be needed to remove. But keep the ISO low and you’ll be very impressed at the quality and colour fidelity.
AUTOMATIC FOR THE PEOPLE Even in Auto WB and Auto ISO, colours are neutral and exposure is accurate
IN CONTROL The body is somewhat similar to the S5 II, which is a good thing, All the important controls have dedicated buttons and the camera is easy to understand
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