"Panasonic G series" Owners Thread

English Electric Canberra at the Yorkshire Air Museum.

Design began in 1944 as a replacement for De Havilland's "Wooden Wonder" Mosquito and it was the RAF's first jet bomber. The U.S. licenced the right to build their own version as the Martin B57 and NASA still operates WB57 research aircraft. (G9 / 100~400mm Leica)

English Electric Canberra at Yorkshire Air Museum G9 P1012279.JPG
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
English Electric Canberra at the Yorkshire Air Museum.

Design began in 1944 as a replacement for De Havilland's "Wooden Wonder" Mosquito and it was the RAF's first jet bomber. The U.S. licenced the right to build their own version as the Martin B57 and NASA still operates WB57 research aircraft. (G9 / 100~400mm Leica)

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RAF Wyton which I often go past has a Canberra as its gate guardian, I believe its a later reconnaissance version.
 
Hello,

After a lot of procrastination I am contemplating getting a g9. (Although also thinking about the gx9) What are good lenses for it? I was thinking about the 12 to 60 but is the 2.8 to 4 version worth the extra over the 3.5 to 5.6 version?

Also any advice for a telephoto lens without spending silly money? The panasonic 100 to 300 seems to get mixed reviews. I was hoping to do a bit of bird photography.

The idea is to keep things fairly light weight.

Any comments much appreciated.
 
Mine came with the 12-60 F2.8-4 lens and I think it's a great lens. I use it as my walk about camera and lens. I also purchased the 45-175 lens from John Lewis at a discount. I don't have any other lenses, but I've been considering some of the 2.8 lenses like the 35-100 for example.

My daughter also has a G9 and she has the 45-150 and the 25mm 1.7.
 
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I use the GX9 with an Olympus 12-45, they work very well together.
G9 pairs well with the 12-40 although I use it with the 12-100.

As you can tell I prefer Olympus lenses although I do have a Panasonic 8-18
The 100-300 is the best of the longer telephoto lenses in the cheaper price range.
If you get one its worth the extra cost to get the Mk II version.
 
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I bought the GX80 + 12-60 3.5-5.6 lens. Great combo, powerful at both ends, through the range.

I've considered the 12-60 2.8-4 ... I'm sure it's superior but marginally, plus it's bigger & heavier.

I've got the 100-300 .. can't knock it, good for 'long lens compression' but not sure about small distant subjects like birds.

The Pana 45-150 is a fabulous little lens, so small & light you want to use it all the time.

The Pana 25mm is a beaut. My favourite focal length, therefore my favourite prime.

I've got an ultra wide zoom plus a macro lens, but both are rarely used. I find working with anything wider than 12mm difficult, and macro is a bit specialist for me, preferring the 25mm for things like close ups of flowers.

JRSS said:
Any comments much appreciated.
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:wave:
 
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JRSS said:
Thanks for all the comments. I take it the olympus lenses work perfectly with the g9 body? I read somewhere about a special coating on panasonic lenses to help the auto focus?
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No idea about the coating, but both makes seem to work equally well.
Only ever use the GX9 with the 12-45 and before that it was a 12-40

@Adamcski If you want a macro lens the Olympus 60mm is very good.
30mm lenses are ok, but it means you have to get in very close for bugs often disturbing them.
In FF terms the best macro lenses are usually in the100mm or more range.
 
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Adamcski said:
@d00d

Do you have the 30mm macro lens by any chance?

My daughter wants a macro lens for bugs and flowers, and wondered if the Panasonic one was any good?
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No. I have the Pana Leica 45mm 2.8 ... and the GX80 in-camera focus stacking works well most of the time. But for more casual walkabout shots, AF is slow.

I can't comment on the 30mm. I think it's good.

@Damian Brown is the man to ask

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt7JamOwks8&t=1s&ab_channel=DamianBrown


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbo6dmhWGZ4&ab_channel=DamianBrown
 
Just my 2 cents worth... having had the R5 and the G9 on a "shoot" with work last week, using both similar (the G9 being just the backup really, with the 2.8 35-100) and editing them back home.. while the G9 is flat out the best camera in terms of usability, ergonomics and enjoyment (and speed!) when you need to do a little more to the pictures, like pulling out the shadows, etc - the amount the R5 can cope with is incredible. This was a rooftop shoot per se, of model x product, and while the G9 is tack sharp and really dang good, trying to pull the RAW files doesn't yield many benefits in comparison to the R5. Given how much I just enjoy the G9, it really does make me think about the full-frame models they do. The Canon, while great just doesn't have the same incredible usability that Panasonic have really got!
 
Adamcski said:
Cheers for that. It's for my daughter so it's not got to be the very best of the best. For me, not sure I'd blow £500-£600 on the other one ....
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It was a couple of years ago, couldn't decide on the 30, 45 or Oly 60mm, saw a used 45mm for less than £300 and went for it. But rarely use it. I think the 30mm is handy walkabout lens
 
stickytape said:
Just my 2 cents worth... having had the R5 and the G9 on a "shoot" with work last week, using both similar (the G9 being just the backup really, with the 2.8 35-100) and editing them back home.. while the G9 is flat out the best camera in terms of usability, ergonomics and enjoyment (and speed!) when you need to do a little more to the pictures, like pulling out the shadows, etc - the amount the R5 can cope with is incredible. This was a rooftop shoot per se, of model x product, and while the G9 is tack sharp and really dang good, trying to pull the RAW files doesn't yield many benefits in comparison to the R5. Given how much I just enjoy the G9, it really does make me think about the full-frame models they do. The Canon, while great just doesn't have the same incredible usability that Panasonic have really got!
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Usability... This is 100% the word that stands out for me with my new S5 over my beloved Fujifilm gear.
 
Adamcski said:
There is nothing wrong with my S5 I would add, but there is something about my G9 that I just love
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I have been using an E-M1 ii a lot lately, just picked up my G9 and reminded me just how much nicer it is to use.
Mainly keep the Olympus for its sync is with the 12-100 and its probably not worth much anyway if sold.
 
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tijuana taxi said:
I have been using an E-M1 ii a lot lately, just picked up my G9 and reminded me just how much nicer it is to use.
Mainly keep the Olympus for its sync is with the 12-100 and its probably not worth much anyway if sold.
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Same - I’ve had tons of models and brands and still know the LUMIX have the nets handling and operation - and best bang for your buck for miles!
 
Adamcski said:
@d00d

Do you have the 30mm macro lens by any chance?

My daughter wants a macro lens for bugs and flowers, and wondered if the Panasonic one was any good?
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Hi there, you/your daughter do not need to be spending big money on a dedicated macro lens, especially if she is just starting to "dabble" in the macro/close up world.
Its possible to obtain nice/acceptable images by attaching a decent close up filter to a basic zoom lens. If she really gets into close up/macro, then yeah, she might want to think about a dedicated macro lens some time in the future.

I use either a Polaroid or Canon 500D close up filter, attached to my 45-150mm light weight small lens. I think i get some decent images using this set up on my G80.
Not sure what those 2 close up lenses sell for (because i bought mine 2ndhand) for less than £50.

Anyway, heres a couple of images (no cropping) using my "cheap as chips" macro setup!

The male Adder (snake) shot, i used both 500D filters stacked together, but for the Silver Spotted Skipper Butterfly shot, i used just a single 500D close up filter.

Male Adder (vipera berus). No cropping. by Tort Man (out of hibernation!), on Flickr

Silver Spotted Skipper Butterfly (female). No Cropping. by Tort Man (out of hibernation!), on Flickr
 
I'm another happy close up filter user and I have a Kood set which cost about £27 decades ago. I also have a film era Sigma 50mm f2.8 which is a 1:1 macro which I use with a mount adapter. I can't remember how much I paid as I've had it years but if you spot a bargain a film era manual lens and an adapter is a combo that could be worth thinking about.
 
I've got a Raynox 250, tried it loads of times on Nikon lenses without much luck, then found it works well on my Panasonic 45-150 ... at around 80-100 I think. Must give it another go.
 
d00d said:
I've got a Raynox 250, tried it loads of times on Nikon lenses without much luck, then found it works well on my Panasonic 45-150 ... at around 80-100 I think. Must give it another go.
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Yes, the Raynox lenses are very good for macro/close ups. I have both the 250 an 150...the 150 is much easier to use/get the hang of for sure. I also stack both the 250 an 150 together if i want to get even closer to subjects, but then you will be so close as to cast a shadow over your subjects, so then you have to think about a suitable flash/lighting set up.

Heres a close up shot of a wild freshly emerged UK Clouded Yellow Butterfly, where i used a Raynox lens with G80/45-150mm set up...camera flash was used for this image, no cropping either. I dont normally use flash for my butterfly images, but in this case i had to, because of distance to subject from lens was just too close.
 

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Thanks yes, I haven't used the Raynox 150, I do believe the 250 has a shallower dof, too shallow, especially when on apsc lenses. I have more success when on m43 lenses.
 
Finally got round to getting the larger eyecup for my G9.
Know how good they are at cutting out unwanted light from using a similar one on my GX9
 
A swan.

GX80 and 45-150mm.

o0oe7ju.jpg
 
d00d said:
Thanks yes, I haven't used the Raynox 150, I do believe the 250 has a shallower dof, too shallow, especially when on apsc lenses. I have more success when on m43 lenses.
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I've had these previously with my old (old) Canon kit.
 
woof woof said:
When I went to the park the light was awful. I've played with this one in Nik filters to make it look more interesting, maybe.

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I hope I can go back when the light is better.
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Nice treatment - it works
 
Thank you.

I'm not quite happy with it so I might have another go tomorrow.
 
Making a fruit smoothie.

Eye detect makes composition and shooting easy. Thinking back to my SLR and DSLR days with their few focus points clustered around the centre of the frame those cameras seem like something from the cast century now, which of course is what they are.

GM5 and 20mm f1.7.

ZkTn5fd.jpg


Sadly for whatever reason it looks soft here. Focus on her eye is sharp on my screen.
 
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As it's quiet and I sometimes like to enthuse about the kit :D

I took some pictures with my GX80 and Panasonic 100-400mm today. When I'd processed them and was still sat at the pc I pointed the kit at some artificial flowers and took two pictures at 400mm. The first is f6.3 which is wide open, 1/200 and ISO 25,600 and the 2nd is f6.3, 1/25 and ISO 5,000. I then did just normal processing, spending more time and taking more care might get better results.

On both you can see the weave of the flowers even though it's smeared, it's more smeared on the 25,600 one.

oGNrLHc.jpg


UWRwBst.jpg


When I was using DSLR's I wanted at least 1 x focal length as a shutter speed and possibly x 1.5 or 2. These days with IS if you're not shooting moving things insanely slow shutter speeds for the focal length can be used,. Then of course there's the performance at high ISO's to think about. My 5D went to 3,200 so even with an f1.4 lens I could be at 1/xx shutter speed in low light which is pretty pants for anything likely to move. With recent MFT kit you can go to ISO 25,600 and then decide if the picture is ok to keep. I don't really want an ISO 25,600 picture of artificial flowers :D but I have taken family and out and about pictures at these extreme ISO's before and kept them as they're often good enough for normal viewing as whole pictures.

Thanks for staying with me while I enthuse about the kit :D
 
They're behind you! (GH2 / 45~100)...

Smartcar wing mirror view GH2 P1320348.JPG
 
The walk to the shops. Despite the bright sky nothing is actually blown.

GM5 and 20mm f1.7.

gJB7K0G.jpg
 
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