Panasonic G9 or Olympus E-M1ii

andythilo

andythilo

Suspended / Banned
Messages
971
Name
Andy
Edit My Images
Yes
Torn between these 2, primary use is sports, wildlife, aviation and macro. I'd get the Panasonic 100-400 to go with them.

Any ideas/suggestions? G9 has £150 off with free grip at the moment so £999 with free grip.
 
Last edited:
Not the sort of question to which you’ll get an objective answer unless someone is using both of them. I’ve been using a G9 with the 100-400 for a year now and it’s a very nice outfit and not one I imagine I’ll part with in the foreseeable future.
 
A friend of mine recently bought the EM1 MK2 and Panny 100-400 new.

When he mounted the lens it sheared off some plastic from the camera body.

Needless to say he returned both body & lens.

Apparently there's a bad batch of these lenses still for sale and certain resellers are aware.

Be careful if you go the same route.
 
I believe the main benefit of staying with the same brand for lens and body is you get better dual stabilization.
 
nandbytes said:
I believe the main benefit of staying with the same brand for lens and body is you get better dual stabilization.
Click to expand...
That certainly seems the case with this combination. Here are some samples, all of which are tight crops...

Panasonic G9 8GB 06 P1010158.JPG

Panasonic G9 8GB 06 P1010654.JPG

Panasonic G9 8GB 06 P1011130.JPG
 
GreenNinja67 said:
A friend of mine recently bought the EM1 MK2 and Panny 100-400 new.

When he mounted the lens it sheared off some plastic from the camera body.

Needless to say he returned both body & lens.

Apparently there's a bad batch of these lenses still for sale and certain resellers are aware.

Be careful if you go the same route.
Click to expand...
I've heard of issues with the 100-400mm too and I don't know how you know which is the bad batch tbh. However, I've not heard of plastic shearing off, I wasn't aware there was any plastic on the lens mount.

I bought mine before I heard of these issues but it's been fine, from reading the latter ones should all be fine but how you know which is which I don't know as I said. I do know that the lens is a bit 'stiff' on the lens mount, but this is because the rubber gasket is thicker than other lenses and doesn't cause any harm. TBH I had an Olly 45mm that was even stiffer.

OP I don't know enough about Panny bodies to comment, all I know is that I have the EM1-II and Panny 100-400mm combo and it works absolutely fine. I'm really happy with the results and IQ is every bit as good as my D850 with Tamron 150-600mm combo.

I'm a big fan of the Olympus OMD bodies, I like the controls and ergonomics, and build quality is top notch. I've never used the G9 to compare it though.
 
nandbytes said:
I believe the main benefit of staying with the same brand for lens and body is you get better dual stabilization.
Click to expand...

They're all MFT bodies and lenses but if looking at a specific Panasonic lens I think it'd very probably be best to mount it on a Panasonic body if only for this one reason.
 
I’ve had both the E-M1 mkII and the G9 and the 100-400 Panny. Both are excellent camera’s but you really get stellar images when you combine it with the G9, it just performs so well and the balance on the slightly bigger camera is excellent.
 
Hi

Thanks for all the replies, I think I’m siding with the G9. Just need to figure out the macro and walkabout lenses.

Cheers

Andy
 
The 12-35mm f2.8 is excellent if you like zooms. I mostly prefer primes and have three Oly's, 17, 25 and 45mm f1.8's all bought used, and very reasonably priced :D I use a film era manual focus Sigma 50mm f2.8 with a cheap adapter for close up. I Think I paid £60 for it and about £10 for the adapter.
 
Gandalf said:
I’ve had both the E-M1 mkII and the G9 and the 100-400 Panny. Both are excellent camera’s but you really get stellar images when you combine it with the G9, it just performs so well and the balance on the slightly bigger camera is excellent.
Click to expand...
Is there a reason why you believe you get better images with the G9 vs the EM1-II?
 
@snerkler. Toby I think what I meant to say was that with the dual IS that the Panasonic offers it enables you to have extra options. Pictures from both systems are good but IMO when pairing the like for like they offered a better option to take the images I was after.
 
OP Maybe this helps?

Screenshot 2019-06-15 at 08.02.20.png
 
Gandalf said:
@snerkler. Toby I think what I meant to say was that with the dual IS that the Panasonic offers it enables you to have extra options. Pictures from both systems are good but IMO when pairing the like for like they offered a better option to take the images I was after.
Click to expand...
I cna see dual IS being a good feature tbh and certainly something to consider. That being said, the Olly IBIS is the best in the business so it's not a bad compromise.

I think it's a tough decision between the two and will ultimately come down to preference. I think it's important to get hands on and decide which you prefer rather than choosing a body based on one lens.
 
For me decision is rather straight forward. OP wants to buy long lenses to shoot birds and looking at his Flickr probably motor sports too. As far as tracking goes E-M1ii is better thanks to its PDAF. So I'd go with that.
 
snerkler said:
I don't know enough about Panny bodies to comment, all I know is that I have the EM1-II and Panny 100-400mm combo and it works absolutely fine. I'm really happy with the results and IQ is every bit as good as my D850 with Tamron 150-600mm combo.
Click to expand...

:thinking: interesting
 
nandbytes said:
For me decision is rather straight forward. OP wants to buy long lenses to shoot birds and looking at his Flickr probably motor sports too. As far as tracking goes E-M1ii is better thanks to its PDAF. So I'd go with that.
Click to expand...

There's bird shooters on here producing excellent results with the PL 100-400 on the Panasonic G80, let alone the G9 that has better AF. It should have no problems shooting BIF. I would imagine the beefier body would be of some benefit here with the larger lens too.

I was choosing between these 2 cameras not long ago, I would have been happy with either - I don't do BIF but I do take advantage of IBIS a lot and these 2 have the best on the market. I would veer toward the G9 because I prefer Panasonic's overall layout and ergonomics. The EVF on the G9 is one of the best too, outside of the S1R
 
After owning the Oly mk11 and then the G9 my money would go on the Oly mk11, with AFS not a lot in it but with AFC the Olympus has the edge.
A word of warning though some Olympus bodies and 100-400 still don't have a perfect fit so buy from someone who will exchange one or the other if its a problem or try before you buy.
 
dcash29 said:
That your opinion on the IQ when comparing the EM1mk2 & Nikon 850 is in good light or close up?
Click to expand...
I would never say the Em1-II IQ is as good as the D850, but the combo of the EM1-II and 100-400mm is as good (imo) if not slightly better than the D850 and 150-600mm combo. Whilst I rated the 150-600mm highly I think the 100-400mm is better.
Here's probably the best comparison I have of my shots, exposures are pretty close (by the time you equate the differences in aperture)

P2272155 by TDG-77, on Flickr

DSC_7971 by TDG-77, on Flickr
 
WEX have the G9 with 12-60 f2.8-f4 and free grip for £1549 inc cashback. Can't be bad. Cheapest on eBay (grey) with 10% offer is £1485 and no grip.
 
dcash29 said:
Fair enough, I'll take it as a typo (y)
Click to expand...
Not sure why it was a typo, doesn't my original post state the combo and not a comparison of the D850 vs EM1-II, or am I missing something (as usual ;))? :confused:
 
snerkler said:
I would never say the Em1-II IQ is as good as the D850, but the combo of the EM1-II and 100-400mm is as good (imo) if not slightly better than the D850 and 150-600mm combo. Whilst I rated the 150-600mm highly I think the 100-400mm is better.
Here's probably the best comparison I have of my shots, exposures are pretty close (by the time you equate the differences in aperture)

P2272155 by TDG-77, on Flickr

DSC_7971 by TDG-77, on Flickr
Click to expand...

Had to check the data on both to see which was which, that's a good sign for the Oly + Pany 100-400 combo right there
 
Cagey75 said:
Had to check the data on both to see which was which, that's a good sign for the Oly + Pany 100-400 combo right there
Click to expand...
Agreed, if you have to do that it shows there's not much in it. Surprisingly there's still not much in it at 1:1 on the Olly and the D850 file 'zoomed' to the same amount.
 
snerkler said:
Not sure why it was a typo, doesn't my original post state the combo and not a comparison of the D850 vs EM1-II, or am I missing something (as usual ;))? :confused:
Click to expand...
I don't think there's anything in it. You did say "IQ is every bit as good as my D850 with Tamron 150-600mm combo" and it's been taken as you saying the em1-11 IQ is every bit as good as your d850
 
If there is no difference in photo quality the Panasonic UI would and has swayed me in their direction.
 
snerkler said:
I would never say the Em1-II IQ is as good as the D850, but the combo of the EM1-II and 100-400mm is as good (imo) if not slightly better than the D850 and 150-600mm combo. Whilst I rated the 150-600mm highly I think the 100-400mm is better.
Here's probably the best comparison I have of my shots, exposures are pretty close (by the time you equate the differences in aperture)

P2272155 by TDG-77, on Flickr

DSC_7971 by TDG-77, on Flickr
Click to expand...


How would you say the two combinations compare if you pixel peep?
 
jerry12953 said:
How would you say the two combinations compare if you pixel peep?
Click to expand...
It's a difficult comparison that as the D850 is 45.7mp vs 20mp of the EM1 therefore you're not getting similar images/perspective when both at 1:1. As I mentioned before if I look at the EM1-II image at 1:1 and the D850 'zoomed' to the same level the difference is minimal IIRC. I'll try and find the original images and take some crop images.
 
It's amazing enough for the M43 sensor that we're talking extreme pixel peeping. I love that :) I don't use M43 atm, but I still really appreciate the system and would never rule out giving it another go. I think people who dismiss it have simply never actually tried it. There's b****r all between the G9 say, and the XH1 I have - there's advantages to both, I switched back to Fuji just to scratch an itch to be Frank, I needed to do it! But I would have been just as happy with a G9. They're very comparable cameras in every way - build, evf, controls [the G9 winning here tbh] and IBIS [the H1 is actually better than I thought it might be] - on the lens side, the G9 probably wins again, at least for the more budget conscious photographer like myself. Any of the lenses I really want for the Fuji are very expensive so I am adapting Canon glass, though I was doing this toward the end with my G80 too. I just like having more options. I do have the Fuji 35mm F2, but that cost me over double the price of the Panasonic 25mm 1.7 and I would say that is every nit as good - only it's not weather sealed or made of metal. Optically it is though
 
Last edited:
The thing that makes MFT a very difficult system to leave is the lenses which are good and small and can be found at reasonable prices on the used market. Actually the only new lens I have is my 14-42mm mega ois and all of my others were bought used.

A RF style MFT body plus 17 and 45mm f1.8's is a very compact a light little system but capable of image quality that is better than anything I got from film and can compete with FF digital in all be the most exacting pixel peeping and DR/ISO situations.
 
woof woof said:
The thing that makes MFT a very difficult system to leave is the lenses which are good and small and can be found at reasonable prices on the used market. Actually the only new lens I have is my 14-42mm mega ois and all of my others were bought used.

A RF style MFT body plus 17 and 45mm f1.8's is a very compact a light little system but capable of image quality that is better than anything I got from film and can compete with FF digital in all be the most exacting pixel peeping and DR/ISO situations.
Click to expand...

I thought I wanted FF again when I was deciding to make a switch, but if I'm honest with myself I don't need it in any way. The only reason for me to get a FF camera would be for the ISO performance, and I tend to stay on the lower side of that either way. What I loved about M43 was the extra DOF you got at wider aperture, the opposite of what most want maybe. But for macro or even garden wildlife, shooting wide open with whatever lens allows you that bit more depth to keep things in check. If you want 'bokeh' you can easily achieve it too, you just need to get that bit closer
 
Just on that DOF issue. A lot of portraits and I suppose pictures in general seem to have less DoF than I'd be happy with. For example portraits of people where it's clearly visible even in a relatively small picture posted here that one eye is clearly out of focus on my lap top screen. This is obviously a personal preference thing but a lot of the time I'd be looking to get the head in the DOF but some people seem to think that they have to use an f1.4 lens at f1.4 all the time and if they feel like that then good luck to them but there are times when even with a half body shot with FF I'd want to be stepping down past f5.6 to get enough DoF and at f5.6 to f8 you can get that DoF from a MFT zoom never mind a prime.

MFT DoF is IMO a non issue a lot of the time.

But that's just me :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top