Panasonic Lumix DC-S9KE-K Full Frame Mirrorless Open Gate Vlogging Camera, 24.2MP, 6K /4K Video, 779 Point PDAF, Image Stabilisation, Free-Angle Screen, 5Ghz WiFi, Black, 20-60mm (x3 Zoom) Lens

Up until using the Lumix S9, using a Panasonic camera was a new experience for me. Being a photographer for 14 years, I've been fortunate to use a range of Nikon, Canon and Sony cameras. Thankfully, using this camera was a new and refreshing experience for me! First off, this camera won't be for everyone. One of the most obvious differences compared to conventional full frames is the lack of a viewfinder. This was a learning curve for me, as I'm always used to instinctively looking through a viewfinder before I click the shutter button! That means the screen is your only means of viewing the frame as you capture what's in front of you. When taking pictures, I'm used to also seeing the exposure straight away before pressing the shutter on my Sony A7iii. Straight out the box, the Lumix S9 does not have that feature (though, you're able to turn this on in the menu, under the constant preview option) The dials can also be a tad cumbersome to change the settings. Unlike most cameras, the Lumix S9 only has one dial on the top of the camera which changes the aperture. The dial on the front of the camera is used to change the shutter speed. In order to change the iso, I've been having to go directly into the menu to change it. I feel like one more dial would've been a lot more efficient. So naturally, this isn't great for event photography and shooting on the fly. Notably, there is also a lack of a grip on the side of the camera, which can also make it difficult to handle. I remedied this by purchasing an external screw-on grip in order to better handle the camera. There are a lot of design features of this camera that would probably stop it from being any working photographers main camera body. Thankfully, I don't think this camera is specifically aimed at the traditional working photographer. Now on to the positives: personally, I love how small and discreet this camera is. I'm easily able to take images and record video in public a lot more discreetly than with my primary full-frame mirrorless. The shutter is fully electronic, meaning it's a lot more silent than traditional full-frame cameras ( though at times, this electronic shutter does create more banding when shooting with indoor lighting) The image quality in general is also superb! sporting 24.2 megapixels, images come out very crisp and can be a joy to shoot in a lot of the scenarios I've tested it with. Face detection and auto focus on this camera is also incredibly intuitive! I've had no issue using intelligent auto mode and have captured some fantastic looking footage using this setting! Shooting up to 6k on such a small camera is also amazing to me! Again, I was able to record some video at a show I was at and was amazed at the quality One of the bigger features of this camera seems to be the LUT functionality. I was able to use some of the sample LUTs on the camera and also download a few from the Lumix app and the results were great! I can honestly see this camera being used for the newer breed of photographers more focused on producing content for social media. I was able to easily take a photo from the app and upload it to social media within a matter of seconds. The open gate feature is also great for capturing both horizontal and vertical content! The quality of this feature is also impeccable. For that reason, I'm interested in seeing what else this camera can offer! I'm already looking into a better lens choice that would suit my needs better! ( the 20-60mm kit lens that comes with the camera serves its purpose, but I'm in need of a zoom lens that offers more of a fixed aperture) So all in all, if you're looking for a more discreet choice of camera to help grab bespoke content for social media or content creation, I truly think you could benefit from this camera! I'll definitely continue to experiment with the Panasonic equipment to see what L-mount lenses I can pair with the camera!

The first thing to notice about this camera is there is no viewfinder, it has a fold out screen so gauging the shot is similar to a Phone camera. While that is fine indoors when in bright sunlight the screen, and judging focus, is a tad more difficult. Having said that it is still a remarkably easy camera to use in practice. All the control of a DSLR camera rate present, the only other things missing are a grip to hold it by, and a means of connecting a flash. Using it is a delight though. There is a 20-60mm lens included in the box which is very responsive and a good starting point. It does need an SD card for storage. It takes video and this can be achieved by the flick of a button. There is a downloadable Lab app accessible via a QR code which enables photos and video to be uploaded to a phone where they are editable. I don’t know if it’s a fault of the camera or the app software but I had a number of difficulties making a connection between the two. The first time I paired it to bluetooth and then wifi it worked fine. The next time the wheel turned and turned and then said connection failed. It was nothing to do with my home wifi as that had a very strong signal. Then, when it did connect, it wouldn’t let me transfer more than one picture at a time. There is the option to transfer multiple pictures but in reality it couldn’t. I think it’s something they need to investigate. Apart from these little quirks it is a brilliant camera, with some teething troubles. It has a 24mp camera that is very sharp. With the large lens it’s quite heavy but the strap more than compensates for that. I haven’t used it enough yet to really get used to it but so far it’s a very pleasing camera. For social media use it’s a lot better than a phone, and with the inclusion of video it’s ideal.

First off, I'm in no way a professional photographer, just a keen amateur, so I can't give you a great break down of the specs. I grew up in the age of film cameras, then moved on to some disappointing early digital cameras, then a very good Sony camera, but I'm pleased to see things have moved on. This is a really good, compact camera. It comes with the 20-60mm lens, and 3x zoom. You will need your own SD card for storage, but you can upload footage directly from the camera and edit it online. As other reviewers have mentioned, there isn't a viewfinder. Instead, there is a fold out screen. Personally, I prefer this set up, although the screen can be a bit hard to see in bright sunlight. The camera takes sharp images with its 24.2 mega pixels, but that does seem to rob the picture of some of the warmth and softness you get with fewer pixels. It depends on what you are photographing and whether you want to enlarge or zoom in. For close up photos, sometimes, your phone camera is still the better option! But this camera is also built with video in mind. It has a good battery life, so you can get up to about an hour of video footage and then upload it straight to the LUMIX Lab app for editing. Excellent if you post to social media a lot or like to travel. As I said early on, it's compact, but it's also lightweight at under 500g. With regular filming in mind, the camera would benefit from a grip. But overall, you get a lot here in a small package. On a small extra note, you can also get this camera in red, green, or blue colour ways.

This product was sent to me for review, as part of Amazon Vine. The below is my own real-world experience of using it. For total clarity, I do have some experience with using cameras/equipment, being an avid hobbyist wildlife photographer/videographer, but the Panasonic ecosystem is completely new to me (I usually use a traditional Canon DSLR), so my review will be very much from a novice angle, in that respect. I also have never used or owned a mirrorless camera. In terms of build-quality, every component is designed and finished to a high standard. Once the camera and lens are put together, the whole unit looks sleek. I did have mixed feelings about how ergonomic the body was, however - the housing is somewhat 'grippy', but the lack of a handle/other protrusion makes me concerned about keeping hold of the camera during use - I certainly wouldn't want to drop and break it. Thankfully, there are already third-party accessories available which remedy this problem (I was fortunate enough to also receive a compatible half-leather case that has a handle built-in). Though the set is quite comprehensive (you are getting the body, 20-60mm lens, and battery), I was a little perplexed by the lack of a traditional battery charger, or charging cable. I was actually unaware that the camera supports in-body charging via USB-C. The upside of that, of course, is that you could use a power bank for charging on the go, though you will still need to supply your own cable. Setting up the device doesn't take too much time. There are some teething issues with communication between it and Lumix Lab, though - I have had to delete and re-add the camera at least once, because the communication failed. Some of the error messages were (at the time of writing) in Japanese. I have spent some time trying to familiarise myself with all of the other functions and features offered, which is no mean feat, as the camera has a plethora of them. Rather than regurgitate the item's description, I would like to highlight some of the ones I liked/found interesting: It is possible to create high-resolution images within the camera, using image stacking - I personally thought that that was very clever. I don't generally like to spend lots of time using editing software, so having the option to do it in such a convenient way was surprising. You can activate 'night mode' on the rear screen, to prevent light bleed in situations where it might not be helpful (eg. for astrophotography). A standout one for me personally is the 'constant preview' option, which allows you to experiment with ISO settings in different environments. I am neurodivergent, so can find it difficult to remember which ISO is appropriate for the amount of natural light available - being able to see the picture's likely exposure in real-time is so helpful. As previously mentioned, it is possible to transfer pictures from the camera to your phone, via Lumix Lab. When it works correctly, the transfer speed is great - a handful of photos tends to only take a couple of minutes, at most. Moving away from the features, to the actual photo quality, I would say that I have been happy with my results, so far - the pictures are sharp, and have lots of detail. I was a little disappointed to discover that the 20-60mm lens does not have Image Stabilisation built-in, therefore making it impossible to avail of the dual-IS that using both the body, and a compatible lens, would provide. It seems that you would have to purchase a much more expensive lens, to take advantage of it, which is a shame. You do still get In-Body IS at 5 stops, of course. The next part of my review will be optional for some, but I thought it was worth including, in the event that others might want to use the camera for similar reasons. As I generally use my Canon 400mm prime lens for bird photography, I was hoping to transfer its use to the Lumix, which I was able to do with the Sigma MC-21 adapter. Technically, all of the gear works and communicates well, but it is a steep learning curve to move from a camera with a viewfinder, to one without, as that is pretty integral for making sure that your (sometimes very distant) subject is locked-on and in focus. I feel that it may take more time to become accustomed to that kind of setup, so I will come back and update my review, should there be anything significant to add. One thing I do find the camera brilliant for, when it comes to wildlife, is being able to turn all of the shutter noises and beeps off - you can photograph the most timid of creatures, silently. In summary, the Lumix S9 is a fantastic camera for a beginner, and is very much tailored to the video content creator, however, it is also an excellent workhorse for photography. I intend to keep on using it, and hope to master it, one day, but for now, I will say that it is highly recommended.

This is a good camera and deserved a long review. If you don’t want all of it, I’m starting with a TLDR The Panasonic Lumix S9 is a compact full-frame mirrorless camera that I think is ideal for social media content creators. It prioritizes portability and fast sharing over features like a viewfinder. The longer review The Panasonic Lumix S9 is a compact full frame sensor mirrorless camera; though it goes beyond being mirrorless to get so small it is also shutterless, has no headphone jack, viewfinder or flash / microphone Hotshoe. (It does have a cold shoe you can attach a microphone or light too though.) Putting aside what it doesn’t do; it is tiny for what it can do. The S9 measures in at 73.9 x 126 x 46.7 mm and weighing a mere 486g. My camera came with the 20-60mm kit lens. The lens adds significantly to the size and weight measuring in at 77.4 x 77.4 x 87.2mm, Weight: 350g. The tiny camera can shoot 6k video using the full sensor; as well as 4k 60 422 10bit - all using relatively cheap UHS-ii SD card slot (there is a single slot by the battery.) The small size makes carrying the camera require a bit if thought. It’s a camera that I used a shoulder strap with rather than carry it around by the grip – as there isn’t a grip. I found I repeatedly hit the video record button hand holding and carrying the camera. There is a good thumb rest on the back; it could do with a grip on the front to give a more positive hold. There are third party accessories that add a grip if you want one. The shutter button has a nice positive half press and full press action; and the camera makes a shutter sound out of the speaker. With the Lab app on your phone the camera will be excellent for people who want to shoot video or shoot stills and want to upload to share it with the world as quickly as possible. It won’t be as quick as doing it from your phone directly, but the quality of the video will be higher; and if you can wait to download the video later you can use very high quality 4k recording modes; or shoot with the entire sensor to crop to landscape or portrait later. You can still use the Lumix Link app to remote control the camera if required. Using the Lab app, you can shoot photos and video load it onto a phone or tablet via WIFI and send it onto your social media site in under a minute. There are a lot of LUTS available to download at no extra charge; and you can load 30 onto the camera – though switching between and managing them could do with some polish. The small size has resulted in some limited record times for video. This likely won’t impact many content makers – whether you want it for shooting family or are a travel vlogger then 15 minutes of high quality 4k video isn’t going to be a big issue. It also has a good timelapse feature to give you extra content options. If you do need longer recording; you can in most circumstances immediately start recording again. The video record time is limited in all modes; you can shoot 10 minutes at 6k, 15 minutes at 4k and 20 minutes at 1080p. The manual makes it clear it’s about the temperature of the camera; and if it does get to hot it will stop recording sooner. The full frame sensor and image stabilisation are from the S5ii and remain excellent in the S9. You can for shooting stable video and stills with good dynamic range for editing later; or apply live LUTs to get the look in camera. With the electronic stabilisation you will need to be running before it stops looking like you had a gimbal. I can hand hold still photos to about 1s and they still look sharp. Using luts on the camera in association with the lab app you can shoot high resolution (it’s almost 4k in a mode labelled MP4Lite.) You can access higher resolution video if you are going to load it onto a computer or tablet via the USB socket or a card reader for editing later. The camera uses the L Mount system which Panasonic shares with Leica and Sigma. If you have DSLR Lenses, you can likely get an adaptor for them. There are lots of lens available to suit all budgets. The included Kit lens is good lens to start with though; you can get background blur when shooting; and it does a passable macro thanks to its 15cm close focusing and .43x magnification. The aperture does vary over the range from 3.5- 5.6; this is something to watch when shooting video as a larger aperture will darken the image whilst recording video. The pack includes a plastic petal lens hood to help control light going into the lens. I struggled to get the lens to flare even in bright morning sun though. The battery life is good for a camera without a viewfinder. It uses the same DMW-BLK22, as its S5ii and GH9 ii cousins. On the S9 the battery will take hundreds of photos or about an hour video. The screen is a weak point in bright sunlight. You can read menus easily; but seeing what you are shooting can require a hand to provide some shade. The screen does twist and fold out from the camera so you can use it to vlog with; the 20mm of the kit lens may be wide enough for you to start with. The menus themselves are Panasonics standard interface which is VERY easy to use. The two scroll wheels make it easy to navigate through it; and you can save your favourite settings to a custom menu. The screen and wheels make it easy to set recording levels ahead of shooting video but in bright sun it’s hard to see them on screen during shooting. Auto levelling did a good job at stopping audio clipping though. The built-in microphones are ok for ambient sounds, but you will want an external microphone to record a voice. The lack of headphone socket makes monitoring audio difficult but you can get microphones with monitoring ports that will solve that problem. Overall, I can see it being a challenging product to some as it goes against the status quo. Its compact size makes it portable; the high-quality sensor and software have resulted in a camera built to make sharing content easy.