The Under Used G9 mkII
I have had the G9 mk2 for a few weeks now and have used it a grand total of three times.
Why?
There are a couple of things I guess that may have combined to make this so.
I did buy a new M43 camera, but I also bought some great glass……for my full frame kit.
The S5 held the mantle of most under used camera for the previous year, not becasue I did not like it, but because it was relegated to the role of video specialist and that meant sitting around waiting for decent projects. The G9II has become its stable mate, making the stable more powerful, but even more frustrating for it.
In full frame land, the two 7Artisan Spectrum lenses and the IRIX 150 are great and great fun to use.
The G9II has the same old glass I have had for a while now.
Boooooring.
:)
No, not really and good video AF is a revelation, but yeah, they are not new, so the excitement value of the kit overall is low.
The reality is, the G9II is an enabler, a powerhouse and an across the board upgrade, but it is also a known entity, something that does not excite as much as the new ground I am travelling with the S5 and cine lenses. If I were just interested in a stills camera, maybe another EM1x or the OM-1 would have been in the mix, but as a hybrid, there is no comparison.
This rig, just finished the other day may even out the field. The G9II provides the stabiliser, the lens adds the cinema look and fun, but the reality is with an AF lens the camera is empathically usable. Auto focus, white balance and exposure just work.
The full frame kit however has found new legs.
The best lens bargains were for the less established full frame L-Mount and these have been as amazing as they have been exiting. For under $2000au I have added three cinema lenses and for another $2000au three hybrid friendly Panasonic primes, basically making two kits.
A bargain, maybe even a fated windfall, but only in L-mount.
The other element I guess and we have looked at this above, is the relatively limited use I have for my serious video gear.
Lots of lenses, several cameras, loads of sound gear, lighting and “rigs”, but little real need on a day to day basis. There is no doubt this is the area that has replaced stills for me as a growth path, but motivation and time are thin.
Annoyingly, my excellent but limited G9 Mk1’s are getting the bulk of the video work, the run-n-gun stuff, they are the “earners”. The much better S5 and G9II are on the side line because I quite simply do not want to waste them for little jobs at the paper, where some 1080p, 422, 10 bit, LongGOP in Standard profile stuff is tons (actually sounds pretty good when I say it like that).
The G9II is going to do a lot of work, but I bought it for what I did not have* and that is where I will use it.
Its one serious job so far, documenting a Migrant Resource Centre art group, where I had a technical (technician!) issue and lost some files, but video lifts like the one above were plenty (1080/50p, 422, 10 bit, Flat profile). Truth be told, this is good enough for the paper and the G9II is not even trying. These files also confirmed the 12-60 Leica as a good match to the G9II.
The S5 will be the more serious cinema camera, the G9 mkI’s for less serious or B-roll etc and stills.
Well, that’s the plan anyway.
*AF, All-i, Stabilising