Panasonic G9 II Review
The first LUMIX G body with phase-detect autofocus. For anyone who liked Micro Four Thirds but kept losing focus to it, that one line changes the argument.
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The Verdict
Panasonic spent a decade defending Depth From Defocus, a contrast-based system that measured distance by comparing how out of focus two frames were. It was clever and it was fast at standing still, and it was the reason people bought Sony instead. The G9 II is the first camera in the LUMIX G series to put phase-detect pixels on the sensor. Panasonic still runs DFD alongside it — the specification lists both — but the camera is no longer guessing.
Around that sit the numbers that have always made this line interesting. Body stabilisation is rated at 8.0 stops to CIPA, and 7.5 stops in Dual I.S. 2 with a stabilised lens at a 280mm equivalent. The electronic shutter runs 60 fps with continuous autofocus, and 75 fps if you fix focus on the first frame; both have a pre-burst mode that keeps frames from before you finished pressing the button. Two SD slots, both UHS-II, both V90.
The trade is the one Micro Four Thirds has always asked for. The sensor is 17.3 × 13.0 mm, a quarter the area of full frame, and 25.21 effective megapixels. Base ISO tops out at 25600. You buy this format for reach, for stabilisation, and for lenses that weigh what the body does — not for low light.
- Overall
- 8.6/10
- Image quality
- 7.8
- Autofocus
- 8.2
- Video
- 9.0
- Speed
- 9.2
- Handling and build
- 9.0
| Announced | 12 September 2023 |
|---|---|
| Sensor | Live MOS, Micro Four Thirds (17.3 × 13.0 mm), with anti-reflection coating |
| Resolution | 25.21 megapixels effective; 26.52 megapixels total |
| Autofocus | Phase detection plus contrast detection, with DFD technology — the first phase-detect AF in the LUMIX G series |
| AF areas | Tracking, Full Area, Zone (horizontal/vertical), Zone, 1-Area+, 1-Area, Pinpoint |
| Subject detection | Human, animal, car, motorcycle, train and aeroplane; unavailable in Pinpoint |
| AF working range | EV −4 to 18 (f/2.0, ISO 100 equivalent, AFS) |
| Stabilisation | 5-axis body I.S. rated 8.0 stops to CIPA; Dual I.S. 2 rated 7.5 stops at a 280mm equivalent |
| Burst, mechanical | 14 fps with focus fixed; 10 fps with continuous AF; 6 fps and 2 fps below |
| Burst, electronic | SH75 at 75 fps with focus fixed; SH60 at 60 fps and SH20 at 20 fps with continuous AF; each also in a pre-burst variant |
| Shutter | Mechanical 1/8,000–60s, bulb to 30 minutes; electronic front curtain 1/2,000–60s; electronic 1/32,000–60s, bulb to 60s |
| ISO | 100–25600, extendable to 50; in V-Log, 500–12800 extendable to 125 |
| Video | ProRes 5.7K 5,728 × 3,024 (17:9) at 59.94Hz; 4K 3,840 × 2,160 to 119.88p at 300 Mbps 10-bit; 4K 59.94p to 800 Mbps 4:2:2 10-bit ALL-Intra |
| External recording | USB-SSD recording supported; an AC adaptor and DC coupler are required for some modes |
| Viewfinder | OLED, approx. 3.68M dots, approx. 100% coverage, 0.8x in 35mm terms with a 50mm lens at infinity |
| Rear screen | Free-angle 3.0-inch TFT touchscreen, 3:2, approx. 1.84M dots |
| Storage | Two slots, SD / SDHC / SDXC, UHS-I and UHS-II, Video Speed Class 90 |
| Battery | DMW-BLK22, 7.2V 2,200 mAh 16Wh — approx. 370 shots to CIPA, approx. 1,300 in Power Save LVF mode |
| Weather sealing | Dust and splash resistant |
| Dimensions | 134.3 × 102.3 × 90.1 mm, body only, excluding protrusions |
| Weight | Approx. 658 g with battery, hot shoe cover and one SD card |
Maker-published figures, with source and date: Numbers & Sources below.
What Stands Out
- Phase-detect autofocus, finally, with subject detection down to trains and aeroplanes
- 8.0 stops of body stabilisation to CIPA, 7.5 in Dual I.S. 2 at a 280mm equivalent
- 60 fps with continuous AF, and pre-burst modes that keep the frames before the press
- Two UHS-II V90 slots, so backup or overflow is a setting rather than a compromise
- ProRes at 5.7K and 4K to 119.88p in a stills-shaped body
Trade-offs
- A 17.3 × 13.0 mm sensor is a quarter the area of full frame — that is the whole low-light story
- Base ISO stops at 25600, and at 50 the range is extended rather than native
- 25.21 megapixels leaves less room to crop than the 40MP APS-C bodies
- ProRes and the longest 4K modes lean on an external SSD, with an adaptor needed for some
- 370 frames to CIPA on the standard setting is a two-battery day
In Depth
Why phase detection is the whole headline
Depth From Defocus worked by comparing consecutive frames against a stored profile of how a given lens blurs, then computing where focus should go. On a static subject it was quick. On a subject moving toward the camera it had to keep re-measuring, and the visible symptom was a small back-and-forth hunt at the moment of capture. Phase detection reads direction and distance from the sensor itself, in one step. Panasonic lists both systems on the G9 II, so DFD has not been thrown away — but the part that used to fail now has a mechanism that does not work that way.
Read the burst table before you quote 75 fps
Three electronic-shutter speeds matter here and they are not interchangeable. SH75 runs 75 frames per second with autofocus and exposure set on the first frame. SH60 runs 60 fps and keeps continuous autofocus. SH20 runs 20 fps, also with continuous AF. Each has a pre-burst variant that buffers frames from before the shutter was fully pressed. If you are photographing something unpredictable, 60 fps with AF is the number that describes the camera; 75 fps describes a single focus decision repeated 75 times.
Eight stops, and what the asterisk says
Panasonic rates body stabilisation at 8.0 stops to the CIPA standard, measured on yaw and pitch at a 120mm equivalent with the 12-60mm f/2.8-4. Dual I.S. 2, which combines body and lens, is rated 7.5 stops — measured at a 280mm equivalent with the 14-140mm. The second number being lower is not a contradiction: it is a harder test at a longer focal length. Both are laboratory figures on specified lenses, which is what CIPA ratings always are.
A video camera that is shaped like a stills camera
ProRes at 5.7K, 4K to 119.88p, and 4K 59.94p at 800 Mbps in 4:2:2 10-bit ALL-Intra are GH-series numbers in a G-series body. The practical differences are the shape and the recording target: the G9 II has a stills grip and a stills layout, and the heaviest modes expect an external USB-SSD, with an AC adaptor and DC coupler listed as required for some of them. It is a capable hybrid that was designed from the stills end, which is the opposite of how the GH7 was designed.
What the format still costs
Every advantage here is bought with sensor area. 17.3 × 13.0 mm is roughly a quarter of a full frame, and no amount of processing changes what that means for noise at high ISO. The base range ends at 25600; the 50 setting below 100 is extended, not native. In exchange you get a 280mm-equivalent reach from a 140mm lens, stabilisation figures full-frame bodies do not reach, and a kit that fits in a bag you would actually carry. That has always been the Micro Four Thirds bargain, and the G9 II does not change its terms — it just removes the autofocus asterisk.
The numbers, and where they come from
Published by the maker
| Sensor size (maker's figure) | 17.3 x 13 mm |
|---|---|
| Effective pixels | 25.21 MP |
| Pixel dimensions (4:3) | 5,776 x 4,336 |
| Native ISO range | ISO 100–25,600 |
| Continuous shooting | 75 fps (electronic shutter, SH75 mode, focus fixed (AFS/MF)) |
| Buffer (RAW) | 200 frames (RAW in SH burst mode) |
| Battery (CIPA) | 390 shots |
| Weight with battery and card | 658 g |
| Viewfinder resolution | 3.68 million dots |
Maker figures checked on 26 Sept 2026 — maker's spec sheet. Continuous shooting, in the maker's words: Electronic shutter SH75: 75 frames/sec (AFS/MF). Number of recordable images, SH RAW / RAW+JPEG / JPEG: 200 images
Computed from those figures
| Pixel pitch | 3 µm |
|---|---|
| Sensor area | 225 mm² |
| Format factor | 2x |
| Light gathered vs 35mm | −1.9 stops |
| Print at 300 dpi | 49 cm |
| Diffraction limit | f/4.5 |
Computed from the figures above. Pixel pitch = sensor width / pixel count across. Light gathered = log2 of the area ratio to 36 x 24 mm. Diffraction limit = the aperture at which the Airy disc diameter (2.44 x lambda x N, lambda = 550 nm) reaches two pixel pitches. Other calculators use other thresholds and so quote other numbers.
How this score is put together
8.6 out of 10
- Image quality Weight 25% 7.8
25.2MP Four Thirds sensor
- Autofocus Weight 20% 8.2
phase detect plus DFD, first PDAF in the G line
- Video Weight 20% 9.0
5.7K ProRes and 4K120 internal
- Speed Weight 15% 9.2
60 fps with AF, 75 fps locked
- Handling and build Weight 20% 9.0
8-stop IBIS, twin SD, full-size HDMI
Scored against Micro Four Thirds cameras. The overall figure is the weighted mean of the rows above — it is computed, not set by hand.
How It Compares
| Spec | Panasonic G9 II | Panasonic GH7 | OM System OM-1 Mark II |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sensor | 25.2MP MFT | 25.2MP MFT | 20MP MFT Stacked |
| Video | ProRes 5.7K / 4K120 | 5.8K30 | 4K60 |
| AF Points | Phase detect + DFD | 779 points | 1053 points |
| Burst | 60 fps with AF (75 fps fixed) | 14 fps | 120 fps |
| IBIS | 8.0 stops | 7.5 stops | 8.5 stops |
| Buy | Check price at Amazon | Check price at Amazon | Check price at Amazon |
Recommended Accessories
Essential gear to maximize your Panasonic G9 II experience:
ProGrade Digital SDXC UHS-II V90 256 GB
Both slots take V90, and the 800 Mbps ALL-Intra modes need the headroom.
Peak Design Slide Lite
658 g plus a long zoom is a strap decision, not an afterthought.
Peak Design Everyday Sling 6L
The point of the format is that body and two lenses fit something this size.
K&F Sensor Swabs
Changing lenses outdoors is the whole use case, so the sensor will need it.
More gear guides: Best TripodsBest Camera BagsBest SD Cards
FAQ
Is the autofocus actually fixed now?
The mechanism has changed, which is the part that can be stated from the specification: the G9 II is the first LUMIX G body with phase-detect pixels on the sensor, and Panasonic runs contrast detection and DFD alongside them. Phase detection reads focus direction and distance in one measurement rather than inferring it from successive frames, so the specific failure people complained about — hunting on a subject moving toward the camera — no longer has the same cause.
G9 II or GH7?
Same sensor resolution, different design intent. The GH7 is built around video, with Open Gate up to 5.8K and ProRes RAW. The G9 II is a stills body that happens to record ProRes 5.7K and 4K at 119.88p, and it carries the higher stabilisation rating of the two at 8.0 stops against 7.5. Choose by which half of your work is the demanding half.
How good is it in low light?
The base sensitivity range ends at 25600, with 50 available as an extended setting below 100. The governing fact is sensor area: 17.3 × 13.0 mm is about a quarter of a full frame, so a full-frame body at the same ISO collects considerably more light. If most of your work is indoors or after dark, the format is working against you regardless of what the processing does.
Does it need an external SSD for video?
Not for everything. Both SD slots take UHS-II V90 cards, which covers a great deal of what the camera records. Panasonic lists USB-SSD recording for the heavier modes, and notes that an AC adaptor and DC coupler are required for some of them. Check the mode you intend to use against the specification before assuming a card will carry it.
