Should I Buy The LUMIX S9?
Introduction
I’ve always had an ‘A’ camera and a ‘B’ camera. The ‘A’ camera is like the all-round hybrid camera for professional video and photography work. For me it used to be the Canon 5D Mark III, then Canon R6, then the Fujifilm X-H2s, then back in 2023 I switched to LUMIX and the S5IIX… and now in 2025 my ‘A’ camera is the LUMIX S1II.
These ‘A’ cameras are quite easy to choose. You have a list of things you need them to do, you have a budget in mind and you go shopping.
The ‘B’ camera however is a different story. For me there is a far longer, more specific list for my ‘B’ camera than for my ‘A’ camera… I guess because the ‘B’ camera has to cover way more categories. It has to be small to carry round to capture my everyday life, it has to be a good match for my ‘A’ camera (as it acts as a backup for professional shoots with the ‘A’ camera), for me it has to have good battery life, be equally good at photography & video, and also it has to be fun to use to make me want to pick it up to shoot.
I’ve changed out my ‘B’ camera far more times than my ‘A’, but back in November 2024 I took a punt on the controversial LUMIX S9 as my ‘B’ camera and (spoiler alert) I couldn’t be happier that I did.
LUMIX s9 Announcement
When the LUMIX S9 was announced it was met with a lot of controversy. The f8 pancake it was released with didn’t help, people didn’t like the electronic shutter only, lack of a viewfinder or hot-shoe. Also in the beginning there was a record limit on 6K footage (but LUMIX quickly lifted that).
When I first heard about it, the LUMIX S5IIX was already my ‘A’ camera so I was definitely interested. The negativity online however put me off and I held off buying it. Watch this YouTube video I made explaining why I didn’t and then I did decide to buy the LUMIX S9…
Buying The Lumix S9
I guess I took a bit of a risk when buying this camera. I wasn’t 100% sold on it when I bought it but honestly I am so so so so so glad I did. The LUMIX S9 (with the SIGMA 45mm f2.8 lens attached) comes with me absolutely everywhere I go. It’s a true mini hybrid, the photographs are equally as good as the footage. Below are some of the reasons why I think this camera is incredible…
01. Full Frame
I love full-frame. I was 100% Fujifilm before moving to LUMIX and part of the reason I moved was because with Fujifilm I missed shooting with a full-frame camera. My S5IIX was full-frame and so the S9 also being full-frame tied in perfectly.
02. 6K Open Gate
I fell in love with shooting Open Gate and having a tiny everyday camera like the LUMIX S9 that can do that is incredible!
03. Image Stabilisation
The In-Body Image Stabilisation in the LUMIX S9 (like all recent LUMIX cameras) is just something else. I have only ever shot handheld, even when I shot with the BMPCC4K with no stabilisation. But having one of the best Image Stabilisations out there inside this little camera is perfection.
04. Battery Life
Even though the LUMIX S9 is LCD only, the battery life is insane. That’s cause it uses the same batteries as the other, bigger cameras in the line-up. Something that bothers me with Fujifilm is they insist on small batteries in their smaller cameras. Well here’s LUMIX with a full-frame mini beast, with a beast of a battery to match. Shooing all day I might just about use two batteries, no more.
05. V-Log Footage
I struggle to put into words how much I LOVE V-Log. I think it’s incredible to work with. In my experience it’s way better than C-Log3, better than S-Log, better than F-Log and on par with footage from a Blackmagic camera. I love working with it! Just make sure you find the right conversion LUT and you’re golden. Shooting V-Log on the S9 you have two native base ISOs 640 & 4000 which are both super clean!
06. LUT Feature
When I first bought my S5IIX I was sceptical about the new LUT feature. I put off trying it out until I got the LUMIX S9. Maybe the LUMIX LUT Library gave me the push I needed, but after a few weeks of testing I realised the LUMIX LUT feature is actually way more flexible (and maybe even more fun) than shooting with Fujifilm recipes. I got to designing my own LUTs which then made their way onto the LUMIX Lab App and now those LUTs are some of the most used on there, which is really cool. You can check out all of my LUMIX LUTs for yourself here…
https://www.rossandhisjpegs.com/luts
07. Compact Size
The best thing about the LUMIX S9 is the size. It’s so small. I carry it everywhere I go and barely even know it’s there… but it is, it’s always there when I need it. Just the perfect little powerhouse camera! I’ve had fun this year sticking some vintage lenses on it especially my M42 Carl Zeiss Flektogon 35mm f2.4 (see below)…
Downsides To The S9
The question I get messaged the most on Instagram is ‘should I buy a LUMIX S9?’ Obviously a lot of people are interested in this camera but are maybe unsure. As with any camera there are things it’s maybe not so good at. I’ve listed the main things below and my thoughts on them…
01. 6K Record Limit
When the LUMIX S9 was released there was a 6K record limit but they have now included an option in the menu to turn off the record limit. My S9 has never overheated or anything so no need to worry about that.
02. No Viewfinder
I was worried about this one also. The last camera I had without a viewfinder was the BMPCC4K. Honestly after a couple of days with the LUMIX S9 I didn’t even miss the viewfinder and now (months on) when shooting with my other cameras, I am actually shooting way more with the LCD and trusting my camera more. The only time not having a viewfinder has been a struggle is when focusing either really long, or wide vintage/manual focus lenses. The S9 allows you to zoom in and turn on focus peaking etc. which is great, but there has been a few times I missed having a viewfinder when manual focusing for sure.
03. No Hot-Shoe
This is a big one for people. For me who mainly only shoots outdoors in natural light, not so much. As the LUMIX S9 acts as my ‘B’ camera for professional work, anytime I need a flash I just use my ‘A’ camera. Would it be even better if the S9 had a hot-shoe, or even a built in pop-up flash? Yeah 100%.
04. Lenses
I was worried about the lack of small lenses for this camera but I took a punt on SIGMA 45mm f2.8 and boy I’m so glad I did. It’s an incredible little lens and it rarely comes off my S9. I bought it solely for the S9 but I love it so much it now even makes its way to my ‘A’ camera one in a blue moon. There’s also a new LUMIX 18-40mm f4.5-6.3 which is tiny. I haven’t used it myself but it’s out there.
05. Moire
If LUMIX cameras had an achilles heel, it would be moire. No denying it, it’s present and there’s not much you can do to shake it. I only notice it when shooting weddings in like a guest’s suit or tie or whatever but it’s definitely there.
06. Electronic Shutter Only
I thought this may be an issue for me but it absolutely hasn’t been. I don’t shoot anything really I guess where that would be an issue. I’ve shot a little bit indoors with this camera and the strobing of the lights has never been horrendous. If you mainly shoot indoors or you need a camera with a flash then maybe there are other options?
Conclusion
All in all I absolutely LOVE my little LUMIX S9 and I’m excited to see if LUMIX take this camera any further with an S9II or something in the future.
Name another full-frame camera, under £1000, that you can load your own LUTs into, that’s small, lightweight, can shoot LOG, 6K Open Gate, with great Image Stabilisation, battery life and overall bangin’ quality…
I doubt you can.
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