NEWS: Panasonic’s New Camera Lumix S9 Will Be Released On May 22

According to sources familiar with the matter, Panasonic will release a new full-frame camera on May 22, 2024.

Panasonic lumix s9 has been released. If you are interested, please read my new article:News-Panasonic Lumix S9 Officially Released: Is It Good Enough?

images：Panasonic Google product page

Last update before Panasonic S9 release

Quote：Product description : "The LUMIX S9 compact full frame mirrorless camera is the ultimate tool for content creators looking to stand out in social media, with superior image quality, easy-to-use functions, and a sleek colorful design. REAL TIME LUT applies signature presets directly in-camera with super-fast sharing through your phone with the LUMIX Lab app. The full frame sensor allows for exceptional image clarity even in low light and frames for any social media aspect ratio."

Today is the day Panasonic s9 is released. The sirui’s leak on Amazon confirms the previous leaked image of L rumor is true. Since this highly anticipated camera will be released today, there are only one suspense point left for everyone:

Will Panasonic Lumix S9 have some kind of mechanical shutter？

All answers will be revealed. After official and real information is released, I will update an article with my thoughts and myths about Panasonic Lumix S9. By the way, I will discuss some ideas about "compact cameras". If you are interested, you can login and subscribe.

Full frame, interchangeable lenses

Earlier, people speculated that this Panasonic Lumix s9 would be a fixed lens camera competing with the Fuji X100vi. However, current intelligence indicates that the Lumix S9 will be a video-focused L mount camera for content creators. This is very different from the positioning of the Fuji x100vi rangefinder fixed lens travel camera.

No EVF

According to the leaked pictures from Panasonic Google product page, Panasonic Lumix S9 will not have an EVF. This is also consistent with the characteristics of video cameras. Most content creators don't use an EVF when recording with a camera. Although no pictures of the back of the camera have been released, I believe it will be a relatively large touch LCD screen.

S5ii Sensor

According to reliable sources, Panasonic S9 will use the same sensor as Panasonic’s own S5ii, which is IMX410. This shows that the image quality of the S9 in still photos is almost the same as that of the Nikon z5, Sony a7c and Panasonic s5ii.

Ibis

This video-focused camera will be equipped with an in-body image stabilization system IBIS. Panasonic's body image stabilization has always been excellent, and I believe we can also trust the S9's image stabilization performance this time.

Size

Pictures also from l-rumors.com reveal that the size of this Panasonic S9 will be very compact. It can be seen that its size will be similar to Panasonic's own GX9. This size will undoubtedly attract some photography enthusiasts who want to buy a travel camera but have certain requirements for image quality.

Luts

according to www.l-rumors.com Panasonic s9 will provide LUTs and physical buttons for customizing LUTs. This is very good news for vlog users and video photographers, who will get more creativity and inspiration.

Price

The price of Panasonic s9 will be $100 to $200 lower than Panasonic s5ii. The price is very competitive among full-frame mirrorless cameras, and although focus performance is slightly below average, Panasonic's color and image stabilization are both very competitive at this price point.

Some unconfirmed news:

Only electronic shutter？

Some people speculate that the Panasonic S9 will only have an electronic shutter and no mechanical shutter. There are two biggest disadvantages of the electronic shutter: 1. The shutter mechanism is not suitable for shooting moving objects. 2. Electronic shutters usually have much lower flash sync speeds.

Updated May 17: 

Top view

No mechanical shutter？

according to l-rumors.com, the Lumix S9 does not have a mechanical shutter. This means that the S9 will be a "dedicated" camera for vlog or Tik Tok content creators.

From the current information, we can know that Panasonic did not let this full-frame camera threaten the ecological niche of the S5 ii in order to misplace competition. As we mentioned above, this S9 uses an IMAX410 sensor, which is exactly the same as the S5ii. But the S9 has no EVF and no mechanical shutter, so the S5ii's status as a photo camera will not be threatened.

Only Cold Shoe?

Judging from the picture, Panasonic Lumix S9 will only have cold shoe but no hot shoe. This is logical because if the user is a video content creator, they will prefer a microphone on top of the camera rather than a flash.But the cold shoe mount means that this machine will probably not have flash sync function. This is a very important feature for users who are taking photos rather than video creators.

Note: The reason why there is only a cold shoe in the picture may be that the picture is only an engineering prototype, so the hot shoe is not equipped. All news shall be subject to the official Panasonic official press conference.

Please note that the above are all unconfirmed news. The real information will not be confirmed until Panasonic Lumix S9 is officially released.

Some Myths

Judging from the current news, this Panasonic Lumix S9 will remind me of the Sigma fp. It is also a full-frame, L mount, video-focused camera. Although the sales of the Sigma fp are not good, it undoubtedly provides a full-frame vlog camera choice other than Sony. Based on the available information, we can speculate that the potential competitors of Panasonic S9 will be Sony a7c, Sigma fp and Sony zv-e1. I look forward to Panasonic bringing new shocks to the camera market this time.