Panasonic G9 Motorsports Shots

SpecFoto · May 17, 2018

Robstar1963 said:
Hi Specfoto

Funnily enough I attached the MC14 to my 40-150 earlier on in preparation for tonight’s Speedway event (if I manage to make it ?) with the intention of trying it out
1. Because the jump in focal length between the 40-150 - and the 300f4 is considerable and a halfway house with the MC14 attached would be a good compromise for some scenarios and
2. Because I’ve read that results with the MC14 attached render poor results on the G9
If 8 do make it tonight I’ll let you know - however if there is any doubt about the combo working I’m likely to stop using it almost straight away as there are a limited number of events each season and don’t want to miss good potential shots by persevering with something that doesn’t work
I’ve decided not to take both the EM1/2 and the G9 as swapping around doesn’t work for me
I will probably take both when I go to the Thruxton round of BTCC on Sunday (again hopefully) to see how the 2 fare comparatively
Regards
Rob

So you have seen others mentions the same issue, I have not that is why I asked. Just FYI, if you were to read my comments in the thread I mentioned you would see that the MC-14 shots were just a bit out of focus in that they looked OK on the camera back at normal and when loaded into my Mac, but once looked at at 100% magnification you could easily see they were not critically sharp. So make sure that you review a few shots tonight at 100% on the G9 before continuing. Will look forward to your comments on the results.

srhphoto · May 17, 2018

This was taken using the G9 with the Oly 40-150 f2.8 and 1.4x TC

MSA British Hillclimb Championship

(Apologies I’m on my iPad and can’t embed the photo here). It slows the AF down a little (as every TC on every system I’ve ever used does), but the IQ is superb.

Hope this helps.

Simon.

Bravin Neff · May 17, 2018

Perfect panning and shutter speed. Perfect tracking. And I can't get enough of the colors.

Awesome.

Robstar1963 · May 17, 2018

SpecFoto said:
So you have seen others mentions the same issue, I have not that is why I asked. Just FYI, if you were to read my comments in the thread I mentioned you would see that the MC-14 shots were just a bit out of focus in that they looked OK on the camera back at normal and when loaded into my Mac, but once looked at at 100% magnification you could easily see they were not critically sharp. So make sure that you review a few shots tonight at 100% on the G9 before continuing. Will look forward to your comments on the results.

It was my little girl’s birthday today and was only going this evening if the family get together finished in time which it didn’t so didn’t make it to the event this evening
Will endeavour to try the MC14 on Sunday at the BTCC if I make it
Don’t know where I read the previous comments if you’ve previously commented on the issue it may have been your comments I ‘recall’ if not I’ve definately read someone commenting on poor results with the MC14
Hoping it’s not a generalised issue with the combo (and on the G9 with 300f4.0) as I’m looking forward to the 840mm equivalent reach I’ll get when I’m at MoyoGP in August
I have to say regardless of any issues I do love the feel of the G9 and in particular the VF, the size, ergonomics and handling and the joystick (and the reasonably good thus far but still to prove CAF)
The slightly off sharpness issue you describe was a VERY regular issue for me and @ijm5012 with the EM1/2 before the V2 firmware update.
Having bought and currently using mainly the G9, I haven’t yet had enough use from the updated EM1/2 to compare the results from the revised camera
Regards
Rob

ijm5012 · May 17, 2018

I look forward to you comparison between the two cameras Rob. Have you noticed the "pulsing" in the EVF when using C-AF with the G9?

Robstar1963 · May 17, 2018

ijm5012 said:
I look forward to you comparison between the two cameras Rob. Have you noticed the "pulsing" in the EVF when using C-AF with the G9?

Hi Ian
I won’t be doing an actual formal comparison as I’m in no way qualified or suited to carry out an accurate structured test
However I will be taking both cameras and both the 40-150 and 300 f4.0 along with the MC14 if I make it on Sunday which will be my first event in bright daylight (Speedway is always in failing evening light progressing to floodlights)
I will probably just swap things around during the day and take quite a large number of shots with each combo and just see which feels better to me for my Motorsports
I have to say I’m hoping that the G9 will prove to be a keeper as it feels so good to use and as we all know it’s the camera that you want to use that’s ‘the best’ one TO use !
With regard to the ‘pulsing’ I genuinely haven’t noticed or at least haven’t been affected by it
It is probably happening but thus far it’s a non issue
I’m not sure what settings it apparently occurs with ?
I dont tend to be very super sensitive to minor issues so we’ll see
I’ve only ever had M43 mirrorless cameras since taking up photography in recent years (having previously done 35mm film photography - including my own processing at school) so my expectations with regard to the EVF experience are probably quite low in any case
Regards
Rob

Robstar1963 · May 17, 2018

@ijm5012 - my previous post edited since you applied your ‘like’

SpecFoto · May 17, 2018

ijm5012 said:
I look forward to you comparison between the two cameras Rob. Have you noticed the "pulsing" in the EVF when using C-AF with the G9?

C-AF was used when I did my bird test at first purchase. Did not notice any pulsing in the EVF then and have not since, around 5,000 C-AF shots total.

ijm5012 · May 17, 2018

Very strange. The review on DPR about the camera talked about this "pulsing" in the EVF when shooting indoor basketball with C-AF, and if memory serves me right, the reviewer blamed this on the CDAF system. However, both of you are saying you've not experienced this at all.

Robstar1963 · May 17, 2018

ijm5012 said:
Very strange. The review on DPR about the camera talked about this "pulsing" in the EVF when shooting indoor basketball with C-AF, and if memory serves me right, the reviewer blamed this on the CDAF system. However, both of you are saying you've not experienced this at all.

Hi Ian
I’m not saying it’s not happening - it’s just that I’ve not ‘seen’ it and it definately hasn’t caused any issues for me
Rob

SpecFoto · May 17, 2018

ijm5012 said:
Very strange. The review on DPR about the camera talked about this "pulsing" in the EVF when shooting indoor basketball with C-AF, and if memory serves me right, the reviewer blamed this on the CDAF system. However, both of you are saying you've not experienced this at all.

I remember reading that review, but if I remember right they had not applied the fw update Olympus provided for the 40-150 and 300mm f4 lenses.

Robstar1963 · May 17, 2018

As it happens I recall trying out a pre production G9 at a trade show last year with the Panasonic Leica 200 f2.8 and there was definately an issue with some sort of minor (slow) pulsing of the A/F which I pointed out to the rep who agreed and stated that later firmware would sort this out
I haven’t read about that issue since final fw versions were released so perhaps this was an issue sorted by later fw which similarly caused the pulsing ‘issues’ with Olympus lenses and which too have been sorted by fw ?

SpecFoto · May 17, 2018

Robstar1963 said:
As it happens I recall trying out a pre production G9 at a trade show last year with the Panasonic Leica 200 f2.8 and there was definately an issue with some sort of minor (slow) pulsing of the A/F which I pointed out to the rep who agreed and stated that later firmware would sort this out
I haven’t read about that issue since final fw versions were released so perhaps this was an issue sorted by later fw which similarly caused the pulsing ‘issues’ with Olympus lenses and which too have been sorted by fw ?

Think you are correct.

The DPR review is the only one of dozens I have read that mentioned the flutter or pulsing issue. I got my G9 at the end of January and I remember there being a fw update just as the camera shipped that took care of some final production issues which I applied. Also remember updating my Oly 40-150 Pro fw when it was connected to the G9, which was kinda strange. So it seems the DPR review did not have up to date fw when they tested the camera.

srhphoto · May 18, 2018

ijm5012 said:
Very strange. The review on DPR about the camera talked about this "pulsing" in the EVF when shooting indoor basketball with C-AF, and if memory serves me right, the reviewer blamed this on the CDAF system. However, both of you are saying you've not experienced this at all.

Another G9 motorsport (and hence C-AF) user here who has never noticed EVF pulsing.

Simon.

ijm5012 · May 18, 2018

So then why the hell did DPR decide to do their review on what seems to be an unfinished camera, rather than waiting? Now people likely have an unrealistic opinion about the camera. Very frustrating...

speedy · May 18, 2018

I use CAF quite a lot on my G9, & I've never seen this pulsing.

ijm5012 · May 18, 2018

Very interesting. For reference, here is the part I'm talking about from the DPR article on the camera:

"When AF-C is engaged, the ‘AF flutter’ of the camera's contrast-detection-based DFD system can be pretty distracting when one's eye is to the EVF. Furthermore, in both 60 fps and 120 fps display modes, EVF resolution drops significantly when the shutter is pressed, making it nearly impossible to tell what's in focus. This also makes it very difficult to follow the action."

But it seems that in the hands of independent, actual owners of the camera, this is not experienced.

Robstar1963 · May 21, 2018

BTCC Thruxton England 20/05/18 Panasonic G9 with Olympus 40-150 PRO at 55mm f11 (due to high light levels) 1/125th ISO 200
Uncropped, Unprocessed SOOC Jpeg