Panasonic Lumix GX9 settings, tips and tricks

Panasonic Lumix GX9 settings, tips and tricks

GX9 Introduction

Welcome to my Panasonic GX9 advanced manual with tips and tricks. This guide starts from your Menu settings and goes through all aspects of this interesting camera. I know it is a lot of information, but you’ll get the hang of it soon, I promise.

As opposed the the video centric Panasonic GH5, the GX9 is more stills oriented camera, but it can still shoot 4K/30p video.

Key Features

  • 20.3MP Live MOS sensor with no AA filter (same as GH5)
  • 2760k-dot resolution and 1.39x magnification
  • 1240k-dot resolution screen
  • 5-axis in-body image stabilization with Dual I.S. 2 (CIPA rated 6.5 stops)
  • 49 AF points concentrated towards the central portion of the frame
  • 140 JPEGs or 32 RAW files in burst
  • Magnesium body designed to be dust/weather-sealed
  • UHS-I SD slot
  • 4K Photo modes and in-camera focus stacking
  • USB charge and power capability
  • Wi-Fi Bluetooth

I’ll be going over the entire Menu structure in this post, and giving you tips, pointers, and tricks along the way.

Diving into the MENU system

When you switch on your Panasonic Lumix GX9 you’ll be asked to enter a date, time and timezone. This setting is necessary, as all images captured will have a timestamp, making it easy to find your favorite pictures in the future. After this is setup, press the MENU button. You’ll see a range of icons and pages. We’ll start at page 1 of the camera Icon (camera settings)

MENU – Camera Icon – page 1 of 4 (also called the Rec menu)

Panasonic GX9 menu camera icon page 1

 

Aspect Ratio

You can change the aspect ratio of your photos here. Changing the aspect ratio can be used as a way to boost your creativity, for instance landscapes often look great with a 16:9 ratio, or for sharing on Instagram, a 1:1 crop might suit you better.

An M43 (Micro Four-thirds) camera has a native aspect ratio of (not surprisingly) 4:3. You should realise that changing the aspect ratio to anything else than this will actually crop the sensor, meaning that you’ll lose pixels. You should look at it as re-framing your image (like you can do in Lightroom or other photo editors) inside the camera. Jpeg’s will be stored with the chosen ratio, but RAW images (although previewed with the chosen ratio), will still have the full information of the 4:3 sensor retained.

These are the aspect ratios available:

  • 4:3: native sensor ratio
  • 3:2: the ratio used in full frame cameras
  • 16:9: for a wider looking view
  • 1:1: Square aspect ratio, mostly used for social sharing
Picture Size

Picture Size sets the number of pixels for Jpeg (nor RAW). The higher the numbers of pixels, the more detail your pictures will have.

  • When the aspect ratio is set to 4:3, you use all the 20 MP of the sensor for a maximum image size of 5184 x 3888
  • When the aspect ratio is 16:9, you only use a wide crop of 14.5 MP of the sensor for a maximum image size of 5184 x 2920.
  • When the aspect ratio is 3:2 you use 17 MP of the sensor and have an 5184 x 3456 image size.
  • When the aspect ratio is 1:1, you use 14,5 MP of the sensor for an 3888 x 3888 image size.

The Panasonic GX9 also has a digital teleconverter option, allowing you to zoom in by a factor of times 2 or times 4. This can be a handy feature if you don’t shoot RAW (see next item for more info).  Thanks to  in-body digital processing, the resulting Jpegs actually retain a larger image size than what you’d expect of de facto cropping the sensor by a factor 2 or 4. I would however only recommend using this feature if you’re a die hard jpeg shooter, since using RAW files and developing your images in Lightroom or another app will almost always get you better results.

Quality

Probably the most important setting is Quality. You can select either Jpeg, where the RAW data from the sensor is processed by an in-camera algorithm to produce a viewable image, or save your images in this RAW format. RAW retains all the data of the sensor, and is meant to be edited afterwards in a desktop application like Lightroom. Saving as RAW means that you have much more creative freedom afterwards to push shadows or pull highlights, sharpen and enhance your image in any way you please. A Jpeg retains only a fraction of this information, according to the algorithm inside the camera which might or might not suit your style and/or needs.

Hence, my recommendation is always to shoot RAW or RAW Jpeg. This does mean larger files, but SD cards are inexpensive compared to your beautiful new Lumix. But some photographers prefer to shoot in Jpeg only because they are for instance not interested in post-processing images. In this case, I would set the Jpeg to the highest quality setting.

If you only shoot in RAW, the image on the rear screen when reviewing the images are of a very low quality. When you import to the computer they are fine but it might be better to shoot both RAW and JPEG.

Lumix GX 9 tele zoom

AFS/AFF

AFS is an abbreviation of Auto Focus Single and AFF is an abbreviation of Auto Focus Flexible. In AFS, the focus stays locked while the shutter button is pressed halfway and in AFF focus is continuously readjusted according to the movement of the subject. See AFF as a function between Single AF and Continuous AF.

This can easily be changed by using the dial on the right of the ECF too:

AFS/AFF

The AFC function below AFS/AFF continuously changes focus according to the movement of your subject.

Some more info on these modes for clarification:

  • AFS will find focus and stay focused at that distance until you take a photo or release the shutter button. This is handy if you want to focus and then recompose your shot for instance.
  • AFF will do the same unless it detects subject movement, at which time it will temporarily switch to AFC operation in order to re-focus.
  • AFC won’t start to seek focus until you half-press the shutter, and will continually evaluate subject movement and change focus as needed.
  • With AFS you can can lock focus on a particular point, then swing the camera to get the right framing; with AFC, it will not lock focus, but will keep re-focusing. That’s why Pinpoint focusing can’t be used with AFC.
Photo Style

This applies only to Jpeg images, and the RAW preview. You can select a colour effect here.

  • Standard: standard Panasonic colour and contrast rendering.
  • Vivid: Brilliant effect with high saturation and contrast.
  • Natural: Soft effect with low contrast.
  • Monochrome: Monochrome  (black and white)effect with no color shades.
  • L.Monochrome: Black-and-white effect with rich gradation and crisp black accents.
  • Scenery: An effect appropriate for sceneries with vivid blue skies and greens.
  • Portrait: An effect appropriate for portraits with a healthy and beautiful skin tone.
  • Custom 1-4: Make your own presets for easy recall when needed.
  • Cinelike D: Gives priority to the dynamic range by using a gamma curve designed to create film-like images. Suited for editing.
  • Cinelike V: Gives priority to the contrast by using a gamma curve designed to create film-like images.

As mentioned earlier, it’s possible to create your own Photo Style or customise the preset styles. This is basically a way of hacking into the Jpeg engine and adjusting it to your own style and preferences. There are 6 areas that you can alter.

  • Contrast: add or decrease the difference between the brightness and the darkness in the picture.
  • Sharpness: add a degree of sharpness or make your images softer.
  • Noise Reduction: add noise reduction for high ISO shooting.
  • Saturation: add more vividness to the colours. Or remove some.
  • Color Tone: add a blue, orange, red or green filter to your image.
Filter Settings

The filter Settings go a step further than merely a photo style. These include artistic effects like Low Key, Sepia, Cross Process and retro stylings. You can turn them ON or OFF here, select the effect you want to use and change the settings by using the touch screen. You can also set your camera up to shoot one with and one without an image effect simultaneously.

If you’re wondering how you get to Creative Control mode, you need to set the mode dial to the paint palette.Creative Control mode

And simply press up and down to select the image effects. You can also display the selection screen by touching the Recording Mode icon in recording screen.

These are all the image effects available:

  • Expressive
  • High Key
  • Monochrome
  • Silky Monochrome
  • Cross Process
  • Bleach Bypass
  • Fantasy
  • Sunshine: you can select the position and size of the light source here.
  • Retro
  • Low Key
  • Dynamic Monochrome
  • Impressive Art
  • Toy Effect
  • Miniature Effect: you can select the portion of your image that is in focus here (and where the blur effect won’t happen)
  • Star Filter
  • Old Days
  • Sepia
  • Rough Monochrome
  • High Dynamic
  • Toy Pop
  • Soft Focus
  • One Point Color: you can select the color to leave in here by using a color picker.
Color Space

Select either sRGB or Adobe RGB here. Adobe RGB has a greater range of reproducible colors than sRGB, so it might be worth looking into this color space if you print to paper a lot. But remember that you’ll also need a monitor capable of reproducing the larger color range too. And this can often lead to problems when converting to sRGB or editing your images in external applications. Because of all this, I have it set to sRGB.

Metering Mode

You can change how the light is metered here, and hence how a correct exposure is calculated by the camera. If you feel that the camera takes over- or underexposed images according to your personal preferences, it might be worth changing the metering mode.

Implementation of this is quite basic in this camera, you have a total of only 3 methods to choose from:

  • Multiple: This is the method in which the camera measures the most suitable exposure by judging the allocation of brightness on the whole screen automatically.
  • Center weighted: This is the method used to focus on the subject on the center of the screen and measure the whole screen evenly.
  • Spot: This is the method to measure the subject in the spot metering target.

MENU – Camera Icon – page 2 of 4 (also called the Rec menu)

Panasonic GX9 menu camera icon page 2

 

Highlight Shadow

This allows you to lighten the shadows and darkens the highlights in your image (or video).  So this is a method of creating balance in your image if you feel like the highlights are too strong or the shadows too dark. You have 4 presets available, and you can also make 3 custom presets yourself:

  • Standard: no adjustments is set.
  • Raise the contrast: Bright areas are brightened, and dark areas are darkened.
  • Lower the contrast: Bright areas are darkened, and dark areas are brightened.
  • Brighten dark areas: Dark areas are brightened.
  • Custom: make your own preset.

This is how to adjust the parameters for Custom presets:

  1. Rotate the front/rear dial to adjust the brightness of bright/dark portions.ImageA – Bright portion B – Dark portion
    • The rear dial is for adjusting dark areas, and the front dial is for adjusting bright areas.
    • To register a preferred setting, press ▲, and select the destination where the custom setting will be registered to [Custom1]/[Custom2]/[Custom3].
    • Adjustments can also be made by dragging the graph.
  2. Press [MENU/SET].
    • The screen display can be switched by pressing [DISP.] on the brightness adjustment screen.Image
    • Turning off this unit will return the setting adjusted with Image / Image / Image / Image back to the default setting.
    • When [Photo Style] is set to [Like709] or [V-Log L], setting is fixed to [ Image ] (Standard).
i. Dynamic

This setting will change contrast and exposure when there is a big difference from the darkest area to the brightest are in your image. What really happens is that the camera adjusts the exposure in order to capture more details in the highlights. You can choose between High, Standard, Low or Off.

This naturally causes an under-exposure in the shadow areas. But inside the jpeg engine, the camera will compensate for this by boosting shadows. The downside here is that this will obviously lead to more noise in the boosted regions, but because this is done with data directly coming from the sensor, it can be quite useful if you are a jpeg shooter.

There is also an impact on RAW images, because the exposure will be underexposed.

i. Resolution

Another jpeg only functionality, i-Resolution is a form of sharpening. High, Standard, Low and Off are selectable, and you should see these like the threshold for sharpening in an application like Lightroom. Many photographers discard these intelligent functions, and if you shoot RAW only, it’s not that important for you (except i Dynamic which can change your exposure plus or minus 1/3 stop). But if you shoot jpeg only, you should set it to Low at least, since most of the time RAW files would be sharpened in post processing too.

Flash

all flash settings.

Red-Eye Removal

If you use a flash when using Red-Eye Reduction, the camera will automatically detect red-eye and corrects the picture.

ISO Auto upper limit

Sets the upper limit of the ISO sensitivity when you use Auto ISO or i ISO. Set upper limit to 3200, this is the range where you’ll get usable images without too much noise.

Panasonic GX9 backlight

Min. Shtr Speed

A very important setting if you feel that the Panasonic GX9 is producing blurry images for your shooting style. Birds in flight, for instance, will need a faster shutter speed than many other types of photography.

Since most of the time, you’ll need to raise ISO to gain faster shutter speeds, Panasonic (and many other camera producers) have made this option available.  You can set it to Auto, or choose a minimum shutter speed up to 1/32000. The latter is a bit high, but as I mentioned, if you shoot action sports or for certain types of nature photography, a minimum shutter speed of 1/1000 or 1/2000 should be set. At these speeds, you can begin to “freeze” action.

Long Shtr NR

The camera will automatically apply noise reduction to long exposures. This applies to both Jpeg and RAW files. A black frame is taken after your initial shot to measure the noise present. Since many environmental factors (like temperature and location) have an effect on the amount of noise that you’ll see, this is the best way to determine what is noise in your frame. This data is then subtracted from your image for a noise-free (more-or-less) result.

MENU – Camera Icon – page 3 of 4 (also called the Rec menu)

Panasonic GX9 menu camera icon page 3

Shading Comp.

All lenses have a lens profile that registers both distortion and shading in the corners at all apertures. These lens profiles can be applied in-camera to counter unwanted vignetting in your images. Especially important for jpeg shooters to turn this on. RAW shooters can apply these corrections later on (and with better results) in a desktop application like DXO optics Pro.

Diffraction Compensation

When you stop down your lens to a smaller aperture (normally from f/11 to f/22), a phenomenon called diffraction causes a loss in sharpness. It happens because light begins to disperse when passing through a small opening. When diffraction compensation is set to ON, the Panasonic GX9 will add sharpening to your image to try and counter this phenomenon. You should use it if you shoot jpeg.

Stabilizer

The Panasonic Lumix GX9 has a stabilised sensor. The sensor inside the camera is suspended on a magnetic field and can compensate for movement like the minute shakes of your hands or any other kind of movement. There are also many lenses available with an optical image stabilisation unit, that physically move glass elements around inside the lens to do the same. Both systems have their pros and cons, and it is generally accepted that a stabilised sensor works better for wide angle lenses (below 40mm) whilst optical lens stabilisation is more efficient for the tele range. It is also possible to use both systems at the same time (called Dual I.S.), where you’ll take advantage of the best of both worlds.

It’s also possible to use the in-body sensor stabilisation with older, manual primes that don’t relay EXIF information (like most importantly focal length in this case).  You’ll need to manually set the focal length in the Focal length Set function to get an optimal performance.

Ex. Tele Conv.

You can digitally enlarge pictures without too much quality deterioration with this function. Only for jpeg use, you can extend the range of your lens by times 1.4 or 1.6 using this function.

Digital Zoom

Digital zoom takes this a step further, allowing you to zoom in up to 4 times for jpeg’s. I would not recommend either of these functions, as it is better to shoot RAW in this case and crop in processing for the best possible quality.

Lumix GX9 india

Burst rate

The drive mode dial has two options for burst shooting. Burst shooting means that you’ll shoot continuously when you press the shutter button. You can apply different Burst Mode settings to Burst Shot 1 and and Burst Shot 2 Setting in these menus.

You’ll see SH (for super high burst rates), SH pre (which actually goes back a few seconds in time and saves these images too). These SH modes are only available with the electronic shutter. Version 2 is always faster that version 1.

Then we have High, Medium and Low which work with the Mechanical shutter too. The actual burst rate will be higher if you shoot Jpeg only.

4K Photo

4K photo mode is designed to help you to capture fleeting moments by letting you shoot at an incredible 60fps for 4K mode. Continuous autofocus mode is automatically activated and it draws on 4K video technology to shoot 8 MP images at this fast frame rate. You’re basically recording video where you can extract the frames in-camera.

Extracting 8Mp stills from the GX9’s 4K Photo Mode footage is pretty easy as follows:

  1. Press the play button to located the files. Clips recorded in 4K Photo Mode are marked with the 4K Photo icon to make the easy to identify.
    Once you’ve found the clip you want, either tap the 4K Photo Icon on-screen or the Up navigation key.
  2.  If you have a long clip with fleeting moments of action you may like to use the slide bar at the top to quickly scroll to an interesting bit of footage. Alternatively, there’s a playback option (button Fn1) that you can use to play and pause the movie.
  3. Once you’ve found the area you’re interested in, tap the Frame View Icon to see a scrollable stack of frames, just swipe right and left to locate the best shots.
  4. When you find an image you like, tap the Menu/Set button or 4K Icon to save the image. Images are saved as jpegs.

it’s possible to save all the frames from 5 second sections of your 4K movie. To do this:

  1. Tap the Menu button and scroll down to Playback (the 6th tab), then scroll to the second page of options and select 4K PHOTO Bulk Saving.
  2. Then swipe on the screen until you find the clip that you want to extract stills from.
  3. Now use the same on-screen movie navigation controls as you used before to find the first frame of the 5 seconds that you want to pull the stills from and tap the 4K Photo icon to save it and the image from the next 5 seconds.
Self Timer

The self timer function is self explanatory.  If you actually want to use this function, you’ll need to set the drive mode to:

In this menu, you can select what type of self timer you’d like to use: a 10 second delay and one shot, 10 seconds with 3 shots with 2 second intervals or a 2 second delay, all after pressing the shutter.

MENU – Camera Icon – page 4 of 4 (also called the Rec menu)

Panasonic GX9 menu camera icon page 4

Time Lapse shot

You can take a sequential number of images with relatively long delays in between to achieve a time-lapse movie. You’ll need to turn the drive mode dial to Time Lapse for this:

You can choose between Time Lapse or Animation in this menu.

Time Lapse:
  1. Switch to Time Lapse Shot if it is not selected.
  2. change start time and shooting interval according to your preferences.
  3. press te shutter half way to exit the menu.
  4. press the shutter to start your time-lapse.

Panasonic GX9 church

Stop motion Animation

Same principle applies to animation:

  1. Switch to Stop Motion Animation
  2. Change auto shooting and shooting interval according to your preferences
  3. press te shutter half way to exit the menu.
  4. press the shutter to start your time-lapse.
  5. move the subject per frame
  6. press the folder menu to end the recording
Silent Mode

Disables operational sounds and output of light at once for completely silent stealth mode shooting with the Panasonic GX9.

Shutter Type

You can use either the mechanical or electronic shutter, or 50/50, or let the Panasonic GX9 decide what is most appropriate. The electronic shutter has a maximum speed of 1/32000 sec, the mechanical shutter can go up to 1/8000 second and if you use the Electronic first curtain shutter, you can only go up to 1/2000 second.

  • AUTO: Switches the shutter type automatically depending on the recording condition and shutter speed.
  • MSHTR: Takes pictures in Mechanical Shutter Mode.
  • EFC: Takes pictures in Electronic Front Curtain Mode.
  • ESHTR: Takes pictures in Electronic Shutter Mode.

Remember that in artificial light or when using a flash, you best use the mechanical shutter only to avoid artefacts.

Shutter Delay

To reduce the influence of hand shake or shutter vibration, shutter is released after the specified time has passed. 1, 2, 4 or 8 second delay are selectable. Keep your hands steady and don’t use this delay, else you might miss that critical moment.

Bracket

The Bracket function allows you to take multiple pictures while automatically adjusting a setting like exposure or aperture by pressing the shutter button.

Possible bracket types:

  • Exposure Bracket: Press the shutter button and the Lumix will sequentially take multiple images with different exposures. You can select the number of pictures to be taken and the exposure range (from 1/3 EV to 1 EV stops difference).
  • Aperture Bracket: Press the shutter button and the Lumix will sequentially take multiple images at different apertures. Either select all apertures or a number of shots (3-5) within a selected range.
  • Focus Bracket:Press the shutter button and the Panasonic GX9 will sequentially take multiple images with different focus positions. You can select the distance between focus positions, the number of exposures and the sequence from far to near or the other way around.
  • White Balance Bracket: Press the shutter button and the Lumix GX9 will take three pictures with different white balance settings automatically
  • White Balance Bracket (color temperature): Press the shutter button once to take three pictures with different White Balance Color Temperature values automatically. You can also set the correction range by touching the up/down slider on the screen.
HDR

You can combine 3 image with different levels of exposure into a single picture a high dynamic range. This way, you can minimise the loss of gradations in bright areas and dark areas when, for example, the contrast between the background and the subject is large.

Two setting are available:

  • Dynamic range: either select Auto where the camera will decide what range of exposure is suitable, or manually select plus/minus 1,2 or 3 EV.
  • Auto Align: Automatically aligns the resulting images to adjust for movement or not.
Multi Exp.

I multiple exposure is basically laying 2 (or more) images on top of each other. This is different to a HDR or  composite shot in the sense that these images should be totally different from each other. It’s a technique the comes from the darkroom photography area where 2 negatives where placed on top of each other to create a totally new image with the two images combined.

How to do this:

  1. Press up/down to select start and then press Menu/Set.
  2. Decide on the composition and take the first picture. After this first image, press the shutter halfway down to take the next image.
  3. Shoot a  third or fourth exposure. all these images will add up to make a multiple exposure.
  4. Press the down arrow to exit or press the shutter button fully down.
  5. You multiple exposure is finished, and you can view it on the screen.

MENU – Film Camera Icon – page 1 of 3 (also called Motion Picture Menu)

Motion Picture Menu page 1

These are all movie related settings, and menu of them are the same as the stills related menu options. YOu can however (obviously) set them up differently for video.

Rec Format

You can either choose to record in AVCHD or MP4 format. The higher the Bit rate value is, the higher the picture quality becomes. Since the camera employs the VBR recording method, the bit rate is changed automatically depending on the subject to record. As a result, the recording time is shortened when a fast-moving subject is recorded. Different frame rates and bitrates are selectable per format in the Rec Quality setting.

Rec Quality

Options are:

  • 4K, 100M, 30p
  • 4K, 100M, 25P
  • 4K, 100M, 24P
  • FHD, 28M, 60p
  • FHD, 28M, 50p
  • FHD, 28M, 30p
  • FHD, 20M, 25p
  • HD, 10M, 30p
  • HD, 10M, 25p
AFS/AFF

AFS is an abbreviation of Auto Focus Single and AFF is an abbreviation of Auto Focus Flexible. In AFS, the focus stays locked while the shutter button is pressed halfway and in AFF focus is continuously readjusted according to the movement of the subject. See AFF as a function between Single AF and Continuous AF.

This can easily be changed by using the dial on the right of the ECF too:

AFS/AFF

The AFC function below AFS/AFF continuously changes focus according to the movement of your subject.

Some more info on these modes for clarification:

  • AFS will find focus and stay focused at that distance until you take a photo or release the shutter button. This is handy if you want to focus and then recompose your shot for instance.
  • AFF will do the same unless it detects subject movement, at which time it will temporarily switch to AFC operation in order to re-focus.
  • AFC won’t start to seek focus until you half-press the shutter, and will continually evaluate subject movement and change focus as needed.
  • With AFS you can can lock focus on a particular point, then swing the camera to get the right framing; with AFC, it will not lock focus, but will keep re-focusing. That’s why Pinpoint focusing can’t be used with AFC.
Continuous AF

Focusing changes depending on the Focus Mode setting and the Continuous AF setting in this menu.

AFS/AFF/AFC:
  • On: The camera automatically keeps focusing on subjects during recording.
  • Off: The camera maintains the focus position at the start of recording.
MF

You can use manual focus.

Photo Style

You can select a photo style (like for photography, see above) for video too.

Filter Settings

You can add the image effects (filters) of Creative Control Mode, see the stills info on this above.

Metering Mode

You can change how the light is metered here, and hence how a correct exposure is calculated by the camera. If you feel that the camera takes over- or underexposed images according to your personal preferences, it might be worth changing the metering mode.

Implementation of this is quite basic in this camera, you have a total of only 3 methods to choose from:

  • Multiple: This is the method in which the camera measures the most suitable exposure by judging the allocation of brightness on the whole screen automatically.
  • Center weighted: This is the method used to focus on the subject on the center of the screen and measure the whole screen evenly.
  • Spot: This is the method to measure the subject in the spot metering target.

MENU – Film Camera Icon – page 2 of 3 (also called Motion Picture Menu)

Motion Picture Menu page 2

Highlight Shadow

This allows you to lighten the shadows and darkens the highlights in your image (or video).  So this is a method of creating balance in your image if you feel like the highlights are too strong or the shadows too dark. You have 4 presets available, and you can also make 3 custom presets yourself:

  • Standard: no adjustments is set.
  • Raise the contrast: Bright areas are brightened, and dark areas are darkened.
  • Lower the contrast: Bright areas are darkened, and dark areas are brightened.
  • Brighten dark areas: Dark areas are brightened.
  • Custom: make your own preset.

For more info, see the equivalent setting for photos above.

i.Dynamic

This setting will change contrast and exposure when there is a big difference from the darkest area to the brightest are in your image. What really happens is that the camera adjusts the exposure in order to capture more details in the highlights. You can choose between High, Standard, Low or Off.

This naturally causes an under-exposure in the shadow areas. But inside the jpeg engine, the camera will compensate for this by boosting shadows. The downside here is that this will obviously lead to more noise in the boosted regions, but because this is done with data directly coming from the sensor, it can be quite useful.

i.Resolution

i-Resolution is a form of sharpening. High, Standard, Low and Off are selectable, and you should see these like the threshold for sharpening in an application like Lightroom. Many photographers discard these intelligent functions, and if you shoot RAW only, it’s not that important for you (except i Dynamic which can change your exposure plus or minus 1/3 stop).

ISO Auto upper limit

Set the upper limit of the ISO sensitivity when it is set to AUTO.

Diffraction Compensation

When you stop down your lens to a smaller aperture (normally from f/11 to f/22), a phenomenon called diffraction causes a loss in sharpness. It happens because light begins to disperse when passing through a small opening. When diffraction compensation is set to ON, the Panasonic GX9 will add sharpening to your image to try and counter this phenomenon.

Stabilizer

The Panasonic Lumix GX9 has a stabilised sensor. The sensor inside the camera is suspended on a magnetic field and can compensate for movement like the minute shakes of your hands or any other kind of movement. There are also many lenses available with an optical image stabilisation unit, that physically move glass elements around inside the lens to do the same. Both systems have their pros and cons, and it is generally accepted that a stabilised sensor works better for wide angle lenses (below 40mm) whilst optical lens stabilisation is more efficient for the tele range. It is also possible to use both systems at the same time (called Dual I.S.), where you’ll take advantage of the best of both worlds.

Flkr Decrease

The shutter speed can be fixed to reduce the flicker or striping in your movies. 1/50,/1/60,1/100 or 1/120 second are available.

Ex. Tele Conv.

You can digitally enlarge movies without too much quality deterioration with this function. You can extend the range of your lens by times 1.4 or 1.6 using this function.

MENU – Film Camera Icon – page 3 of  3 (also called Motion Picture Menu)

Motion Picture Menu page 3

Digital Zoom

Digital zoom takes this a step further, allowing you to zoom in up to 4 times.

Picture Mode in Rec.

You can record still pictures while recording a movie on the Panasonic GX9. During movie recording, press the shutter button fully to record a still picture when turned On. Aspect will always be 16:9.

There are 2 settings available:

Video Priority
  • Pictures will be recorded with a picture size determined by the Rec Quality setting for motion pictures.
  • Only JPEG images are recorded when Quality is set to Raw (still pictures will be recorded in jpeg)
  • Up to 80 still pictures can be recorded during recording of the motion picture. (Up to 20 still pictures during 4K motion picture recording)
Photo Priority
  • Pictures will be recorded with the set picture size and quality.
  • The screen will go dark while recording pictures. A still picture will be recorded in the motion picture during that period, and audio is not recorded.
  • Up to 20 still pictures can be recorded during recording of the motion picture. (Up to 10 still pictures during 4K motion picture recording)
Lumix GX9 moiré
Sound Rec Level Adj.

Adjust the sound input level to 19 different levels (-12 dB to +6 dB).

MENU – Custom Tool (Custom Menu)

MENU → Custom Tool→ page 1

You’ll find all customisable settings of the Panasonic GX9 in this Menu.

Exposure Menu page 1 of 6 (Exposure and Shutter button behaviour settings)

Custom Exposure settings G9

ISO Increments

Choose the increments of exposure changes between 1/3 EV or 1 EV.

Extended ISO

ISO sensitivity can be set up to minimum of ISO 100. Base ISO of the sensor is 200, so this extended ISO basically halves this in software, with a slight decrease in quality.

Exposure Comp. Reset

An exposure value can be reset when the Recording Mode is changed or the camera is turned off.

AF/AE Lock

Lock focus and exposure with AF/AE LOCK. To clear the lock, press AF/AE LOCK again.

AF/AE Lock Hold

When ON is selected, focus and exposure stays locked even if you press and release AF/AE LOCK. To clear the lock, press AF/AE LOCK again.

Shutter AF

Set whether or not the focus is adjusted automatically when the shutter button is pressed halfway.

Half Press Release

The shutter will immediately fire when the shutter button is pressed halfway when this is ON.

Quick AF

As long as the camera is held steady, the camera will automatically adjust the focus and focus adjustment will then be quicker when the shutter is pressed. You’ll get better AF performance at the expense of battery life.

Focus Menu page 2 of 6 (more Focus/Release Shutter settings)

Custom Exposure settings G9 page 2

Eye Sensor AF

The Panasonic GX9 wil automatically start autofocus when the eye sensor is activated.

Pinpoint AF Setting

The screen will be zoomed in when the shutter is pressed halfway, selectable in full screen or in a window.

AF-point Scope Setting

The methods for displaying the magnification window. View magnification full screen or picture in picture.

AF Assist lamp

AF assist lamp will illuminate the subject when the shutter button is pressed half-way making it easier for the camera to focus when recording in low light conditions. Range is about 1 meter.

Focus/Release Priority

Set whether to give priority to focus or shutter release during Auto Focus. Setting it to Focus priority means you won’t be able to take an image if focus is not acquired. Release will.

Focus Switching for Vert / Hor

Memorises separate positions for horizontal and vertical orientations (two vertical orientations, left and right, are available).

Loop Movement Focus Frame

When setting the AF area position or the MF Assist display position, you can now loop the position from one edge to the other edge of the screen.

AF Area Display

Selects whether you want to see a visual representation of you selected AF area on screen.

Focus Menu page 3 of 6 (more Focus/Release Shutter settings)

Custom Exposure settings G9 page 3

AF+MF

When AF Lock is ON (press the shutter button halfway with the focus mode set to AFS or set AF Lock using AF/AE LOCK), you can make fine adjustments to the focus manually.

MF Assist

Sets the display method of MF Assist (enlarged screen) on the Panasonic GX9.

MF assist settings

MF Assist Display

Sets whether MF Assist (enlarged screen) will appear in a windowed screen display or in a full screen display.

Fn Button Set

You can assign various features, such as recording functions, to specific buttons and icons as well as the function lever.

  1. Press up/down to select the function button you want to assign a function to and then press MENU/SET.
  2. Press up/down to select the function you want to assign and then press [MENU/SET].
FN Lever Setting

You are also free to assign any function to the FN lever using the same method as Fn Button set.

Q.MENU

In Custom operations, you can customise the Q Menu according to your liking.

You can add a maximum of 15 preferred settings to the Quick Menu.

  1. Press Q.MENU to display the Quick Menu.
  2. Press down to select the custom tool and then press MENU/SET.
  3. Press left/right arrow to select the menu item in the top row and then press MENU/SET.
  4. Press left/right to select the empty space in the bottom row and then press MENU/SET. (You can also set the menu item by dragging it from the top row to the bottom row)
  5. Press return to switch to the recording screen.
Dial Set.

Assign Dial (F/SS): Assigns the operations of the aperture value and shutter speed in Manual Exposure Mode.

Rotation (F/SS): Changes the rotation direction of the dials for adjusting the aperture value and shutter speed.

Control Dial Assignment: It sets the item to be assigned to the control dial while the recording screen is displayed.

Exposure Comp.: Assigns the Exposure Compensation to the front dial or rear dial so that you can directly adjust it.

Dial Operation Switch Setup: Sets the items to be assigned temporarily to the front/rear dials when you press the function button to which Dial Operation Switch is assigned.

Joystick Setting

The joystick provides the same functions as the cursor buttons MENU/SET button.

Operation Menu page 4 of 6 (dial and buttons operation settings)

Custom Exposure settings G9 page 4

Operation Lock Settings

Sets the control functions on the Panasonic GX9 to be disabled with the function button Operation Lock. Cursor, Joystick and Touch screen can be turned off.

Video Button

Enables/disables the motion picture button.

Touch Settings

Enables/disables the Touch operation.

  • Touch Screen: All touch operations are turned on.
  • Touch Tab: Operations of tabs are enabled.
  • Touch AF: Operation to bring the subject you touch into focus AF or adjust the focus and brightness AF+AE are enabled.
  • Touch Pad AF: Operation to move the AF area by touching the monitor when the viewfinder is in use.
Auto Review

Displays a picture immediately after it is taken.

Monochrome Live View

You can display the recording screen in black and white. Recorded images will not be affected.

Constant Preview

You can check the effects of the chosen aperture and shutter speed on the recording screen in Manual Exposure Mode. Some camera makers call this Live View.

Peaking

In-focus portions (portions on the screen with clear outlines) are highlighted when focus is being adjusted manually. Great focussing aide for manual focussing. Can be set to High or Low.

Histogram

Display the histogram. A histogram is a graph that displays brightness along the horizontal axis (black to white) and the number of pixels at each brightness level on the vertical axis. It allows you to easily check a picture’s exposure.

Monitor/ Display Menu page 5 of 6 (settings for the display)

Custom Exposure settings G9 page 5

Guide Line

This will set the pattern of guide lines displayed when taking a picture.

Center Marker

The center of the recording screen will be displayed as [+].

Highlight

When the Auto Review function is activated or when playing back, white saturated areas appear blinking in black and white.

Zebra Pattern

Indicates parts that may become white saturated through overexposure in a zebra pattern. You can select a brightness value between 50% and 105%. In Zebra 2, you can select OFF. If you select 100% or 105%, only the areas that are already white saturated are displayed in a zebra pattern. The smaller the value is, the wider the brightness range to be processed as a zebra pattern will be.

Expo.Meter

Display the exposure meter.

  • Set to ON to display the Exposure meter when performing Program Shift, setting aperture, and setting shutter speed.
  • Unsuitable areas of the range are displayed in red.
  • When the Exposure meter is not displayed, switch the display information for screen by pressing DISP.
  • If no operations are performed for approximately 4 seconds, the Exposure meter disappears.
MF Guide

When you set the focus manually, an MF guide that allows you to check the direction to achieve focus is displayed.

LVF/Monitor Disp. Set

You can select separate screen display styles for the viewfinder and the monitor.

Monitor Info. Disp.

Display the recording information screen.

Viewfinder style: Scales down images slightly so that you can better review the composition of the images.

Monitor style: Scales images to fill the entire screen so that you can see their details.

Monitor/ Display Menu page 6 of 6 (monitor and lens behaviour settings)

Custom Exposure settings G9 page 6

Rec Area

This changes the angle of view during motion picture recording and still picture recording. Displays the recording area according to the angle of view for still picture recording or video.

Remaining Disp.

This will switch display between the number of recordable pictures and available recording time.

Menu Guide

Display a selection screen when you set the mode dial to the paint palette icon.

Panasonic GX9 portrait photography
Lens Position Resule

Saves the focus position when you turn off the camera. When an interchangeable lens that is compatible with power zoom is in use, the zoom position is also saved.

Power Zoom Lens

Change the settings for a power zoom lens. Sets the screen display and lens operations when using an interchangeable lens that is compatible with power zoom.

  • Disp Focal Length: When you zoom, the focal distance is displayed and you can confirm the zoom position.
  • Step Zoom: When you operate the zoom with this setting [ON], the zoom will stop at positions corresponding to predetermined distances.
  • Zoom Speed: You can set the zoom speed for zoom operations for both stills and vide to high, medium or low.
  • Zoom Ring: When set to OFF] the operations controlled by the zoom ring are disabled to prevent accidental operation.
Lens Fn Button Setting

Sets the function to be assigned to the focus button of an interchangeable lens. You can call up the assigned function by setting the focus selector switch of a compatible interchangeable lens to Fn and then pressing the focus button of the lens.

Face Recog.

Face Recognition is a function on the Panasonic GX9 which finds a face resembling a registered face and priorities focus and exposure automatically. Even if the person is located towards the back or on the end of a line in a group photo, the camera can still take a clear picture.

On will automatically recognise faces, but you can also register up to six faces yourself.

  1. In this Menu, select an empty frame (or overwrite one).
  2. Take an picture of the face you want to register.
  3. Register this face. Note that you can register up to 3 images per face for more accurate results.
Profile Setup

If you set the name and birthday of your baby or pet in advance, you can record their name and age in months and years in the images.

MENU – Setup Menu – page 1 of 5 (General Camera Setup)

MENU → gear (Setup Menu) → page 1 of 5

Online Manual

Display the URL or QR code to go to the online manual.

Cust. Set Mem.

Up to 5 sets of current camera settings can be registered using C1, C2, C3-1, C3-2 or C3-3. The first three are directly accessible via the Mode Dial.

Saving a custom camera is quite simple, set the mode dial to C1, C2 or C3, change the cameras settings to your preferences, go in the Menu to this setting and press MENU/SET on the screen.

Clock Set

You have already probably set time and date when you first turned on the Panasonic GX9, but you can also change this here.

World Time

Sets the times for the region where you live (HOME) and your travel destination (DESTINATION). Time and date will be altered to reflect the local time and date at your travel destination.

Travel Date

If you set Travel Setup, elapsed days of your trip i.e. which day of the trip based on its departure and return dates will be recorded The travel date is automatically canceled if the current date is after the return date.

If you set Location, the name of the travel destination that you enter will be recorded.

Wi-Fi

It’s possible to control your Panasonic GX9 with a smartphone or a tablet, display pictures on TV, print Wirelessly, Send images to a PC or use Web Services from Panasonic all via WiFi.

To use the Wi-Fi function on this camera, a wireless access point is needed off course.

By default, Wi-Fi is assigned to the Fn6 button when the camera is in Recording Mode, while it is assigned to Fn1 when the camera is in Playback Mode. You can assign it to any button you want.

When you want to connect to WiFi, simply press this button.

Wi-Fi Setup

Priority of Remote Device: Sets either the camera or the smartphone as the priority control device to be used during remote recording.

Wi-Fi Password: You can improve security by enabling password entry for a direct connection to a smartphone.

LUMIX CLUB: Acquires or changes the “LUMIX CLUB” login ID.

PC Connection: You can set the workgroup. To send images to a PC, a connection to the same workgroup as the destination PC is required.

Device Name: You can change the name (SSID) of this unit.

Wi-Fi Function Lock: To prevent incorrect operation and use of the Wi-Fi function by a third party and to protect saved personal information, protect the Wi-Fi function with a password.

Network Address: Displays the MAC address and IP address of this unit.

Approved Regulations: Displays the certification number for radio regulations.

Bluetooth

You can also connect to your Smartphone, Tablet or TV if your device has the Bluetooth functionality. A function called pairing is needed in order to establish a connection. You’ll find it in this menu, remember to also turn Bluetooth on if you want to do so.

Wireless Connection Lamp

This enables/disables the wireless connection lamp.

MENU – Setup Menu – page 2 of 5 (General Camera Setup)

MENU → gear (Setup Menu) → page 2 of 5

Beep

This allows you to set the electronic sound and the electronic shutter sound. Remember this will be off if you’re in Silent Mode!

Economy

These settings will determine the way the camera handles inactivity on your part to save battery life.

Sleep Mode: The camera is automatically turned off if the camera has not been used for the time selected on the setting.

Sleep Mode(Wi-Fi): The camera is automatically turned off if it is not connected to a Wi-Fi network and has not been used for 15 minutes (

Auto LVF/ Monitor Off: The monitor/viewfinder is automatically turned off if the camera has not been used for the time selected on the setting.

Power Save LVF Shooting: If you display the monitor using the viewfinder/monitor automatic switching function, the camera will turn off automatically after being left idle.

Monitor Display Speed

This sets the monitor frame rate to either 30fps or 60fps. 60fps will run smoother at the cost of battery life.

LVF Display Speed

This sets the viewfinder frame rate, to either 60 or 120fps. Again, at 120 fps you’ll see movement smoother at the cost of battery life.

Night Mode

This displays the monitor and viewfinder screens in red. It reduces the difficulty in seeing the surroundings caused by brightly-lit screens at night or in any low-light environment.

Monitor Display

Brightness, color, or red or blue tint of the Monitor/viewfinder can be adjusted.

Monitor Luminance

These settings will affect how and when brightness of the monitor is adjusted.

Auto: The brightness is adjusted automatically depending on how bright it is around the camera.

Mode 1: Makes the monitor brighter than normal.

Mode 2: Set the monitor to the standard brightness.

Mode 3: Makes the monitor brighter than standard.

MENU – Setup Menu – page 3 of 5 (General Camera Setup)

MENU → gear (Setup Menu) → page 3 of 5

Status LCD Backlight

You can set the LCD Backlight to High, Low or Off.

Eye Sensor

Sensitivity will This will set the sensitivity of the eye sensor.

LVF/Monitor Switch will This will set the method for switching between the monitor and viewfinder.

USB Mode

Sets the communication method when connecting using the USB connection cable.

Select on Connection: Select this setting to select the USB communication system when connecting to another device.

PC Storage: Select this setting to export images to a connected PC.

PC Tether: Select this setting to control the camera from a PC installed with supported software.

Pictbridge PTP: Select this setting when connecting to a printer supporting PictBridge.

USB Power Supply

Supplies power via the USB connection cable when the camera is connected to a PC or PowerBank.

TV Connection

Set the format for the HDMI output when playing back on the HDMI compatible TV and monitor connected with this unit using the HDMI cable. It’s possible to set it to Auto or 4K, 1080p, 1080i, etc…

Language

Set the language displayed on the screen.

Version Disp

This enables the firmware versions of the camera and lens to be checked before an upgrade for instance.

MENU – Setup Menu – page 4 of 5 (General Camera Setup)

MENU → gear (Setup Menu) → page 4 of 5

Folder/File Settings

Set the folder and file name patterns in which images are to be saved.

Save/Restore Camera Setting

Save the camera’s setup information to the card. Since saved setup information can be imported to the camera, you can apply the same setup to more than one camera.

No.Reset

Reset the file number of the next recording to 0001.

Reset

The following settings are reset to the default:

  • Recording settings.
  • Setup settings Wi-Fi Setup and Bluetooth settings.
  • Custom settings (Face Recog. and[Profile Setup settings.
  • Setup/custom settings (except for Wi-Fi Setup, Bluetooth, Face Recog. and Profile Setup).
Reset Network Settings

The following network settings are reset to the default:

  • Wi-Fi Setup (Excluding LUMIX CLUB).
  • Registered device information in Bluetooth and values in Wi-Fi network settings.
Pixel Refresh

It will perform optimization of imaging device and image processing. Use this function when you start seeing hot or dead pixels in your images.

Sensor Cleaning

Dust reduction to blow off the debris and dust that have affixed to the front of the imaging device is performed.

MENU – Setup Menu – page 5 of 5 (General Camera Setup)

MENU → gear (Setup Menu) → page 5 of 5

Level Gauge Assist

Adjust: Hold the camera in a horizontal position, and press MENU/SET. The level gauge will be adjusted.

Level Gauge Value Reset: Restores the default level gauge setting.

Format

Format the card before recording a picture with this unit.

Since data cannot be recovered after formatting, make sure to back up necessary data in advance.

MENU – My Menu (that little man)

My Menu Setting

Light Composition

Select multiple frames from 6K/4K burst files that you wish to combine in a composite image. Very cool feature. Parts of the image that are brighter than the preceding frame will be superimposed on the preceding frame to combine the frames into one picture.

My Menu Setting

You can register frequently-used menus and display them in My Menu. You can register up to 23 menus for quick access.

  • Add: Specifies the menu to be displayed in My Menu to register it.
  • Sorting: Rearranges the menus displayed in My Menu. Select the menu you want to move and set the destination.
  • Delete: Deletes registered menus from the displayed menu list.
  • Display from my menu: Sets the type of the menu screen to be displayed.

MENU – Playback Menu – Page 1

Playback Menu page 1

Slide Show

ou can play back the pictures you have taken in synchronization with music, and you can do this in sequence while leaving a fixed interval between each of the pictures.

You can also put together a slide show composed of only still pictures, only motion pictures, etc.

You can change the settings for slide show playback by selecting [Effect] or [Setup] on the slide show menu screen.

Playback Mode

Playback in Normal Play, Picture Only or Video Only can be selected.

Protect

You can set protection for pictures you do not want to delete by mistake.

Rating

You can set five different rating levels for images to do the following:

  • Delete all the pictures not set as ratings.
  • Checking the rating level on the file detail display of an operating system, such as Windows 10.
Title Edit

You can add text (comments) to pictures. After text has been registered, it can be stamped in prints using Text Stamp.

Lumix GX9 street photography
Face Rec Edit

You can clear and replace all information relating to face recognition in selected images.

RAW Processing

You can process the pictures taken in RAW format. The processed pictures will be saved in JPEG format.

  • White Balance: Allows you to select a White Balance preset and adjust it. If you select an item you can process the image with the setting at the time of recording.
  • Brightness correction: Allows you to correct the brightness within the range between – 2 EV and +2 EV.
  • Photo Style: Allows you to select a photo style effect.
  • i.Dynamic: Allows you to select an i.Dynamic setting.
  • Contrast: Allows you to adjust the contrast.
  • Highlight: Allows you to adjust the brightness of bright portions.
  • Shadow: Allows you to adjust the brightness of dark portions.
  • Saturation and Color Tone: Allows you to adjust the saturation. (When Monochrome or L.Monochrome is selected in Photo Style, you can adjust the color tone.)
  • Filter Effect: Allows you to select a filter effect. (Only when Monochrome or L.Monochrome is selected in Photo Style)
  • Noise Reduction: Allows you to adjust the noise reduction setting.
  • i.Resolution: Allows you to select an i.Resolution setting.
  • Sharpness: Allows you to adjust the resolution effect.
6K/4K PHOTO Bulk Saving

You can save pictures of a 6K/4K burst file that were extracted from any 5 second period at once.

MENU – Playback Menu – Page 2

Playback Menu page 2

6K/4K PHOTO Noise Reduction

When saving pictures, reduce the noise produced during recording by high ISO sensitivity.

Light composition

Select multiple frames from 6K/4K burst files that you wish to combine. Parts of the image that are brighter than the preceding frame will be superimposed on the preceding frame to combine the frames into one picture.

Clear Retouch

Remove unwanted objects and such right from the camera menu. The erasure operation can only be performed by touching. Clear Retouch automatically enables the touch operation.

Text Stamp

You can stamp recording information like names, dates, places on recorded images.

Copy

Copy images on the card to the other card.

Resize

To allow easy posting to web pages, attachment to e-mail etc., picture size (number of pixels) is reduced.

Cropping

You can enlarge and then clip the important part of the recorded picture.

Rotate

Rotate pictures manually in 90 degree steps.

MENU – Playback Menu – Page 3

Playback Menu page 3

Video Divide

Recorded motion picture and 6K/4K burst files can be divided in two. It is recommended for when you want to divide a part you need with a part you do not need.

Time Lapse Video

This function allows you to create a motion picture from a picture group recorded with Time Lapse Shot.

Stop Motion Video

A Motion picture is created from group pictures taken with Stop Motion Animation.

Rotate Disp.

This mode allows you to display pictures vertically if they were recorded holding the camera vertically.

Picture Sort

You can set the order in which the camera displays images during playback.Either via file name or date/time.

Delete Confirmation

This sets which option, Yes or No, will be highlighted first when the confirmation screen for deleting a picture is displayed.

Quick access with the Q Menu (Fn 2)

The most commonly used settings can be accessed through what is called the Q Menu. This is the FN2 button that you’ll find right next to the screen, above the trash bucket button.

The features that can be adjusted using Quick Menu are determined by the mode or a display style the camera is in.G9 Q Menu photo style

Photo Style

This applies only to Jpeg images, and the RAW preview when you load them into an app like Lightroom.. You can select a colour effect here.

  • Standard: standard Panasonic colour and contrast rendering.
  • Vivid: Brilliant effect with high saturation and contrast.
  • Natural: Soft effect with low contrast.
  • Monochrome: Monochrome  (black and white)effect with no color shades.
  • L.Monochrome: Black-and-white effect with rich gradation and crisp black accents.
  • Scenery: An effect appropriate for sceneries with vivid blue skies and greens.
  • Portrait: An effect appropriate for portraits with a healthy and beautiful skin tone.
  • Custom 1-4: Make your own presets for easy recall when needed.
  • Cinelike D: Gives priority to the dynamic range by using a gamma curve designed to create film-like images. Suited for editing.
  • Cinelike V: Gives priority to the contrast by using a gamma curve designed to create film-like images.

As mentioned earlier, it’s possible to create your own Photo Style or customise the preset styles. This is basically a way of hacking into the Jpeg engine and adjusting it to your own style and preferences. There are 6 areas that you can alter.

  • Contrast: add or decrease the difference between the brightness and the darkness in the picture.
  • Sharpness: add a degree of sharpness or make your images softer.
  • Noise Reduction: add noise reduction for high ISO shooting.
  • Saturation: add more vividness to the colours. Or remove some.
  • Color Tone: add a blue, orange, red or green filter to your image.

G9 Q Menu motion picture settingMotion Pic. Set

You can change bitrate and frame-rate for video here, as well as select the appropriate movie container.

AVCHD

AVHCD format frame rate

MP4

MP4 frame rate

G9 Q Menu picture setting

Picture Setting

You can quickly change picture size and picture quality here for your Jpeg’s.

These are the aspect ratios available:

  • 4:3: native sensor ratio
  • 3:2: the ratio used in full frame cameras
  • 16:9: for a wider looking view
  • 1:1: Square aspect ratio, mostly used for social sharing

Quality wise, you can choose between Small (S), Medium (M) and Large (L) files sizes. Obviously, Large will have the best quality Jpeg’s, at the expense of larger files. If you only shoot Jpeg (and not RAW) set it to Large. If you shoot both (Jpeg+RAW, see next screen), you could set it to small or medium since you’ll always work with the RAW in post processing. This way, you’ll still have a Jpeg for sharing quickly online or as a reference whilst still saving some space.

G9 Q Menu picture quality settings

Quality

Probably the most important setting is Quality. You can select either Jpeg, where the RAW data from the sensor is processed by an in-camera algorithm to produce a viewable image, or save your images in this RAW format. RAW retains all the data of the sensor, and is meant to be edited afterwards in a desktop application like Lightroom or Luminar. Saving as RAW means that you have much more creative freedom afterwards to push shadows or pull highlights, sharpen and enhance your image in any way you please. A Jpeg retains only a fraction of this information, according to the algorithm inside the camera which might or might not suit your style and/or needs.

Hence, my recommendation is always to shoot RAW or RAW Jpeg. This does mean larger files, but SD cards are inexpensive compared to your beautiful new Lumix. But some photographers prefer to shoot in Jpeg only because they are for instance not interested in post-processing images. In this case, I would set the Jpeg to the highest quality setting.

G9 Q Menu AFS/AFFAFS/AFF

AFS is an abbreviation of Auto Focus Single and AFF is an abbreviation of Auto Focus Flexible. In AFS, the focus stays locked while the shutter button is pressed halfway and in AFF focus is continuously readjusted according to the movement of the subject. See AFF as a function between Single AF and Continuous AF.

This can easily be changed by using the dial on the right of the ECF too:

AFS/AFF

The AFC function below AFS/AFF continuously changes focus according to the movement of your subject.

Some more info on these modes for clarification:

  • AFS will find focus and stay focused at that distance until you take a photo or release the shutter button. This is handy if you want to focus and then recompose your shot for instance.
  • AFF will do the same unless it detects subject movement, at which time it will temporarily switch to AFC operation in order to re-focus.
  • AFC won’t start to seek focus until you half-press the shutter, and will continually evaluate subject movement and change focus as needed.
  • With AFS you can can lock focus on a particular point, then swing the camera to get the right framing; with AFC, it will not lock focus, but will keep re-focusing. That’s why Pinpoint focusing can’t be used with AFC.

G9 Q Menu AF mode

AF Mode

This allows the focusing method that suits the positions and number of the subjects to be selected. There are 6 different methods available, each suited for different scenarios.

Face/Eye Detection

A person’s face, eyes, and body (the entire body or the upper half of the body) are automatically detected.

When the camera detects a person’s face or body, an AF area is displayed over the detected person.

  • Yellow: This is the AF area for the person to be brought into focus. The camera automatically selects the person.
  • White: These are the AF areas for people other than the person to be brought into focus. This type of AF area is displayed when more than one person is detected.

When a person’s face or eyes are detected, the eye closer to the camera will be brought into focus, if the eyes are inside the yellow frame.

The camera can detect the faces of up to 15 people. To specify the person or eye to be brought into focus, align an AF area with the desired person or eye. You can do so easily by touching a person indicated with an AF area.

Tracking

The camera keeps adjusting the focus and exposure automatically to the specified moving object. Perform either of the following operations to lock the subject to be tracked:

  • Use a button: aim the AF tracking frame D over the subject, and press the shutter button halfway.
  • Use the touch screen: touch the subject on the screen.

If it fails to lock, AF area will flash in red, and disappear.

The AF area turns yellow while the subject is locked and green while the shutter button is pressed halfway. Press the Menu button to cancel the lock.

49 Area

Widest setting with all AF points used.  Up to 49 AF areas can be focused. This is effective when your subject is not in the center of the screen.

Custom Multi

From among 49 AF areas, you can freely set the optimum shape of the AF area for the subject.

1-Area

The camera focuses on the subject in the AF area on the screen.

Pinpoint

You can achieve a more precise focus on a point that is smaller than 1-Area. If you press the shutter button halfway, the screen that lets you check the focus by enlarging it.

G9 Q Menu Burst shot settings

Burst Shot Setting

You can choose your bust shot setting here for continuous drive mode.

Burst shooting means that you’ll shoot continuously when you press the shutter button. You can apply different Burst Mode settings to Burst Shot 1 and and Burst Shot 2 Setting in these menus.

You’ll see SH (for super high burst rates), SH pre (which actually goes back a few seconds in time and saves these images too). These SH modes are only available with the electronic shutter. Version 2 is always faster that version 1.

Then we have High, Medium and Low which work with the Mechanical shutter too. The actual burst rate will be higher if you shoot Jpeg only.

G9 Q Menu metering modes

Metering Mode

You can change how the light is metered here, and hence how a correct exposure is calculated by the camera. If you feel that the camera takes over- or underexposed images according to your personal preferences, it might be worth changing the metering mode.

Implementation of this is quite basic in this camera, you have a total of only 3 methods to choose from:

  • Multiple: This is the method in which the camera measures the most suitable exposure by judging the allocation of brightness on the whole screen automatically.
  • Center weighted: This is the method used to focus on the subject on the center of the screen and measure the whole screen evenly.
  • Spot: This is the method to measure the subject in the spot metering target.

G9 Q Menu exposure compensation

Exposure Comp

If you feel like your Lumix GX9 is over- or underexposing your images (or you want to purposely underexpose), you can dial in what is called exposure compensation here. A range of plus minus 5 is available here to correct the auto exposure of the camera.

G9 Q Menu ISO settings

ISO sensitivity

Sets the upper and limit of the ISO sensitivity when you use Auto ISO or i ISO. Set upper limit to 3200, this is the range where you’ll get usable images without too much noise.

Conclusion

So this was a quick run-though of all the Panasonic GX9 Menu items, with pointers, tips and tricks along the way. This information should get you familiarised with this fantastic mirrorless camera. If you would like any clarification or extra information on any functionality here, let me know through the comment section below. Happy shooting!

wim arys

Wim Arys is a photographer from Belgium Europe with a passion for mirrorless cameras.

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34 Responses

  1. Mogens Hansen says:

    Hi Wim,

    thank you for this short and very informative article. One question: How do I stop this quite irritating happening of touching the screen resulting in taking a picture?
    Kind regards Mogens..

    • wim arys says:

      Go to the Operational Menu page 4 Mogens. Touch Settings Enables/disables the Touch operation.

      Touch Screen: All touch operations are turned on.
      Touch Tab: Operations of tabs are enabled.
      Touch AF: Operation to bring the subject you touch into focus AF or adjust the focus and brightness AF+AE are enabled.
      Touch Pad AF: Operation to move the AF area by touching the monitor when the viewfinder is in use.

      • Sigi says:

        Hi Wim,
        I have a lumix LF1. I set the fn button to AutoFocus in MF mode. Is it possible to do this in the GX9? Thank you

        • wim arys says:

          You can of course set up back Button AF by disabling shutter AF and enabling AF/AE Lock in the Custom menu, hence autofocus would only be engages by pressing the AF/AE Lock button. DOn’t believe this is possible with the Fn button though.

    • Christina says:

      OMG I came on here to ask this question. It’s driving me crazy. thank you for this answer I will try it in the morning.

  2. John Walter says:

    Doesn’t this article relate to the Panasonic Lumix G9 and not the GX9 as stated?

  3. Andrii says:

    Thanks a lot for this article! Much clearer information, than in official manual, that comes with device 🙂

  4. Jerry Suppan says:

    Thanks for creating this concise and ‘to-the-point’ guide on the GX9 (GX7-Mark-III for me) menu guide. It makes it a lot clear to get up to speed with the camera. You might consider making a walkthrough, talkthrough (or just captions even) YouTube video. The old say goes, ‘A picture says a 1,000 words’. Well that can be expanded to video nowadays.

    As an aside, I was thinking to sell off my GX7-Mark-III (GX9) for the new Panasonic G95 (G99 in Japan) but after reading initial reviews of the product at DPreview, I think I am better off keeping the GX9. Aside from the controls and ergonomics, there is not really much more of a draw on this new G95. In fact, DPreview does not have too many positive comments regard regard the 4K video crop on this new model.
    Cheers,
    Jerry

  5. David Kay says:

    Very helpful! I am having one problem however for which I cannot find the answer. The cursor buttons surrounding the Menu/Set button seem to operate as a joystick not as a quick way to get to focus mode, WB, etc. How do you do this so that pressing the cursors actually call up the function they indicate? Thanks!

  6. David Rosen says:

    After taking a shot, I want the entire screen filled with the preview (this was the only option with my GX85). For some reason, only half the screen showed the image; the other half showed the settings. I fiddled with the menu settings and managed to get the full screen to show the image; however, I am not sure what I did. Can you clarify the steps in the menu system to turn on or off the exposure info taking up half the screen? Your website and info is great! Thanks.

    • Patrice says:

      Hello Wim,
      Vraiment très utiles toutes ces infos pour moi qui vient de prendre en main le nouveau gx9!
      Quelles sont les réglages prévus pour « set the Jpeg to the highest quality Setting »?
      Merci
      Patrice

  7. Christina says:

    thank you for such a detailed document. I am very frustrated as I can’t seem to touch the screen to set the focus. I was able to do this before but now after changing something in the menu this no longer works and is driving me crazy. I am trying to set my camera back to the original setting so Ican find this again. I can’t seem to find anything on how you do this. I have spent all day on this so I’m hoping you can help me. Thank you so much.

    • wim arys says:

      1) Set the mode dial to P.
      2) Press the menu/set button.
      3) Select the setup option.
      4) Scroll through the setup listings until you get to ‘reset’.
      5) Select the reset option to reset your camera.

  8. Victor says:

    Hi Wim, thanks for detailed article, it’s really helpful. I have one question – which mode would you recommend while shooting moving persons in front of detailed objects such as buildings, bridges etc? I’ve been trying to make some shot of my wife while she was posing (moving) during our vacation trip and it seems that near 95% of shots are out of focus (I am talking about her face). It seems that camera can’t really focus on he face because of detailed background and as a result, I get the photo where background seems to be slightly better focused than face. I did tried different auto-focusing modes (AFC/AFF) as well as trying different metering modes but did not help. In comparison to my old Nikon D7000, where, thanks to fast shutter speed, I could make multiple shots and then choose. Here, I have to achieve that I would have to enable 4K mode (which is not suitable sometimes).. Any ideas? Thank you in advance.

  9. Tim says:

    Thanks so much for the great article. Do you know if there is a way to change the GX9 from PAL to NTSC? I know it was possible to do this with some previous Panasonic cameras, but I can’t find any information about the GX9.

  10. George Thomas says:

    I made a time lapse video on my GX9. I can view it on the camera’s rear screen, but I do not see how to save the video to my computer’s hard drive. Normal videos are MP4, but the time lapse video is not. Thanks.

  11. Hi Wim, thanks for your time in making this.
    I’m wondering if I could get rid of the white masking in the Play mode? I’d love to see the pictures as took in their aspect ratio and not with the white mask at approx 70% opacity masking the cropped parts.
    Thanks in advance!

    Federico

  12. JAMSHEED RIZWANI says:

    Hi , ive just got a GX9 and being the original butterfinger your article is a big help. THANK YOU

  13. Bazzie Smith says:

    Hi Wim
    Thanks so much for this guide. One query: you mention ‘joystick setting’ and ‘Fn lever setting’. My GX9 has neither a joystick nor a lever! Am I missing something?

    Thanks

  14. R Miller says:

    My GX9 seems to time-out too soon, including when under WiFi control, and on a full battery. Any adjustment for that?

  15. R Miller says:

    BTW, this Tips & Tricks by Wim Ayres is excellent – thanks!

  16. Phil Wallas says:

    I’m struggling with accidentally setting post focus mode. How do I do that on purpose and how do I turn it off when I want to? Thanks for a very useful manual!

  17. Urmas says:

    Hi i dont see USB Power Supply
    Supplies power via the USB connection cable when the camera is connected to a PC or PowerBank. option in my menu

  18. Corky Miller says:

    Help! I can’t seem to assign the dials when I have a non-aperture ring lens on. Both are f-stop no matter what I assign them. I’d like the rear dial to be ISO but it only changes ISO after I press the pre-assigned ISO key on the D-pad. Then OK to get back to shooting. Can we not just rotate a dial to change it? Thanks for your thought

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