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Test/ First Impression Vacationing with the S9

S

snaimpally

Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2025
Messages
55
I recently went on a tour of Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia, and Slovenia and took a small travel kit: Lumix S9, Lumix 18-40, Lumix 28-200, and the TTArtisan 40mm f2. All of this fit in a CosySpeed Camslinger waist pouch. In the past, I took a micro four thirds (MFT) kit based around the Lumix GM1 so this was my first time taking the S9 and I wanted to share my impressions.

The 18-40 ended up being my workhorse lens. (I bought it as a refurb from Amazon.) Most of the time, when on vacation, I am looking to get a fairly wide view, and the 18-40 was perfect for this. In addition, the hybrid zoom feature was good enough that I didn't need the 28-200. In fact, a few days into the tour, I pulled the 28-200 out of the waist pouch (and put it in my suitcase) to make it lighter. One thing I REALLY wanted was an auto open/close lens hood, similar to the one that JJC makes for the Lumix 12-32mm. Just twist the lens to open it up and the three parts of the lens hood opens up like the petals of a flower. I emailed JJC and asked them to make one for the 18-40mm.

I did use the 40mm a few times, but to avoid swappng lenses, I often just changed the ISO from "auto" to "6400" to allow me to continue to use the 18-40. Thus, I could probably get away with bringing just the 18-40 lens.

On bright days I did wish for an electronic viewfinder, but I am used to not having one because the GM1 doesn't have a viewfinder either.

I strongly recommend the S9 + 18-40. Great combo when going on vacation.
 
It was good to read your experiences. I have found the older kit lens, the 20-60mm, is also an excellent travel option, being quite light with a very useful range and excellent image quality.

Care to share some of the photos you took? I have visited Montenegro briefly (on a cruise) and it was stunning, but not the others and am interested in looking at them as options for the future.
 
Thanks. The 20-60 sounds intriguing. The number of zooms with overlapping ranges in L-mount is a bit overhwelming. Interestingly, the 18-40 is exactly the same size as the new 40mm f2 pancake that Lumix announced.

I tried uploading photos but it looks like I will need to resize them first.
 
So how would you compare bodies? I guess viewfinders are a draw ;^) but the flip screen could help at times when pointing towards heaven..
 
cascadian said:
So how would you compare bodies? I guess viewfinders are a draw ;^) but the flip screen could help at times when pointing towards heaven..
Click to expand...
The GM1 is much smaller but lacks IBIS so having a bigger body is an acceptable trade off. The flip screen did come in handy (the GM1 lacks a flip screen). All in all, I'm happy with the S9 and plan to sell off my 2 GM1 bodies (main plus backup).
 
Jonathan-Mac said:
It was good to read your experiences. I have found the older kit lens, the 20-60mm, is also an excellent travel option, being quite light with a very useful range and excellent image quality.

Care to share some of the photos you took? I have visited Montenegro briefly (on a cruise) and it was stunning, but not the others and am interested in looking at them as options for the future.
Click to expand...

I checked and the 20-60 is more than twice as long (1.6" vs 3.4") as the 18-40 so from the standpoint of a compact kit for vacationing, the 18-40 is preferrable. The hybrid zoom compensates a bit for the shorter (40 vs 60) reach of the 18-40.

If you liked Montenegro, I would certainly reccomend visiting Croatia and Slovenia.
 
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