Size and weight is a big decision factor when you are trying to find the ideal camera for your needs.
In this section, We are going to illustrate Panasonic G9 and Olympus XZ-2 iHS side-by-side from the front, back and top in their relative dimensions. Panasonic G9 has external dimensions of 137 x 97 x 92 mm (5.39 x 3.82 x 3.62″) and weighs 658 g (1.45 lb / 23.21 oz) (including batteries). Olympus XZ-2 iHS has external dimensions of 113 x 65 x 48 mm (4.45 x 2.56 x 1.89″) and weighs 346 g (0.76 lb / 12.20 oz) (including batteries).
Below you can see the front view size comparison of Panasonic G9 and Olympus XZ-2 iHS. Olympus XZ-2 iHS is clearly the smaller of the two cameras. Its body is 24mm narrower, 32mm shorter and 44mm thinner than Panasonic G9. As you can tell, actually this is not a fair size comparison since Olympus XZ-2 iHS has a built-in lens but Panasonic G9 doesn't. Once you put a lens on G9, its thickness will increase significantly.
![Panasonic G9 vs Olympus XZ-2 iHS Camera Size Comparison - Front View]()
Comparison image of Panasonic G9 and Olympus XZ-2 iHS Size, Weight and External Dimensions - Front View
Now lets look at the top view comparison of Panasonic G9 and Olympus XZ-2 iHS.
![Panasonic G9 vs Olympus XZ-2 iHS Camera Size Comparison - Top View]()
Top View Comparison image of Panasonic G9 and Olympus XZ-2 iHS Size
Weight is another important factor especially when deciding on a camera that you want to carry with you all day.
Olympus XZ-2 iHS is significantly lighter (312g ) than the Panasonic G9 which may become a big advantage especially on long walking trips.
Again, this comparison may not be very useful in real life as we are comparing the weight of a camera with a built-in lens to the body-only weight of an interchangeable lens camera. Once you put a lens on G9, the total kit will weigh much higher.
Weather Sealing
With its weather sealed body, we believe that G9 has a big advantage over XZ-2 iHS which doesn't provide any kind of environmental sealing.
LCD Screen Size and Features
Panasonic G9 and Olympus XZ-2 iHS's LCD screens has the same diagonal size of 3".
Olympus XZ-2 iHS features a
Tilting only screen which is mostly only good for shooting from waist or over the head levels. On the other hand, Panasonic G9 sports a
Fully Articulated screen which is more flexible and useful especially for taking Selfie shots and video.
Panasonic G9 has a 20.0MP Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ) sized CMOS sensor . On the other hand, Olympus XZ-2 iHS has a 12.0MP 1/1.7" (7.44 x 5.58 mm ) sized CMOS sensor .
Panasonic G9's sensor provides 8MP more than Olympus XZ-2 iHS's sensor, which gives a significant advantage in real life. You can print your images larger or crop more freely.
On the other hand, please keep in mind that Max sensor resolution is not the only determinant of resolving power. Factors such as the optical elements, low pass filter, pixel size and sensor technology also affects the final resolution of the captured image.
Another difference between these two cameras is that Panasonic G9's sensor lacks anti-alias (Low-Pass) filter. Removing anti-alias filter increases the sharpness and level of detail but at the same time, it increases the chance of moire occurring in certain scenes.
Below you can see the G9 and XZ-2 iHS sensor size comparison.
![Panasonic G9 vs Olympus XZ-2 iHS Sensor Size Comparison]()
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Panasonic G9 and Olympus XZ-2 iHS Cameras
As seen above, Panasonic G9 has a 5.4x Larger sensor area than Olympus XZ-2 iHS. Larger sensors give photographer more control on the depth of field and blurry background compared to smaller sensor when shot in same focal length and aperture.
In this section, we rank and compare Panasonic G9 and Olympus XZ-2 iHS for five different photography types in order to make your decision process easier in case you are specifically interested in one or more of these areas.
Panasonic G9 for Portrait Photography
Olympus XZ-2 iHS for Portrait Photography
Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Very High Resolution Sensor: 20.0MP
Image Stabilization
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Read the details
Image Stabilization
External Flash Shoe
Average Resolution Sensor: 12.0MP
Optional External Viewfinder
Small 1/1.7" (7.44 x 5.58 mm) sensor
Not so good Ergonomics&Handling
Read the details
Panasonic G9 for Street Photography
Olympus XZ-2 iHS for Street Photography
Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Image Stabilization
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
Fully Articulated LCD Screen
Medium sized Body
Read the details
Image Stabilization
Small Body
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
Tilting LCD Screen
Fast Lens at Wide: f1.80
28 mm - Good Wide Angle Coverage
Optional External Viewfinder
Small 1/1.7" (7.44 x 5.58 mm) sensor
Read the details
Panasonic G9 for Sports Photography
Olympus XZ-2 iHS for Sports Photography
Image Stabilization
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Fast Continuous Shooting: 20.0fps
Environmental Sealings
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/8000s
225 Focus Points
Wireless Connection
Read the details
Image Stabilization
External Flash Shoe
35 Focus Points
Optional External Viewfinder
Average Max shutter speed: 1/2000s
Not so good Ergonomics&Handling
Environmental Sealings
112 mm Tele Lens
Read the details
Panasonic G9 for Daily Photography
Olympus XZ-2 iHS for Daily Photography
Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Environmental Sealings
Medium size Body
658g
Body Thickness 92mm
Read the details
Compact Body
4.0X Optical Zoom
Small 1/1.7" (7.44 x 5.58 mm) sensor
346g
Body Thickness 48mm
Read the details
Panasonic G9 for Landscape Photography
Olympus XZ-2 iHS for Landscape Photography
Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Very High Resolution Sensor: 20.0MP
Environmental Sealings
Live-view
Read the details
28 mm - Good Wide Angle Coverage
Average Resolution Sensor: 12.0MP
Small 1/1.7" (7.44 x 5.58 mm) sensor
No Environmental Sealings
Read the details
You may have already made your decision about which camera suits better for your needs and your budget so far but in case you wonder how we rated Panasonic G9 and Olympus XZ-2 iHS, below you can find their scores in five different aspects.
Our Decision Algorithm dynamically scores cameras using 63 different specs, current price and DxO Mark scores (where possible) in order to make a more objective and consistent comparison.
Here is a summary of how Panasonic G9 and Olympus XZ-2 iHS scores compare:
Panasonic G9
Ranked
#36 out of 86 in SLR-style mirrorless cameras
Ranked
#60 out of 1220 in all Cameras
Olympus XZ-2 iHS
Ranked
#8 out of 475 in Compact cameras
Ranked
#285 out of 1220 in all Cameras
Panasonic G9 is the overall winner of this comparison. It has a higher Overall Score and beats Olympus XZ-2 iHS in all criteria except one: Portability. Olympus XZ-2 iHS is significantly smaller than Panasonic G9. If small size and light body is a big priority for you, choose Olympus XZ-2 iHS. Otherwise, Panasonic G9 is the better camera overall.
| General |
Panasonic Lumix DC-G9 |
Olympus XZ-2 iHS |
| Brand |
Panasonic |
Olympus |
| Announced |
2017-11-08 |
2012-12-18 |
| Body Type |
SLR-style mirrorless |
Compact |
Sensor |
|
|
| Type |
CMOS |
CMOS |
| Size |
Four Thirds |
1/1.7" |
| Dimensions |
17.3 x 13 mm |
7.44 x 5.58 mm |
| Area |
224.90mm2 |
41.52mm2 |
| Megapixels |
20 megapixels |
12 megapixels |
| Max Resolution |
5184 x 3888 |
3968 x 2976 |
| Max Native Light sensitivity |
25,600 ISO |
12,800 ISO |
| Min Native Light sensitivity |
200 ISO |
100 ISO |
| Min Boosted Light Sensitivity |
100 ISO |
- |
| RAW Support |
|
|
Autofocus |
|
|
| AF Touch |
|
|
| AF Continuous |
|
|
| AF Single |
|
|
| AF Tracking |
|
|
| AF Selective |
|
|
| AF Center |
|
|
| AF Multi Area |
|
|
| AF Live View |
|
|
| AF Face Detection |
|
|
| AF Contrast Detection |
|
|
| AF Phase Detection |
|
|
| Number of Focus Points |
225 |
35 |
Lens |
|
|
| Manual Focus |
|
|
| Lens Mount |
Micro Four Thirds |
fixed lens |
| Lens Focal Range |
no lens |
28-112 mm (4x) |
| Max Aperture |
no lens |
F1.8-2.5 |
| Macro Focus Range |
no lens |
1cm |
Screen |
|
|
| Type |
Fully Articulated |
Tilting |
| Size |
3" |
3" |
| Resolution |
1,040k dots |
920k dots |
| Touch Screen |
|
|
Viewfinder |
|
|
| Viewfinder |
Electronic |
Electronic (optional) |
| Viewfinder Resolution |
3,680k dots |
no electronic viewfinder |
| Viewfinder Coverage |
100% |
n/a |
| Viewfinder Magnification |
0.83x |
n/a |
Photography Features |
|
|
| Max Mechanical Shutter |
1/8000s |
1/2000s |
| Max Electronic Shutter |
1/32000s |
n/a |
| Shutter Priority |
|
|
| Aperture Priority |
|
|
| Manual Exposure Mode |
|
|
| Custom White Balance |
|
|
| Image Stabilization |
Sensor-shift |
Sensor-shift |
| Built-in Flash |
|
|
| Flash Range |
no built-in flash |
8.60 m (ISO 800) |
| External Flash |
|
|
| Continuous Shooting |
20.0 fps |
n/a |
| Multi-Segment |
|
|
| Average |
|
|
| Spot |
|
|
| Partial |
|
|
| AF-Area |
|
|
| Center Weighted |
|
|
| AE Bracketing |
|
|
| WB Bracketing |
|
|
Video Features |
|
|
| Max Video Resolution |
3840 x 2160 |
1920 x 1080 |
| Video Formats |
MPEG-4, AVCHD, H.264 |
MPEG-4, H.264 |
| Microphone Port |
|
|
| Headphone Port |
|
|
Connectivity |
|
|
| Wireless Connectivity |
Built-In |
Eye-Fi Connected |
| HDMI |
|
|
Physical |
|
|
| Environmental Sealing |
|
|
| Weight |
658g |
346g |
| Dimensions |
137 x 97 x 92mm |
113 x 65 x 48mm |
| Battery Life |
400 shots |
340 shots |
Other Features |
|
|
| Timelapse Recording |
|
|
| GPS |
None |
None |
DxO Sensor Scores |
|
|
| DxO Overall Score |
not tested |
49 |
| DxO Color Depth |
not tested |
20.4 |
| DxO Dynamic Range |
not tested |
11.3 |
| DxO Low Light ISO |
not tested |
216 |
|
Report a correction |
Report a correction |