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Olympus XZ-2 iHS vs Panasonic GX9

Portability
85
Imaging
37
Features
67
Overall
49
Olympus XZ-2 iHS front
 
Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9 front
Portability
82
Imaging
61
Features
80
Overall
68

Olympus XZ-2 iHS vs Panasonic GX9 Key Specs

Olympus XZ-2 iHS
(Full Review)
  • 12MP - 1/1.7" Sensor
  • 3" Tilting Display
  • ISO 100 - 12800
  • Sensor-shift Image Stabilization
  • 1920 x 1080 video
  • 28-112mm (F1.8-2.5) lens
  • 346g - 113 x 65 x 48mm
  • Introduced December 2012
Panasonic GX9
(Full Review)
  • 20MP - Four Thirds Sensor
  • 3" Tilting Screen
  • ISO 200 - 25600
  • Sensor based 5-axis Image Stabilization
  • No Anti-Alias Filter
  • 3840 x 2160 video
  • Micro Four Thirds Mount
  • 407g - 124 x 72 x 47mm
  • Introduced February 2018
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Olympus XZ-2 iHS vs Panasonic GX9 Overview

Lets look more closely at the Olympus XZ-2 iHS vs Panasonic GX9, former being a Small Sensor Compact while the latter is a Advanced Mirrorless by companies Olympus and Panasonic. There exists a sizable gap between the image resolutions of the XZ-2 iHS (12MP) and GX9 (20MP) and the XZ-2 iHS (1/1.7") and GX9 (Four Thirds) have totally different sensor sizing.

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The XZ-2 iHS was manufactured 6 years earlier than the GX9 and that is quite a significant difference as far as technology is concerned. Both the cameras feature different body design with the Olympus XZ-2 iHS being a Compact camera and the Panasonic GX9 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before diving into a step-by-step comparison, here is a short highlight of how the XZ-2 iHS matches up versus the GX9 with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

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Reasons to pick Olympus XZ-2 iHS over the Panasonic GX9

 XZ-2 iHS GX9 

Reasons to pick Panasonic GX9 over the Olympus XZ-2 iHS

 GX9 XZ-2 iHS 
IntroducedFebruary 2018December 2012Fresher by 62 months
Screen resolution1240k920kCrisper screen (+320k dot)

Common features in the Olympus XZ-2 iHS and Panasonic GX9

 XZ-2 iHS GX9 
Manual focus Very accurate focusing
Screen typeTiltingTiltingTilting screen
Screen size3"3"Same screen measurement
Selfie screen Missing selfie screen
Touch friendly screen Quickly navigate

Olympus XZ-2 iHS vs Panasonic GX9 Physical Comparison

In case you're looking to carry your camera regularly, you are going to need to factor its weight and measurements. The Olympus XZ-2 iHS has outer dimensions of 113mm x 65mm x 48mm (4.4" x 2.6" x 1.9") accompanied by a weight of 346 grams (0.76 lbs) whilst the Panasonic GX9 has proportions of 124mm x 72mm x 47mm (4.9" x 2.8" x 1.9") and a weight of 407 grams (0.90 lbs).

Check out the Olympus XZ-2 iHS vs Panasonic GX9 in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool. Camera Size Comparison with Lenses

Remember that, the weight of an ILC will change depending on the lens you use at the time. Below is a front view scale comparison of the XZ-2 iHS versus the GX9.

Olympus XZ-2 iHS vs Panasonic GX9 size comparison

Considering dimensions and weight, the portability score of the XZ-2 iHS and GX9 is 85 and 82 respectively.

Olympus XZ-2 iHS vs Panasonic GX9 top view buttons comparison

Olympus XZ-2 iHS vs Panasonic GX9 Sensor Comparison

Typically, it is difficult to see the gap between sensor sizing only by reading a spec sheet. The visual below may give you a far better sense of the sensor sizes in the XZ-2 iHS and GX9.

Clearly, the 2 cameras feature different megapixels and different sensor sizing. The XZ-2 iHS featuring a tinier sensor will make shooting shallow DOF tougher and the Panasonic GX9 will offer you greater detail due to its extra 8MP. Higher resolution will also enable you to crop pictures way more aggressively. The older XZ-2 iHS is going to be disadvantaged in sensor innovation.

Olympus XZ-2 iHS vs Panasonic GX9 sensor size comparison

Olympus XZ-2 iHS vs Panasonic GX9 Screen and ViewFinder

Olympus XZ-2 iHS vs Panasonic GX9 Screen and Viewfinder comparison
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Photography Type Scores

Portrait Comparison

Olympus XZ-2 iHS as a Portrait photography camera
Panasonic GX9 as a Portrait photography camera
46
focusing manually
has face detection autofocus
supports RAW formats
megapixel count low (12 megapixels)
small sensor (1/1.7")
76
manual focus
good MP (20 megapixels)
sensor size is nice (Four Thirds)
includes face detection focusing
exports RAW files
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Street Comparison

Olympus XZ-2 iHS Street photography features
Panasonic GX9 Street photography features
66
screen tilts up and down
built in image stabilization (Sensor-shift)
supports RAW formats
small sensor (1/1.7")
more heavy than competitors (346 grams)
84
screen tilts up and down
image stabilization (Sensor based 5-axis)
sensor size is nice (Four Thirds)
exports RAW files
offers touch to focus
above average ISO range (25,600)
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Sports Comparison

Olympus XZ-2 iHS Sports photography features
Panasonic GX9 Sports photography features
43
built in image stabilization (Sensor-shift)
has tracking autofocus
great battery pack (340 shots)
megapixel count low (12 megapixels)
small sensor (1/1.7")
lack of phase detect autofocus
73
quiet mode (1/16,000s)
image stabilization (Sensor based 5-axis)
good MP (20MP)
sensor size is nice (Four Thirds)
includes tracking autofocus
sensor has phase detect AF
low battery power (260 shots)
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Travel Comparison

Travel photography with Olympus XZ-2 iHS
Travel photography with Panasonic GX9
61
great battery pack (340 per charge)
flash built-in
reasonably wide (28mm)
fast maximum aperture (f1.8)
no Timelapse mode
more heavy than competitors (346g)
megapixel count low (12 megapixels)
screen is not selfie friendly
71
has bluetooth
offers touch to focus
good MP (20 megapixels)
has built in flash
low battery power (260 per charge)
display isn't selfie friendly
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Landscape Comparison

Olympus XZ-2 iHS as a Landscape photography camera
Panasonic GX9 as a Landscape photography camera
55
focusing manually
reasonably wide (28mm)
fast maximum aperture (f1.8)
nice screen size (3 inch)
built in image stabilization (Sensor-shift)
supports RAW formats
great battery pack (340 per charge)
can't swap lenses (fixed lens mount)
megapixel count low (12 megapixels)
small sensor (1/1.7")
no Timelapse mode
77
manual focus
switch lenses (Micro Four Thirds mount)
screen size is good (3 inch)
image stabilization (Sensor based 5-axis)
good MP (20 megapixels)
sensor size is nice (Four Thirds)
does not have anti-alias filter
above average ISO range (25,600)
exports RAW files
low battery power (260 shots)
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Vlogging Comparison

Vlogging with Olympus XZ-2 iHS
Vlogging with Panasonic GX9
36
reasonably wide (28mm)
fast maximum aperture (f1.8)
built-in touchscreen
built in image stabilization (Sensor-shift)
has face detection autofocus
high video quality (1920 x 1080 pxls)
has external microphone socket
screen is not selfie friendly
more heavy than competitors (346 grams)
35
touchscreen capability
image stabilization (Sensor based 5-axis)
includes face detection focusing
high video quality (3840 x 2160 resolution)
display isn't selfie friendly
does not have external microphone socket
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Olympus XZ-2 iHS vs Panasonic GX9 Specifications

Detailed spec comparison table for Olympus XZ-2 iHS and Panasonic GX9
 Olympus XZ-2 iHSPanasonic Lumix DC-GX9
General Information
Brand Olympus Panasonic
Model Olympus XZ-2 iHS Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9
Class Small Sensor Compact Advanced Mirrorless
Introduced 2012-12-18 2018-02-13
Physical type Compact Rangefinder-style mirrorless
Sensor Information
Chip - Venus Engine
Sensor type CMOS CMOS
Sensor size 1/1.7" Four Thirds
Sensor measurements 7.44 x 5.58mm 17.3 x 13mm
Sensor area 41.5mm² 224.9mm²
Sensor resolution 12MP 20MP
Anti aliasing filter
Aspect ratio 4:3 1:1, 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9
Full resolution 3968 x 2976 5184 x 3888
Max native ISO 12800 25600
Lowest native ISO 100 200
RAW files
Lowest boosted ISO - 100
Autofocusing
Manual focus
AF touch
AF continuous
AF single
AF tracking
Selective AF
AF center weighted
Multi area AF
AF live view
Face detect AF
Contract detect AF
Phase detect AF
Number of focus points 35 49
Lens
Lens mount fixed lens Micro Four Thirds
Lens focal range 28-112mm (4.0x) -
Highest aperture f/1.8-2.5 -
Macro focus distance 1cm -
Amount of lenses - 107
Focal length multiplier 4.8 2.1
Screen
Display type Tilting Tilting
Display sizing 3" 3"
Resolution of display 920 thousand dots 1,240 thousand dots
Selfie friendly
Liveview
Touch display
Viewfinder Information
Viewfinder Electronic (optional) Electronic
Viewfinder resolution - 2,760 thousand dots
Viewfinder coverage - 100%
Viewfinder magnification - 0.7x
Features
Lowest shutter speed 60 seconds 60 seconds
Highest shutter speed 1/2000 seconds 1/4000 seconds
Highest quiet shutter speed - 1/16000 seconds
Continuous shooting rate - 9.0 frames/s
Shutter priority
Aperture priority
Manually set exposure
Exposure compensation Yes Yes
Set WB
Image stabilization
Inbuilt flash
Flash range 8.60 m (ISO 800) 6.00 m (at ISO 200)
Flash options Auto, On, Off, Red-Eye, Fill-in, Wireless Auto, auto w/redeye reduction, forced on, forced on w/redeye reduction, slow sync, slow sync w/redeye reduction, forced off
External flash
AEB
WB bracketing
Exposure
Multisegment
Average
Spot
Partial
AF area
Center weighted
Video features
Video resolutions 1920 x 1080 (30 fps), 1280 x 720 (30 fps), 640 x 480 (30 fps) -
Max video resolution 1920x1080 3840x2160
Video file format MPEG-4, H.264 MPEG-4, AVCHD, H.264
Microphone port
Headphone port
Connectivity
Wireless Eye-Fi Connected Built-In
Bluetooth
NFC
HDMI
USB USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) Yes
GPS None None
Physical
Environmental sealing
Water proof
Dust proof
Shock proof
Crush proof
Freeze proof
Weight 346 grams (0.76 lb) 407 grams (0.90 lb)
Physical dimensions 113 x 65 x 48mm (4.4" x 2.6" x 1.9") 124 x 72 x 47mm (4.9" x 2.8" x 1.9")
DXO scores
DXO All around score 49 not tested
DXO Color Depth score 20.4 not tested
DXO Dynamic range score 11.3 not tested
DXO Low light score 216 not tested
Other
Battery life 340 pictures 260 pictures
Style of battery Battery Pack Battery Pack
Battery model Li-90B -
Self timer Yes (2 or 12 sec) Yes (2 or 10 secs, 3 photos over 10 secs)
Time lapse feature
Type of storage SD/SDHC/SDXC SD/SDHC/SDXC card (UHS-I supported)
Card slots One One
Retail cost $450 $1,000