This post has been updated:
Our reader Kesztió sent me this and speculated that the G9 might use a new multi-aspect sensor. But a trusted soruce just told us the G9 does NOT use a multi-aspect sensor:
The sensor in the G9 is the exact same size and dimensions of the GH5 sensor and every MFT sensor before it.
Thismeans his speculation is wrong. But I will keep his following text becuse the idea would have been great:
Dear Admin,
Here comes a possible explanation about this really weird and widely discussed sensor aspect ratio of the upcoming Panasonic G9.(fig. 1)
This sensor is indeed a multi aspect ratio one, large enough to house not just all the landscape modes (4:3, 16:9) but the system’s default portrait mode (4:3, actually 3:4) as well!
The math behind this assumption is really simple.
Consider the image circle radius of 1 unit (for the sake of simplicity). In this case the sensor would have the following ratio: 2a / 2b = a/b.
You can calculate both a and b from the Pythagorean theorem:
(fig. 2)
This almost-square ratio is quite close to the one you can measure based on the leaked image.
Finally, you can use a mirrorless camera in portrait mode without rotating the camera itself! This might also explain the insanely big magnification of the EVF (0.83), which might be necessary to have a big portrait live view as well.
Too nice to be true, isn’t it?
Kesztió