Photographer Reworked a Panasonic Lumix G9 II Right into a Leica Look-Alike

“Programmer by day, photographer by weekend” Cristian Băluță couldn’t discover the exact digital camera he needed out there, so he made it himself. Băluță expertly took the interior elements from the Panasonic Lumix G9 II Micro Four Thirds digital camera and put them inside a Leica M reproduction physique he made. It was a labor of affection, and whereas the photographer admits the outcome isn’t essentially the dream digital camera he imagined, the challenge is unimaginable.

The “Leica G9 II,” as Băluță calls it, required a whole lot of very cautious {hardware} and software program engineering. The programmer/photographer has a wealthy historical past of working with electronics and has additionally grown annoyed with the state of Micro Four Thirds cameras.

“Then there was this frustration with MFT losing its identity and companies officially killing their compact lineups and rangefinder style cameras. OM System eventually released OM-3 shortly after I started building this but it was not a rangefinder style nor very compact,” Băluță writes, admitting that his new digital camera will not be essentially very compact both, it’s roughly the dimensions of a full-frame Leica M rangefinder, which Băluță says is “the absolute minimum” he may do.

As for why he opted to remodel a Panasonic Lumix G9 II, a comparatively current digital camera launched in late 2023, Băluță explains that the G9 II is “the most capable” Micro Four Thirds digital camera on the market. It has one of the best decision, good phase-detect autofocus, twin card slots, and, maybe as vital as anything, works very effectively with the Panasonic Leica lenses Băluță loves, like the wonderful Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 15mm f/1.7 ASPH. Panasonic and Leica, a match made in images heaven.

Băluță had just some necessities for his Leica G9 II build, however they have been removed from easy. He needed the digital camera to appear to be a Leica M rangefinder, with a high-quality appear and feel, no seen screws, and a lens mount as centered as doable. The photographer additionally needed his digital camera to have solely probably the most important buttons and controls, nothing he didn’t personally want for his photography.

Băluță didn’t already personal a Lumix G9 II, both, so he wanted to purchase a used one for round 1,000 euros for the challenge. It proved fairly the gamble, as a result of he says he hadn’t absolutely researched the digital camera’s inside design.

“I just assumed I will find a way to make it smaller. And I was in luck,” the photographer says. The G9 II has a good quantity of empty area inside, which might make the transformation a lot simpler.

With the G9 II absolutely disassembled and all its essential elements measured, it was time to begin the design and planning course of.

“The design program of choice was Fusion360. I had 0 experience with 3D softwares like this and my strategy was ‘do first, ask questions later.’ I changed multiple strategies as I was learning but ended up with one file and multiple components, one per part. Thinking like a programmer with multiple files and parameters was not flexible at all, like it is in programming,” Băluță explains.

This technique finally labored, and the photographer quickly had recordsdata and check 3D prints to assist him additional refine his design. The refinement course of took months, after which he ordered correct, high-quality components.

But the work was removed from carried out; every part wanted to suit collectively, which was not simple, and he wanted to revamp the electronics to suit inside the brand new digital camera physique, which was difficult as effectively.

But Băluță persevered, and finally, the challenge got here collectively and appears distinctive, albeit imperfect.

“The biggest problem I have are the dials, they are quite loose and only one of them actually works, the shooting modes dial. The axles of this dials are very short and wide, they can be improved by making them longer, like one of them already is and works very well. Another problem is that the sensor is not calibrated correctly, it stays on springs. I did many measurements before disassembly but I couldn’t find the numbers anywhere in my notes. There is no visible problem in the final photos though,” the enterprising photographer remarks.

As the pattern images present, Băluță is appropriate; the ultimate pictures look nice regardless of minor points with the sensor meeting. He additionally notes that the digital camera physique will get hotter than he anticipated, and that, as a consequence of its completely aluminum physique, the digital camera’s Wi-Fi doesn’t work too effectively. He may have overcome this concern through the use of plastic components, however he didn’t need to go that route.

When it’s all stated and carried out, the G9 II, a brand new battery, specialised instruments, obligatory elements, customized CNC machining, PCBs, and 3D printing all add as much as a bit underneath $2,700, which is considerably lower than the price of a brand-new Leica M digital camera.

“I still don’t have the camera I imagined, but I now know what it takes to build it. This build gave me proof that good hardware can be smaller and beautiful,” Băluță concludes. It’s not fairly the right digital camera, and it’s not precisely how he imagined it, however Băluță says he plans to spend some extra money on the challenge to resolve a few of the points and take it on his subsequent images journey.

While the photographer is sort of laborious on himself, there isn’t any debating that he achieved one thing very spectacular with the challenge. It is much from easy to take a digital camera aside and put it collectively in a distinct, thinner customized physique. As for reaching the Leica look? We suppose Băluță nailed it.

Image credit: Cristian Băluță