Panasonic Suspends Extremely Buggy Lumix S9 Wireless Firmware Update

Another firmware update has arrived with issues and warnings. This time, it’s the Panasonic Lumix S9 with problems.

As DPReview reports, Panasonic recently released firmware 2.0 for the Lumix S9 camera, which added support for the Lumix Lab App Version 3.0.0. The Lumix Lab app update enabled photographers to update their camera’s firmware wirelessly via the smartphone app, introduced RAW editing support, added more user LUT controls, and refreshed the user interface.

Unfortunately, the update also brought new problems.

As Panasonic explains in a notice, the company “identified an issue” with the Lumix S9 2.0 firmware update released earlier this week, on June 9, when updating the camera via the Lumix Lab app.

Some users who updated their cameras with the new Lumix Lab firmware upgrade feature have experienced major issues, including significant image quality and camera functionality problems. One user notes on Facebook that all their JPEG and RAW files have a pink-and-green band after the 2.0 update. Another user has red, green, and blue vertical bars on their photos. Another has a technicolor smattering of bars and noise across the entire frame.

Lumix itself got involved in the Facebook discussion, apologizing for the inconvenience and advising affected photographers to contact the Panasonic support group in their country or region.

“We apologize once again for any inconvenience caused and appreciate your patience,” Panasonic wrote on Facebook.

Users who have successfully updated their Lumix S9 to firmware 2.0 via the Lumix Lab do not need to take any additional action. However, in view of the issue, Panasonic has suspended firmware updating via the Lumix Lab app. Firmware 2.0 is still available for direct download and the camera can be safely updated via memory card, per Panasonic.

Panasonic is far from the only camera company to have firmware update issues in recent years. Late last year, Sony temporarily suspended an a7 IV firmware update after widespread issues. Canon had to pull and re-release firmware updates for the R1 and R5 II last year, too. And who can forget when Nikon’s Z8 firmware update 3.0 borked some Tamron lenses.

At this point, given how many firmware updates have launched with issues, sometimes very serious ones, photographers would be well-served to wait a bit before updating their cameras to see if any significant issues arise. This is especially true for the many photographers with a single camera or professionals who cannot afford to be without their gear due to a bug.

Image credits: Panasonic. Header photo created using an asset licensed via Depositphotos.com.