UPDATE: Lumix Japan has issued a public apology, after the discovery that it had been using photographs taken with a Nikon camera on its website spread like wildfire across the internet.
As the story spread, more online sleuths began digging, revealing that the company had also been using images taken using Canon and Tamron equipment. (There's a good roundup of the instances at Photo Rumors.)
Panasonic has removed the original offending image (see below) from the Lumix S9 product page. However, the image remains on the Lumix GH5S product page – so it remains to be seen how many other images shot on rival equipment are still on the website.
The statement (machine translated from the original Japanese) is as follows:
"We have received many inquiries regarding the images on the product website of the new full-frame mirrorless single-lens camera Lumix S9.
"The images used on the product website to introduce functions and scenes were partially licensed images from a stock photo service.
"In addition to insufficient consideration of whether the images were appropriate for the product pages of a camera that generates creativity, the annotations on the website were in a location and with content that was difficult for customers to understand, as they were not taken with the new product.
"We take your comments seriously and have reconsidered. We will make the content easier to understand and communicate with users in a user-friendly manner. As a camera manufacturer, we will strive to meet your expectations. We will discuss a review of the content of the Lumix website so that we can meet your expectations as a camera manufacturer.
"We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere condolences to our loyal customers and to all Lumix fans and camera enthusiasts. We are very sorry for the anxiety and concern this situation has caused. All of us involved have renewed our commitment to face everyone more sincerely and make changes."
ORIGINAL STORY (May 28 2024): In a major black eye for the manufacturer, Panasonic has been caught red-handed using an image taken on a Nikon camera on the product page for its latest release, the Panasonic Lumix S9.
It gets worse. Not only was the image taken on a Nikon camera, it was taken by a former Nikon ambassador.
It gets worse. Not only does Panasonic use the image to represent the capabilities of the Lumix S9, it has used the same image in the same way for at least one other camera: the Lumix GH5S. What the heck is going on?
If you go to the Japanese product page for the S9, specifically the Animal Recognition section, you will see a beautiful image of two European bee eater birds (next to an image of a beagle, which I'll come back to). "'Animal Recognition' supports birds, canines (including wolves, etc.), and felines (including lions, etc.)" reads the Japanese text.
If you're anything like me, you would assume that this photograph – specifically used to demonstrate the capabilities of the camera's autofocus system – was taken using the camera in question. Or, at least, using the autofocus system in question.
We would be wrong.
This photograph was actually taken in 2016. Not on a Panasonic camera but on a Nikon, by a former Nikon ambassador – Romanian photographer, Mircea Bezergheanu. You can see as much if you search for the image using Google, as I did below:
If you look at the image above, you'll see that the top link is to a Romanian Nikon website, and a piece by Bezergheanu on how he photographed the bee eaters (with a lot more beautiful imagery). The same article seems to appear here, on another Romanian site.
I asked Bezergheanu which camera he actually used to take the photo, and it was the Nikon D810 – not the Lumix S9. Nor the Lumix GH5S, whose Japanese product page also uses the image (as seen in the second link in the above Google search).
Japanese retailer System 5 also used the image on its listing for a third camera, the Lumix S5II. While this obviously isn't Panasonic directly, it certainly looks like it's from a bundle of publicity material supplied by the brand.
So what does all this mean? Well, unless Panasonic has a very good explanation (and I have reached out for comment, but received no reply as of writing), this is a huge breach of trust for the brand.
In the interest of fairness, the product page does contain the text "Images and illustrations are for illustrative purposes only." However, also in the interest of fairness, you would expect that an illustrative image could be pulled from the vast library that surely must have been taken with the camera or technology in question.
Had this at least been taken with another Lumix, using the same AF tech, then that would be acceptable to me. But when you are presenting a photograph as if it has been taken on your equipment, but it has so obviously been taken on a rival camera using completely different technology… how can this possibly be an accurate representation of your product?
And if you're being misleading with the images, pretending that they show me what your camera can do, how can I trust anything else you tell me? Are the videos shot on a Canon? Do the RAW files come from a Fujifilm?
I don't even think that's being facetious – I genuinely don't know. Because remember that cute picture of the beagle, next to the birds? That's a widely available stock photo, as revealed by Photo Rumors. So how many images on this product listing for the S9 were actually taken with an S9? Or the GH5S, for that matter?
It reminds me of the time (one of four, in fact) that Huawei was caught pretending that photos taken on a phone were actually shot on a camera (ironically another Nikon DSLR, the Nikon D850). Whether you think it's disingenuous or outright dishonest, it's a bad look for the company.
For his part, Bezergheanu is taking it in his stride that Panasonic is using his photo to promote the capabilities of the S9. "I'm a subject in the international press," he wrote on Facebook. "I really want to test that device too, so I invite them to La Colibe, Corbu – archaic Romanian hamlet".
Panasonic needs to make a public response, and pronto. And it should probably take Mircea's photo off its website, too.
Take a look at the best Panasonic cameras (whose AF really doesn't need misrepresenting, these days) along with the best L Mount lenses for S bodies and the best Micro Four Thirds lenses for G cameras.
