Despite its midrange pice, the Lumix DMC-GX85 ($699.99, body only) is Panasonic's current entry-level Micro Four Thirds camera. It has a lot going for it that will appeal to casual photographers looking to better smartphone quality, as well as more serious shutterbugs and videographers, including a compact build, a crisp EVF, fast autofocus, and 4K video capture. It's a very strong performer, especially if you want to take advantage of the vast Micro Four Thirds lens system. But it doesn't quite better our favorite inexpensive mirrorless camera, the Editors' Choice Sony Alpha 6000, which offers higher resolution and a more advanced autofocus system.
DesignThe GX85 is quite small, measuring just 2.8 by 4.8 by 1.7 inches (HWD) and weighing in at about 15 ounces without a lens. We're reviewing it as a body only, which is sold only in black in the US, but if you opt for a bundle with the compact 12-32mm zoom (a $100 premium) you can choose between an all black or a two-tone silver and black finish.
The body includes a built-in flash—it pops up from the top plate and can fire when tilted upward, giving the GX85 a modest indirect bounce flash function. That isn't a given in a mirrorless camera, especially one this small and one that includes an EVF. There's also a hot shoe available if you want to add a more powerful flash or a PocketWizard wireless trigger.
The only control on the front plate is the lens release, which is located to the left of the lens. There's a modest handgrip, not nearly as deep as you'll find on an SLR. The GX85 is comfortable to use with a small zoom or prime, but I wouldn't want to pair it with a huge lens like the Olympus M.Zuiko 300mm f4.0 IS PRO.
Top controls include a Record button to start and stop video capture, a Mode dial, the On/Off switch, and a control dial that surrounds the shutter release. They're bunched together on the right, but I didn't find the layout to feel cramped at all.
Rear controls start at the top, to the right of the EVF. The Fn4 button toggles the EVF function by default, but like the other Fn buttons it can be remapped. It's joined by the Fn3 button (4K Photo), the mechanical flash release, the AF/AE Lock button, and the rear control wheel, which can turn to adjust shutter or aperture, and be pushed in to gain quick access to standard and flash EV compensation control. You'll find a four-way control pad (ISO, White Balance, Drive/Self-Timer, AF Mode) to the right of the LCD, with the Menu/Set button at its center. It's flanked by Fn1 (Post Focus), Play, Fn2 (Delete/Q. Menu), and Display buttons.
The Q. Menu is an on-screen display that gives you quick access to a number of shooting settings so you don't have to keep diving into the menu. From it you can adjust the picture style, flash power, video and image quality settings, focus mode and area, as well as the metering pattern, exposure settings, ISO, and white balance. Like many of the physical camera controls, you can change what's shown in the Q.Menu to best configure the GX85 for your needs.
The rear LCD is a 3-inch panel that's mounted on a hinge so it can tilt to be viewed from above or below, but you can't face it all the way forward for selfies. The LCD is very sharp (1,040k dots) and sensitive to the touch. You can tap to focus and (if desired) fire the shutter, and swipe and pinch to review photos just as you do with a smartphone. It also supports Touch Pad AF, which lets you move the active focus point using the rear LCD when the camera is to your eye.
The EVF is located at the top left corner of the rear plate. Considering the GX85's small size, it's quite large, delivering 0.7x magnification, but when you're shooting still images you'll notice that its size is cut down a bit. The finder is a 16:9 ratio, ideal for video, that leaves black bars on the sides of the image.
Features and PortsPanasonic includes a 4K Photo feature in its newer cameras, including the GX85. It leverages its 4K video processing capabilities to shoot still frames at 30fps, but cuts the resolution to 8MP and works in JPG format only. The 4K Photo capture mode has some advantages over grabbing frames from video, including the ability to pick your aspect ratio, and to set the camera to a high shutter speed to freeze motion, but also makes moving images look odd. You can use it to capture a specific moment of very fast motion, and there's also a Post Focus mode that takes an image at each of the camera's focus points, so you can be sure that the plane of focus is just where you want it for an image.
The GX85 also has Wi-Fi. It supports transferring images to Android and iOS devices via the Panasonic Image app, as well as remote control. The remote is fully functional. It supports full manual control if desired, and lets you set a focus point just by tapping on your phone's screen.
The only data ports are micro HDMI and micro USB. The GX85 supports in-camera battery charging, so you'll need to plug it into the wall to recharge the battery. If you opt to buy a second battery, you'll want to buy an external charger to go along with it. The camera has a single memory card slot that supports SD, SDHC, and SDXC media. There is no connection for an external microphone.
Performance and Image Quality
Continuous shooting speed varies on file format and image resolution. You can shoot at 30fps by leveraging the 4K Photo function, but you're limited to 8MP JPG images. Likewise, if you want to shoot at 2MP, you can push the camera to 40fps.
For full-resolution capture, the GX85 is no slouch, shooting in Raw or Raw+JPG format at 6.6fps, and in JPG format at 8.6fps. With AF-C focus enabled the speed is 6.5fps—the focus hit rate is excellent at this speed. The shooting buffer is large, holding 47 Raw, 44 Raw+JPG, and 355 JPG images before filling. The GX85 doesn't quite match the 11.1fps shooting rate of the Sony Alpha 6000, a speed at which the Sony tracks moving action, but the Alpha 6000 has a comparatively limited shooting buffer.
I used Imatest to evaluate the noise performance of the GX85's 16MP image sensor. The camera curbs noise through ISO 6400, crossing the 1.5-percent threshold just barely at ISO 12800 (1.6 percent). Noise reduction does play a part in JPG image quality. The finest details in our test image are crisp through ISO 400, and image quality remains very strong through ISO 3200. Images start to appear blurry at ISO 6400. More details are lost at ISO 12800 and the top ISO 25600 setting.
You'll get more detail at high ISOs if you shoot in Raw format. Details are strong and grain isn't distracting through ISO 1600. At ISO 3200 images start to appear a bit rough with grain, but details are crisp. Grain is more pronounced at ISO 6400, but it's not until ISO 12800 that it really starts to overtake an image. ISO 25600 is very rough, but much more useable than the same shot as a JPG. Images captured by the GX85 benefit from an omission of a low pass filter, so very fine detail is better captured, and the in-body stabilization system, which reduces blur due to camera shake.
Panasonic has a strong video heritage and has put 4K capture into most of its recent cameras. The GX85 records in 4K at up to 30fps, although the video is slightly cropped, so wide-angle coverage is lessened. Video is clear, crisp, and smooth, with in-body and in-lens stabilization working together to eliminate handheld jitter. Autofocus during video recording is excellent; the GX85 recognizes if the set focus point is out of focus and smoothly racks focus to adjust. You can also tap on the screen to set the focus point.
Audio is about as good as you get from a built-in microphone. It picks up voices clearly when they're in proximity to the camera, but it also captures a lot of background noise. Unfortunately there's no way to add an external microphone, so you won't be using the GX85 for projects that require pro-grade audio.
ConclusionsThe Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85 is an attractive option for photographers in want of a compact mirrorless camera. It focuses and shoots quickly, records video at 4K resolution, and offers a bevy of controls. Add Wi-Fi, an in-body EVF and flash, and a tilting touch-screen display, and you've got a camera that has a lot of appeal for anyone in search of a svelte shooter that doesn't compromise on quality. It doesn't quite oust our Editors' Choice in the entry-level mirrorless category, the Sony Alpha 6000, which costs less and sports a larger, higher resolution sensor and a faster shooting rate, but remains a fine choice for photographers entrenched in the Micro Four Thirds lens system.
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Source: Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85
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