Panasonic G85 Image Quality

Here we compare the Panasonic G85 to its predecessor, the G7, at base ISO. While resolution has not changed, it's immediately apparent the G85 delivers a sharper, crisper image with slightly better detail, thanks to the lack of an optical low-pass filter which the G7 has, though it does appear that the G85 is also applying slightly stronger default sharpening. The G7 however shows fewer aliasing artifacts whereas moiré and jaggies can be more easily seen from the G85. Noise levels are quite similar, while colors are perhaps slightly more pleasing from the G85.

Very similar image quality from these two siblings, which is no surprise since they probably use the same or very similar sensors and processors, though we do see some slight differences in color favoring the G85.

The 24-megapixel APS-C Canon M5 captures more detail than the 16-megapixel Panasonic G85, but not by as much as you'd expect from the pixel counts. This is because the Canon has an optical low-pass filter (though a fairly weak one) which slightly blurs the image to reduce aliasing artifacts, as well as the difference in aspect ratios between the two formats (3:2 for the Canon vs 4:3 for the Panasonic.) The Panasonic image appears a little crisper but the Canon image has lower noise levels, however keep in mind the Canon has a lower base ISO. Interestingly, the M5 smears our difficult red-leaf swatch a bit more than the G85 thanks to more aggressive chroma noise reduction, however it's the Canon that ironically shows some subtle moiré patterns in said fabric.

Like the G85, the 16-megapixel Olympus E-M5 II also does not have an OLPF to maximize sharpness at the risk of higher aliasing artifacts. Here at base ISO we see both cameras offer very similar resolving power, but the E-M5 II's default processing is a bit more aggressive, with stronger sharpening, higher contrast and brighter, more pleasant colors, giving the Olympus image more "pop". The E-M5 II's noise reduction also appears to be slightly stronger, producing slightly lower noise but at the cost of reduced detail in some areas, such as in our tricky red-leaf swatch.

The 24-megapixel Sony A6300 with its APS-C sized sensor out-resolves the 16-megapixel Four Thirds sensor of the G85, while producing a crisper image with few sharpening artifacts thanks to a very weak (or no) optical low-pass filter combined with Sony's more advanced JPEG processing. Moiré patterns are however visible in the red-leaf fabric from the Sony, and colors are actually more pleasing from the Panasonic.

The Panasonic G85's OLPF-less sensor continues to pay dividends here at ISO 1600, producing a slightly sharper image than its predecessor though again some of the improvement is due to revised processing. Minor aliasing artifacts continue to be more evident from the G85, though, and both begin to show some unwanted artifacts from area-specific noise reduction resulting in some slightly rough, noisy edges.

Again, very little difference in image quality between these two siblings at ISO 1600.

At ISO 1600, the G85 continues to produce a sharper image with almost as much detail as the M5. The Canon's default noise reduction leaves behind quite a bit of luma noise making its image more grainy than the G85's in flatter areas, though the "grain" pattern appears more film-like with less chroma noise than that of the G85, however the G85 hangs on to a bit more detail in the mosaic bottle label. Both cameras struggle with subtle detail in our difficult red-leaf fabric.

The E-M5 II's more aggressive anti-noise processing produces a slightly cleaner image than the G85 here at ISO 1600, but that takes a toll on fine detail which is already smudged enough in some parts of the image to take on a slight painterly effect. The G85's image is grainier, but holds on to more fine detail with greater fidelity. Color and contrast are still better from the Olympus, though.

The Sony A6300 is still able to resolve more detail and produce better contrast at ISO 1600 than the Panasonic G85, however it shows a stronger and coarser noise "grain" in flatter areas. The A6300 also does a better in the red-leaf swatch, but much of the detail is distorted and false instead of just blurred, and the moiré patterns we saw at base ISO are still visible.

Here at ISO 3200, the G85 still manages to produce a slightly crisper more contrasty image than the G7, with comparable noise levels. Slight differences in aliasing and color rendition remain.

Once again, very similar image quality from these two stable mates here at ISO 3200, with random noise making one look slightly better than the other in some areas, and vice versa. Both have blurred away almost all fine detail in our tricky red-leaf swatch.

The Panasonic G85 does surprisingly well here against the Canon M5 at ISO 3200. It manages similar levels of detail while producing both a crisper and cleaner looking image. The Canon continues to produce more pleasing colors though, and it does a bit better in our troublesome red-leaf fabric, though it's still heavily blurred.

Similar to what we saw at ISO 1600, the Panasonic G85 actually holds on to more detail in the mosaic label with less smudging, while leaving behind only slightly higher noise levels in flatter areas. Panasonic's area-specific noise reduction does however leave more noticeable artifacts along some edges, and it noise "grain" looks a bit less natural than the E-M5 II's, with a somewhat rectilinear look to it. Color and contrast continue to be better from the Olympus, however sharpening halos are also more visible from the E-M5 II.

The Sony A6300 continues to out-resolve the G85 here at ISO 3200, while producing a crisper, contrastier image with better detail in most areas, however noise is again more visible and coarser in flatter areas. Again, the Sony does a bit better in the red-leaf fabric, but detail is heavily distorted. The Panasonic continues to produce better, more accurate colors overall.