Panasonic GH4 Image Quality

Given that both the GH4 and GH3 have similar 16.1-megapixel sensors, it's no surprise that their images are nearly identical here at base ISO. The fine detail in the mosaic crop looks similar as do the fabric swatches, apart from perhaps a minor difference in exposure. Default noise reduction seems stronger in the GH4, though, as you can see in the first crop comparison, with shadowy areas looking a bit smoother than the GH3. (In fact, some of the texture in our background is treated as noise and actually smoothed away.)

Despite the smaller sensor, the GH4 wins with sharper fine detail in both the mosaic and fabric crop comparisons, although the 70D is definitely not a bad performer with more accurate colors and higher contrast. However the 70D also produces more obvious sharpening haloes.

Unlike the previous comparison, the APS-C Nikon D7100 with its 24MP AA-filterless sensor is able to out-resolve the 16MP Four Thirds Panasonic GH4, especially in the fabric crops comparison, and we prefer the Nikon's color. Even though there's a noticeable difference in resolution, the GH4 is able to produce a nice, high level of fine detail in the mosaic crops, however.

These two flagship Micro Four Thirds cameras are fairly evenly matched here at ISO 200, with both cameras producing lots of fine detail. The GH4's rendering looks slightly more natural while the E-M1's is a bit crisper with higher sharpening and contrast. Both do well with the fabric swatches, as well as with the mosaic, although there is a slight color cast difference.

Both cameras do an excellent job with crisp, fine detail at base ISO. Other than the noticeable difference in resolution, both cameras display excellent detail in the mosaic crop. The GH4 in fact appears to edge out the A6000 with the red fabric with a cleaner, crisper look to the leaf pattern, while the A6000 handles the pink fabric noticeably better.

Again, like the base ISO comparison, the GH4 and GH3 are pretty evenly matched here at ISO 1600. Interestingly, there are some noticeable chroma noise "splotches" in the GH4 bottle crop that aren't seen in the GH3 crop, though the GH3 shows slightly higher luminance noise and sharpening artifacts. In terms of fine detail, they are quite similar in the mosaic crop, but the GH3 gets the nod in the red and pink fabric swatches.

The GH4 does much better than the 70D at reducing luminance noise grain at ISO 1600, though it does leave green and red chroma noise splotches in the shadows. Fine detail in the mosaic is similar, but the GH4 tips the scale with a more natural look to the tiled pattern. The 70D does a bit better in the red fabric, while the GH4 wins with the pink one though it's a bit too magenta.

Despite the larger, much-higher-res sensor, the GH4 generally does better at reducing high ISO luminance noise at default settings. Interestingly, even though the D7100 is quite effective at reducing chroma noise, it continues to do much better with the red fabric. Fine detail in the higher contrast mosaic crops actually looks fairly similar barring the differences in resolution and default sharpening, but again, the Nikon produces more accurate colors.

Both cameras here do well at reducing noise, but the effect of the E-M1's noise reduction looks stronger. Fine detail looks better on the GH4 however, as the E-M1's noise reduction processing produces a somewhat muddled, distorted appearance to the mosaic crop. However, on the red fabric, things are quite evenly matched, though the GH4 does better with the pink fabric.

Again, another big difference in resolution, 16 vs 24, but the GH4 does surprisingly well against the A6000. Noise reduction is much stronger on the A6000, and while it does well at removing noise, it muddles up the mosaic detail and the fabric swatches, especially the pink fabric. The GH4, on the other hand, maintains a nice level of fairly clean, fine detail.

At ISO 3200, the GH4 shows better noise reduction processing, as the GH3's NR looks a little too strong with artifacts more visible in the bottle crop, for instance. The level of fine detail on the mosaic crop looks similar, although NR processing is a little more evident from the GH3. The GH3 does ever-so-slightly better at the fabric crops over the GH4 (both struggle quite a bit though with the red fabric).

It's a similar comparison here as the one we saw at ISO 1600, as the GH4 processes out high ISO noise and grain much better than the 70D at ISO 3200. Fine detail in the mosaic is better from the GH4, and while the 70D does a bit better in the red fabric, again, the GH4 wins handily with the pink one.

Again, like the ISO 1600 comparison, the GH4 shows less noise thanks to its noise reduction processing, while still showing good fine detail. However, despite the noise, the D7100 also does well with fine detail, especially when comparing the fabric swatches, with which the GH4 struggles.

Very similar comparison again in terms of noise reduction, and while the GH4 shows a nice amount of fine detail in the mosaic crop, the E-M1's NR processing distorts the mosaic tile crop detail quite a bit. Both cameras struggle similarly with the red fabric, though the GH4 still does better with the pink one.

At ISO 3200, the GH4 and A6000 compare quite similarly, especially in the bottle and mosaic crops, but with an obvious difference in image resolution. Both show relatively low levels of noise and fine detail, though the A6000 looks a bit more "processed." However, things change with the fabric crops, where the A6000 show a better attempt at resolving the red leaf pattern.