Panasonic Lumix DMC-G85 review: Compact mirrorless camera with 4k video recording at a palatable price

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G85
Price: Rs 72,990 (with 14-42mm f3.5 – 5.6)
Specifications: Micro Four Thirds mirrorless design, 16MP CMOS sensor, dual IS (sensor shift + lens optical image stabilization), up to ISO 25,600, 49 auto focus points, 9fps continuous shooting, 3-inch articulating touchscreen (TFT LCD, 1040k dots), OLED electronic viewfinder (2360k dots), built-in flash, hot shoe, dual image stabilization, RAW support, 4k video recording, stereo microphones, mono speaker, SD card slot, micro HDMI output, 1,200mAh li-ion battery, WiFi, 453 grams (body only)
Pros: Compact, weather sealed body, plethora of buttons and controls, articulating touchscreen, excellent image and video results
Cons: Under saturated colours at high ISO, average battery life


Panasonic’s GH4 and GH5 are considered by many as the best cameras for 4k video recording today. However, their steep price puts them out of reach for a lot of interested users. To bridge this gap, Panasonic has launched the Lumix G85 — a compact mirrorless camera that offers great 4k video recording at a more palatable price.

In many ways, the G85 is like a trimmed down Lumix GH4. It has a weather sealed magnesium alloy body and a 3-inch articulating touchscreen. Like the GH4, it has an electronic viewfinder, built-in flash and hot-shoe. The screen is high-resolution which really helps you judge the results well on camera and makes the onscreen camera controls easy to read. The electronic viewfinder has 100% coverage — this means you see the exact frame that the sensor will capture.

Like the G7, the G85 offers plethora of physical control buttons and dials including 5 function keys that can be customized for any feature on the camera. It offers excellent grip thanks to the overall rubber cover and easy access to almost all buttons and dials. On the left side of the camera is the micro HDMI output, micro USB port, mic and remote port while the right side has the SD card slot. The only thing we felt missing was a headphone port but that is not a deal breaker here. We liked the overall size, weight and feel of the G85 — even with the supplied kit lens attached, it can be used comfortably with one hand if the need arises. Panasonic has removed the AA (antialiasing) filter on the 16M CMOS sensor on the G85. This results in sharper results for still images but with the risk of adding a moiré pattern at times. We were overall impressed with the results from the G85 for still images especially at ISO 800. At higher ISO the G85 was able to retain details and low noise whereas most cameras tend to lose out on details and add visible noise. However, we did feel that the colours became muted at ISO 1600 and above.



Video is where the G85 shines brightest. The camera is capable of recording 4k (3840 x 2160 pixels) videos at 30 fps in mp4 format. Video quality is topnotch in our opinion and using the touchscreen you can easily select a point to focus during recording. What gives the video quality a helping hand is the built-in 5-axis image stabilization — thanks to this, handheld recorded videos are smooth without any visible shake or jerks. Audio recording quality is again excellent and the presence of dedicated microphone port is a welcome addition. We also liked the improved WiFi connectivity on the G85 — using the companion app its much easier to transfer data as well as control the camera. What we did not like is that if you have a microphone or HDMI cable plugged in, they block the screen from articulating. We also found it disappointing that even though the camera has a microUSB port, it does not support charging. Another thing we did not like was the battery life — Panasonic claims a 330 shots battery life which is a big letdown. We got less than 300 from a charge which can be done in under an hour if you are out travelling. You can improve the battery life by using the viewfinder instead of the touchscreen but we will still advise a spare battery for photo/video enthusiasts.

Overall, the Panasonic G85 is simply one of the best compact mirrorless cameras. It gives you an excellent feature set, good performance and a weather sealed body. The battery life is an issue but considering quality of stills and video that it delivers, you should get it and invest in a second battery. The next best alternative to this is the Sony Alpha 6300 mirrorless which has a 24MP APS-C size sensor, records 4k video, has ISO up to 51,200, an OLED viewfinder and 425 focus points. However, it doesn’t have dual image stabilization and skips the touchscreen display.