I've quite a few digital cameras. Right now I own a Gx85, G9II, and a GH6 (I've owned a lot of video camera's). Who knows at 75 these might be my last cameras, although my dad dies at 93 and my mom 99. As I think back and now, The Gx85 turns out to be the camera I've had the most fun and memories with. The G9II and Gh6 are technical marvels that allow me to produce great images. However, the Gx85 has been my travel camera, and surprises me with its abilities. It produces great video's and with modest lenses some fantastic images. It's small, inexpensive and older technology, but modern software means I can easily go 16 x 20 on prints with sharpness and the color has always been very good. It's been with me through the following cameras: 2Gx8, 2 G9, G9II, and Gh6. I shoot less than 1,000 images a year on it (although because they are SW landscapes and critters, are among my best images). I use the Pany 14 2.5 and 35-100 f4/5.6 which are pocketable as well as the Oly 60mm for macro and the 75-300 II for critters.
Perhaps it is the size, perhaps it's the 4K, or the pretty good stabilization, or the combination of all - I can always do what I want . I would miss it and buy another if it died or was "hurt". It's not been best camera I've had, but it has been the best imaging tool capturing what I needed in situations where the other cameras and lenses would have just been too big.
Do you have a camera like this, not the "best" you own, but one that has done what you needed when you needed and is a great cost/benefit tool? Tell us about it.
I really know what you mean with the GX85. I owned it and shot it for three years (long for me), it was the first camera that I ordered as soon as it was announced, without waiting for reviews. I had owned a GX1 for some time before that, before selling that and acquiring a used E-M10. The GX1 was very compelling, but had some real flaws, notably shutter shock, bad JPEG colors and pretty noisy higher ISO values. I had heard a lot about the GX7 but never picked it up (not sure why - I think it competed too directly with the E-M10 and I really wanted to see what Olympus was all about). Once the GX85 appeared on the scene, I felt it offered enough over the previous Panasonic models as well as the E-M10, and I got it in my hands as soon as I could.
The GX85 is so much more than the sum of its parts. It's plastic, while previous GX cameras were mostly metal exteriors. Its viewfinder is lackluster. It's not 20mp. But somehow it still adds up to an all-around versatile and pleasing camera. Great image quality and the first really pleasing colors from any Panasonic, a perfect shutter with no shutter shock, lack of AA filter for the first time with Panasonic, fast DfD focus which worked much better than my E-M10 with Panasonic lenses, small, carry-anywhere... as previous GX models, it was the perfect camera to glue a 20mm f1.7 to. I do miss that camera, and I think it speaks to its quality that the used market is pretty bare, and the prices have never fallen like M4/3 used models usually do. People don't like to get rid of it.
On to my own pick, I think it might have to be the Pentax K-1 mark II. It's the only FF Pentax, so there's not much to compare it with, but it was just produced with so much love. It's rugged like a tank, as an excellent viewfinder, and has such a carefully designed experience of using vintage K-mount lenses. I don't think it happens often that a manufacturer designs a camera to primarily support film-era lenses, but that's really what Pentax did; possibly by necessity, to an extent (and, really, they only have a few FF lenses which aren't optically from the film era). But it's a joy for that reason. Being able to see vintage glass on the entire image area that it was designed for, and the cheap prices for much of that glass, make it a continually interesting experience to own. Add to that the 36mp sensor, which, while older now, still produces fantastic image quality and sits pretty high amid DXO's rankings in its category. It captures nuances in color and tone so well.
It's a camera that I accidentally let fall out of the open top of my backpack when unloading gear from my car on a trip, wrapped only in a thin Domke gear wrap intended to protect it against things inside the backpack, not the ground, and it fell from around four feet right onto pavement. I can still hear the sickening (and loud) smack when it hit. The impact point actually punctured a hole in the padded wrap. It has a dent in one of the bottom corners of the body - that's it. It acted like it didn't even feel it (I, on the other hand, took some time getting over it).
It fits in the hand better than any other camera I've ever picked up. It's heavy, but it doesn't seem so in the hand, because the grip is so good. It shoots the legendary FA Limited Pentax glass, of which I've recently acquired a second of the trio, the 43mm f1.9. It takes the razor sharpness of several of the older Pentax 50mm f1.7 models and reproduces it exactly.
It's not without its issues. It's pretty slow in operation for a flagship DSLR these days. Startup time isn't great, AF is so-so. WiFi is excruciatingly slow. No USB charging on the go, I have to bring a bulky corded wall charger if I want to be able to recharge it (though battery life is much better than mirrorless). Would I exchange it for a mark III model? I would - because I've used the K-3 mark III and I know how much Pentax has improved responsiveness, AF performance, menus and other quality-of-life features. I think the replacement for this camera will be killer. But Pentax doesn't move fast, and it's been 8 years since the release of the original K-1, of which this is only a small internal refresh. So, for now, it's definitely my best camera. It's kind of going to set the standard for what my future cameras will have to be like.
