Micro 4/3 The GX85 Arrived Today - First Impressions

[gryphon1911]

The Panasonic GX85 arrived today. Here are my first impressions.

• It is the exact size that I wanted for a coat pocketable, minimalist camera.
• The weight in hand feels good. Makes the camera feel robust and durable.
• I like the off center EVF. While not the biggest or best - it is servicable (and for me a viewfinder is a requirement). This GX series of cameras does very much feel like a Panasonic version of the PEN-F, just with a more modern styling.
• The EVF with my glasses has a weird distortion to it at any angle other than dead straight on. Not experienced it with any other EVF before. I believe it must have something to do with my progressive lenses. It is honestly a minor thing.
• Menus are definitely different than Olympus and Nikon. Things are in different places than I would think, but they seem more simplified, so running through them to find what I want in no big issue.
• Using the rear LCD to change the focus point (while using the EVF) seems to be a better/smoother experience than what I've seen on other cameras.
• I'm not 100% sure I like how the exposure comp and the exposure changes display - it is definitely different and a bit confusing at first.
• I quite like the theory of the custom AF point clusters, but I have yet to figure out how to do that yet. RTFM - yes - I will! 🙂
• Test shots in the office today as it arrived at the doorstep after I got home from my walk today:
  • Incredibly surprised at the level of detail that 16mp sensor keeps at high ISO. Up through ISO 6400, the RAW would be great to work with in Lightroom/Topaz.
  • JPG - L.MONO is going to be a favorite, I feel.
  • JPG - standard mode - I did some research and the first few shots I took were mushy - to combat this, people recommended turning down the NR to -5. I did that and the JPG have a whole new level of sharpness to them. I very much like them. I do like what I see so far, but it will take me some time to see how it compares to the Olympus JPGs - which I and my wife both love.
• I quite like the minimalist look to the camera. Some people complain that it seems pretty basic. While I agree, I don't consider that a bad thing. I get a kind of "Bauhaus" feel from the design. The only thing that I might do is get some silver/gray gaffers tape and cover up the LUMIX logo on the front.
• I won't judge the AF of this camera and lens combo (P 20/1.7) just yet. My office is very dark right now and the camera did AF just fine, but slow. The 20/1.7 is not known to be a speedster in AF. It was 100% accurate though, when it did lock onto a subject - it was indeed in focus.
• If I get along with it like I think I will, I can see me getting the 14mm f/2.5 pancake again and even trying out the Panasonic 35-100mm f/4-5.6. I've been reading some really positive things about it from the forum here and other places and the sample images remind me a lot of the good qualities for the Olympus 40-150/4-5.6 R - however, the P 35-100 is a much more compact lens and used it is not very much money and would benefit from Dual I.S!
• Now, only time will tell how I feel about it long term. The fact that I have a positive feeling/experience with it at this early stage is a good thing.

Thanks for reading my ramblings! 🙂

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

The GX85 is actually slightly smaller than the Pen-F, and they weight the same. The GX85 is a solid little camera, and it was my first M43 body. Enjoy it!

 

[agentlossing]

I had the GX85 longest of the Panasonic bodies, over three years. I really like it, I feel it's the best compromise they made in a small body. JPEG engine got overhauled and the standard color profile is surprisingly awesome. L monochrome, especially with the green and orange filters, looks really nice. I agree that the minimalist styling of the body works very well.

 

[RobD]

I have kept and still use mine. Great compact camera and can use my OLY lenses too.

 

[Walter Palmer]

When I picked up a GX85, my first thought was "Leica has been here." The Pen-F is certainly a beauty, and purrs "touch me, press my buttons" at every movement, the GX, like the M- series, seems always ready to shoot. Nothing to distract me. I still shoot it.

 

[gryphon1911]

Shot with the camera for about 3 hours today.

• The after market batteries seemed to be very susceptible to the cold. It was only 40F, and I didn’t think I was going to get through the session. Got home, battery warm, it is registering with a higher charge. Will be getting a genuine battery to see if it is better performing.
• The handling is different than the Olympus for sure. I needed to look at the camera a few times to figure out what I wanted to do.
• Finally figured out that the display button will move the AF point back to center, but only after the box is yellow by pressing the d-pad button first. Still found using the screen to move the AF point like a joystick is very easy to do.
• The rear screen can use the same screen protectors as the ones I had left over for the Oly EM10 Mark II.
• I’ve not processed the images extensively yet, but the SOOC JPG seem decent. I tried lifting the shadows and was surprised by the amount of color noise. Oly seems to have a mushy, luminance noise. Will muck about with the RAW files later (shot RAW+JPG)
• Shot in aperture priority. Changing the aperture was find, but the rear dial was not where I expected it to be (exposure comp), more experience will correct that.
• Again, the EVF is serviceable, but not great.
• I tried using a cross body “neck” strap setup. The strap kept getting in the way when shooting portrait orientation. I think I’m going to run it tomorrow with a wrist strap only. I think it will be a better way for me or if that doesn’t work, back to the tried and true Black Rapid.
• Used to my other cameras having a 1/8000 mechanical shutter, so a few times shooting with shutter 1/6400, it switched to electronic shutter and I thought it wasn’t taking an image. Had to do a double take! lol.
• Metering seemed to be bang on for the subject.
• Am using intelligent ISO, might switch to regular to see if I notice a difference in exposure settings that make any meaningful difference.
• Overall it felt responsive and did a good job for what I needed it to do today.
• Still a little confused on getting the right setup for the EVF/rear lcd. I at et it how I want it, but sometimes if I turn the camera off and on again, it will revert to a different way. Example, I want the EVF to be on when shooting, but the rear LCD to come on when menu diving or when I press the playback button. I’ll set that, turn camera off. Turn camera on and rear LCD is displaying and the camera auto switches to the EVF when I look through it. I know I’ll need to dig through the manual to get it squared away. Also, I’m not opposed to the fact that I might be accidentally pressing a button by accident.
• I did hear the shutter, but never really felt it when in use. I think the magnetic mechanism and the weight of the body dampen the shutter perfectly.

Apologies in advance for any typos as I wrote this up on my phone while taking turns playing Call of Duty MW III with the kids. 😜

 

[CountingGx85Gx8G9s]

Even though I have Gh6/G9II, the Gx85 is my travel camera (would buy another if this one dies unless Pany quits making them. These are from a recent trip to the Southern California:

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