PANASONIC LUMIX GX85
affects an MFT format camera ‘earlier’ than those with bigger sensors – and Panasonic now has its brilliant 100-400mm telezoom which is effectively a 200-800mm lens – so the need to minimise any source of vibration is becoming more urgent. Interestingly too, the GX85 has a shutter release delay timer – like the Canon’s EOS 5Ds duo, but obviously minus the need for mirror lock-up – which allows for any vibrations to die away before an exposure commences. The new shutter has a speed range of 60 to 1/4000 second (a stop slower than the GX8 or GX7) with flash sync up to 1/160 second.
The sensor-based shutter mentioned earlier has a speed range of one second up to 1/16,000 second, and also has the benefit of silent operation.
FOUR SIGHT
As the GX85 joins Panasonic’s growing list of Lumix cameras capable of recording 4K video, it also has the ‘4K Photo’ modes which were introduced with the G7 and are also available on the GX8. These modes record 4K video at 30 fps, but are designed for photographic applications, most notably sports and action where such a high shooting speed is a real advantage.
A still frame from 4K video footage is 8.3 megapixels in image size so there’s sufficient quality there for a variety of applications. The three ‘4K Photo’ modes are called ‘4K Pre-Burst’, ‘4K Burst’ and ‘4K Burst Start/Stop’. In the Pre-Burst mode, a sequence of 60 frames is captured in two seconds, but specifically 30 are recorded before the shutter is fully released and 30 after so there’s a better chance of capturing the ‘decisive moment’. The Burst mode is more conventional and will shoot at 30 fps for as long as the shutter button is held down… up to a duration of 29 minutes and 59 seconds. Alternatively, the Start/
Stop mode does the same thing, but one press of the shutter button starts the sequence and a second press ends it.
The GX85 has a brand new ‘4K Photo’ function called Light Composition which again records at 30 fps, but only registers the brighter new pixels in each frame. These are subsequently combined into a single image and the process is primarily designed for subjects such as fireworks or star trails.
Additionally, the GX85 has Panasonic’s ‘Post Focus’ function which also records a high-speed sequence of 4K video frames, but this time covering all the possible focus points – actually 49 in this instance – so you can subsequently select the one with the desired plane of focus. You simply touch – on the monitor screen – the subject matter in the image that you want to be in sharp focus, and the camera then finds the corresponding frame. Bingo! Alternatively, you can have multiple versions of an image with different focus points… it’s all pretty clever, but again the image size is 8.3 MP. Should you want the full 16 MP resolution, then the GX85 offers a new focus bracketing function which can be programmed for up to 999 frames, the focus shifted in each in one of five preselected step sizes. This is pretty nifty too, but wait, there’s more. Another new bracketing function changes the aperture – but not the focusing point – so that the depth-of-field can be varied over a sequence of frames. This is only available in the aperture-priority auto or manual exposure modes (so the starting aperture can be selected), and the sequence can be set to either three or five frames. Alternatively, if you select ‘All’, the sequence will be as long as the available aperture range.
Thanks to the new auto bracketing functions, there’s now a bracketing menu which includes the standard exposure and white balance options with the appropriate sub-menus for set-up. The GX85 is pretty close to the GX8 in terms of its focusing, exposure and white balance control options. The AF system uses sensor-based contrast-detection measurements, but is ‘turbocharged’ via Panasonic’s ‘Depth From Defocus’ (DFD for short) processing which uses the lens’s out-of-focus characteristics – derived from grabbing two frames in quick succession as the lens is focusing (the actual speed is 240 fps) – to determine the subject distance. The lens is then driven pretty well directly – and continuously – to that distance with only minor fine-tuning required at the end so the focusing speed is on a par with that of a phase-difference detection system. Panasonic claims an autofocusing speed of just 0.07 seconds which is the same as the GX8. The low light sensitivity extends down to -4.0 EV and the GX85 also has the ‘Starlight AF’ facility – introduced on the G7 – which employs a much smaller focusing point and so is primarily designed for astrophotography.
GET THE POINT
There’s a total of 49 focusing points (compared to the GX7’s 23) with either automatic or manual, the latter configurable in ‘Pinpoint’, ‘1-Area’ (adjustable to one of eight sizes to vary selectivity) or ‘Custom Multi’ modes. In Custom Multi there’s a choice of point patterns (diamond-shaped, horizontal or vertical) which are moveable, or it’s possible to create custom patterns, two of which can be saved for repeat use. Additionally, there’s the option of using the touch-screen to move the focusing zone – and autofocus at the same time – by simply tapping on the desired part of the scene. Additionally, ‘Dynamic Tracking’ switches the focus points as the subject moves within the frame.
As per the last couple of generations of Lumix G cameras, the focus mode can be manually selected (although the GX85 doesn’t have an external switch for this) or the ‘Auto Focus Flexible’ (AFF) setting can be selected and the camera will then automatically switch from singleshot to continuous if any subject movement is detected.
Manual focusing is assisted by a magnified image – either full frame or a picture-in-picture inset section – a simple distance scale and a focus peaking display which is available in a choice of five colours, each with two intensity levels. You can have the magnified image shown full-screen or as a picture-in-picture inset panel which, in practice, is generally easier to work with.
Exposure control is based on 1728-points multi-zone metering with the option of centre-weighted average or spot measurements. There’s the standard set of ‘PASM’ modes, but unlike the GX8, the GX85 also has a set of manually-selectable subject/scene modes, 24 of them in all. In the camera’s ‘Intelligent Auto’ (iA) mode, scene mode selection is automatic based on analysis of data derived from the AF, metering and white balance systems. The standard auto exposure modes are backed by an AE lock, compensation of up to +/-5.0 EV and the aforementioned auto bracketing which can be performed over sequences of three, five or seven frames. The GX85 has a built-in pop-up flash, but it’s slightly lower-powered than the one that was on the GX7, with a metric guide number of six (at ISO 200). The flash modes include red-eye reduction, fill-in, slow speed sync and switching between first or second curtain sync. Flash exposure compensation is available over a range of +/-3.0 EV or, when switched to manual control, the power output can be adjusted down to 1/128.
The white balance control options comprise auto correction supplemented by five lighting presets, provisions for making up to four custom measurements (as per the GX8) and manual colour temperature setting from 2500 to 10,000 degrees Kelvin. Fine-tuning and, of course, auto bracketing are also available.
For JPEG processing there’s a new ‘Photo Style’ picture preset called L Monochrome and which has a higher contrast range with revised gradation to better mimic the look of B&W film (in the same fashion as Fujifilm’s ACROS B&W preset on the X-Pro2). The other six ‘Photo Style’ presets are the same as before, including a standard monochrome option. The colour presets have adjustable parameters for contrast, sharpness, colour saturation, hue and noise reduction. The monochrome presets replace the colour-related parameters with a toning adjustment (ranging from sepia to blue) and a set of B&W contrast filters (i.e. yellow, orange, red and green). There’s provision for creating and storing one user-modified ‘Photo Style’ preset.
CREATIVE AND CORRECTIVE
The GX85 gets the GX8’s full set of 22 ‘Creative Control’ special effects which are available as either stand-alone shooting modes or can be applied to the standard ‘PASM’ exposure control modes. Many of these effects are adjustable and
can be combined. There’s also the choice of simultaneously recording an image with the effect applied and one unprocessed.
You can also tick the boxes for a multiple exposure facility, in-camera panorama stitching, an intervalometer and multi-shot HDR capture. The in-camera panorama stitching can be set to either 180- or 360-degree sweeps, either horizontally or vertically, and the intervalometer enables timelapse sequences of up to 9999 frames which, in the ‘Stop Motion Animation’ mode, are put together to create a movie clip. The HDR capture function allows for the manual setting of the exposure adjustment between frames – from +/-1.0 to +/-3.0 EV – as well as automatic correction based on the scene’s contrast range. There’s an auto align function which will correct for any slight variations from frame to frame caused by camera movement.
Corrective processing functions are available for dynamic range expansion, long exposure noise reduction, lens corrections (for both vignetting and diffraction), resolution enhancement and a ‘Highlight/Shadow’ adjustment control. This last item works in a similar fashion to Photoshop’s Curves, with adjustments applied to a tone curve displayed in the monitor screen. The front input wheel tweaks the highlights while the rear one adjusts on the shadows. Up to three custom settings can be stored plus there’s a choice of three preset curves.
As with the rest of the Lumix G fleet, the GX85 has an extensive suite of Panasonic’s ‘Intelligent Auto’ (iA) functions so a number of these corrections – for example, dynamic range expansion and resolution enhancement – can be applied automatically as determined by scene analysis. The iA controls also include backlight compensation, sensitivity adjustment, focus tracking, face detection and recognition, long exposure noise reduction, redeye removal and, as noted earlier automatic scene mode selection. Additionally, ‘iHDR’ and ‘iHandheld Night Shot’ multi-shot capture will automatically activate in the situations which require them. In the camera’s ‘iA+’ mode, all operations are still fully automatic, but basic manual adjustments are available for image brightness, depth-of-field and colour balance. These are applied via touch control using on-screen sliders which are accessed via a tabbed menu located along the right edge of the screen.
IN CONTROL
The GX85 continues Panasonic’s fine form in logical and efficient user interfaces, especially its menu design. Like the other higher-end Lumix G bodies, it can be virtually entirely operated via external controls, the touch controls, its menu system, or any desired combination of each. The missing focus mode switch, means a visit to the menu is required, but if you select the auto-switching ‘AFF’ option, you don’t need to go there again. The four ‘hard’ customisable ‘Fn’ buttons each have 14 menu pages of possible functions (so there are over 50 options in each case), while the soft keys each have 13 pages. While it may all look a bit daunting at first, set-up is pretty straightforward and it allows you to make the camera work in the most effective and comfortable way for you.
Like its siblings, the GX85 has a ‘Quick Menu’ control screen which provides an alternative to using the standard menu pages and allows for the selection of both functions and settings via either touch or conventional navigation. The Q.Menu is also extensively customisable so, for example, it can be configured to only show the most frequently used capture-related adjustments or functions which means that there’s less visual ‘clutter’ on-screen.
The live view screen can be configured with a variety of display elements, including a dual-axis electronic level, an exposure meter (with aperture and shutter speed sliding scales), a real-time histogram, guide grids (selected from a choice of three), one of two zebra patterns (to indicate areas of overexposure) and a centre marker (particularly useful when shooting video). The histogram can be moved around – including by simply dragging it across the monitor screen – and positioned anywhere in the frame while one of the grid options allows for the grid lines to be moved around by touch as well.
The image review screens a highlight warning, a thumbnail accompanied by a full set of brightness and RGB histograms or a thumbnail with a detailed set of capture data. The playback functions include thumbnail pages of 12 or 30 images, a calendar thumbnail display, zooming at up to 16x and a slide show with a choice of transition effects.
There’s a selection of incamera editing functions, including resizing, cropping, image titling and – new, compared to the GX7 – RAW-to-JPEG conversion. There’s also the ‘Clear Retouch’ editing function which is designed to work along the lines of another Photoshop tool, namely Spot Healing, and allow images to be retouched in-camera. In practice, however, it proves pretty tricky to be accurate when selecting an area – which is actually done by touch – even with the image scaled up.
The GX85 has built-in WiFi, but reverts to a QR code for connectivity rather than the more convenient NFC. The Panasonic Image App works with both iOS and Android devices, and allows for file transfer and basic remote camera control from a smartphone or tablet.
SPEED AND PERFORMANCE
Loaded with our reference 128 GB Lexar Professional SDXC UHS-II/U3 (Speed Class 3) ‘2000x’ memory card, the GX85 captured a sequence of 110 JPEG/large/fine frames in 13.721 second which represents a shooting speed of 8.01 fps. That’s right on the money as far as the quoted speed is concerned, and slightly exceeds the specification for burst length. The typical test file size was 6.7 MB.
Panasonic’s ‘Depth From Defocus’ autofocusing continues
to impress with its speed and accuracy. It really is the best there is in contrast-detection systems and on a par with any hybrid system. The low light capabilities are also very impressive and the tracking is much more reliable than was the case with the GX7.
The imaging performance is also significantly improved over the GX7 with the best-quality JPEGs exhibiting noticeably crisper edges, smoother tonal gradations and higher contrast.
Moiré appears to be generally well handled by the GX85’s processor and aliasing artefacts were only occasionally in finer patterns. The colour reproduction is better too, especially in the yellow-to-orange range. Noise levels are low up to ISO 1600 where the increased definition is still evident and the colours remain nicely saturated. Some softening (as the result of noise reduction processing) starts to become evident at ISO 3200, but the image quality still holds together pretty well overall and you could shoot at this setting and have useable files. The softening of details and reduced colour saturation increase progressively at the highest ISO settings, limiting the size that these images can be reproduced, but it has to be said that the GX85’s performance here is still very commendable. Both Panasonic and Olympus continue to squeeze more performance out of their Micro Four Thirds sensors – with the help of on-going refinements to the data processing algorithms – and so the latest models are all holding their own with their ‘APS-C’ rivals. Removing the optical low-pass filter from the long-serving 16 MP device has certainly given it a new lease of life.
THE VERDICT
There’s so much to like about the Lumix GX85, especially its combination of compactness, features and performance which carries on where the GX7 left off and then some. However, the GX8 is such a powerhouse, it’s hard to see the really serious photographer not digging a bit deeper to have its extra goodies, especially the better EVF and the weather-sealed metal bodyshell. That said, the GX8 is definitely more of a ‘first string’ camera for someone who is fully committing to the mirrorless route, whereas the GX85 makes a huge amount of sense as a more compact alternative to a D-SLR kit for the times when you want to travel light. Its affordability is a big plus here too.
Yet the GX85 ticks so many other boxes, there’s little doubt you could happily live with it on a daily basis and, if the GX8 didn’t exist, we’d be hailing it as an absolute triumph. As it is, it is going to have to live a little in the shadow of its big brother, and so jump up and down a bit harder to be noticed… this is where the excellent image stabilisation, image quality and the new features such as focus bracketing will definitely help its cause. Take the GX8 out of the picture, and the GX85 is another hugely capable Panasonic mirrorless camera jammed solid with a huge list of features – including the surprisingly useful ‘4K Photo’ modes – and a performance that ensures it punches well above its weight.