Panasonic G95 Performance

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Panasonic G95 Performance

Timing and Performance

Very good overall performance.

Startup/Play to Record
Power on to first shot	~1.0 second	Time it takes to turn on and capture a shot.
Play to Record, first shot	~0.8 second	Time until first shot is captured.

Powering on and taking a shot was pretty quick for a mirrorless camera, at about one second. Switching from Play to Record mode and taking a shot was a bit faster, at about 0.8 second. Very good performance here for a mirrorless camera, though most DSLRs are faster.

Shutter Response (Lag Time)
Mechanical or Electronic First Curtain Shutter
Full Autofocus, AFS, Center AF	0.140 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, with the lens already at the proper focal distance setting.
Full Autofocus, AFS, Center AF, Flash Enabled	0.375 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture. Auto Flash enabled.
Manual Focus	0.059 second	For most cameras, shutter lag is less in manual focus than autofocus, but usually not as fast as when the camera is "prefocused".
Prefocused	0.047 second	Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.
Electronic Shutter
Full Autofocus, AFS, Center AF	0.162 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, with the lens already at the proper focal distance setting.
Manual Focus	0.082 second	For most cameras, shutter lag is less in manual focus than autofocus, but usually not as fast as when the camera is "prefocused".
Prefocused	0.074 second	Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.
Note: All timing performed with a Panasonic Leica DG 12-60mm f/2.8-4 (H-ES12060) zoom lens at medium focal length (~50mm eq.). Performance may vary with other lenses and focal lengths.

The Panasonic G95's autofocus speed was excellent in our tests, especially for a camera that uses contrast-detect AF. In the lab, the G95 produced a full-autofocus shutter lag (with the subject at a fixed distance) of 0.140 second using 1-area (center) AFS mode with the Panasonic Leica DG 12-60mm f/2.8-4 lens at a focal length of about 25mm (50mm equivalent). That's faster than some pro DSLRs. Enabling the built-in flash increased shutter lag to 0.375 second to account for pre-flash metering, but that's still fairly quick.

Shutter lag in manual focus mode was very low at only 0.059 second, and prefocused shutter lag was even lower at 0.047 second. Very good performance here. Note that we got identical lag results whether using fully mechanical or electronic first curtain shutter modes.

Using the fully electronic shutter option increased shutter lag slightly, as you can see in the second half of the table above. Note that the flash is not supported when using the electronic shutter.

To minimize the effect of different lens' focusing speed, we test AF-active shutter lag with the lens already set to the correct focal distance.

Cycle Time (shot to shot)
Single Shot mode Large/Fine JPEG	< 0.3 second	Time per shot, averaged over a few frames (we no longer test for buffer depth in single-shot mode).
Single Shot mode RAW + L/F JPEG	< 0.3 second	Time per shot, averaged over a few frames (we no longer test for buffer depth in single-shot mode).
Early shutter penalty?	No	Some cameras don't snap another shot if you release and press the shutter too quickly in Single Shot mode, making "No" the preferred answer.
Continuous H mode Large/Fine JPEG	0.11 second (9.3 fps); Unlimited(?); 0.8 second to clear*	Time per shot with no apparent limit other than card capacity.
Continuous H mode RAW	0.11 second (9.3 fps); 31 frames total; 10.4 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 31 frames, then slows to an average of 0.34s or 2.9 fps when buffer is full with a lot of variation.
Continuous H mode RAW + L/F JPEG	0.11 second (9.3 fps); 26 frames total; 17.6 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 26 frames, then slows to an average of 0.62s or 1.6 fps when buffer is full with a lot of variation.
4K Burst (8.3MP JPEGs)	0.03 second (30.00 fps); Unlimited(?); 1.1 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, with no apparent limit other than card capacity or video recording limits.
Flash Recycling	2.4 seconds	Flash at maximum output.
*Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a 64GB Lexar Professional 2000x (260MB/s write) UHS-II SDXC card. Slower cards can produce correspondingly slower clearing times and may also limit length of bursts in continuous mode. ISO sensitivity and noise reduction settings can also affect cycle times and burst mode performance.

Single-shot cycle times were so fast that they were difficult to accurately measure as they depend on the tester's nimbleness and ability to maintain an optimum rhythm, so your results may vary. (Note that we no longer test single-shot mode with just RAW files, as the results are usually somewhere in between.)

In the fastest full-resolution burst mode (Continuous H), the G95 captured images at 9.3 frames-per-second no matter the file type using the mechanical shutter, easily meeting Panasonic's 9 fps spec. Note that autofocus is locked at the first frame of a burst in this mode (AFS). Panasonic claims the G95 can manage up to 6 fps with AF updated between frames (AFC), however we did not test that mode in the lab. In all-electronic shutter mode, the G95's continuous mode specs are identical to mechanical shutter mode and we got nearly identical results in our tests so we did not list them separately above. In 4K Burst mode, the G95 captured 8.3-megapixel JPEGs at the expected 30 fps.

Buffer depth was excellent when shooting best quality JPEGs with no apparent limit with a fast UHS-II card (Panasonic says 600+ frames). When shooting RAW or RAW+JPEG files, buffer depth fell to 31 and 26 frames respectively, but that's still pretty good for the class.

Buffer clearing times were reasonable considering the buffer depths, taking under one second after a long burst of JPEGs, 10.4 seconds after a max-length RAW burst, and about 17.6 seconds after a max-length RAW+JPEG burst. The camera lets you make setting changes while its buffer is clearing, but you can't review just-shot images before the buffer is cleared.

Flash recycling after full-power discharges was quite fast, at about 2.4 seconds on average.

Bottom line, the Panasonic G95's performance is very good for its class, with reasonably fast startup, fast autofocus, low shutter lag, very fast cycle times, good burst performance, and decent buffer depths.

Battery

Battery Life
Below average battery life for its class, but with very flexible power options.

Operating Mode	Battery Life
Still Capture, CIPA standard (Electronic Viewfinder)	290 shots
Still Capture, CIPA standard (LCD Monitor)	290 shots

The Panasonic G95 uses a custom DMW-BLC12 rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack for power, and comes with a single battery and a dedicated battery charger. In-camera battery charging and power supply via USB are both supported. Battery life is CIPA-rated for about 290 shots per charge regardless of which display is being used. That's below average for a mirrorless cameras, however the G95 has a Power Save LVF mode which when enabled, increases battery life up to an excellent 1,000 shots per charge according to Panasonic. And the optional DMW-BGG1 power grip can roughly double battery life with a second battery.

The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of on fully-charged battery, based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions. While real-world battery life tends to be much better for mirrorless cameras, CIPA-rated battery life is still very useful for comparison purposes.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))