Panasonic GX850 Review: A very compact camera that is very capable

Overview

GX850 Overview

by William Brawley
Posted: 01/04/2017

One of Panasonic's longest-running Micro Four Thirds series -- spanning all the way back to 2009 -- the GF-family of compact, rangefinder-esque ILCs serves as the company's most consumer-level offering from their MFT lineup. Hitting their eighth generation in the series (ignoring the somewhat confusing name change in most markets), the Panasonic GX850 (GX800 in Europe; GF9 in Japan) gets a refresh with an updated 16-megapixel Live MOS sensor without an optical low-pass filter, DFD autofocus technology, as well as 4K video up to 30p and the now-standard array of Panasonic 4K Photo features. The GX850 is the last Lumix model to gain 4K video and photo capabilities, making nearly all of Panasonic's Lumix cameras capable of capturing 4K media.

Notice we said "nearly all."

If you've been keeping track of Panasonic camera updates over the last couple of years, you will have noticed there's one Lumix ILC line that's been rather neglected, the GM series.

Back in 2013, the team at Panasonic somehow managed to cram a nearly full-featured Micro Four Thirds camera into a pocket-cam-sized body with the tiny GM1. It was instant hit around the IR headquarters. It was small, lightweight and had the full versatility that interchangeable lenses offered. Then the GM5 arrived a year later, adding an EVF, making the GM1 that much better. The problem was the little GM-family was rather a pricey, premium pair of "pocket ILCs," and although we here at IR loved the little cameras, we eventually got the feeling that the GM cameras hadn't sold as well as Panasonic had hoped.

With the introduction of 2015's GF7 (and subsequent GF8 in 2016, which did not see a US release) -- a camera that was more or less similarly sized to the GM5 though much less expensive -- the writing was perhaps already on the wall for the premium GM line. And while we've yet to get a definitive answer from Panasonic regarding the fate of the GM series, the lack of news as well as affiliate and Panasonic websites all listing the GM5 as no longer available seems to answer the question. Farewell, GM series.

As such, for those looking to step up from their smartphone or small-sensored point-and-shoot camera to something that's not only an easy to use camera but also an ultra-compact Micro Four Thirds ILC that still fits into your pocket, the new Panasonic GX850 looks to fit the bill quite nicely.

Let's now dive into the nuts and bolts of the GX850, shall we?

GX850 stays at 16MP, drops low-pass filter

Working from the inside out, the heart of the Lumix GX850 is centered around an updated 16-megapixel Four Thirds Live MOS sensor. While a handful of recent Micro Four Thirds models, such as the GX8, GX9, G9 and GH5, are sporting a newer, higher-resolution 20MP Four Thirds sensor, the Panasonic GX850, on the other hand, maintains the familiar 16-megapixel resolution as a large number of previous Lumix ILC cameras. However, similar to the updated sensors from the GX85 and G85 camera, the 16MP chip inside the GX850 does not have an optical low-pass filter. This has become a much more common practice for both high-end cameras and now for more entry-level ones as well. What you gain from the filter removal is sharper per-pixel detail; in other words, sharper photos, especially when you look closely.

On the flip side, you run a greater risk of generating moiré and other aliasing artifacts such as false colors and jagged-looked edges. These artifacts can be tough to remove manually on the computer in photo editing software, but if you're careful about how and what you photograph, you should be able to avoid or minimize issues. Generally, subjects such as fabrics or fine repeating patterns like fences or brick walls tend to exhibit moiré artifacts if you're not careful. That being said, in-camera image processing is getting more and more sophisticated, which helps to minimize though not eliminate the artifacts.

Another imaging pipeline change is a newer Venus Engine image processor, though a specific model name or version number wasn't specified in our briefing with Panasonic. However, despite the newer processor, the GX850 still offers the same ISO range as its predecessor -- 200-25,600, with an extendable low ISO of 100.

On the other hand, the faster processor does give the GX850 some added horsepower and adds a host of 4K recording capabilities, as we mentioned earlier. This pocketable MFT camera now offers 4K video recording (at Ultra HD 3840 x 2160 resolution) at both 24p and 30p frame rates (PAL models can shoot 24p, 25p and 30p), though continuous sustained recording time is limited to just five minutes due to heat constraints brought on by the tiny body size. However, if Full HD video suits your needs, the GX850 can record at 60p or 60i for up to 20 minutes and at 30p or 24p, it can record for an unlimited time, or until you fill your memory card or your battery drains! (The European GX800 model has the same 5 and 20 minute limits for 4K and Full HD at 50p/50i respectively, but is limited to 29:59 at lower frame rates.)

In addition to 4K video, the GX850 offers a host of 4K PHOTO features, including various 4K Burst shooting options -- that is, 4K-resolution (8-megapixel) JPEGs at 30fps -- as well as Post Focus and in-camera Focus Stacking modes. Both of these latter options utilize 4K recording technology by taking a shot while stepping through a range of focus distances. Post Focus then lets you pick a point of focus after capture, while Focus Stacking composites a series of frames together for a final shot with a deeper depth of field -- great for macro photography!

As for performance features, the Panasonic GX850 is not designed as a high-speed sports- and action-shooting monster, though the 4K Photo at 30fps is pretty impressive. For full-resolution photo modes, the GX850 offers a claimed 5.8fps continuous burst rate for single-shot AF mode, while continuous AF slows the burst rate down a tad to 5fps. That increases to up to 10 and 6fps respectively using the electronic shutter. These are the same specs as on the earlier GF7. Claimed RAW buffer depth has improved however, from 7 frames to 15, while buffer depth with JPEGs is rated at over 100 frames. See the Performance page for our lab test results.

Autofocus performance is improved, thanks to the inclusion of Panasonic's DFD (Depth from Defocus) technology. The earlier GF7 utilized a standard contrast-detection AF system, and while the GX850 is also based on a CDAF system, the DFD addition should give the camera's AF a nice boost of precision and speed.

Taking a tour of the pocketable GX850

The overall design of the Panasonic GX850 is very similar to that of its predecessor, though it no longer has that noticeable "hump" above the lens for the LCD tilt mechanism; instead continuing a raised top-deck all the way to the edge of the camera body. The more "rangefinder-esque" design does appear a bit more like its premium cousin, the GM5. However, unlike the GM5, the GX850 does not have a built-in EVF; it's LCD-only, like the GF7. The overall styling is very sleek, compact and minimalist, especially from the front, which is all but devoid of any buttons except for the lens release switch.

On the top-deck of the camera, the GX850 features a typical PASM mode dial on the far right, the power switch lever surrounding the shutter release button, a dedicated 4K Photo mode button (though it's also dual-labeled as Fn1, so you can reassign its function), and then a drive mode button on the far left corner (which is a also reconfigurable function button).  On the back, the delete button serves as the camera third and final function button. The top of the camera, as with the GF7, houses the small pop-up flash, with its mechanical switch sitting right along the top edge of the camera. Flash power is the same as the GF7 and GM1, rated with a GN of 4.0m at ISO 100 or 5.6m at ISO 200, and maximum flash sync is only 1/50s thanks to the hybrid shutter, the same as the GF7 and GM-series.

On the rear of the camera, the GX850 utilizes a practically identical control layout as the GF7, which centers around a rotating control wheel that also doubles as a 4-way directional control. The large 3-inch touchscreen display uses a 1040K-dot resolution screen and tilts upwards a full 180-degrees, making the camera ideally suited for self-portraits and vlogging (though the camera does not have a hotshoe nor a microphone input). You can even set the camera to enable a hands-free "selfie" mode when you flip the screen upwards, automatically firing off a shot when the camera's facial recognition system detect a face or multiple people (called "Buddy Shutter").

The GX850 also offers 4K Photo and panorama features while in "selfie" mode. As with standard 4K Photo mode, you can take a quick series of images at 30fps and select the best frame after the fact -- especially great if you have multiple people in a group shot and you want to pick a frame where everyone's eyes are open! With panorama mode, you can capture wide selfie shots with groups of people or of large scene backgrounds. Additionally, the GX850 offers a new "Background Control" option with selfies that gives the user adjustable control over the depth of field -- either have sharper background (deep DOF) or isolate your subject (shallow DOF).

While not available when the GX850 started to ship, the Lumix GX850 now incorporates a "Beauty Retouch" filter that's been included on a number of recent Lumix cameras, via a firmware update released in April 2017. Not offered on the GF7, Beauty Retouch mode automatically applies retouching effects such as smoothing the skin, removing blemishes and whitening teeth.

Regarding storage media and battery life, it's good and bad news, in a way. For starters, unlike GF7, the new Panasonic GX850 downsizes to the smaller microSD card format. If you've used a variety of cellphones with expandable storage capacity lately, you probably have a microSD card or two lying around. Otherwise, you'll need to go out and purchase a new memory card. Furthermore, these much smaller, thinner microSD cards are more easily misplaced than the larger SD cards.

As for the battery, the good news is that the GX850 uses the same compact rechargeable lithium ion battery pack as the GF7 -- and now offers USB in-camera charging, too. However, the new camera is rated for slightly lower battery life than the predecessor, at 210 shots per charge rather than 230.

As with many other recent Panasonic cameras, the new GX850 includes built-in Wi-Fi for easily remote control shooting and wireless sharing of images to smart devices. In our experience, remote shooting with supported Panasonic cameras has been rather robust, as their companion smartphone app offers lots of control of numerous shooting parameters, and this is true for the GX850 as well.

Be sure to read our Field Test and other pages for much more on the features, image quality, performance and handling of the GX850!

Panasonic GX850 Pricing & Availability

The Panasonic GX850 is sold in either an all-black color or a two-toned silver and black style, and is kitted with the ultra-compact G Vario 12-32mm f/3.5-5.6 Mega OIS retractable zoom lens. The GX850 started shipping in February 2017 for a retail price of US$549.99.

In the Box

The Panasonic GX850 retail kit w/12-32mm lens package (as reviewed) contains the following items:

• Panasonic Lumix DC-GX850 Camera Body
• Panasonic Lumix G Vario 12-32mm f/3.5-5.6 Mega OIS Lens
• DMW-BLH7 Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery Pack (7.2V, 680mAh)
• AC/USB Power Adapter
• USB Cable
• Lens Cap
• Shoulder Strap
• Limited 1-Year Warranty

Optics

The Panasonic GX850 is sold bundled with the very compact Lumix G VARIO 12-32mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS lens. This is the same lens sold with the GM1, so please refer to our GM1 Review Optics page and our full lab test to see how this lens performs. Below, we present our GX850 viewfinder accuracy test results.

Viewfinder Test Results

Accuracy
Excellent coverage from the LCD monitor.

The Panasonic GX850's LCD monitor proved very accurate for framing in record mode, showing 100% coverage in our test. Excellent results here.

The images above were taken from our standardized test shots. For a collection of more pictorial photos, see our Panasonic Lumix DC-GX850 Photo Gallery .

Exposure

Color

Saturation & Hue Accuracy
Typical mean saturation levels, with about average hue accuracy.

ISO Sensitivity
100	200	400
800	1600	3200
6400	12800	25600
In the diagram above, the squares show the original color, and the circles show the color that the camera captured. More saturated colors are located toward the periphery of the graph. Hue changes as you travel around the center. Thus, hue-accurate, highly saturated colors appear as lines radiating from the center. Mouse over the links to compare results at different ISOs, and click on the links for larger images.

Saturation. The Panasonic GX850 produces images with typical saturation levels at default settings. Mean saturation is 111.6% (11.6% oversaturated) at the base ISO of 200 (100 is an extended ISO), which gradually falls to a minimum of 104.4% at ISO 25,600. The Lumix GX850 pushes dark reds and dark blues by quite a bit and some other colors slightly, but undersaturates yellow moderately, and aqua and cyan slightly. Most consumer digital cameras produce color that's more highly saturated (more intense) than found in the original subjects. This is simply because most people like their color a bit brighter than life.

Skin tones. Here, the Panasonic GX850 did fairly well, producing natural-looking Caucasian skin tones with a slight push towards pink when Manual white balance was used, giving a healthy appearance. Darker skin tones have a small nudge towards orange, but overall results are pretty good. Where oversaturation is most problematic is on Caucasian skin tones, as it's very easy for these "memory colors" to be seen as too bright, too pink, too yellow, etc.

Hue. The Panasonic GX850 shifts orange toward yellow, yellow toward green, and cyan toward blue, but most other hue shifts are quite minor. The yellow to green shift along with the desaturation can unfortunately produce some dingy-looking yellows as we've seen from some prior Lumix models. The GX850's mean "delta-C" color error after correction for saturation is 4.75 for JPEGs at the base ISO of 200. That's close to average these days, and color error remains quite stable throughout the ISO range. Hue is "what color" the color is.

Sensor

Exposure and White Balance

Indoors, incandescent lighting
Somewhat warm color with Auto and very warm with Incandescent white balance. Good color balance with the Manual setting. Average positive exposure compensation required.

Indoors, under normal incandescent lighting, color balance is a little warm and reddish with the Auto white balance setting, but results here are actually better then most. Results with the Incandescent setting are warmer, with a stronger orange-yellow cast. The Manual setting produced fairly accurate results, just slightly warm. The Panasonic GX850 required +0.3 EV exposure compensation here, about average for this shot. (Our test lighting for this shot is a mixture of 60 and 100 watt household incandescent bulbs, a pretty yellow light source, but a very common one in typical home settings here in the U.S.)

Outdoors, daylight
Natural-looking colors overall, with a tendency toward high contrast under harsh lighting. Above average exposure accuracy.

Outdoors, the Panasonic GX850 performed well, with natural-looking colors in the Far-field shot. Skin tones are fairly realistic in our "Sunlit" Portrait shot, with a healthy-looking push of pinks and reds when Manual white balance was used, which is preferable to too flat or yellow. Auto white balance was similar. Exposure accuracy was above average, as the camera required only +0.3 EV compensation for our "Sunlit" Portrait shot to keep facial tones reasonably bright. +0.7 EV is typical for this shot. Despite the bright appearance, only a few highlights were actually blown in the mannequin's white shirt which is quite good, though there are some very deep shadows that are fairly clean, but discolored and posterized. The default exposure is quite good for the Far-field shot, resulting in very few blown highlights, though again there are some very deep shadows that are discolored and posterized. Default contrast is on the high side, but that's how most consumers prefer their photos.

See full set of test images with explanations
See thumbnails of all test and gallery images

Resolution
~2,350 to ~2,450 lines of strong detail.

An in-camera best quality JPEG of our laboratory resolution chart reveals sharp, distinct line patterns up to about 2,450 lines per picture height horizontally, and about 2,350 lines in the vertical direction. (Some might argue for higher, but aliasing artifacts start to interfere and lines begin to merge at these limits.) Complete extinction of the pattern occurs between 3,300 lines and 3,300 lines. We weren't able to extract significantly more high-contrast resolution by processing the Panasonic GX850's RW2 file using Adobe Camera Raw, and the ACR conversion also shows much more color moiré which is practically nonexistent in the camera JPEG.

Use these numbers to compare with other cameras of similar resolution, or use them to see just what higher resolution can mean in terms of potential detail.

See full set of test images with explanations
See thumbnails of all test and gallery images

Sharpness & Detail
Very good sharpness overall, though with visible edge-enhancement artifacts on high-contrast subjects. Mild to moderate noise suppression visible in the shadows even at base ISO.

Sharpness. The Panasonic GX850 captures sharp, detailed images, thanks in part to the lack of an optical low-pass filter, however aliasing artifacts are visible in the form of "jaggies" and subtle moiré patterns. Edge enhancement artifacts are also visible around high-contrast subjects such as the sharpening "halos" along the lines and around the text in the crop above left, but default sharpening is fairly typical for consumer-oriented models, and not too overdone. Edge enhancement creates the illusion of sharpness by enhancing colors and tones right at the edge of a rapid transition in color or tone.

Detail. The crop above right shows the effect of noise suppression in the form of smudging of individual strands together in the darker areas of the model's hair, as well as in areas with low local contrast, although chroma noise is well-controlled. This is good noise versus detail processing performance for a 16-megapixel Micro Four Thirds model, leaving lots of fine detail intact instead of blurring much of it away in an attempt to hide noise, though again some aliasing artifacts are visible. Noise-suppression systems in digital cameras tend to flatten-out detail in areas of subtle contrast. The effects can often be seen in shots of human hair, where the individual strands are lost and an almost "watercolor" look appears.

RAW vs In-Camera JPEGs
As noted above, the Panasonic GX850 produces sharp in-camera JPEGs with pretty good detail. As is almost always the case, better detail can be obtained from carefully processing RAW files, with fewer sharpening artifacts to boot. Take a look below to see what we mean:

Base ISO (200)
Camera JPEG, defaults	RAW via Adobe Camera Raw

In the table above, we compare an in-camera JPEG taken at base ISO using default noise reduction and sharpening (on the left) to a matching RAW file converted with Adobe Camera Raw 9.1 via DNG Converter 9.6 using default noise reduction with some strong but tight unsharp masking applied in Photoshop (300%, radius of 0.3 pixels, and a threshold of 0).

As you can see, the in-camera JPEG contains very good detail, however ACR extracted additional detail, particularly in the red-leaf fabric where it managed to resolve some of the fine thread pattern. The ACR conversion however shows much more luminance noise after sharpening, especially in flatter areas with little detail. You can always turn up the luminance noise reduction (default of zero was used here), or process the files in your favorite noise reduction program or plugin if you find the noise objectionable. Bottom line, though, as is usually the case shooting in RAW mode provides better detail, color, and control than in-camera JPEGs when using a good converter.

ISO & Noise Performance
Great high ISO performance for a Micro Four Thirds model.

Default Noise Reduction
ISO 100	ISO 200	ISO 400
ISO 800	ISO 1600	ISO 3200
ISO 6400	ISO 12,800	ISO 25,600

The Panasonic GX850's images are very detailed and clean at ISOs 100 (extended) and 200, with only minor luminance noise detectable in the shadows. ISO 400 is also quite detailed, though a touch more noise and blurring from noise reduction can be seen. ISO 800 shows stronger noise reduction, blurring some very fine detail in the process, though overall detail remains very good and chroma noise is low. ISO 1600 is of course a little noisier, but fine detail is still pretty good and chroma noise is still well-controlled, however the GX850's area-specific noise reduction is starting to leave some edges a bit rough and noisy. ISO 3200 shows a larger drop in image quality with more noise reduction artifacts, though there is some fine detail left. At ISO 6400, a crystalline effect starts to appear caused by rectilinear noise reduction artifacts, chroma noise in the form of subtle purple and yellow blotches starts to become visible, and a lot of fine detail is blurred away. Image quality drops off quickly at ISO 12,800 and above, with strong luminance noise and chroma blotching leaving little fine detail intact. Still, a nice improvement over its predecessor, the GF7, across the entire ISO range.

We're of course pixel-peeping to an extraordinary extent here, since 1:1 images on an LCD screen have little to do with how those same images will appear when printed. See the Print Quality section below for our evaluation of maximum print sizes at each ISO setting.

Note that we now shoot this series at f/8 instead of f/4, for increased depth of field (at f/4, it was very difficult to focus for maximum sharpness in the crop area while maintaining consistent focus between models).

Extremes: Sunlit, dynamic range and low light tests
Somewhat high default contrast but with decent dynamic range. Excellent low-light performance, able to capture images and autofocus in very low light.

Sunlight. The Panasonic GX850 did fairly well with the deliberately harsh lighting of this test. Contrast is a little high at its default setting, but dynamic range is decent in JPEGs. We felt the +0.3 EV exposure is the best compromise here. Although skin tones around the eyes are a bit dark, we prefer it to the +0.7 EV exposure overall, because there were quite a few clipped highlights at +0.7. It's really the photographer's choice here as to which direction to go in. For those Panasonic GX850 owners that are going to want to just print an image with little or no tweaking, the +0.7 EV image would probably produce a better-looking face uncorrected. The bottom line though, is that the Panasonic GX850 performed fairly well with the wide dynamic range of this shot, though not as good as some competitors. See below for how the Panasonic GX850's sensor performs (RAW mode) in terms of dynamic range.

Because digital cameras are more like slide film than negative film (in that they tend to have a more limited tonal range), we test them in the harshest situations to see how they handle scenes with bright highlights and dark shadows, as well as what kind of sensitivity they have in low light. The shot above is designed to mimic the very harsh, contrasty effect of direct noonday sunlight, a very tough challenge for most digital cameras. (You can read details of this test here.)

Face Detection
Aperture Priority, 0 EV, f/8 Face Detection Off	Aperture Priority, 0 EV, f/8 Face Detection On	iAuto, 0 EV, f/2.5

Face Detection. Like most cameras these days, the Panasonic GX850 has the ability to detect faces (up to 15 in a scene), and adjust exposure and focus accordingly. Oddly, as you can see from the examples above, face detection didn't improve exposure in Aperture Priority at f/8 even though EXIF indicates a face was detected, however in iAuto mode where the camera had control over aperture it produced a much brighter image at f/2.5, and automatically applied Intelligent D-Range (see below).

Far-field Intelligent D-Range Examples
Off	Auto	Low	Standard	High

Panasonic's Intelligent Dynamic Range
The above shots are examples of Panasonic's Intelligent Dynamic Range Control (or iD-Range) at work, with no exposure compensation. Note that the camera does not take multiple shots and merge them as HDR mode does (see below). It's a system that adjusts local contrast and exposure more akin to Nikon's Active D-lighting, Canon's Automatic Lighting Optimization or Sony's Dynamic Range Optimization.

There are three levels of iD-Range available on the Panasonic GX850: Low, Standard and High, plus Auto and Off. It's automatically invoked in iAuto and some scene modes and manually selectable in PASM modes. Above, you can see darker midtones and shadows were progressively boosted as the strength was increased, while brighter areas were reduced.

Far-field HDR Examples
Off	Auto	+/-1 EV	+/-2 EV	+/-3 EV

HDR mode
Here, you can see the Panasonic GX850's High Dynamic Range mode at work with our Far-field shot. HDR mode takes three images at different exposures and combines them to increase dynamic range. Mouse over the links, and click on them the view the full resolution files.

Auto did a pretty good job here, producing results similar to +/-1 EV which was arguably the best for this scene, while +/-3 dimmed the entire image. Notice the double images and ghosting of some branches, the flag or people moving between frames. Also notice the angle of view is narrower in the HDR images, because the images have been cropped and upsized during the optional auto alignment process.

Dynamic Range Analysis (RAW mode)
While we once performed our own dynamic range measurements based on in-camera JPEGs as well as converted RAW images (when the camera was supported by Adobe Camera Raw), we've switched to using DxO Labs' results from their DxOMark website. As technology advanced, the dynamic range of modern high-end cameras in some cases exceeded the range of the Stouffer T4110 density scale that we used for our own measurements. DxO's approach based on RAW data before demosaicing is also more revealing, because it measures the fundamental dynamic range of the sensor, irrespective of whatever processing is applied to JPEGs, or to RAW data by off-the-shelf conversion software.

In the following, we use DxO's "Print" dynamic range results, which are scaled based on camera resolution. As the name suggests, this scaling corresponds to the situation in which you print at a given size, regardless of how many megapixels the camera might have. (In other words, if you've decided to make a 13x19 inch print, that's the size you're printing, whether the camera's resolution is 16 or 300 megapixels.) Also note that DxO Labs uses a signal-to-noise (SNR) threshold of 1 when defining the lower boundary of acceptable luminance noise in their dynamic range measurements, which corresponds to the "Low Quality" threshold of the Imatest software we used to use for this measurement.

Here we compare the Panasonic GX850's (GX800 in Europe) dynamic range (in orange) to its closest predecessor's, the GM1 (yellow), as DxOMark has not tested the GF7 as of this writing. Also compared is the Olympus E-PL7, another compact and affordable 16-megapixel Micro Four Thirds camera that directly competes with the GX850. (DxOMark has not tested the E-PL8 or E-PL9 yet either.)

As you can see from the above graphs, the GX850's dynamic range is noticeably improved over the GM1's at low to moderate ISOs. The GX850 has its peak dynamic range at its extended low ISO setting of 100, measured at about 13.3 EV versus the GM1's 11.7 EV at ISO 125. The advantage narrows as sensitivity increases, but the GX850 only falls to the same levels as the GM1 above around ISO 1600.

The GX850 performed very similar to the E-PL7 in terms of dynamic range within its native ISO range, as they likely use similar or identical sensors, however the GX850 managed almost a stop better at its extended low ISO 100 setting while the E-PL7's dynamic range remained the same at its extended low ISO 100 setting as its native base ISO of 200. The slight differences at higher ISOs would be difficult to detect in real-world shots.

Assuming the GM1's dynamic range is similar to the GF7's, we can see that dynamic range has improved significantly over its predecessor at low to moderate ISOs, and is very similar to a direct competitor's at non-extended ISOs.

Click here to visit the DxOMark page for the Panasonic GX850 for more of their test results and additional comparisons.

	1 fc 11 lux	1/16 fc 0.67 lux	1/16 fc No NR
ISO 200	1s, f2.8	15s, f2.8	15s, f2.8
ISO 3200	1/15s, f2.8	1s, f2.8	1s, f2.8
ISO 25600	1/125s, f2.8	1/8s, 1 f2.8	1/8s, f2.8

Low Light. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX850 performed well in our low light tests, able to capture bright images down to the lowest light level we test at. The darkest level equates to about 1/16 the brightness of average city street lighting at night, so the Panasonic GX850 should be able to take well-exposed photos in almost any environment in which you can see well enough to walk around in.

Using default noise reduction setting, noise is low at ISO 200 and well-controlled at ISO 3200 with a very fine, tight noise "grain", though as you'd expect, noise is quite high at the maximum ISO of 25,600 which should probably be avoided except in emergencies.

We didn't notice any significant issues with hot pixels, though with long exposure noise reduction turned off (rightmost column) there are a lot of slightly brighter pixels in the shadows at ISO 200, as well as a few hot pixels. We didn't detect any issues with heat blooming or fixed pattern noise, but be aware that the maximum exposure supported by the GX850 is 60 seconds, which doesn't make it a good camera for long exposures.

Automatic color balance performed well, just a touch cool particularly at lower light levels, but pretty neutral.

Low-light AF: The camera's autofocus system was able to focus our low-contrast AF target down to -4.3 EV, and on our newer high-contrast target down to -4.4 EV unassisted with an f/2.8 lens. That's very good for its class, and slightly exceeds Panasonic's -4 EV spec. The Panasonic GX850 also has a focus-assist light which allows it to autofocus in total darkness, as long as the subject is within range and has sufficient contrast.

How bright is this? The one foot-candle light level that this test begins at roughly corresponds to the brightness of typical city street-lighting at night. Cameras performing well at that level should be able to snap good-looking photos of street-lit scenes.

NOTE: This low light test is conducted with a stationary subject, and the camera mounted on a sturdy tripod. Most digital cameras will fail miserably when faced with a moving subject in dim lighting. (For example, a child's ballet recital or a holiday pageant in a gymnasium.) Thanks to their phase-detect AF systems, digital SLRs tend to do much better than point & shoots, but you still shouldn't expect a quick autofocus lock with moving subjects. The GX850 uses contrast-detect autofocus, as is found in most point & shoot cameras, so its low-light focusing ability may be less than that of some SLRs with phase-detect systems. That said, though, the larger, more sensitive pixels of the GX850's sensor do better under dim lighting than do the tiny pixels of most point & shoots.

Output Quality

Print Quality

Very good 24 x 36 inch prints up to ISO 400; Good 16 x 20 inch print at ISO 800; and a nice 8 x 10 at ISO 3200.

ISO 100 and 200 prints are very good at 24 x 36 inches, displaying rich color, superb fine detail, and a nice three-dimensional pop to the images. The 30 x 40 inch prints will certainly work for wall-display purposes, but the 16-megapixel resolution limits the closeness of the viewing distance.

ISO 400 images are also quite good at 24 x 36 inches. There is just a trace of mild softening in areas of fine detail, but not enough to keep us from awarding our good overall seal to this size, and there's no noise apparent anywhere.

ISO 800 produces 20 x 30 inch prints that come very close to passing our good seal, and can certainly be used for less critical applications or most wall display purposes. The 16 x 20 inch prints here tighten up quite nicely, and display very good fine detail and excellent colors, with only a mild softening in the red channel, which is typical of most crop sensor cameras at this ISO and higher.

ISO 1600 yields a 16 x 20 inch print that may pass the grade for less critical printing applications, but for ensuring a good print we recommend the 13 x 19 inch size and lower at this gain setting. With only a mild trace of noise in flatter areas of our target and just a touch of softness in the red channel, these are still very good prints.

ISO 3200 delivers an 11 x 14 inch print that just passes our good seal of approval. There is mild noise apparent in flatter areas of our Still Life target, and most all contrast detail is now lost in our tricky red-leaf fabric swatch, but it's still a print that merits our overall good seal. For most critical printing needs, though, we suggest limiting size to an 8 x 10 here.

ISO 6400 outputs an 8 x 10 inch print that's really not bad given the "gain strain" at this setting on a Four-Thirds sensor, but we recommend printing at that size for less critical applications only. If you must push the camera to this gain setting for prints, we recommend 5 x 7's as the maximum size here.

ISO 12,800 yields a 5 x 7 inch print similar to the 8 x 10 above, and will likely be fine for less critical printing purposes. But for a good print we suggest sticking with 4 x 6 inch prints here, which still yield a lot of color and detail for such a high ISO.

ISO 25,600 surprisingly delivers a 4 x 6 inch print that's not too bad! You can get away with it for anything not too important, but otherwise we recommend avoiding this ISO for prints.

The Panasonic GX850 turned in a solid performance in the print quality department, especially given its class and sensor resolution. You're in really good hands up to ISO 1600, with tons of fine detail and excellent colors throughout. Panasonic is one of the few manufacturers that manages to keep colors from muting too badly as ISO rises, and GX850 owners will benefit from this as ISO rises. By ISO 6400 the gain really starts to strain the GX850, so if you can remain at ISO 3200 and below your prints will reap the rewards. Well done to Panasonic on this camera for really good image quality for the price.

The images above were taken from our standardized test shots. For a collection of more pictorial photos, see our Panasonic Lumix DC-GX850 Photo Gallery .

Not sure which camera to buy? Let your eyes be the ultimate judge! Visit our Comparometer(tm) to compare images from the Panasonic Lumix DC-GX850 with those from other cameras you may be considering. The proof is in the pictures, so let your own eyes decide which you like best!

Performance

Image Quality

Below are crops from our laboratory Still Life target comparing the Panasonic GX850's image quality to its predecessor's, the GF7, as well as against several competing entry-level mirrorless models at similar price points: the Canon EOS M100, Fuji X-A3, Olympus E-PL8 and Sony A5100.

NOTE: These images are from best quality JPEGs straight out of the camera, at default settings including noise reduction and using the camera's actual base ISO (not extended ISO settings). All cameras in this comparison were shot with our very sharp reference lenses. Clicking any crop will take you to a carrier page where you can click once again to access the full resolution image as delivered straight from the camera. For those interested in working with the RAW files involved, click these links to visit each camera's respective sample image thumbnail page: Panasonic GX850, Panasonic GF7, Olympus E-PL8, Fuji X-A3, Canon M100 and Sony A5100 -- links to the RAW files appear beneath those for the JPEG images, wherever we have them. And remember, you can always go to our world-renowned Comparometer to compare the Panasonic GX850 to any camera we've ever tested!

Panasonic GX850 vs Panasonic GF7 at Base ISO

Panasonic GX850 at ISO 200	Panasonic GF7 at ISO 200
It is immediately apparent here that the GX850 produces sharper images than its predecessor, the GF7, thanks in part to the omission of an optical low-pass filter, though default sharpening appears to be stronger as well. The GX850 image also has higher contrast, slightly lower noise levels, and colors are generally a little more vibrant, particularly dark greens and reds. A nice upgrade in image quality here at base ISO and it's nice to see how much image quality has improved from Panasonic's Micro Four Thirds models lately.

Panasonic GX850 vs Canon EOS M100 at Base ISO

Panasonic GX850 at ISO 200	Canon EOS M100 at ISO 100
As expected, the 24-megapixel Canon M100 out-resolves the 16-megapixel GX850 in high-contrast subject matter, however the Panasonic image is sharper and crisper, and subtle detail in the red-leaf swatch is actually a bit better from the GX850. Noise levels appear lower from the Canon's APS-C sensor (however keep in mind its lower base ISO), while colors are warmer and generally a little more accurate.

Panasonic GX850 vs Fujifilm X-A3 at Base ISO

Panasonic GX850 at ISO 200	Fujifilm X-A3 at ISO 200
Here we compare the GX850 to another entry-level mirrorless, the Fuji X-A3. Unlike its more expensive siblings, the X-A3 uses a traditional Bayer color filter instead of X-Trans for it APS-C sensor. Again, the 24-megapixel camera easily out-resolves the GX850 while offering lower noise levels, however the GX850 is sharper with less noticeable sharpening halos. Contrast is also better from the GX850 in our tricky red-leaf swatch, however colors are brighter and more pleasing from the X-A3.

Panasonic GX850 vs Olympus E-PL8 at Base ISO

Panasonic GX850 at ISO 200	Olympus E-PL8 at ISO 200
These two Micro Four Thirds rivals have essentially the same pixel count and sensor, but processing is obviously different. Panasonic's processing holds onto a bit more fine detail, however its sharpening appears a little clumsy in comparison with rougher edges. The E-PL8 image on the other hand isn't quite as crisp, but is a bit smoother and contrastier. Luma noise is a little higher from the Olympus, however chroma appears slightly better controlled than from the Panasonic. Both provide pleasing colors, though the E-PL8's looks to be a little more accurate overall.

Panasonic GX850 vs Sony A5100 at Base ISO

Panasonic GX850 at ISO 200	Sony A5100 at ISO 100
Yet another comparison with a 24-megapixel APS-C model, and again, the higher pixel count offered by the Sony out-resolves the GX850 in the mosaic crop. And the Sony manages to produce a sharp, detailed image without obvious sharpening halos. Still, the Panasonic holds its own considering its smaller, lower resolution sensor, and does a little better with overall color accuracy.

Panasonic GX850 vs Panasonic GF7 at ISO 1600

Panasonic GX850 at ISO 1600	Panasonic GF7 at ISO 1600
Here at ISO 1600, we can see the GX850 offers more detail, greater sharpness, improved contrast and better color than the GF7. The GX850's area-specific noise reduction appears improved as well, leaving edges a little smoother and better defined than its predecessor. A very nice improvement over the older generation.

Panasonic GX850 vs Canon EOS M100 at ISO 1600

Panasonic GX850 at ISO 1600	Canon EOS M100 at ISO 1600
At ISO 1600, the M100's resolution advantage over the GX850 starts to disappear. The Canon's less sophisticated noise reduction leaves behind higher levels of luminance noise while also softening and smearing fine detail more than the GX850's area-specific noise reduction, which is more effective at reducing noise in flatter areas while holding onto more detail in the mosaic crop. Both cameras start to struggle with our notorious red-leaf swatch, however it's the GX850 that holds onto better detail in the pink fabric. Colors are still a bit brighter and more pleasing from the M100, though.

Panasonic GX850 vs Fujifilm X-A3 at ISO 1600

Panasonic GX850 at ISO 1600	Fujifilm X-A3 at ISO 1600
The X-A3 pulls away further from the GX850 here at ISO 1600, with lower noise, more detail, higher contrast and better color, although sharpening halos remain more obvious from the Fuji.

Panasonic GX850 vs Olympus E-PL8 at ISO 1600

Panasonic GX850 at ISO 1600	Olympus E-PL8 at ISO 1600
The Olympus E-PL8 continues to deliver a smoother, slightly cleaner image with higher contrast here at ISO 1600, however the Panasonic's sharper image holds onto more fine detail with less smudging and fewer noise reduction artifacts.

Panasonic GX850 vs Sony A5100 at ISO 1600

Panasonic GX850 at ISO 1600	Sony A5100 at ISO 1600
At ISO 1600, the Sony A5100's aggressive default noise reduction softens and smudges fine detail more than the GX850's, giving the Panasonic the edge in sharpness and detail here. Detail in the red-leaf swatch appears higher from the Sony, but much of it is false and distorted.

Panasonic GX850 vs Panasonic GF7 at ISO 3200

Panasonic GX850 at ISO 3200	Panasonic GF7 at ISO 3200
Once again, the newer generation GX850 offers noticeably better image quality at ISO 3200 than its predecessor. The GX850 produces lower luma noise, much less chroma blotching as well as better contrast and color, however the GF7 does hold onto a bit more detail in our troublesome red-leaf swatch.

Panasonic GX850 vs Canon EOS M100 at ISO 3200

Panasonic GX850 at ISO 3200	Canon EOS M100 at ISO 3200
Similar to what we saw at ISO 1600, the GX850 produces a crisper image with lower noise and better fine detail retention with the help of more sophisticated noise reduction, though in some ways the M100 image looks perhaps a little more "natural" with a more film-like noise "grain".

Panasonic GX850 vs Fujifilm X-A3 at ISO 3200

Panasonic GX850 at ISO 3200	Fujifilm X-A3 at ISO 3200
The X-A3 still comes out ahead here at ISO 3200 with better detail in most areas, lower noise with a more consistent "grain", and more pleasing colors. The X-A3 does marginally better with fine detail in our tricky red-leaf swatch despite lower contrast, though both have blurred it quite heavily.

Panasonic GX850 vs Olympus E-PL8 at ISO 3200

Panasonic GX850 at ISO 3200	Olympus E-PL8 at ISO 3200
Once again, the GX850 holds onto more fine detail while leaving behind slightly higher noise levels versus the E-PL8's smoother, more contrasty image which suffers from more smearing of fine detail and more obvious noise reduction artifacts.

Panasonic GX850 vs Sony A5100 at ISO 3200

Panasonic GX850 at ISO 3200	Sony A5100 at ISO 3200
And finally, similar to what we saw at ISO 1600, the A5100's heavy-handed noise reduction has softened and smudged the image so much at ISO 3200 that it almost looks like Vaseline has been smeared on the lens in comparison to the GX850's much crisper and more detailed image. Flatter areas do look cleaner with less chroma noise from the A5100, but have an uneven, more "processed" look. Again, the Sony appears to do better with detail in the red-leaf swatch, but much of it is false.

Panasonic GX850 vs. Panasonic GF7, Canon EOS M100, Fujifilm X-A3, Olympus E-PL8, Sony A5100

Panasonic GX850 ISO 200 ISO 3200 ISO 6400	Panasonic GF7 ISO 200 ISO 3200 ISO 6400	Canon EOS M100 ISO 100 ISO 3200 ISO 6400	Fujifilm X-A3 ISO 200 ISO 3200 ISO 6400	Olympus E-PL8 ISO 200 ISO 3200 ISO 6400	Sony A5100 ISO 100 ISO 3200 ISO 6400
Detail comparison. High-contrast detail is also important, pushing the camera in different ways, so we like to look at it, too. Here, we can see the Panasonic GX850 performed noticeably better than its predecessor both in terms of fine detail and in contrast, especially as ISO increases. Contrast and detail are however not as high as from the Canon M100 and Fuji X-A3 APS-C contenders. The Olympus E-PL8 produced noticeably higher contrast, though fine detail suffered much more than the GX850 at ISO 6400. Interestingly, Sony A5100 easily out-performed the GX850 at base ISO, however it struggled to maintain detail at higher ISOs and also produced obvious false colors.

Very good 24 x 36 inch prints up to ISO 400; Good 16 x 20 inch print at ISO 800; and a nice 8 x 10 at ISO 3200.

ISO 100 and 200 prints are very good at 24 x 36 inches, displaying rich color, superb fine detail, and a nice three-dimensional pop to the images. The 30 x 40 inch prints will certainly work for wall-display purposes, but the 16-megapixel resolution limits the closeness of the viewing distance.

ISO 400 images are also quite good at 24 x 36 inches. There is just a trace of mild softening in areas of fine detail, but not enough to keep us from awarding our good overall seal to this size, and there's no noise apparent anywhere.

ISO 800 produces 20 x 30 inch prints that come very close to passing our good seal, and can certainly be used for less critical applications or most wall display purposes. The 16 x 20 inch prints here tighten up quite nicely, and display very good fine detail and excellent colors, with only a mild softening in the red channel, which is typical of most crop sensor cameras at this ISO and higher.

ISO 1600 yields a 16 x 20 inch print that may pass the grade for less critical printing applications, but for ensuring a good print we recommend the 13 x 19 inch size and lower at this gain setting. With only a mild trace of noise in flatter areas of our target and just a touch of softness in the red channel, these are still very good prints.

ISO 3200 delivers an 11 x 14 inch print that just passes our good seal of approval. There is mild noise apparent in flatter areas of our Still Life target, and most all contrast detail is now lost in our tricky red-leaf fabric swatch, but it's still a print that merits our overall good seal. For the most critical printing needs, though, we suggest limiting size to an 8 x 10 here.

ISO 6400 outputs an 8 x 10 inch print that's really not bad given the "gain strain" at this setting on a Four-Thirds sensor, but we recommend printing at that size for less critical applications only. If you must push the camera to this gain setting for prints, we recommend 5 x 7's as the maximum size here.

ISO 12,800 yields a 5 x 7 inch print similar to the 8 x 10 above, and will likely be fine for less critical printing purposes. But for a good print we suggest sticking with 4 x 6 inch prints here, which still yield a lot of color and detail for such a high ISO.

ISO 25,600 surprisingly delivers a 4 x 6 inch print that's not too bad! You can get away with it for anything not too important, but otherwise we recommend avoiding this ISO for prints.

The Panasonic GX850 turned in a solid performance in the print quality department, especially given its class and sensor resolution. You're in really good hands up to ISO 1600, with tons of fine detail and excellent colors throughout. Panasonic is one of the few manufacturers that manages to keep colors from muting too badly as ISO rises, and GX850 owners will benefit from this as ISO rises. By ISO 6400 the gain really starts to strain the GX850, so if you can remain at ISO 3200 and below your prints will reap the rewards. Well done to Panasonic on this camera for really good image quality for the price.

Field Test

GX850 shows that very compact cameras can still be very capable

By Jeremy Gray · 05/25/2017

As the most compact Micro Four Thirds interchangeable lens camera currently in Panasonic's lineup, the GX850 is indeed a very small camera. Paired with its pancake kit lens -- a 12-32mm optic (35mm equivalent focal length of 24-64mm) -- you can easily slip the GX850 into your jacket pocket; an impressive achievement for an ILC.

Of course, with such a compact form factor, there are some sacrifices to be made. Fortunately, these sacrifices do not come at the cost of image quality. The 16-megapixel Live MOS sensor and DFD-powered AF system deliver impressive images across a wide range of scenarios. Let's get into it and explore the strengths and weaknesses of the GX850 in real-world use.

Key Features and Info

• Compact Micro Four Thirds interchangeable lens camera
• Only 11.9 ounces (336 grams) with batteries and kit lens
• 16-megapixel Live MOS Micro Four Thirds sensor
• Native ISO range of 200 to 25600
• 49-area contrast detect autofocus system
• 3-inch articulating touchscreen display
• Up to 5 frames per second RAW recording (up to 10 fps with e-shutter)
• 4K UHD video recording at up to 30 fps
• Built-in Wi-Fi
• $550 for camera and kit lens (12-32mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. Mega O.I.S. pancake lens)

Design & Ergonomics: Panasonic GX850 is very compact & mostly comfortable

Weighing only 11.9 ounces (336 grams) with its kit lens and a battery, the Panasonic GX850 is a lightweight mirrorless ILC. Its dimensions are a mere 4.2 x 2.5 x 1.3 inches (107 x 65 x 33 millimeters). Its small size results in the camera utilizing microSD memory cards, which requires an adapter to use with most card readers.

When using small lenses, such as the kit lens, with the GX850, its small size is no issue. The camera has no front grip -- just a textured surface -- and its rear thumb grip is a smooth rubber area. That's fine if your lens is lightweight as you don't need a firm hold of the camera to shoot comfortably. However, if you're using a larger, heavier lens, such as Panasonic's excellent 100-400mm lens, the GX850 can be cumbersome and unbalanced. I found it difficult to manipulate controls while shooting with the 100-400mm because the camera felt like it was going to slip from my hand. My advice? Always use the neck strap.

Unsurprisingly, the GX850 does not have extensive physical controls; there simply isn't room on the camera for many dials and buttons. Control over settings like aperture and shutter speed is relegated to a dial that rotates around the directional/function buttons on the rear of the camera. This dial is quite loose and I found myself regularly adjusting aperture by accident while shooting. The camera just feels cramped overall and I don't have particularly large hands.

Regarding the buttons, they're universally small and not too easy to press. They sit flush with the camera body in most cases, although one function button on the top of the camera -- the 4K Photo Mode function button -- sticks out from the camera body and is easy to press. The top of the camera also has a mode dial which can be rotated with your thumb while using the camera.

The back of the GX850 is dominated by its 3-inch touchscreen display. The 1,040,000-dot display articulates too; it rotates up 180. In bright light, the display can be hard to see, which is unfortunate given the GX850's lack of an electronic viewfinder.

Even in fine lighting conditions, the display is not particularly impressive. The GX850's display is a bit dull and washed out compared to displays on other recent cameras I've used. I regularly thought that images looked marginal on the display only to realize later when viewing them on a calibrated computer monitor that they were good. It's not a big deal, I just learned to trust the camera itself more than the display.

There are some useful display settings hidden away in the camera's menus. By default, handy things such as a frame guide, live histogram, highlight warning and zebra stripes are all turned off. It's worth digging around in the camera's menus before using it to make sure you have all the information on the screen that you want. A live histogram is a particularly nice feature.

The GX850 has a built-in flash, but it's not very powerful. It has a guide number of 13.1 feet (4 meters) at ISO 100. Another issue is that the max flash sync is only 1/50s. If the built-in flash isn't sufficient, the camera unfortunately does not include a hot shoe.

Panasonic Leica DG 100-400mm f/4.0-6.3 lens at 400mm (800mm eq.), f/6.3, 1/50s, ISO 200. Flash fired. The 1/50s max flash sync of the GX850 is underwhelming, but the flash can add a bit of fill, even when shooting a distant subject that is generally backlit. This image has been cropped. Click for full-size image.

The Panasonic GX850 is a compact camera body, which is great. However, its small size results in a camera without many physical controls and an imbalanced setup when using longer lenses. With that said, if you want a compact camera body, there will always be trade-offs. Save for the rear control dial, the camera's controls allowed me to make changes to settings that I wanted to relatively quickly.

The 16-megapixel Live MOS Four Thirds sensor in the GX850 lacks an anti-aliasing filter, resulting in images with a lot of detail. While the lack of an AA filter can result in some occasional moiré artifacts, the GX850 delivers a lot of sharpness.

Panasonic Leica DG 100-400mm f/4-6.3 lens at 400mm (800mm eq.), f/6.3, 1/640s, ISO 640. This is a 100% crop from a straight from the camera JPEG image. The GX850 produces images with a lot of fine detail well above base ISO. Click for full-size image.

While colors can appear washed out on the camera's display, the files themselves look nice. Colors are still a little muted, but that's not necessarily a bad thing as many consumer cameras oversaturate images, resulting in inaccurate colors.

The native ISO range on the GX850 is 200 to 25600, but you can expand it to a low of ISO 100. When looking at JPEG files straight from the camera, ISO 100 through 800 is excellent, offering very clean images. At ISO 1600, noise becomes a bit more noticeable, at least when viewing images at full size, but there is still a lot of sharpness and contrast. ISO 3200 becomes a bit blotchier in shadow areas and the image starts to lose some contrast and fine detail, but it still looks okay and is usable for making smaller prints or for basically any web viewing.

ISO 6400 is where the trouble really starts for the GX850. Fine details get really soft as noise reduction gets stronger, especially in high contrast areas. Colors are washed out, and the image just looks very "digital." False color rears its ugly head at ISO 12800 and unsurprisingly gets quite a bit worse at ISO 25600, although you could conceivably use both ISO settings for small prints (like 4 x 6, perhaps), but I likely would not.

Even RAW images look pretty good with only default ACR settings up through ISO 3200. It would take only cursory noise reduction to make an ISO 3200 image look quite nice. Careful noise reduction could maintain a lot of fine detail while removing the most distracting visible noise. To see the accompanying RAW files for the images below, click the links in the captions.

Panasonic GX850 ISO Comparison 100% center crops from highest-quality JPEG images with default camera settings. (Click images for full-size JPEG files, see captions for links to accompanying RAW files). Images shot with the Panasonic Lumix G Vario 12-32mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens at 23mm (46mm eq.) and f/8.0 aperture.
ISO 200 Full Scene
ISO 100 (Extended) (RAW)	ISO 200 (RAW)
ISO 400 (RAW)	ISO 800 (RAW)
ISO 1600 (RAW)	ISO 3200 (RAW)
ISO 6400 (RAW)	ISO 12800 (RAW)
ISO 25600 (Extended) (RAW)

Considering its sensor size, the high ISO performance of the GX850 is very impressive. I consider the ISO 100 to 1600 range to be very usable, while ISO 3200 is certainly good if you aren't printing full-size files.

If you simply looked at files from the Panasonic GX850, it may not totally blow you away with its image quality -- although I suspect it would still impress. But what makes the GX850 special is that it delivers the sharpness and image quality that it does in such a small body and with a rather large Four Thirds sensor. Considering its class, the GX850 is an excellent performer in the imaging department and a very capable camera in most shooting situations. The lack of anti-aliasing does lead to some occasional false color in repeating patterns, but it's a small price to pay for its sharpness. When you can fit image quality like this in a jacket pocket, it's hard not to be impressed.

With its contrast detect autofocus system, the Panasonic GX850 delivers very quick autofocus performance in the field. It's a 49-area system with Panasonic's Depth from Defocus technology. Despite not having a large amount of selectable points, it proved versatile enough and allowed me to achieve dependable focus.

The only exception to my generally positive feedback on the autofocus is that when trying to focus on a small subject, the camera sometimes would lock focus on an area behind the subject and then the camera refused to focus on the subject that was covered by the autofocus area. In these somewhat rare situations, I had to move the camera over a larger close subject and then recompose back toward my desired subject.

What is particularly impressive to me about the GX850's autofocus performance is how fast it can focus in difficult conditions, even when using the 100-400mm lens at 400mm.

Panasonic Leica DG 100-400mm f/4-6.3 lens at 400mm (800mm eq.), f/6.3, 1/640s, ISO 3200. This shot may not be particularly impressive. However, I shot this twitchy subject through a lot of tree branches and in very dark lighting conditions. I was amazed not only that the GX850 could achieve focus, but by how quickly it did so. Click for full-size image.

Autofocus modes include face/eye detection, tracking, 49-area, custom multi, 1-area and pinpoint, which is similar to other recent Panasonic cameras. Pinpoint is interesting as it is sort of like 1-area, except the display zooms in on the selected autofocus area when the camera is focusing. It's useful when working on a tripod, but I prefer 1-area for normal shooting situations.

Continuous autofocus performance is pretty good, offering fairly quick autofocus, but since the camera uses a contrast detect autofocus system there are constant small adjustments even when focus is locked in.

Metering is performed via a 1,728-zone metering system, and the camera offers three metering modes: intelligent multiple, center-weighted and spot. Further, spot metering is tied to the active autofocus point, as indicated on the display by a small blue cross mark.

Panasonic Leica DG 100-400mm f/4-6.3 lens at 400mm (800mm eq.), f/7.1, 1/400s, ISO 200, -0.33 EV. In this tricky situation, some exposure compensation was required. Exposure compensation is accessed by pressing up on the rear directional pad and then rotating the dial to set your compensation. Click for full-size image.

With its new Venus engine processor, the GX850 offers good overall performance. It's not perfect, though, as the camera has slow startup times. Another area where the camera felt slow was when starting image playback. After pressing the playback button, the camera takes a few seconds to show an image. Once you have started playback, the camera is fine, but that first step is a slow one. Besides that, it's a quick little camera.

Continuous shooting performance when using the mechanical shutter is generally fast. The camera cycles single shots in 0.34-0.35 second depending on if you recorded RAW or JPEG images, respectively. When shooting bursts, the camera's speeds range from 4.8 frames per second (RAW + JPEG) to 5.7 fps (JPEG). While those speeds aren't very fast, they're not bad for the price point of the camera. As you can see throughout this Field Test, the GX850 has speeds sufficient for shooting subjects like wildlife, even when they're moving about.

However, when I was in the field, the camera did slow me down due to regular writing processes while shooting RAW+JPEG bursts. When the camera is writing, any further shooting is slow and the camera feels sluggish overall. That said, I was using a slower card than the one in our lab testing -- where the GX850 was able to clear a full RAW+JPEG buffer in 15 seconds. The card I used is a Samsung 8GB Class 6 microSDHC card with up to 24 MB/s read and 13 MB/s write speeds. It's important to keep in mind the impact that card speed can have on performance, so if you want to shoot a lot of bursts, spring for a faster microSD card than I used.

When switching to the electronic shutter, the GX850 speeds up dramatically. The GX850 records high-quality JPEG images at 9.3 fps with the electronic shutter, RAW images at 9.5 fps and RAW+JPEG at 9.6 fps. If you want the fastest shooting speeds, using the electronic shutter is the way to go. Although, keep in mind the potential impact of rolling shutter distortion on your image quality, and that your buffer depths will deplete faster if you are shooting at faster speeds and you will not be able to capture as long of sequences.

Another issue I had in the field is the battery life. The camera is rated for 210 shots, but during my own use the battery seemed to drain faster than expected, especially when using the 100-400mm lens, which presumably places greater demands on the camera than the 12-32mm pancake kit lens (for example, the image stabilization on the 100-400, if enabled, is active to some degree at all times, whether or not you're half-pressing the shutter button). If you plan to leave your camera continually powered on or use a long lens while out, you absolutely want a spare battery. The battery life is below average for a mirrorless camera, to be sure, but the GX850 does offer internal charging, which is nice.

Considering how small the camera is, the performance it produces is still impressive. I wish that the camera's speeds were the same when using the mechanical shutter as the electronic shutter, but that's okay. Live view during the fastest shooting speeds would be nice too, especially when trying to track moving subjects. There aren't many complaints here though -- aside from the poor battery life -- because the GX850 offers fast autofocus and good overall performance.

The GX850 offers a lot of creative shooting modes. There are different "Advanced Filters" you can choose from as well as various scene modes, such as portrait, night sky and soft image of a flower -- they really run the gamut on the GX850. You can see examples of some different filters in the Gallery.

There are also some "intelligent" shooting settings you can enable, including i.Dynamic and i.Resolution. The former automatically adjusts contrast and exposure and is designed for shooting images with a large variation in brightness between the subject and background. i.Resolution is supposed to automatically increase sharpness and resolution, but as you can see below, it doesn't do a particularly good job. The GX850's standard images are so sharp, I see no reason to use i.Resolution.

While i.Dynamic is sort of like pseudo-HDR, there is also a dedicated HDR mode. You can choose from Auto, +/- 1, 2 or 3 EV. You turn on HDR via the Recording menu and you must disable RAW recording before you can enable HDR. It would be much better if turning on HDR just temporarily disabled RAW recording rather than having to navigate to two independent menus to use one mode, but I digress. The HDR quality itself is nice and the camera's automatic mode does a pretty good job.

The camera also offers a built-in panorama mode, which records images that are 1,920 pixels tall and just over 8,000 pixels wide. The quality is pretty good although there are some issues with stitching complex scenes. Of course, manually stitching your own panoramas will deliver the best results -- and allow RAW recording -- but when in a pinch, the built-in mode is a fine choice.

Like other recent Panasonic cameras, the GX850 offers 4K Photo modes. You can shoot 4K-resolution (8-megapixel) JPEG images at 30 frames per second and use neat Post Focus and in-camera Focus Stacking modes. The speed of 4K Photo is great, and it's a nice feature to have when you need more speed to capture action moments, but don't need RAW files or the full 16-megapixels. Keep in mind that you'll want a tripod for the Post Focus and Focus Station modes. Also note that the camera does crop-in when using 4K Photo, but that's not necessarily a bad thing as you are likely to be shooting sports and other action when using 4K Photo where a bit of extra reach doesn't hurt.

While it doesn't have Bluetooth or NFC, the GX850 does have built-in Wi-Fi and it works really well. The connection process is straightforward, requiring the user to turn on Wi-Fi in the camera's menus and then selecting the camera from the Wi-Fi network list in iOS settings. Once connected, you open the Panasonic Image App and select from various functions, including remote operation, image transfer, geo tagging, snap movie and photo collage.

Remote control of the camera is very good. The live view quality is nice and the amount of control you have over the camera is extensive. You can control shutter speed, aperture, drive mode, white balance, exposure compensation, autofocus area and ISO from a drop-down menu. You can also change a host of recording settings from the Q. Menu, including: photo style, filter settings, aspect ratio, picture size, quality, focus mode (AF-S, AF-F-, etc.), metering mode, flash mode, video recording quality, stop motion animation and bracketing. Further, you can select self-shot mode and jump snap settings (the camera can automatically shoot when it detects people jumping in the frame).

You can independently move the autofocus and auto exposure areas around the frame using your smartphone display and set the camera to shoot when you tap the image area or use a dedicated shutter release button. You can also record movies with a dedicated movie record button.

Overall, as has been the case with other Panasonic cameras I've used, the GX850 offers one of the best wireless experiences there is. The connection process is simple and the camera not only works well, but it offers as much wireless control as any camera I've used. Other manufacturers should take note of what Panasonic does with the Image App because it's far and away superior to most other options out there.

Video: Good 4K UHD video quality, but GX850 held back by sparse features

The Panasonic GX850 records high-quality 4K UHD video (3840 x 2160) at up to 30 frames per second and Full HD (1920 x 1080) video at up to 60 fps. While the video resolution and quality is impressive, the GX850 lacks a few features that would make it a much better video camera.

One of the biggest omissions is a dedicated video mode, meaning that you don't see a preview of your video frame until pressing the dedicated movie record button, which immediately starts a recording. The frame does get cut from the sides when recording 4K video, so it's difficult to precisely compose your video frame without starting a recording.

Further, regardless of what shooting mode you are in when you start recording video, video is recorded in an automatic mode. You can utilize exposure compensation by setting it before you start recording video, but that's the only control you have over settings when recording video. Autofocus is automatically set to continuous, shutter speed and aperture are automatic and so is ISO. For many users, this might be perfectly acceptable, but for users looking for even moderate control over settings for video, the GX850 isn't for you. Perhaps unsurprisingly the camera doesn't include any mic or headphone inputs. Another note about the GX850's video capabilities, 4K UHD clip length is limited to 5 minutes due to heat constraints.

As I mentioned above, video quality itself is impressive with the GX850. The sensor delivers high-quality 4K UHD video with good sharpness and color. If you want good video quality and are satisfied with automatic settings, then the GX850 is a solid option.

When recording video, the focus mode defaults to continuous focus (even if the camera is set to AF-S for stills). The normally very fast autofocus slows down a bit to ensure that focus is continuously accurate. This works well as the GX850 does offer impressively accurate autofocus when recording video. To manually override the C-AF, you can half-press the shutter to readjust focus. A result of the contrast detect autofocus system is that the camera has a tendency to make tiny adjustments to focus constantly, which can be a bit distracting when viewing 4K video files as the high level of detail makes these small adjustments more noticeable. If you don't need C-AF, you can opt for manual focus for video recording.

As I've already noted, there's not much provided for video-specific modes. However, you do have some control over some settings. For example, by pressing the shutter release, you can record still images during video recording. There are two settings available, Video Priority and Photo Priority. The former records up to 30 JPEG images at the same size and quality as the current video. The latter utilizes the chosen still image settings and allows you to take up to four still images during a recording. The catch with the Photo Priority option is that the screen goes dark when shooting an image and no audio is recorded during that portion of the video, so there's a trade-off there.

While the GX850 does not offer a lot of control over its video recording, its quality is impressive. The 4K UHD video quality is sharp and the autofocus is mostly great. For users that don't demand videographer-friendly features such as a mic input or full manual video recording, the GX850 ought to satisfy them.

What I like:

• Very compact camera body
• Good touchscreen display and user interface
• Good image quality
• Excellent autofocus speed and accuracy
• Very good wireless functionality
• Good 4K video quality, albeit with limited shooting features
• Great value

What I dislike:

• The control ring around the directional buttons feels loose and is easy to accidentally rotate
• Camera is difficult to use comfortably with larger lenses
• Write speeds are a bit slow, especially when shooting RAW images, causing issues when shooting in bursts (at least with the card I was using)
• While the camera is designed to be compact, using microSD is annoying due to the need for an adapter with most card readers
• Poor battery life

While there are slight handling issues due to the small size of the Panasonic GX850, its compactness is also a strength. This small camera packs a punch in terms of imaging, and performance for the most part, and its feature set is rich despite its affordable price point. The 16-megapixel sensor delivers sharp images, even at high ISOs, and the camera's contrast detect autofocus system is very quick, especially when shooting still images.

Overall, the GX850 is a very good mirrorless camera. If you are looking for something small but still offers the versatility of an interchangeable lens camera, the Panasonic GX850 is well worth a look.

Flash

Panasonic GX850 Flash

Built-in Flash Test Results

Coverage and Range
A small, weak flash with narrow coverage.

Coverage. Flash coverage is rather uneven at wide angle, leaving the corners of our flash target image quite dark at 12mm, thought that's not unusual, especially for a wider-than-average kit lens. Some of the corner shading can also be attributable to the lens itself. We no longer test flash coverage at telephoto, as it is invariably better.

Exposure. Indoors under incandescent background lighting, the Panasonic GX850's flash underexposed our indoor portrait scene at our standard aperture of f/4 at ISO 200, so we let the camera select the ISO. It selected an ISO of 1250 which resulted in overexposed image with very warm colors due to the ambient lighting and high ISO. The shutter speed it selected was 1/50s, which is fair and should help avoid motion blur in most portrait shots.

Manufacturer-Specified Flash Range
4.6 feet , ISO 200, f/4

Manufacturer-Specified Flash Range Test. The Panasonic GX850's built-in flash has a Guide Number of 4.0m at ISO 100. That works out to a range of only about 4.6 feet at f/4 and ISO 200. As you can see above, the Panasonic GX850 produced a good exposure at the rated distance, which means Panasonic's flash rating is credible.

Conclusion

Compact yet capable

By Jeremy Gray · 03/07/2018

The GX850 is the most recent addition to one of the longest-running Micro Four Thirds series of cameras out there, the Panasonic GF-family. Despite the somewhat-odd change to a GX model name in most markets, this camera is still very much of the GF-series ilk (it is the GF9 in Japan, after all). This means that the Lumix GX850 is familiar, but don't let that fool you, there's a lot new here as well. The 16-megapixel Live MOS sensor has been updated, for example, and the camera adds 4K video capabilities. All in all, the GX850 proved to be a very capable entry-level camera in many respects and does it all for under $550 including a compact 12-32mm OIS kit lens.

Image Quality

The Panasonic GX850 produces images with good color and hue accuracy, pretty good metering accuracy and very good sharpness. Looking first at image sharpness, the GX850 uses an updated 16-megapixel Live MOS Four Thirds sensor which lacks an optical low-pass filter. By eschewing the OLPF, the GX850 is able to capture very sharp images. However, this sharpness comes at a cost: the possibility of moiré and other aliasing artifacts. This can lead to an apparent shimmering pattern and jagged edges, but this trade-off is becoming commonplace as more cameras drop anti-aliasing filters to attain greater per-pixel sharpness.

As you increase the ISO, image quality and detail remain very impressive, particularly for a Micro Four Thirds camera. With the GX850, base ISO is 200, but it can be extended to ISO 100. Image quality at ISO 100 and 200 is excellent and nearly identical, and ISO 400 remains similarly sharp, although there is increased noise. Image quality remains quite good through ISO 3200 but beyond that, noise becomes too much for the in-camera processing to overcome. With that said, the GX850's image quality is a noticeable improvement over the GF7's across the entire ISO range, which tops out at 25,600.

Not all users are concerned solely with how the GX850's images look on a computer screen, but are also interested in print quality. Here the GX850 also does well, producing a very good 24 x 36 inch print at up to ISO 400, and a very nice 8 x 10 up to ISO 3200. Given its sensor size and camera class, the GX850 is an impressively-solid performer when it comes to making prints.

Overall, the Panasonic GX850 delivers impressive image quality across the board for a Micro Four Thirds camera. It produces sharp images, albeit ones susceptible to artifacts, and it performs well at higher ISOs given its sensor size. You can dig into the details by checking out our lab results for the GX850.

Performance

As an affordable compact mirrorless camera, it would be reasonable to expect somewhat less than stellar performance from the GX850, but the camera actually delivers good overall performance and is generally a quick little compact. With its electronic shutter, for example, the GX850 can shoot full-resolution images at close to 10 frames per second. Granted, it slows down to around 5 fps depending on the file quality with the mechanical shutter, but that's still reasonable considering its price and the class of the camera.

In the real world, its autofocus performance proved quite impressive. The camera utilizes Panasonic's "Depth from Defocus" technology and delivers quick and accurate focus via its 49-area contrast-detect autofocus system. In the lab, the camera was speedy at most things as well, which you can read more about here.

When in the field, the GX850 feels plenty quick with respect to shooting speeds and autofocus, but it does have a weakness. Its battery life is CIPA-rated for 210 shots, which is below average for a mirrorless camera. It does not seem better than its rating in the field either, so you will absolutely want a spare battery for the camera. On the plus side, it does offer in-camera charging via its USB port, so that's convenient.

Video

While speeds didn't change much from the GF7 to the GX850, buffer depths are improved and a new Venus Engine image processor helps the camera deliver 4K video recording and other 4K features. Capable of 4K UHD recording at up to 30 frames per second, the GX850 is impressive in its ability to shoot 4K at such a reasonable price point. There's a catch, though, as the GX850's maximum clip length at 4K is five minutes due to heat constraints from its compact form factor. If you want a longer clip length or faster frame rate, the camera can capture 1080p video at up to 60 fps for up to 20 minutes or at 30 fps for however long your battery and/or memory card can record. Sadly, regardless of what shooting mode you are in when you start recording, video is recorded in an automatic mode. You can use exposure compensation by setting it before you begin, but that's about the only control you have over exposure when shooting video.

In addition to 4K video, the GX850 also has Panasonic's excellent array of 4K Photo modes. You can shoot 4K photo (8 megapixel JPEG images) at 30 fps and also take advantage of post-focus and focus stacking shooting modes.

Handling and Design

The Panasonic GX850 is very compact. Even with its bundled kit lens, the GX850 can easily fit into a jacket pocket. Despite its small stature, it still packs a tilting 3-inch touchscreen display, which works well in most shooting situations. A cost of the compact form is that the GX850 doesn't include an electronic viewfinder, so the camera can be a bit difficult to use in very bright light because the display is reflective.

The minimalist and sleek GX850 has a few buttons scattered around the rear, but it doesn't include a lot of physical controls. The camera's touchscreen works well for menu navigation and many important settings can be accessed quickly and easily via the Q.Menu.

Review Summary: A very impressive compact camera and an even better value

The Panasonic GX850 is an impressive entry-level camera in its own right. It is well-designed, it performs well and it captures great images. It also includes numerous nice features, such as 4K video recording and many neat shooting modes. Its performance is enough to make the camera stand out in the compact mirrorless category. However, when you consider the price of the GX850 -- under US$550 with a kit lens -- the camera becomes a stellar option. While not without its faults, if you're looking for something compact and sleek which will offer a lot of great lens options and give you room to grow, then the GX850 is a great choice and is thus an easy Dave's Pick.

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