Perfect Everyday Camera? - The Panasonic Lumix DMC GX80/GX85

 

I have owned this camera now for some years, and used it occasionally as a second camera aside my Nikon cameras. It came out in 2016, and consequently is quite outdated now. One reason to buy it almost 10 years later would be the low price that you can expect from used gear. But the camera has also outstanding features and may be the right choice for some users.

The more I think about it, the more I feel that that this type of cameras are the right choice for someone wanting a more advanced and configurable camera than a smartphone. It will not produce better photos necessarily. But you can put a macro, a tele, a flash onto it. It is small, with a smaller lens than my 42.5 even pocketable. If it had a mic jack, I'd recommend to anybody.

My personal collection of points worth mentioning is:

• It is a rather compact camera, not flimsy and surprisingly weighty for its size. I think it feels quite right for a camera with such a small form factor. The grip is only shallow, but better than nothing. The small lenses of the MFT system add to a very compact system which is still capable of competing with a bigger body. I use it as a carry-around camera with a fixed lens, currently the Lumix 42.5mm f/1.7 stabilized portrait lens.
• The user interface is as complex as any modern camera, providing the standard P/S/A/M mode with two command dials, full AUTO mode for quick start, motive modes, and three custom modes. The back dial can be used for exposure compensation by clicking it first. Otherwise there are tons of configurable buttons, a quick menu, and a touch screen. The display is good for its size and the EVF is decent with 2.4 million points and 0.77x magnification. Back button focus is possible.
• If you are shooting stills in RAW to develop in Lightroom, the camera does deliver a good quality at 16MP. Clearly, the dynamic range is at least one stop less than full frame, but you can recover lights and shadows to a large extend. The base ISO is 200 which already requires a bit of noise reduction. For best results, I keep the ISO to 800 or below. Above that, you need to apply noise reduction. 
• The IBIS together with an O.I.S. lens is quite effective. I can shoot my 85mm easily at 1/10. This is substantial only for still subjects, of course. For moving objects, you need a fast shutter speed to freeze the motion.
• In my previous posting, I talked in detail about MFT and the equivalence to full frame. In low light you might want to shoot f/5.6 with ISO3200 on full frame, which is equivalent to f/2.8 with ISO800 on MFT. But if you shoot sports in full frame with f/2 and ISO1600, you won't find and equivalent f/1 lens for MFT. The end result with affordable lenses are one to two stops more noise. But if you want much DOF, you get the same with f/2 on MFT as with f/4 on full frame.
• The camera can do some tricks with JPEG output, which all require combining several shots to one in the camera. An example is the "shoot first focus later" feature. I never used this really and can tell you nothing about it. Focus stacking in camera is not among the features. Of course, JPEG output can be configured a lot, including color selection and other tricks. I cannot say much details about out-of-camera shooting, however.
• Videos in full HD are quite nice at 30 FPS. However, the sound is terrible and there is no mic input. If you want videos with sound, you need another camera.

So, this is it, a full grown camera in a compact format. With a good prime lens, one can achieve excellent results at a low price. Let me compare a few alternatives for street photography with a wide angle at about 35mm.

The price range is quite large here. You can get the Lumix used with the 17mm f/2 for 750€, making it the cheapest in this selection. The second place goes to the Nikon Z30 with the 28mm f/1.7 DX lens for around 1000€. The collection of AF lenses for Nikon Z APS-C is a bit limited yet. The Sony A6x00 with the Sigma 17mm contemporary will end at 1200€ at least. The Leica is completely in another price league.

You can blame me for selecting only cameras with interchangeable lenses. There are numerous choices of cameras with a fixed lens. The Fuji X100 series with its range finder comes to my mind, as well as the Sony RX100 cameras. There are also cheaper alternatives by Canon and others. Those alternatives seem to be good, but I have no experience with them. If I opt for a small compact camera, I still want a selection of excellent prime lenses.

With the 12-32 kit zoom , the GX85 can be very cheap starting at 550€. I would prefer a modern camera if I wanted to shoot with a kit zoom, even if it is a bit larger and more expensive. The brand new Nikon Z50 II with the 16-50 might be the better choice, or a Sony A6700 kit. But prices sharply raise there.