Panasonic LUMIX G85 4K Digital Camera, 12-60mm Power O.I.S. Lens, 16 Megapixel Mirrorless Camera, 5 Axis In-Body Dual Image Stabilization, 3-Inch Tilt and Touch LCD, DMC-G85MK (Black)

Verified Purchase: “Best video camera for under $1,000
You can’t go wrong with this one, it’s a great all-rounder. Super video, very good still pictures. good ergonomics.
It’s like a G7 plus.
Kit with lens or body?
The new kit lens is sharp at 12mm, but mediocre at other focal lengths. It is, however, one of the few lenses that has the advances IS that works with the new IS in the camera. Fact is, you wont see a difference. If you get a good deal on the lens, go for it as you can sell it for a good price. The 14-42 kit lens is better, lighter and sharper. The 12-60 covers more range, and, in fact, the 12mm wideangle end is pretty good.

Compared to the G7, this camera is a bit heavier, a little better built, has better weather seals, and more features. All the great dials of the G7 but everything is more solid. When you first pick it up, and look at it, you think “G7”. But then when you pick them up side by side, you can feel that it is just a bit more solid and a tiny bit thicker, and there’s some really small changes to the layout.

IQ is about the same as the GX85, ever so slightly better than the G7. It’s a teeny teeny bit less sharp than the GH5.

Someone obviously thought a lot about the controls and ergonomics, for example, there’s a little indent so you can flip out the screen easier. However, as some have noted, the buttons on the back are hard to feel and have a very short travel. Not a deal breaker but it is nice to be able to navigate by touch easily.
Similarly, the mode dial is just a bit more solid, in keeping with the overall “more solid” style of the camera.
Weight: with a battery, and with a card, but no lens or cap, 506 grams. The G7 weighs 413 grams. I weighed all three G7 cams and they weighed the same, the silver weighs the same as the black, just in case you are curious. So 93 grams, not a lot, but not a little.

Image stabilization works great. Floats like a good bar of soap. Not like 5 stops but really nice and smooth.

Shutter is nice and quiet. So, I personally think there may still be some shutter shock, but it is really smooth compared to other Panasonic cameras and a very nice piece of high tech in the new shutter.

Viewfinder: it’s great. Big, bright viewfinder. Now, the GX85 had a more “movie” style viewfinder, but it is also off center. The G85 has it right in the center, but in a more photo like crop format. Manual focus with peaking through the VF is pretty awesome.

There’s one thing I didn’t read anywhere, maybe I missed it, there’s a setting that tells the camera to reset the lens to where it was when you turned it off, when you turn it back on. Now this is a totally great feature.

Focus was pretty zippy. Takes the same battery as the G7 (I still have the battery from my GH2).
One pain–if you are using a dummy battery, there is a stupid hole in the bottom so you have to disconnect the battery from the battery or power supply and thread it through the hole, You can’t just pop it in.

On thing that is better on the GX85 is that you can use the built in flash as a bounce flash. It’s very cool. Sadly, this is not so on the G85. I rarely use it, but every now and then it is great to have the built in bounce flash.

Overall, it feels like the best of the G7 and the GX85, with better stabilization and a nice set of features. No time limit on mine. It does make one appreciate the lightness of the G7, actually, but there are times when you want a more rugged camera, for sure.

Several reviews have said that the G85 writes video files just like the G7, that is, when it gets to 4GB it seamlessly starts a new file. Actually, that is not true. I’m guessing they never tried it. If you record a video in 4K, it writes one big file just like the GX85, which is what you would expect since the electronics are similar.

Other reviewers note that you can take a non IS lens, like the Olly 75mm, or a legacy lens, and shoot at .4 seconds aperture handheld, using the cameras in body stabilization. Well, I tried that and I think like all of this vaporware about IS you have to be realistic. I was able to consistently get a sharp image at 1/15 second and sometimes 1/10 with the heavy 75mm.

Noise and whir: this camera has gyroscopes to help with the IS. If you hold your ear up to the camera, you will hear a soft whir. If you place a mic right on it, you might pick up some whir. It makes the exact type of whir that an image stabilized lens does. And, if you have the two together, you will get a bit more of this sound. You can’t hear it two feet away, but for super sensitive recordings, factor that in. The GX85 makes the same noise, as does any camcorder with IS.

Although the specs list 4K as 24p, it is in fact 23.976 fps. I mention this because several Panasonic cameras do shoot at real 24p (like the GH5), and Panasonic should clear up their terminology, and the review sites just cut and paste it, of course.

So for travel, you have to “weigh” the additional features against the heavier weight and a few mm more bulk. I like having IS on the camera, and with the 14-42 kit you get the double IS.

It’s a nice camera, bottom line.”

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Reviewed in the United States on  January 27, 2018