Nikon Z30 vs Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Nikon Z30 and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85, highlighting the advantages of each over the other, discussing their pros and cons, shared strengths and weaknesses, and providing a rating based on their available features and specifications to assist you in choosing the one that best suits your needs.

Nikon Z30 was introduced in June 2022 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85 was introduced in April 2016. Let us first list highlights of the models.

Now that we've looked at the most essential specifications and gained a basic understanding of these cameras, we can delve into more details and see the differences between them.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Nikon Z30 over Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85 over Nikon Z30.

We already listed pros and cons of each model. However, you may also find useful to look at their common strengths and weaknesses shown side-by-side.

Screen

Nikon Z30 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85 have 3.0" screens with 1,040k dot resolution. Nikon Z30 has a Fully Articulated screen which makes it selfie and vlogger friendly and generally very useful for video shooting. Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85 has a Tilting screen which makes it very useful for photography purposes but not so useful for video shooting. Both models feature touchscreen which has advantages such as easy menu navigation, intuitive controls, quick setting adjustment and most importantly a Touch-to-Focus functionality allowing users to select a specific point on the screen where they want the camera to focus. This feature can be helpful for achieving precise focus in both photo and video recording.

Electronic Viewfinder on Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85 has a built-in Electronic viewfinder with 2,765k dot resolution. It has a 100% coverage and 1.39x (0.70x 35mm equivalent) magnification. There is no built-in or optional viewfinder available on Nikon Z30.

Nikon Z30 features a 20.9 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor with dimensions of 23.5 x 15.7 mm and a total area of 369 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 51,200 and expands to 100 - 204,800 in boosted mode. Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85 features a 16 megapixel Micro Four Thirds CMOS sensor with dimensions of 17.3 x 13 mm and a total area of 169 mm². Its native ISO range is 200 - 25,600 and expands to 100 - 25,600 in boosted mode.

Here is a sensor size comparison chart where you can see how different sensors compare with each other:

Sensor size chart

	Sensor	Dimensions	Area	Aspect Ratio	Crop Factor
	Medium Format	44 x 33 mm	1452 mm2	4:3	0.79x
	Full Frame	36 x 24 mm	864 mm2	3:2	1x
	APS-H	27 x 18 mm	486 mm2	3:2	1.3x
	APS-C	23.6 x 15.6 mm	368.2 mm2	3:2	1.5x
	APS-C (Canon)	22.3 x 14.9 mm	332.3 mm2	3:2	1.6x
	Micro Four Thirds	17.4 x 13 mm	226.2 mm2	4:3	2x
	1-inch	13.2 x 8.8 mm	116.2 mm2	3:2	2.7x
	1/1.7-inch	7.44 x 5.58 mm	41.5 mm2	4:3	4.7x
	1/2.3-inch	6.17 x 4.55 mm	28.1 mm2	4:3	5.6x

Nikon Z30 is equipped with EXPEED 6 processor and can take pictures up to 5568 x 3712 resolution. Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85 is equipped with Venus Engine processor and can take pictures up to 4592 x 3448 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 4:3 (3232 x 2424, 2272 x 1704), 3:2 (4592 x 3064, 3232 x 2160, 1824 x 1216), 16:9 (4592 x 2584, 3840 x 2160, 1920 x 1080), 1:1 (3424 x 3424, 2416 x 2416, 1712 x 1712) with 1:1, 4:3, 3:2, 16:9 aspect ratios.

Lens Mount

Nikon Z30 has Nikon Z lens mount and Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85 has Micro Four Thirds lens mount. Due to APS-C sensor in Nikon Z30 its crop factor is equal to 1.5x, this means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length times 1.5. Due to Micro Four Thirds sensor in Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85 its crop factor is equal to 2x, this means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length times 2.

No Low-Pass Filter

There is no optical low-pass filter (OLPF), also known as an anti-aliasing filter, in front of the sensor on either of the cameras. This results in a slightly sharper image but may also introduce moiré patterns and aliasing artifacts when photographing subjects with fine, repetitive patterns or details.

In-Body Image Stabilization on Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85 has a built-in 5-Axis Sensor Shift in-body image stabilization (IBIS). This means that you are still getting vibration reduction when camera is paired with non-image stabilizied lenses. It also works with lenses with optical image stabilization and in combination can achieve even better compensation.

Built-in Wi-Fi

Cameras have built-in Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi 5 802.11ac/b/g/n 2.4/5 GHz on Nikon Z30, 802.11b/g/n 2.4 GHz on Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85) which allows to easily transfer photos and videos from the camera to other Wi-Fi-enabled devices, such as smartphones, tablets, printers, or computers. This eliminates the need for cables and allows for quick and convenient media sharing and social media integration. It gives you the ability to control your camera remotely using a smartphone or tablet. This is particularly useful for taking self-portraits, group shots, or capturing images in challenging conditions without having to touch the camera. Firmware updates can also be downloaded and installed wirelessly.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in WiFi.

Bluetooth on Nikon Z30

Nikon Z30 has a built-in Bluetooth (version 4.2) which lets you to connect the camera to a smartphone or a dedicated remote control device. This allows you to remotely trigger the camera, adjust settings and controls remotely through a paired mobile app. While Wi-Fi is generally faster for transferring larger files, Bluetooth can be used for small, selective transfers, it can provide real-time information about your camera's battery status, memory card capacity, and other key settings directly on your paired smartphone or smartwatch.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in Bluetooth.

NFC on Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85 has Near Field Communication (NFC) technology which simplifies the process of pairing it with other NFC-enabled devices like smartphones or tablets. It allows to quickly transfer photos and videos or remotely control the camera from compatible device. NFC can also be used for authentication and security purposes. It can verify your identity before accessing certain features or transferring sensitive data. It can be used with NFC-enabled accessories as well, such as lenses, flashes and GPS devices.

USB Inputs and HDMI Outputs

Both models have USB inputs for data transfer. Nikon Z30 has a Micro HDMI and Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85 has a Micro HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Nikon Z30 comes with EN-EL25 battery pack with battery life of 330 shots.

External Storage Slots

Cameras have a single SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-I) card slot.

Shutter

Nikon Z30 has Electronic shutter and Mechanical Focal Plane shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/4000 sec on Nikon Z30, and up to 1/16000 sec with electronic shutter and up to 1/4000 sec with mechanical shutter on Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85. Nikon Z30 can shoot continuously up to 11.0 fps. Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85 can shoot continuously up to 8.0 fps.

Focusing

Nikon Z30 has Hybrid phase-detection/contrast AF system with 209 focusing points and Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85 has 49 focusing points. Nikon Z30 has detection range from -4.5 to +19 EV.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Nikon Z30 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85 range from -4 to +17 EV and 0 to +18 EV respectively and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range on Nikon Z30 and ±5 EV range on Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85. You can also do exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Nikon Z30 and exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85.

Flash

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85 has a built-in flash with maximum range of 6.00 m at ISO 200 and also accepts external flash which can be connected via Hot Shoe. Nikon Z30 has no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected via Hot Shoe. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/200 sec on Nikon Z30 and 1/160 sec on Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85.

Nikon Z30 body has dimensions of 128 x 74 x 60 mm (5.04 x 2.91 x 2.36") and Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85 body has dimensions of 122 x 71 x 44 mm (4.8 x 2.8 x 1.73"). Nikon Z30 weighs 405 g (0.89 lb / 14.29 oz) and Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85 weighs 426 g (0.94 lb / 15.03 oz).

Nikon Z30

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85

128 mm

74 mm

122 mm

71 mm

74 mm

71 mm

60 mm

44 mm