Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 vs Panasonic Lumix DMC-G85

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-G85, 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.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 was introduced in July 2010 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-G85 was introduced in September 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 Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 over Panasonic Lumix DMC-G85.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Panasonic Lumix DMC-G85 over Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2.

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

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-G85 have 3.0" Fully Articulated screens with 460k dot and 1,040k dot resolutions respectively. Fully articulated screen makes cameras selfie and vlogger friendly and generally very 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.

Viewfinder

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 has a built-in Electronic (LVF) viewfinder with 1,440k dot resolution and Panasonic Lumix DMC-G85 has a built-in Electronic viewfinder with 2,360k dot resolution. They both have 100% coverage.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 features a 12 megapixel Micro Four Thirds CMOS sensor with dimensions of 17.3 x 13 mm and a total area of 224.9 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 6,400. Panasonic Lumix DMC-G85 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

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 is equipped with Venus Engine HD II processor and can take pictures up to 4000 x 3000 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 4000 x 3000,4000 x 2672, 4000 x 2248, 2992 x 2992, 2816 x 2112, 2816 x 1880, 2816 x 1584, 2112 x 2112, 2048 x 1536, 2048 x 1360, 1920 x 1080, 1504 x 1504 with 1:1, 4:3, 3:2, 16:9 aspect ratios. Panasonic Lumix DMC-G85 can take pictures up to 4592 x 3448 resolution.

Lens Mount

Cameras have Micro Four Thirds lens mount. Due to their Micro Four Thirds sensor their crop factor (also called lens multiplier) 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 on Panasonic Lumix DMC-G85

There is no optical low-pass filter (OLPF), also known as an anti-aliasing filter, in front of the sensor on Panasonic Lumix DMC-G85. 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-G85

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G85 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 on Panasonic Lumix DMC-G85

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G85 has a built-in Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n, 2.4 GHz) 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.

USB Inputs and HDMI Outputs

Both models have USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) inputs for data transfer. Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 has a Mini Type C HDMI and Panasonic Lumix DMC-G85 has a Micro HDMI connector for video signal output.

External Storage Slots

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

Shutter

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 has Focal-plane shutter. Panasonic Lumix DMC-G85 has Electronic shutter and Mechanical Focal Plane shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/4000 sec on Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2, and up to 1/16000 sec with electronic shutter and up to 1/4000 sec with mechanical shutter on Panasonic Lumix DMC-G85. Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 can shoot continuously up to 2.6 fps. Panasonic Lumix DMC-G85 can shoot continuously up to 9.0 fps.

Focusing

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 has Panasonic Lumix DMC-G85 has 49 focusing points. Panasonic Lumix DMC-G85 has detection range from 4 to +18 EV.

Exposure

Both cameras' exposure metering ranges from 0 to +18 EV and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±3 EV range on Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 and ±5 EV range on Panasonic Lumix DMC-G85. You can also do exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 and exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Panasonic Lumix DMC-G85.

Flash

Cameras have built-in flash with maximum range of 11.00 m on Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 and 6.20 m at ISO 100 on Panasonic Lumix DMC-G85. They also accept external flash which can be connected via Hot Shoe or Wireless connection to Panasonic Lumix DMC-G85. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/160 sec on both cameras.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 body has dimensions of 124 x 84 x 74 mm (4.88 x 3.31 x 2.91") and Panasonic Lumix DMC-G85 body has dimensions of 128 x 89 x 74 mm (5.04 x 3.5 x 2.91"). Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 weighs 428 g (0.94 lb / 15.10 oz) and Panasonic Lumix DMC-G85 weighs 505 g (1.11 lb / 17.81 oz).

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G85

124 mm

84 mm

128 mm

89 mm

84 mm

89 mm

74 mm

74 mm