PHOTO QUALITY. This 16-megapixel mirrorless camera captured images with very good quality. Pictures were very sharp, which means you can see even tiny details and very subtle patterns in the image. In low-light situations without a flash, pictures were not quite as sharp as those of most recommended models. We judged this model very good for outdoor performance, such as shooting landscapes in the daytime; fair for indoor performance, such as photographing a well-lit basketball game in a gym. And good for low-light performance without a flash, such as capturing a birthday party. Photos taken in our low-light performance tests displayed little image noise; subjects retained most of their correct detail and color.
FLASH. The Lumix DMC-GX85 w/ 12-32mm F3.5-5.6 ASPH. Mega OIS with the 12-32mm kit lens captured flash shots that were very good. In our distance test, we found the camera's flash could illuminate subjects very well, both near and far. The flash also has excellent, very even coverage.
LENS. It only has a 2.7x optical zoom lens, less than the standard 3x. The lens also has very wide-angle (24mm) capability that's very useful for landscapes and group portraits, although you may notice a bit of distortion when you're shooting faces up close, for instance.
IMAGE STABILIZATION. This is an important feature; taking hand-held shots at the telephoto end of the zoom range can generally blur or soften images due to the slight movement of your hands. Shooting telephoto in well-lit scenes, this model did an excellent job of minimizing the effects of camera shake. In low-light settings, it performed excellently and almost never produced blurry photos. Overall, the shake reduction results from our tests were excellent.
SPEED. In terms of performance, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85 w/ 12-32mm F3.5-5.6 ASPH. Mega OIS powers up instantly. It has a short interval between shots, which can be important when shooting fast-moving or unpredictable subjects.
VIDEO. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85 w/ 12-32mm F3.5-5.6 ASPH. Mega OIS takes very good video. It also captures 4K-UHD video at 3840 x 2160 60p or 30i. As for sound, it captures good audio in stereo.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS. Like most mirrorless models, this camera does include an electronic viewfinder, which means you have flexibility when composing your photo or video; this viewfinder has excellent quality. This mirrorless is smaller and thinner than most in its class.
