Panasonic Lumix G85 and Lumix G80 Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

Panasonic takes its Lumix G7 mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera upstream — literally — with the Lumix G85, an updated and more rugged version of a combination of a slightly redesigned G7 body with the internals of the GX85/GX80, intended to appeal to the outdoor photographer. In addition to incorporating the antialiasing-filter-free sensor and image processor and stabilization system from the GX85, the G85 improves on the G7 body with dust-and-splash resistance and the ability to take a battery grip. Plus it adds some more advanced video capabilities and improved image stabilization.

The camera will ship in October with a body-only price of $900 and a $1,000 kit with the 12-60mm f3.5-5.6 lens announced in February 2016. I don’t have non-US pricing or availability yet, but those directly convert to roughly £690/£770 and AU$1,200/AU$1,335. In the UK the name will be the G80.

Panasonic ruggedizes the G7 body for the…
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What’s new

• Design. In addition to the weather sealing and support for a battery grip (DMW-BGG1), Panasonic tweaked the design for improved usability. The SD card slot is now on the grip, where it belongs, and it adds electronic first-curtain shutter (EFCS) for decreased shutter vibration. It also has a magnesium front panel for increased rigidity which decreases vibration, as well. And the viewfinder has slightly more magnification.
• Performance. Panasonic incorporated a new gyro in the body to beef up its 5-axis hybrid image-stabilization system, dubbed “Dual IS 2.” While the continuous-shooting frame rate with autofocus remains essentially unchanged, it’s got a deeper buffer for a decent number of raw shots.
• Video. While the camera has the usual Panasonic 4K video-enabled features such as focus stacking and Live Crop, it also gains clean HDMI out (4:2:2), monochrome preview and the ability to fiddle with the luma value. In the US, you can shoot a single 4K video clip for up to 45 minutes rather than being forced to cut off at 29:59 (which is an artifact of European regulations). However, it lacks support for V-Log profiles.

My take

I tend to like Panasonic’s cameras because of the balance of speed, size, features and photo quality, and the G85/G80 combines the best of both worlds from its latest mirrorless models. Olympus’ OM-D models, probably the E-M5 Mark II, are its closest competitors, but the EM5M2 is two years old and needs a general update to bring it into 2016.

Comparative specs