John Matthews

Just saw some more photos of the A6500. Why do they continue not offering a front dial? Having two dials readily accessible seems like a "must" in ergonomics, especially when it costs 1700 Euros... or maybe they'll put that in the A6700 that's due in a few months. If I had all that cash to blow on a camera like this, it would be a deal-breaker for me.

More for less is exactly what the GX80 is all about. Personally, I got the gx80 because I wanted to start out and be able to get a few primes after. It completely fits my needs. It's offering top-tier IQ with 4k in a small package, truly in the spirit of M43. I have reached my "good enough" camera.

Oops. My mistake, I meant crop. But, let's imagine it's 100% bigger, doesn't overheat (to be confirmed), slightly less noise (as if it were a problem with the previous one), and only bad rolling shutter (rather than borderline unusable). It still doesn't seem worth the 1100 Euro price increase over the GX80- that's a lot one could be using for lenses. You bring up a good point too: what's the deal with the European Sony tax?

Hot off the A6500 announcement, the GX80 seems like a better deal than ever. Thanks to Sony to validating my choice. Let's look at the numbers: GX80: 599 Euros A6500: 1699 Euros Granted, the A6500 will probably offer everything the A6300 offered with slightly better IQ (to be confirmed), better autofocus (to be confirmed), no overheating (to be confirmed), a touch screen, 5 axis IBIS. However, I question if it's 1100 Euros better than the GX80. That would be a lot left over for lenses and stuff.

Wow! Sounds like a GX80 with 25% bigger sensor at 250% the price.

What have you seen?

The frame rates should be fixed in stills mode (at 30fps) and you'd be right in fixing the aperture because if you don't, you'll see aperture "clicks" in the output, unless you have a lens with a stepless aperture. To make better use of stills mode, I think one should shoot in either A (for fixed aperture) or M (for fixed aperture and shutter) mode with the Auto ISO.

It probably won't be "better," but it might be easier or simply an alternative, especially if you want to slow down a 4k image to a 24fps timeline with the GX80... it's slight, but noticeable. I started a topic concerning yuvj420, but I doubt it's better than yuv420. Hopefully, someone will respond.

On the GX80, video is usually recorded in yuv420p, but video shot in stills mode (4k Photo Burst) is yuvj420p. My understanding is yuv420p uses color values from 16-235 whereas yuvj420p uses color values from 0-255. Is that the only difference? Which is technically better for grading in post? And why? A nerdy question for sure, but I bet someone knows the answer here or can point me to a site.

You need to use 4k Photo mode and set it to Burst Start/Stop. Press the shutter to start, and press it again to stop- you'll record 30p for up to 30 minutes with sound. The ND method is also a great way. By the way, the crop is visible before starting the recording (as soon as you put it in 4k Photo mode). It might have been the opposite with the LX100.

Looking at the ffprobe information, I'm seeing that the GX80 is at 29.97 fps and it has "yuvj420p", not "yuv420p". I believe yuvj420p will show 255 different color [0-255] values whereas yuv420p will show 219 color [16-235] values. Is that correct? I know that many other cameras use yuvj420p (5DM3, GOpro, etc.), but is there any real difference if you were to shoot a whole project this way? Another benefit of shooting video in stills mode is the ability to shoot in 16:9, 4:3, 3:2, and 1:1 aspect ratios. Could be good for some projects... 1:1 is offering 2880 horizontal and VERTICAL lines of resolution. The widest aspect is still going to be 16:9. I find it interesting that the GX80, specifically, is essentially a pseudo world camera, having the possibility to shoot 24p, 25p, and 30p video (in stills mode). It's only lacking the unlimited max recording time of the GX85, which can be removed by putting it into service mode.

I'm not sure when (a few pages back on this thread), but I think @Dean was talking about the GX80 not displaying its ISO when using AUTO ISO in video mode. I found out that it DOES display ISO when in photo mode and using 4k photo. Put it in M, S, A mode and use start-stop 4K. It will adjust the ISO automatically. I can't believe I didn't know that feature before (or the lack of that feature in video mode). Strange. Does anyone know if there is any technical difference between 4k photo mode and regular 4k video mode? I'm already aware of not being able to shoot 24p anymore, but is that it?

Here's a test of the G85, not the GX85, but it's interesting how much they actually share... Filmed on the FZ2500, but they haven't make any comments on yet.

Nice setup. That should work great for you.

Here are the instructions that were added to the current manual with firmware v1.1: @Dean Did you figure out your problem with IBIS? Just wondering because it looked odd.

1. Focus stacking: verdict- cool with 16MP raw shots with options. I thought this option was already there... oh well. 2. Post focus: verdict- beta IMO... too many out-of-focus areas appear in the final jpg, maybe needs to be scene dependent. 3. Sequence: goes with focus bracketing of 16MP shots... can shoot "0/+" or "-/0/+". I believe "0" is the start image and it will increment to + or - after. Interesting extra feature that I probably won't use too often. Nice to know it's there. 4. Found it. Not sure why. Is this simply to be able to have the flash "open" and not have it go off? I'm confused. Help me understand. Yes. Maybe.

Firmware finally out for GX80/85... will report later, but here it is: http://av.jpn.support.panasonic.com/support/global/cs/dsc/download/fts/index2.html Focus Stacking is now available. New function which enables the user to enlarge focus area after shooting by combining multiple images shot with Post Focus function. [Sequence] can now be selected for Focus Bracket recording. [Flash Mode] can now be set to [Forced Flash Off] for built-in flash. Seems to work as advertised... still testing.

I can understand why you'd want something smaller than the C100. Personally, I'd go GX85 simply because you can practically pocket it with the kit lens. Then just accept the limitations it has... don't want limitations? ... take the C100. Ultimately, you have to decide what you can live with. There are so many (too many?) great choices. For me, the XC10 wasn't even possible because you can't really "start" with it. You simply have it or you don't. Also, I don't need the extra features it offers and the form-factor is too strange and big for me... I might scare my daughter with it.

Agreed... not fair on so many levels. Here's a quick look: Price: $2000 (XC10) vs $800 (GX85) I think the discussion should probably stop there. The form-factors are way different too. The XC10 doesn't look like a hybrid video/photo camera at all IMO- just a video camera. I'm sure it has great ergonomics and I trust @Mattias Burling 's "5 Reasons to buy the XC10." The footage looks nice.

You make some good points and I agree that Panasonic was stupid for the most part in some of their exclusions, but the GX80 is significantly smaller than the G7. The G85 is expected to be even a few millimeters bigger all the way around (128.4 x 89.0 x 74.3 mm). The GX80 is also about 80 grams lighter... just saying because size matters with M43; otherwise, we might all be shooting something different.

Caught Max Yuryev comparing the GX85, Fuji Xt2, 5dIV, and A6300... all of which are the hot cameras right now (especially the A6300 )... a nice video considering low-light, detail, and DR. The GX85 fairs well, especially at its price point.

It sounds like you might be more interested in a dedicated video camera. Honestly, I don't see enough moiré in 4k to warrant any real concerns for the GX80. Yeah, it happens... I've seen it happen on pro cameras too. At the end of the day, most cameras have a frequency where they'll exhibit some sort of moiré. The GX80 is "good enough" for the amount I spent on it... I still have yet to see moiré on the stuff I film. However, I'd like to understand more about what the Venus engine is doing.

Does that include ALL M43 lenses, including the Samyang 12mm F2? I suppose it's hard to know exactly what Panasonic is doing with the Venus engine, but according to sources, it corrects for moiré in software. If that is linked to the lens, I'm not 100% sure. As you say, CA correction is not, but other M43 lenses have a minimum of correction being applied. The question is: in a given scene with moiré, will a Panasonic lens perform better than a non-Panasonic lens?

imaging-resource.com says this: ephotozine.com says this: The previous link was to this picture: You'll notice moiré on her right sleeve... taken with a non-Panasonic lens.

When Panasonic took out the AA filter, their software engineers supposedly made corrections through their jpeg engine for moiré as it was a concern. I read about that in several of the preliminary reviews on the GX80. In one of the reviews (https://www.ephotozine.com/article/panasonic-lumix-gx80-gx85-review-29143/performance) I found an image with moiré problems and it had been taken with an Olympus lens. I'm assuming that the Panasonic software turns on all these corrections for Panasonic lenses and it's not a selective process. For example, I use a Panasonic 15mm Leica lens and its software will compensate for the 6% distortion of that lens (and all of its other problems). However, it won't turn on for other non-Panasonic lenses as there are not any entries in its database for corrections to be made.