GH4, G9, RX10 IV comparison at ISO 6400

Androole wrote:

Upon closer inspection, I'm not only noticing more detail in the G9 shot, but the biggest difference is actually in the interactions between the noise reduction and the sharpening. The RX10 has quite aggressive sharpening mixed in with its noise reduction, such that flat smooth areas of the image (like the walls behind the bottles, or in the sink to the right of the Clorox) have a "gravelly" texture, where lumps of smoothed texture with sharp edges are formed. The G9 is cleaner here.

I'd argue that the G9's noise reduction is actually too strong for my tastes. That's a general criticism I have of Panasonic's JPEG engine. But the fact that it retains the same or better detail than the RX10 while having noticeably smoother flat areas is where that 2/3 EV of theoretical difference is showing up.

Obviously, the question is whether 2/3 EV is different enough to merit using an ILC instead of a fixed-lens camera, if everything else is up to your satisfaction. Only you can answer that question!

You have to factor in the lens aperture too. The RX10 has a maximum aperture of 2.4. You'd pay a lot more for a G9 with such a fast lens. So you should be able to offset the smaller sensor of the RX10 with a lower ISO. In this case you have (understandably) kept the same aperture. You could, of course have fitted an much faster prime on the G9 and give it the ISO advantage.