16mp vs 20mp, AA filter comp

dmokn wrote:

My question is: if I were to grab a G85, would I notice an image quality bump? Or is it closer in quality to my GX7 and the bigger bump would be going to the latest 20mp ones? Framed another way, is the G85 closer in image quality to a GX7 or a GX9?

Luckly, DPReview has a handy tool to compare image quality for various cameras. Here's how the GX7,GX8,G85 and G9 stack up .

As you can see, there isn't much in it, basically, the G85 is slightly better than the GX7, the GX8's 20MP AA sensor gets about the same amount of detail as the G85's 16MP no AA and the G9's 20MP no AA is slightly better than all of them.

That being said, the diferences are minute and would only really come into play if you are a birder shooting the Oly 300mm f4 and cropping quite a lot.

Now, lab tests are nice and all, but what happens in real life? I grabbed my GX7 that has been just laying around since I got the G9 and tried to recreate a couple of shots with both cameras:

G9 75mm f2.8 @ ISO1250

GX7 75mm f2.8 @ ISO1000

G9 with 75mm f2.8 @ ISO400

GX7 with 75mm f2.8 @ ISO400

Overall, the G9 has a slight lead when it comes to the image quality, but not enough that I would make the sensor the most important of the buying criteria.

While the 20MP sensors are nice and they will handle high ISO a bit better, using the GX7 and the G9 last evening I felt more the impact of the nicer EVF of the G9, the Joystick for fast focus point movement, the better auto-ISO and the much better AF and IBIS.

In other words, if the G9 body would come with the GX-7 sensor at a discounted price, I for one wouldn't mind.

That being said, the GX-7 with the 25mm f1.7 makes for a wonderful light and capable combo for walking around :).