Panasonic G85 - 2 questions

I currently have a Panasonic G7 which has been a fantastic camera but I am thinking of upgrading to a G85, mainly for the unlimited video recording capability. I have two questions about the G85 - would appreciate any comments on these:

1) How good is the weather sealing on the G85? Is it OK in a light/med rain?

2) How good is the video autofocus? Not expecting miracles but curious what G85 users would say about effectiveness of autofocus during video.

Thanks!

Dad of 2 wrote:

I currently have a Panasonic G7 which has been a fantastic camera but I am thinking of upgrading to a G85, mainly for the unlimited video recording capability. I have two questions about the G85 - would appreciate any comments on these:

1) How good is the weather sealing on the G85? Is it OK in a light/med rain?

I used Panasonic camera since 2003, compacts to superzooms and started using MILC since G1 in early 2009. G85 is my 6th M43 camera over the years and it is my first WR camera I. Over the years I had shot unde4r all sort of conditions from very wet (heavy downpour) to dry, from very hot to freezing cold, no matter it is dusty, rain or snow I swap lens whenever I needed. None of my gear ever develops issue before they were upgraded.

The most extreme example is my G1 and 7-14 f/4.They had been dropped into a river and after dried, although been told by service center that they could die anytime (serious corrosion inside), G1 performed nearly normal until today (accident happened in 2012) and 7-14 is still one of my current major lenses.

Therefore WR is always on the last (or actually never think of it) of my wishing list.

I had been advised by the salesman not to take so serious on the WR feature of G85. However as per the track record of the non WR Panny gear, I shall never hesitate to use it under all sort of condition. Due to its WR claimed, I might even push it further I think .

2) How good is the video autofocus? Not expecting miracles but curious what G85 users would say about effectiveness of autofocus during video.

CAF of HD video of Panny basically is very useful on GX7 and GX85. So does on G85.

G85 can keep me happy on 4K video AF (never has a problem on HD).

My requirement on video AF might be not very high. I expect my video AF can lock on focus gradually within reasonably fast speed when panning from one target to another. I do not looking for instant 0 delay on focus acquisition. I also need the AF be able to keep following the target, either the target or myself move in reasonable speed (no focus hunting)). YMMV.

I set AF sensitivity to -1, use custom focus area (5 columns x 3 rows in diamond shape). I read that some users found DFD caused wobbling but over last 4 months experience on G85 I have not noticed any those effect.

Thanks!

Love mine, used it in everything, no problems.  Given the recent, and very extensive, update to the G9 which prominently figured video improvements, you might want to consider that as an alternative to the G85.  You would still have a 29.9 minute limit on video, but the other upgrades might make it worth it, especially given the current price of the camera.  I have and frequently use both, though the G9 is now my fav.

aikiboy wrote:

Love mine, used it in everything, no problems. Given the recent, and very extensive, update to the G9 which prominently figured video improvements, you might want to consider that as an alternative to the G85. You would still have a 29.9 minute limit on video, but the other upgrades might make it worth it, especially given the current price of the camera. I have and frequently use both, though the G9 is now my fav.

Absolutely agreed.

It could be a very viable option to OP if money is not a matter. I suppose G9 might take a very very long time, or might never happen, to have price dropped  below US$500 😀.

To me, G85 is already a insane, GAS move because they are not the size and weight of the M43 system I am looking for. 12~35 f/2.8 been replaced by 12~32 for size and weight saving. Not to mention G9.

Had tried G9 many times in showroom when it was launched, I had no issue on the price but its size and weight (similar happened on GX8) worried me most. Same as GM5 that is too small to me too. They are excellent for what are designed for, just not my cup of tea.

Dad of 2 wrote:

I currently have a Panasonic G7 which has been a fantastic camera but I am thinking of upgrading to a G85, mainly for the unlimited video recording capability. I have two questions about the G85 - would appreciate any comments on these:

1) How good is the weather sealing on the G85? Is it OK in a light/med rain?

it worked in snow with a sealed lens today. it is also a more sturdy body

2) How good is the video autofocus? Not expecting miracles but curious what G85 users would say about effectiveness of autofocus during video.

Thanks!

the IBIS is what is more attractive for video, I am not sure if it is better in the AF

Dad of 2 wrote:

I currently have a Panasonic G7 which has been a fantastic camera but I am thinking of upgrading to a G85, mainly for the unlimited video recording capability. I have two questions about the G85 - would appreciate any comments on these:

1) How good is the weather sealing on the G85? Is it OK in a light/med rain?

2) How good is the video autofocus? Not expecting miracles but curious what G85 users would say about effectiveness of autofocus during video.

Thanks!

Ours has been absolutely fine in heavy rain.

Video AF - Give it contrast, and it will detect it. Don't run around too much, it's a fast processor, but not current generation. One of the best low light focusing cameras on the market, up there with top-of-the-line DSLR's at -5ev or something.

Dad of 2 wrote:

I currently have a Panasonic G7 which has been a fantastic camera but I am thinking of upgrading to a G85, mainly for the unlimited video recording capability. I have two questions about the G85 - would appreciate any comments on these:

1) How good is the weather sealing on the G85? Is it OK in a light/med rain?

I have a G85 and I wouldn't trust the weather-sealing too much. There's none around the battery bay, for instance.

S

2) How good is the video autofocus? Not expecting miracles but curious what G85 users would say about effectiveness of autofocus during video.

Thanks!

Dad of 2 wrote:

I currently have a Panasonic G7 which has been a fantastic camera but I am thinking of upgrading to a G85, mainly for the unlimited video recording capability. I have two questions about the G85 - would appreciate any comments on these:

1) How good is the weather sealing on the G85? Is it OK in a light/med rain?

Better then none, worse then a raincoate. Side connectors has a flappy cover and batterybay looks not sealed at all.

2) How good is the video autofocus? Not expecting miracles but curious what G85 users would say about effectiveness of autofocus during video.

It has 29 minute limitation. Go for the g90 if you need unlimited video.

Get a 20Mp upgrade also. For stills, the video crops more then the g80 so i think it has the same resolution as the 16Mp of the g80.

Thanks!

So I’m totally not going to answer your questions but as someone who upgraded from the G7 to the G85, I will encourage you to do it. It’s just a far more solid camera and IBIS is a game changer. The G85 is how I learned video (though I’m still learning) and I would recommend it to anyone today.

i posted some thoughts on the G85 a while back.

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/63082726

Dad of 2 wrote:

I currently have a Panasonic G7 which has been a fantastic camera but I am thinking of upgrading to a G85, mainly for the unlimited video recording capability. I have two questions about the G85 - would appreciate any comments on these:

1) How good is the weather sealing on the G85? Is it OK in a light/med rain?

I have used it to record video (with the Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 lens) on the boat ride at Niagara Falls where you go into the falls for about 10 minutes.

I have taken it on whale watches twice where I did get splashed and and it worked afterwards when I cleaned it up with distilled water. That being said, on one of the whale watches, I had a Panasonic 100-300mm mark II lens on the G85, and the lens stopped working for a time after getting splashed (eventually I was able to get it to work again).

The experience with the lens has somewhat soured me on Panasonic's weather sealing. Additionally, while Olympus claims sealing to IPX1 levels, Panasonic does not claim anything in terms of sealing. Granted IPX1 is a pretty weak claim, but I've been told that Olympus tests their recent cameras to higher levels. I've used Olympus splash proof DSLRs, mirrorless cameras, and lenses since 2004 in various amounts of rain, I've had no complaints.

Panasonic has numerous warnings in their manuals about what they mean by splash proof:

Splash Proof is a term used to describe an extra level of protection this camera offers against exposure to a minimal amount of moisture, water or dust. Splash Proof does not guarantee that damage will not occur if this camera is subjected to direct contact with water.

So it is up to you. It is likely that the G85 is good for light/medium rain with an appropriate splash proof lens. Ocean spray is a different matter and should be avoided in any camera and you need to clean it up to remove salt. But with my experience I would trust my Olympus gear over Panasonic. However, Olympus does not offer unlimited video recording.

2) How good is the video autofocus? Not expecting miracles but curious what G85 users would say about effectiveness of autofocus during video.

It sucks IMHO. I gave up trying to use continuous focusing with the camera, and now just use S-AF and use the rear display to change the focus point and re-focus. You can see some 'breathing' where every so often the camera will slightly change focus, and then go back to the original focus point.

Note, I only shoot 1080p.  Evidently the focusing is not as good when you shoot 4K.

Note, in the 3 years since they were released, the G9/GH5/GH5s cameras have gotten three firmware releases that address auto focusing (at least one being major). The G85 has not gotten these improvements.

That being said, I use the G85 because I need to record 1.5 hour shows in one shot to be later edited and cut down to separate acts. No Olympus camera will record 30 minutes or more. At one point, I was thinking of getting the G9, but it too is limited to 30 minutes of recording time.

spike29 wrote:

It has 29 minute limitation. Go for the g90 if you need unlimited video.

If you have the G80 or G81 (i.e. the European models), yes it is limited to under 30 minutes.  If however you have the G85 (non-European model), it is unlimited.  As spike29 mentions, the g90/g91/g95 is unlimited world wide.

Note, if you are using a 64GB (SD-XC) card or larger and shoot 4K, the video will be one file.  Otherwise the video is broken up into smaller 4GB chunks as separate files.  You can combine these files later in post processing.

Also note if you shoot 4K (I don't, I use 1080p), I believe there is a 1.1x crop factor.

I did a 4k video and my 64GB sdcard was filled completly after one hour something.  needed also an extra battery.

I used them , the parts of 4k video as "rawfiles" in davinci Resolve 15, free ware, to correct exposure and colorgrading, exported to 1080p as masters to finish in a pse13.

Kepped the 1080p "masters" as source files. 4k is a harddrive filler if you store those as source files.

(yes i forgot the g85 is non limited)

If budget is stretchable i think i would go for the g90 which is a g80mk2.

NZ Scott wrote:

Dad of 2 wrote:

I currently have a Panasonic G7 which has been a fantastic camera but I am thinking of upgrading to a G85, mainly for the unlimited video recording capability. I have two questions about the G85 - would appreciate any comments on these:

1) How good is the weather sealing on the G85? Is it OK in a light/med rain?

I have a G85 and I wouldn't trust the weather-sealing too much. There's none around the battery bay, for instance.

Can you please recheck. There is weather-sealing on our G80 UK version battery door, and it locks tight.

The weather sealing is fine in my opinion, I've taken it out in snowing, cold, misty wet, and light rain plenty of times-- though never a big down pour. Just make sure your lens is also weather sealed, that would likely be the first thing to go. I don't really trust the mic port being exposed when using an external mic, but no problems as of yet. I did notice in the very cold, sub freezing the camera can tend to malfunction a bit with adapted lenses at long focal lengths-- I think this was mostly due to IBIS.

The video autofocus is terrible. Made worse in 4k. Made considerably worse in any sort of dim light, regardless of resolution. It's often very unreliable for me in general, tons of hunting. Even when it has a good lock it decides to hunt randomly. In my opinion G85 focusing system is its biggest let down, both in stills and video but especially video.

You're right - there is a gasket on the battery bay.

However, there is no sealing on the flash and only one of the three sides of the card door is sealed.

S