Canon G16 has a
12.0MP 1/1.7-inch (7.44 x 5.58 mm ) sized BSI-CMOS sensor and features Digic 6 processor. On the other hand, Panasonic GX85 has a
16.0MP Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Venus Engine processor.
One other difference between these two cameras that is worth mentioning is that Panasonic GX85's sensor doesn't have an anti-alias (Low-Pass) filter. Removing anti-alias filter increases the sharpness and level of detail but at the same time, it increases the chance of moiré occurring in certain scenes.
Below you can see the G16 and GX85 sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Panasonic GX85 has a 5.4x Larger sensor area than Canon G16. Larger sensors give photographer more control on the depth of field and blurry background compared to smaller sensor when shot in same focal length and aperture.
DxOMark Sensor Scores
DxOMark is a benchmark that scientifically assesses image quality of camera sensors. It scores camera sensors for color depth (DXO Portrait), dynamic range (DXO Landscape) and low-light sensitivity (DXO Sports), and also gives them an overall score. Canon G16 and Panasonic GX85 sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that GX85 has a better overall score of 71, 17 points higher compared to G16's score of 54.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Canon G16 |
54 |
21.0 bits |
11.7 Evs |
230 ISO |
Panasonic GX85 |
71 |
22.9 bits |
12.6 Evs |
662 ISO |