Size and weight is a big decision factor when you are trying to find the ideal camera for your needs.
In this section, We are going to illustrate Nikon 1 J4 and Panasonic GH2 side-by-side from the front, back and top in their relative dimensions. Nikon 1 J4 has external dimensions of 100 x 60 x 29 mm (3.92 x 2.36 x 1.12″) and weighs 232 g (0.51 lb / 8.18 oz) (including batteries). Panasonic GH2 has external dimensions of 124 x 90 x 76 mm (4.88 x 3.54 x 2.99″) and weighs 442 g (0.97 lb / 15.59 oz) (including batteries).
Below you can see the front view size comparison of Nikon 1 J4 and Panasonic GH2. Nikon 1 J4 is clearly the smaller of the two cameras. Its body is 24mm narrower, 30mm shorter and 47mm thinner than Panasonic GH2.
![Nikon 1 J4 vs Panasonic GH2 Camera Size Comparison - Front View]()
Comparison image of Nikon 1 J4 and Panasonic GH2 Size, Weight and External Dimensions - Front View
Now lets look at the top view comparison of Nikon 1 J4 and Panasonic GH2.
![Nikon 1 J4 vs Panasonic GH2 Camera Size Comparison - Top View]()
Top View Comparison image of Nikon 1 J4 and Panasonic GH2 Size
Weight is another important factor especially when deciding on a camera that you want to carry with you all day.
Nikon 1 J4 is significantly lighter (210g ) than the Panasonic GH2 which may become a big advantage especially on long walking trips.
Also keep in mind that body weight is not the only deciding factor when comparing two interchangeable camera bodies, you have to also take into account the lenses that you will be using with these bodies.
Weight Comparison
Mirrorless Cameras
Thickness Comparison
Mirrorless Cameras
Weather Sealing
Unfortunately neither Nikon 1 J4 nor Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2 provides any type of weather sealing in their body, so you have to give extra care especially when you are shooting outdoors. If weather sealing is a must-have feature for you, check these sections: Top Mirrorless Cameras with Weather Sealing
LCD Screen Size and Features
Nikon 1 J4 and Panasonic GH2's LCD screens has the same diagonal size of 3".
On the other hand, Panasonic GH2 sports a
Fully Articulated screen which you can change the angle and position of the screen almost freely, making it possible to shoot from waist or over the head levels, and especially very useful for shooting selfies and video. Nikon 1 J4's LCD screen is a fixed type which provides almost no flexibility in shooting positions compared to GH2.
Nikon 1 J4 has a 18.0MP 1" (13.2 x 8.8 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Expeed 4 processor. On the other hand, Panasonic GH2 has a 16.0MP Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Venus Engine FHD processor.
Below you can see the 1 J4 and GH2 sensor size comparison.
![Nikon 1 J4 vs Panasonic GH2 Sensor Size Comparison]()
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Nikon 1 J4 and Panasonic GH2 Cameras
As seen above, Panasonic GH2 has a 1.9x Larger sensor area than Nikon 1 J4. 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.
Number of available lenses is a big decision factor while choosing your interchangeable lens camera. When we look at the available lenses for these two cameras, we see that Panasonic GH2 has an advantage over Nikon 1 J4 There are 107 lenses for Panasonic GH2's Micro Four Thirds mount, on the other hand there are only 13 lenses for Nikon 1 J4's Nikon 1 lens mount.
Another important factor is the availability of image stabilization. None of these bodies have sensor based image stabilization so you have to buy lenses with Optical stabilization feature. Currently there are 7 lenses for Nikon 1 mount and 31 lenses for Micro Four Thirds mount with IS.
| Lens Type |
# of Nikon 1 J4 Lenses |
# of Panasonic GH2 Lenses |
| Standard Zoom |
4 |
15 |
| Standard Prime |
2 |
13 |
| Wideangle Zoom |
1 |
5 |
| Wideangle Prime |
2 |
29 |
| Telephoto Zoom |
2 |
18 |
| Telephoto Prime |
n/a |
9 |
| SuperZoom |
2 |
8 |
| Wideangle Fisheye Prime |
n/a |
5 |
| Macro Prime |
n/a |
4 |
| Perspective Control Prime |
n/a |
n/a |
| Telephoto Mirror Prime |
n/a |
1 |
| TOTAL |
13 |
107 |
In this section, we rank and compare Nikon 1 J4 and Panasonic GH2 for five different photography types in order to make your decision process easier in case you are specifically interested in one or more of these areas.
Nikon 1 J4 for Portrait Photography
Panasonic GH2 for Portrait Photography
Average sized 1″ (13.2 x 8.8 mm) sensor
Very High Resolution Sensor: 18.0MP
Average Ergonomics&Handling
No Image Stabilization
No Built-in Viewfinder
Read the details
Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Average Resolution Sensor: 16.0MP
No Image Stabilization
Read the details
Nikon 1 J4 for Street Photography
Panasonic GH2 for Street Photography
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
Average sized 1″ (13.2 x 8.8 mm) sensor
Medium sized Body
No Image Stabilization
No Built-in Viewfinder
Read the details
Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
Fully Articulated LCD Screen
Medium sized Body
No Image Stabilization
Read the details
Nikon 1 J4 for Sports Photography
Panasonic GH2 for Sports Photography
Fast Continuous Shooting: 60.0fps
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/4000s
105 Cross Type Focus sensors
171 Focus Points
Wireless Connection
Average Ergonomics&Handling
No Image Stabilization
No Built-in Viewfinder
Environmental Sealings
Read the details
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/4000s
23 Focus Points
No Image Stabilization
Slow Continuous Shooting: 3.0fps
Environmental Sealings
Read the details
Nikon 1 J4 for Daily Photography
Panasonic GH2 for Daily Photography
Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Medium size Body
442g
Body Thickness 76mm
Read the details
Nikon 1 J4 for Landscape Photography
Panasonic GH2 for Landscape Photography
Very High Resolution Sensor: 18.0MP
Live-view
Average sized 1″ (13.2 x 8.8 mm) sensor
No Environmental Sealings
Read the details
Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Live-view
Average Resolution Sensor: 16.0MP
No Environmental Sealings
Read the details
You may have already made your decision about which camera suits better for your needs and your budget so far but in case you wonder how we rated Nikon 1 J4 and Panasonic GH2, below you can find their scores in five different aspects.
Our Decision Algorithm dynamically scores cameras using 63 different specs, current price and DxO Mark scores (where possible) in order to make a more objective and consistent comparison.
Here is a summary of how Nikon 1 J4 and Panasonic GH2 scores compare:
Nikon 1 J4
Ranked
#70 out of 126 in Rangefinder-style mirrorless cameras
Ranked
#326 out of 1218 in all Cameras
Panasonic GH2
Ranked
#73 out of 85 in SLR-style mirrorless cameras
Ranked
#294 out of 1218 in all Cameras
Panasonic GH2 is the overall winner of this comparison. It has a higher Overall Score and beats Nikon 1 J4 in all criteria except one: Portability.
If small size and light body is a big priority for you, choose Nikon 1 J4. Otherwise, Panasonic GH2 is the better camera overall.
| General |
Nikon 1 J4 |
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2 |
| Brand |
Nikon |
Panasonic |
| Announced |
2014-04-10 |
2011-03-23 |
| Body Type |
Rangefinder-style mirrorless |
SLR-style mirrorless |
Sensor |
|
|
| Type |
CMOS |
CMOS |
| Size |
1" |
Four Thirds |
| Dimensions |
13.2 x 8.8 mm |
17.3 x 13 mm |
| Area |
116.16mm2 |
224.90mm2 |
| Megapixels |
18 megapixels |
16 megapixels |
| Max Resolution |
5232 x 3488 |
4608 x 3456 |
| Max Native Light sensitivity |
12,800 ISO |
12,800 ISO |
| Min Native Light sensitivity |
160 ISO |
160 ISO |
| RAW Support |
|
|
Autofocus |
|
|
| AF Touch |
|
|
| AF Continuous |
|
|
| AF Single |
|
|
| AF Tracking |
|
|
| AF Selective |
|
|
| AF Center |
|
|
| AF Multi Area |
|
|
| AF Live View |
|
|
| AF Face Detection |
|
|
| AF Contrast Detection |
|
|
| AF Phase Detection |
|
|
| Number of Focus Points |
171 |
23 |
Lens |
|
|
| Manual Focus |
|
|
| Lens Mount |
Nikon 1 |
Micro Four Thirds |
| Number of Available Lenses |
13 |
107 |
Screen |
|
|
| Type |
Fixed type |
Fully Articulated |
| Size |
3" |
3" |
| Resolution |
1,037k dots |
460k dots |
| Touch Screen |
|
|
Viewfinder |
|
|
| Viewfinder |
None |
Electronic |
| Viewfinder Coverage |
n/a |
100% |
| Viewfinder Magnification |
n/a |
0.71x |
Photography Features |
|
|
| Max Mechanical Shutter |
1/4000s |
1/4000s |
| Max Electronic Shutter |
1/16000s |
n/a |
| Shutter Priority |
|
|
| Aperture Priority |
|
|
| Manual Exposure Mode |
|
|
| Custom White Balance |
|
|
| Image Stabilization |
No |
Optical |
| Built-in Flash |
|
|
| Flash Range |
5.00 m (ISO 100) |
15.60 m |
| Max Flash Sync |
n/a |
1/160s |
| External Flash |
|
|
| Continuous Shooting |
60.0 fps |
3.0 fps |
| Multi-Segment |
|
|
| Average |
|
|
| Spot |
|
|
| Partial |
|
|
| AF-Area |
|
|
| Center Weighted |
|
|
| AE Bracketing |
|
|
| WB Bracketing |
|
|
Video Features |
|
|
| Max Video Resolution |
1920 x 1080 |
1920 x 1080 |
| Video Formats |
MPEG-4, H.264 |
AVCHD, Motion JPEG |
| Microphone Port |
|
|
| Headphone Port |
|
|
Connectivity |
|
|
| Wireless Connectivity |
Built-In |
None |
| HDMI |
|
|
Physical |
|
|
| Environmental Sealing |
|
|
| Weight |
232g |
442g |
| Dimensions |
100 x 60 x 29mm |
124 x 90 x 76mm |
| Battery Life |
300 shots |
330 shots |
Other Features |
|
|
| Timelapse Recording |
|
|
| GPS |
None |
None |
DxO Sensor Scores |
|
|
| DxO Overall Score |
not tested |
60 |
| DxO Color Depth |
not tested |
21.2 |
| DxO Dynamic Range |
not tested |
11.3 |
| DxO Low Light ISO |
not tested |
655 |
|
Report a correction |
Report a correction |