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Nikon L120 vs Panasonic GF5 Comparison

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Nikon L120

14 MP | 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) CCD Sensor

Nikon L120
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Panasonic GF5

12 MP | Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) CMOS Sensor

Panasonic GF5
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Nikon L120 vs Panasonic GF5 Comparison Overview

Here we are comparing two cameras with different body types: Nikon L120, which was introduced in February 2011 is a Small Sensor Superzoom camera with a 14.0MP 1/2.3-inch sensor whereas Panasonic GF5, which was introduced in April 2012 is a Entry-Level Mirrorless camera with a 12.0MP Four Thirds sensor. There is 14 months difference between L120 and GF5 so we don't expect to see a huge technology difference between these two cameras but it would still give an advantage to younger GF5, especially in sensor tech.

Comparing an interchangeble lens camera to a fixed lens camera is a bit tricky but we will do our best to make this a fair comparison.

Here is a brief look at the main features of Nikon L120 and Panasonic GF5 before getting into our more detailed comparison.

Nikon L120 Key Specs

  • Announcement Date: 2011-02-09
  • 14MP - 1/2.3-inch CCD Sensor
  • ISO 80 - 6400
  • 25-525 mm F3.1-5.8 Zoom Lens
  • Sensor-shift Image Stabilization
  • 3" Fixed Type Screen
  • 1 fps continuous shooting
  • HD - 1280 x 720 video resolution
  • 431g. 110 x 77 x 78 mm
  • Replaced Nikon Coolpix L110 Compare

Panasonic GF5 Key Specs

  • Announcement Date: 2012-04-05
  • 12MP - Four Thirds CMOS Sensor
  • ISO 160 - 12800
  • Micro Four Thirds Mount
  • 3" Fixed Type Screen
  • 4 fps continuous shooting
  • Full HD - 1920 x 1080 video resolution
  • 267g. 108 x 67 x 37 mm
  • Replaced Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 Compare

Panasonic GF5 was replaced by Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF6. You may also be interested in these comparisons:
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF6 vs Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF5
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF6 vs Nikon Coolpix L120

Let's read on the following sections in order to better understand in detail how Nikon L120 and Panasonic GF5 compares and hopefully end up with enough arguments to decide which one is better for you.

Reasons to choose Nikon Coolpix L120 over Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF5
Image Stabilization
Sensor-shift vs None Sharper images at longer focal lengths and long exposures
Max Sensor Resolution
14 MP vs 12 MP 16% more pixels


Reasons to choose Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF5 over Nikon Coolpix L120
Touch Screen
Yes vs No Easy control of camera functions
RAW Support
Yes vs No Better image quality
Max ISO
12.800 vs 6.400 100% higher Max ISO
Number of Focus Points
23 vs 9 14 more focus points
Continuous Shooting
4.0fps vs 1.0fps 3 fps faster
Battery Life
360 shots vs 330 shots 30 more frames with a single charge
Weight
267 g vs 431 g 164 g lighter
Manual Exposure
Yes vs No better exposure control
Sensor Pixel Area
18.74µm2 vs 2.01µm2 832% larger pixel area
Max Video Resolution
1920 x 1080 vs 1280 x 720 Higher Resolution Video
AE Bracketing
Yes vs No Useful for tough lighting conditions and HDR

Common Strengths of Nikon Coolpix L120 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF5
Built-in Flash
Yes vs Yes Useful in low-light
Face Detection Focus
Yes vs Yes very handy for portraits
LCD Screen Resolution
921k dots vs 920k dots High resolution screens
Common Weaknesses of Nikon Coolpix L120 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF5
Fixed Screen
Fixed Type vs No No flexible viewing angles
External Flash Shoe
No vs No Not suitable for flash photography
Viewfinder
None vs None No eye-level shooting option
Environmental Sealing
No vs No not suitable for tough conditions
Nikon L120 vs Panasonic GF5: Physical Specs and Body features Comparison

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 L120 and Panasonic GF5 side-by-side from the front, back and top in their relative dimensions. Nikon L120 has external dimensions of 110 x 77 x 78 mm (4.33 x 3.03 x 3.07″) and weighs 431 g (0.95 lb / 15.20 oz) (including batteries). Panasonic GF5 has external dimensions of 108 x 67 x 37 mm (4.25 x 2.64 x 1.46″) and weighs 267 g (0.59 lb / 9.42 oz) (including batteries).

Below you can see the front view size comparison of Nikon L120 and Panasonic GF5. Panasonic GF5 is clearly the smaller of the two cameras. Its body is 2mm narrower, 10mm shorter and 41mm thinner than Nikon L120. As you can tell, actually this is not a fair size comparison since Nikon L120 has a built-in lens but Panasonic GF5 doesn't. Once you put a lens on GF5, its thickness will increase significantly.

Nikon L120 vs Panasonic GF5 Camera Size Comparison - Front View
Comparison image of Nikon L120 and Panasonic GF5 Size, Weight and External Dimensions - Front View

Now lets look at the top view comparison of Nikon L120 and Panasonic GF5.
Nikon L120 vs Panasonic GF5 Camera Size Comparison - Top View
Top View Comparison image of Nikon L120 and Panasonic GF5 Size

Weight is another important factor especially when deciding on a camera that you want to carry with you all day. Panasonic GF5 is significantly lighter (164g ) than the Nikon L120 which may become a big advantage especially on long walking trips.

Again, this comparison may not be very useful in real life as we are comparing the weight of a camera with a built-in lens to the body-only weight of an interchangeable lens camera. Once you put a lens on GF5, the total kit will weigh much higher.

Weather Sealing

Unfortunately neither Nikon Coolpix L120 nor Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF5 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 Compact Cameras with Weather Sealing
Top Mirrorless Cameras with Weather Sealing

LCD Screen Size and Features

Nikon L120 and Panasonic GF5's LCD screens has the same diagonal size of 3".

Unfortunately, both cameras has fixed screens so they don't tilt or flip in directions.
Nikon L120 vs Panasonic GF5: Sensor Comparison

Nikon L120 has a 14.0MP 1/2.3-inch (6.17 x 4.55 mm ) sized CCD sensor and features Expeed C2 processor. On the other hand, Panasonic GF5 has a 12.0MP Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Venus Engine FHD processor.

Below you can see the L120 and GF5 sensor size comparison.

Nikon L120 vs Panasonic GF5 Sensor Size Comparison
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Nikon L120 and Panasonic GF5 Cameras


As seen above, Panasonic GF5 has a 8.0x Larger sensor area than Nikon L120. 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.

What types of Photography are Nikon L120 and Panasonic GF5 Good for?
In this section, we rank and compare Nikon L120 and Panasonic GF5 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 L120 for Portrait Photography

POOR

Panasonic GF5 for Portrait Photography

AVERAGE
Image Stabilization
Average Resolution Sensor: 14.0MP
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
No RAW shooting capability
No External Flash Shoe
No Built-in Viewfinder
No Manual Focus Mode
No Manual Exposure Mode
Not so good Ergonomics&Handling
Read the details
Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Average Resolution Sensor: 12.0MP
Average Ergonomics&Handling
No Image Stabilization
No Built-in Viewfinder
Read the details

Nikon L120 for Street Photography

GOOD

Panasonic GF5 for Street Photography

AVERAGE
Image Stabilization
Small Body
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
25 mm - Good Wide Angle Coverage
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
No RAW shooting capability
No Built-in Viewfinder
No Manual Focus Mode
Read the details
Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
Medium sized Body
No Image Stabilization
No Built-in Viewfinder
Read the details

Nikon L120 for Sports Photography

POOR

Panasonic GF5 for Sports Photography

AVERAGE
Image Stabilization
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/4000s
525 mm Tele Lens
No RAW shooting capability
No External Flash Shoe
No Built-in Viewfinder
No Manual Focus Mode
No Manual Exposure Mode
Not so good Ergonomics&Handling
Slow Continuous Shooting: 1.0fps
Environmental Sealings
9 Focus Points
Slow Lens at Tele: f5.80
Read the details
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/4000s
23 Focus Points
Average Ergonomics&Handling
Average Continuous Shooting: 4.0fps
No Image Stabilization
No Built-in Viewfinder
Environmental Sealings
Read the details

Nikon L120 for Daily Photography

AVERAGE

Panasonic GF5 for Daily Photography

AVERAGE
Compact Body
21.0X Optical Zoom
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
No RAW shooting capability
431g
Body Thickness 78mm
Read the details
Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
267g
Medium size Body
Read the details

Nikon L120 for Landscape Photography

POOR

Panasonic GF5 for Landscape Photography

POOR
25 mm - Good Wide Angle Coverage
Average Resolution Sensor: 14.0MP
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
No RAW shooting capability
No Manual Focus Mode
No Manual Exposure Mode
No Environmental Sealings
Read the details
Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Live-view
Average Resolution Sensor: 12.0MP
No Environmental Sealings
Read the details

Nikon L120 vs Panasonic GF5: OUR DECISION

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 L120 and Panasonic GF5, 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 L120 and Panasonic GF5 scores compare:

Nikon L120
Imaging
Features
Value
Portability
Overall
Ranked #216 out of 475 in Compact cameras
Ranked #792 out of 1223 in all Cameras
Panasonic GF5
Imaging
Features
Value
Portability
Overall
Ranked #99 out of 127 in Rangefinder-style mirrorless cameras
Ranked #422 out of 1223 in all Cameras

Panasonic GF5 is the clear winner of this comparison. It has a higher Overall Score and beats Nikon L120 in all criteria.
It has better general image quality, more features, more compact body and offers more value for the money

Nikon L120
Nikon L120
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Panasonic GF5
Panasonic GF5
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Panasonic GF5 vs Nikon L120 Specs Table
Detailed comparison of specifications
General Nikon Coolpix L120 Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF5
Brand Nikon Panasonic
Announced 2011-02-09 2012-04-05
Body Type Compact Rangefinder-style mirrorless
Sensor
Type CCD CMOS
Size 1/2.3-inch Four Thirds
Dimensions 6.17 x 4.55 mm 17.3 x 13 mm
Area 28.07mm2 224.90mm2
Megapixels 14 megapixels 12 megapixels
Max Resolution 4320 x 3240 4000 x 3000
Max Native Light sensitivity 6,400 ISO 12,800 ISO
Min Native Light sensitivity 80 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 9 23
Lens
Manual Focus
Lens Mount fixed lens Micro Four Thirds
Lens Focal Range 25-525 mm (21×) no lens
Max Aperture F3.1-5.8 no lens
Macro Focus Range 1cm no lens
Screen
Type Fixed type Fixed type
Size 3" 3"
Resolution 921k dots 920k dots
Touch Screen
Viewfinder
Viewfinder None None
Photography Features
Max Mechanical Shutter 1/4000s 1/4000s
Shutter Priority
Aperture Priority
Manual Exposure Mode
Custom White Balance
Image Stabilization Sensor-shift Optical
Built-in Flash
Flash Range 6.00 m 6.30 m
Max Flash Sync n/a 1/160s
External Flash
Continuous Shooting 1.0 fps 4.0 fps
Multi-Segment
Average
Spot
Partial
AF-Area
Center Weighted
AE Bracketing
WB Bracketing
Video Features
Max Video Resolution 1280 x 720 1920 x 1080
Video Formats Motion JPEG MPEG-4, AVCHD
Microphone Port
Headphone Port
Connectivity
Wireless Connectivity None None
HDMI
Physical
Environmental Sealing
Weight 431g 267g
Dimensions 110 x 77 x 78mm 108 x 67 x 37mm
Battery Life 330 shots 360 shots
Other Features
Timelapse Recording
GPS None None
DxO Sensor Scores
DxO Overall Score not tested 50
DxO Color Depth not tested 20.5
DxO Dynamic Range not tested 10.0
DxO Low Light ISO not tested 573
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