Both Panasonic G85 and Nikon D4 have 16.0 MP resolution sensors but Panasonic G85's sensor is Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ) and Nikon D4's sensor is Full frame (36 x 23.9 mm ).
Since Nikon D4's has a larger sensor area with the same resolution, this means that it also has a larger pixel area hence better light collecting capacity for a given aperture compared to Panasonic G85.
Another difference between these two cameras is that Panasonic G85's sensor lacks 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 G85 and D4 sensor size comparison.
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Panasonic G85 and Nikon D4 Cameras
As seen above, Nikon D4 has a 3.8x Larger sensor area than Panasonic G85. 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. Panasonic G85 and Nikon D4 sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that D4 has a better overall score of 89, 18 points higher compared to G85's score of 71.
Model
Overall
Color Depth
Dynamic Range
Low-light ISO
Panasonic G85
71
22.8 bits
12.5 Evs
656 ISO
Nikon D4
89
24.7 bits
13.1 Evs
2965 ISO
Sensor size sets the circle of confusion, so it drives how much depth of field each
of these bodies gives you at a given aperture. You can calculate it exactly for the
Panasonic G85
or the
Nikon D4 ,
including hyperfocal distance.
One thing to watch when comparing these two: they have different sensor sizes
(Four Thirds versus Full frame),
so compare them at the same framing rather than the same focal length.
Put the same focal length on the smaller sensor and it will show less depth of
field, not more, because it also crops tighter. The calculator shows the
full frame equivalent focal length for each body so you can match the framing.
