Panasonic G85 has a 16.0MP Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ) sized CMOS sensor . On the other hand, Nikon Z9 has a 46.0MP Full frame (35.9 x 23.9 mm ) sized Stacked CMOS sensor and features Expeed 7 processor.
Nikon Z9's sensor provides 30MP more than Panasonic G85's sensor, which gives a significant advantage in real life. You can print your images larger or crop more freely.
On the other hand, please keep in mind that Max sensor resolution is not the only determinant of resolving power. Factors such as the optical elements, low pass filter, pixel size and sensor technology also affects the final resolution of the captured image.
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 Z9 sensor size comparison.
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Panasonic G85 and Nikon Z9 Cameras
As seen above, Nikon Z9 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 Z9 sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that Z9 has a better overall score of 98, 27 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 Z9 |
98 |
26.3 bits |
14.8 Evs |
2451 ISO |