Panasonic GH1 has a
12.0MP Four Thirds (18.89 x 14.48 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Venus Engine HD processor. On the other hand, Canon 70D has a
20.0MP APS-C (22.5 x 15 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Digic 5+ processor.
Canon 70D's sensor provides 8MP more than Panasonic GH1'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.
Below you can see the GH1 and 70D sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Canon 70D has a 1.2x Larger sensor area than Panasonic GH1. 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 GH1 and Canon 70D sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that 70D has a better overall score of 68, 4 points higher compared to GH1's score of 64.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Panasonic GH1 |
64 |
21.6 bits |
11.6 Evs |
772 ISO |
Canon 70D |
68 |
22.5 bits |
11.6 Evs |
926 ISO |