Both Panasonic GX8 and Sony HX400V have 20.0 MP resolution sensors but Panasonic GX8's sensor is Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ) and Sony HX400V's sensor is 1/2.3-inch (6.17 x 4.55 mm ).
Since Panasonic GX8'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 Sony HX400V.
Below you can see the GX8 and HX400V sensor size comparison.
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Panasonic GX8 and Sony HX400V Cameras
As seen above, Panasonic GX8 has a 8.0x Larger sensor area than Sony HX400V. 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.
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 GX8
or the
Sony HX400V ,
including hyperfocal distance.
One thing to watch when comparing these two: they have different sensor sizes
(Four Thirds versus 1/2.3-inch),
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.
