Panasonic GX85 has a
16.0MP Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Venus Engine processor. On the other hand, Canon 40D has a
10.0MP APS-C (22.2 x 14.8 mm ) sized CMOS sensor .
Panasonic GX85's sensor provides 6MP more than Canon 40D'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 GX85'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 GX85 and 40D sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Canon 40D has a 1.5x Larger sensor area than Panasonic GX85. 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
Both Panasonic GX85 and Canon 40D sensors have been tested by DxoMark. DxoMark 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. Of the two cameras that we are comparing, GX85 has scored 71, 7 points higher than 40D.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Panasonic GX85 |
71 |
22.9 bits |
12.6 Evs |
662 ISO |
Canon 40D |
64 |
22.1 bits |
11.3 Evs |
703 ISO |