Both Panasonic GX850 and Canon SX160 IS have 16.0 MP resolution sensors but Panasonic GX850's sensor is Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ) and Canon SX160 IS's sensor is 1/2.3-inch (6.17 x 4.55 mm ).
Since Panasonic GX850'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 Canon SX160 IS.
Another difference between these two cameras is that Panasonic GX850'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 GX850 and SX160 IS sensor size comparison.
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Panasonic GX850 and Canon SX160 IS Cameras
As seen above, Panasonic GX850 has a 8.0x Larger sensor area than Canon SX160 IS. 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 GX850
or the
Canon SX160 IS ,
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.
