Size and weight is a big decision factor when you are trying to find the ideal camera for your needs.
In this section, We are going to illustrate Sony a5000 and Panasonic GX85 side-by-side from the front, back and top in their relative dimensions.
Below you can see the front view size comparison of Sony a5000 and Panasonic GX85. Sony a5000 is clearly the smaller of the two cameras. Its body is 12mm narrower, 8mm shorter and 8mm thinner than Panasonic GX85.
Here is the back view size comparison of Sony a5000 and Panasonic GX85.
Now lets look at the top view comparison of Sony a5000 and Panasonic GX85.
Weight is another important factor especially when deciding on a camera that you want to carry with you all day.
Sony a5000 is significantly lighter (157g ) than the Panasonic GX85 which may become a big advantage especially on long walking trips.
Also keep in mind that body weight is not the only deciding factor when comparing two interchangeable camera bodies, you have to also take into account the lenses that you will be using with these bodies. Since Sony a5000 has an APS-C sized sensor and Panasonic GX85 has a smaller Four Thirds sensor, Panasonic GX85's lenses for a similar focal length and aperture will generally be lighter and smaller than the Sony a5000 lenses.
Weight Comparison
Mirrorless Cameras
Thickness Comparison
Mirrorless Cameras
Weather Sealing
Unfortunately neither Sony Alpha a5000 nor Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85 (Lumix DMC-GX80 / Lumix DMC-GX7 Mark II) provides any type of weather sealing in their body, so you have to give extra care especially when you are shooting outdoors. If weather sealing is a must-have feature for you, check these sections: Top Mirrorless Cameras with Weather Sealing
LCD Screen Size and Features
Sony a5000 and Panasonic GX85's LCD screens has the same diagonal size of 3".
Sony a5000 has a 20.0MP APS-C (23.2 x 15.4 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Bionz X processor. On the other hand, Panasonic GX85 has a 16.0MP Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Venus Engine processor.
Below you can see the a5000 and GX85 sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Sony a5000 has a 1.6x 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 Sony a5000 and Panasonic GX85 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, a5000 has scored 79, 8 points higher than GX85.
In this section, we rank and compare Sony a5000 and Panasonic GX85 for five different photography types in order to make your decision process easier in case you are specifically interested in one or more of these areas.
Sony a5000 for Portrait Photography
Panasonic GX85 for Portrait Photography
Large APS-C (23.2 x 15.4 mm) sensor
Very High Resolution Sensor: 20.0MP
Average Ergonomics&Handling
No Image Stabilization
No Built-in Viewfinder
Read the details
Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Image Stabilization
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Average Resolution Sensor: 16.0MP
Average Ergonomics&Handling
Read the details
Sony a5000 for Street Photography
Panasonic GX85 for Street Photography
Large APS-C (23.2 x 15.4 mm) sensor
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
Tilting LCD Screen
Medium sized Body
No Image Stabilization
No Built-in Viewfinder
Read the details
Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Image Stabilization
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
Tilting LCD Screen
Medium sized Body
Read the details
Sony a5000 for Sports Photography
Panasonic GX85 for Sports Photography
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/4000s
25 Focus Points
Good Low Light ISO
Wireless Connection
Average Ergonomics&Handling
Average Continuous Shooting: 4.0fps
No Image Stabilization
No Built-in Viewfinder
Environmental Sealings
Read the details
Image Stabilization
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Fast Continuous Shooting: 8.0fps
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/4000s
49 Focus Points
Wireless Connection
Average Ergonomics&Handling
Environmental Sealings
Poor Battery Life: 290 shots
Read the details
Sony a5000 for Daily Photography
Panasonic GX85 for Daily Photography
Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Medium size Body
426g
Body Thickness 44mm
Read the details
Sony a5000 for Landscape Photography
Panasonic GX85 for Landscape Photography
Large APS-C (23.2 x 15.4 mm) sensor
Very High Resolution Sensor: 20.0MP
Live-view
No Environmental Sealings
Read the details
Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Live-view
Average Resolution Sensor: 16.0MP
No Environmental Sealings
Read the details
Number of available lenses is a big decision factor while choosing your interchangeable lens camera. When we look at the available lenses for these two cameras, we see that Sony a5000 has an advantage over Panasonic GX85. There are 102 lenses for Sony a5000's Sony E mount, on the other hand there are only 98 lenses for Panasonic GX85's Micro Four Thirds lens mount.
Another important factor is the availability of image stabilization. Panasonic GX85 has a big advantage in this regard because it has a sensor based image stabilization which means that all the lenses mounted to this body will be stabilized. On the other hand, Sony a5000 doesn't have this feature so you have to buy a lens with optical stabilization feature. Currently there are 23 lenses for Sony E mount with Optical Image Stabilization features.
| Lens Type |
# of Sony a5000 Lenses |
# of Panasonic GX85 Lenses |
| Standard Zoom |
9 |
14 |
| Standard Prime |
17 |
12 |
| Wideangle Zoom |
5 |
4 |
| Wideangle Prime |
32 |
26 |
| Telephoto Zoom |
6 |
17 |
| Telephoto Prime |
13 |
8 |
| SuperZoom |
8 |
7 |
| Wideangle Fisheye Prime |
2 |
5 |
| Macro Prime |
7 |
4 |
| Perspective Control Prime |
2 |
n/a |
| Telephoto Mirror Prime |
n/a |
1 |
| TOTAL |
102 |
98 |
You may have already made your decision about which camera suits better for your needs and your budget so far but in case you wonder how we rated Sony a5000 and Panasonic GX85, below you can find their scores in five different aspects.
Our Decision Algorithm dynamically scores cameras using 63 different specs, current price and DxO Mark scores (where possible) in order to make a more objective and consistent comparison.
Here is a summary of how Sony a5000 and Panasonic GX85 scores compare:
Sony a5000
Ranked
#43 out of 122 in Rangefinder-style mirrorless cameras
Ranked
#236 out of 1185 in all Cameras
Panasonic GX85
Ranked
#7 out of 122 in Rangefinder-style mirrorless cameras
Ranked
#76 out of 1185 in all Cameras
Panasonic GX85 has a higher Overall Score than the Sony a5000 and would be our choice if we have to decide between these two cameras.
| General |
Sony Alpha a5000 |
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85 |
| Brand |
Sony |
Panasonic |
| Announced |
2014-01-07 |
2016-04-05 |
| Body Type |
Rangefinder-style mirrorless |
Rangefinder-style mirrorless |
Sensor |
|
|
| Type |
CMOS |
CMOS |
| Size |
APS-C |
Four Thirds |
| Dimensions |
23.2 x 15.4 mm |
17.3 x 13 mm |
| Area |
357.28mm2 |
224.90mm2 |
| Megapixels |
20 megapixels |
16 megapixels |
| Max Resolution |
5456 x 3632 |
4592 x 3448 |
| Max Native Light sensitivity |
16,000 ISO |
25,600 ISO |
| Min Native Light sensitivity |
100 ISO |
200 ISO |
| Min Boosted Light Sensitivity |
- |
100 ISO |
| RAW Support |
|
|
Autofocus |
|
|
| AF Touch |
|
|
| AF Continuous |
|
|
| AF Single |
|
|
| AF Tracking |
|
|
| AF Selective |
|
|
| AF Center |
|
|
| AF Multi Area |
|
|
| AF Live View |
|
|
| AF Face Detection |
|
|
| AF Contrast Detection |
|
|
| AF Phase Detection |
|
|
| Number of Focus Points |
25 |
49 |
Lens |
|
|
| Manual Focus |
|
|
| Lens Mount |
Sony E |
Micro Four Thirds |
| Number of Available Lenses |
102 |
98 |
Screen |
|
|
| Type |
Tilting |
Tilting |
| Size |
3" |
3" |
| Resolution |
461k dots |
1,040k dots |
| Touch Screen |
|
|
Viewfinder |
|
|
| Viewfinder |
None |
Electronic |
| Viewfinder Resolution |
no electronic viewfinder |
2,764k dots |
| Viewfinder Coverage |
n/a |
100% |
Photography Features |
|
|
| Max Shutter Speed |
1/4000s |
1/4000s |
| Shutter Priority |
|
|
| Aperture Priority |
|
|
| Manual Exposure Mode |
|
|
| Custom White Balance |
|
|
| Image Stabilization |
No |
Sensor-shift |
| Built-in Flash |
|
|
| Flash Range |
4.00 m (at ISO 100) |
6.00 m (at ISO 200) |
| Max Flash Sync |
1/160s |
n/a |
| External Flash |
|
|
| Continuous Shooting |
4.0 fps |
8.0 fps |
| Multi-Segment |
|
|
| Average |
|
|
| Spot |
|
|
| Partial |
|
|
| AF-Area |
|
|
| Center Weighted |
|
|
| AE Bracketing |
|
|
| WB Bracketing |
|
|
Video Features |
|
|
| Max Video Resolution |
1920 x 1080 |
3840 x 2160 |
| Video Formats |
MPEG-4, AVCHD |
MPEG-4, AVCHD |
| Microphone Port |
|
|
| Headphone Port |
|
|
Connectivity |
|
|
| Wireless Connectivity |
Built-In |
Built-In |
| HDMI |
|
|
Physical |
|
|
| Environmental Sealing |
|
|
| Weight |
269g |
426g |
| Dimensions |
110 x 63 x 36mm |
122 x 71 x 44mm |
| Battery Life |
420 shots |
290 shots |
Other Features |
|
|
| Timelapse Recording |
With Downloadable App |
|
| GPS |
None |
None |
DxO Sensor Scores |
|
|
| DxO Overall Score |
79 |
71 |
| DxO Color Depth |
23.8 |
22.9 |
| DxO Dynamic Range |
13.0 |
12.6 |
| DxO Low Light ISO |
1089 |
662 |
|
Report a correction |
Report a correction |