Panasonic GX80/85 User Review Part 3 Ergonomics

GX85 with 12-32mm kit zoom mounted

This evaluation  and score follows my usual schedule which you can read about here.

The GX80/85 is a flat top   faux rangefinder style interchangeable lens camera which continues a theme started by the GX7 of 2013.

This flat top style has certain inherent advantages and disadvantages compared to the hump top DSLR–like style.

Practical advantages include a  slightly lower height which may enable the camera to fit in a smaller bag although that is very dependent on lens selection.

Disadvantages arise from the more limited space on top of the body for modules such as flash, hotshoe, dials and other controls.

In addition designers usually elect to fit flat tops with no handle or a mini handle which has consequences for holding. An exception to this is the GX8 which has a substantial handle on a flat top design. Unfortunately the GX8 handle is not anatomically shaped and therefore does not provide an optimum holding experience.

Setup Phase

The GX85 has a standard Panasonic Menu system. Anyone familiar with other Panasonic cameras will feel right at home with the GX85.

The graphical user interface is very nice and the level of adjustment provided is extensive.

However I think it is past time that Panasonic upgraded the content and layout of the menus to group like items together more coherently and discard some legacy items.

Dial functions, Q Menu items and Fn button functions are all user selectable making the GX85 a highly configurable device in typical Panasonic fashion.

The Operating Instructions for Advanced Features (PDF) are comprehansive and reasonably easy to navigate.

Setup score 10/15

Prepare Phase

The GX85 is well supplied with interface modules to change settings in the few minutes before capture if conditions have changed.

Dial functions can be user configured.

The Q Menu can be left as supplied or a Custom Q Menu created with up to 15 items only 5 of which are visible at any time. I think Panasonic could usefully consider revising the Q Menu to more resemble Sony’s Fn button interface.

There are four hard Fn buttons each of which can be assigned a user selected function from a long list of options.

There are also several soft Fn buttons available if the relevant touch function is enabled. I always switch this off as having the soft Fn buttons on results in perpetual inadvertent activation of one or the other just when it is least wanted or expected.

Prepare score 12/15

Capture Phase: Holding

The GX85 has a mini handle. This is reasonably comfortable but does not give the user much purchase on the camera.  This is not a problem with small, light lenses like the 12-32mm kit zoom supplied with the camera or one of the pancake primes.

But as lens size/mass increases the mini handle becomes increasingly inadequate.

At the rear is a small thumb support with a depth of 2mm. Again, this is fine with small light lenses but is found wanting with the heavier lenses.

The 12-60mm zoom with which I tested the camera weighs only 270 grams but even with this lens I keep wishing for a more substantial handle and thumb support.

Holding score 10/20

Capture Phase: Viewing

The EVF is serviceable enough but there have been several complaints from reviewers and  users on forums about it.

I suspect there might be several issues here:

The first is that several users and I suspect some reviewers are unaware that the EVF  is fully adjustable for brightness, contrast, saturation and color balance. Panasonic is largely responsible for this ignorance as the EVF (which Panasonic calls Viewfinder or sometimes LVF) adjustment tab is cunningly concealed behind the [Monitor Display] tab in the Setup Menu. Look in the viewfinder and the display switches to [Viewfinder] and the adjustments can be activated.

If they simply separated the tabs that problem would disappear.

The second is that the EVF is of field sequential type which some users find distracting with various disturbing artefacts but others  (like me) have no trouble with this at all.

A third potential problem is that the eyepiece is a little small and the eyecup very small and not effective at preventing the entry of stray light. This is one of the downsides of the flat top style.

The monitor screen is very nice with no negative reports that I have seen. It is also touch sensitive. 

Note that I do not score touch screen capability as I consider it as much a liability as a benefit. There are many complaints and questions on user forums about unexpected behaviours of the AF area when touch is enabled.

The screen flips up and down but is not the more versatile fully articulated type.

Viewing score 12/20

Capture Phase: Operating

The GX85 is decently serviceable in the sense that most of the controls and functions work as advertised.

However there are several ways in which the user experience is less than optimal. Most of these stem from the flat top design which imposes restrictions on the number, nature and position of the controls which are available.

To highlight a few:

The right index finger curves over the Mode Dial to reach the shutter button. This places the base of that finger very close to the right side of the rear dial, impeding use of the dial by the right thumb. The dial itself has slightly insufficient projection so it is not easy to move without flexing the interphalangeal joint of the thumb.  This might sound rather technical but in practice the user experience is the sum of many small elements. When several of these are not-quite-right that experience suffers.

The Cursor Buttons (4 Way controller) are serviceable and not as flat as those on the G7 but the experience of operating the Cursor buttons is much more positive with the FZ1000 or the TZ80.

I really don’t know why Panasonic persists with the ergonomically sub optimal ‘5 buttons’ style of Cursor Button module when they already have better versions in production on several fixed lens models.

There is no JOG lever. In my view it is time every manufacturer fitted every model with a properly located and configured JOG lever with which the AF area can be moved directly. As it is the GX85 inherits the usual Panasonic rigmarole which forces the user to move AF Area by touch with the attendant ‘wandering AF Area’ problem about which there have been many complaints on user forums or to use Direct Focus Area which forces relocation of the default Cursor Button functions.

The buttons generally are small, flat and flush with the surrounding surface which makes them difficult to locate and operate by feel.

Another feature which Panasonic does not yet have (in any camera) is a ‘smart’ auto ISO algorithm which moves ISO with lens focal length to keep shutter speed not slower than a pre set speed for each focal length range. Ideally there would be 3 or 5 different ranges for minimum shutter speed depending on circumstances and/or the user’s ability to hold the camera still.

Sony and Nikon have such a feature and it is high time Panasonic followed suit.

One last thing which I put here although it is not strictly an ergonomic issue is the position of the tripod socket which is right at the front edge of the baseplate just like the Olympus Pen F Digital.

I assume the socket is in this location in each case to make room for the IBIS unit inside.

This location is satisfactory for small, light lenses but I would not want to hang a Lumix 100-300mm (which has no tripod foot) off the front of this camera if it were tripod mounted.

Oh yes, one other last thing. The camera ships without a separate battery charger so is reliant on in camera USB charging which makes it impossible to use the camera while charging a battery.  I got an aftermarket charger to solve this problem.

And yet another last thing: several users have reported they inadvertently turn the mode dial when turning the camera on or off.  The two are very close together.

Operating score 15/25

Review Phase

The camera uses its twin dials and Cursor Buttons effectively to allow rapid enlargement of the review image with scrolling from one frame to the next at the same place on the frame and same size.

Review score 5/5

Total score 68/100

Comment

This is a somewhat low score for the latest ILC from a major maker. The GX85 loses points with its suboptimal handle, thumb support, EVF and operation.

The G7 which is a very similar sized M43 camera but of hump top design scored 81 and would have scored even higher with a decent Cursor Button module.

I think there is a message here. It is easier to work good ergonomic function into a well designed humptop than a flat top.

If the innards of the GX85 found their way into an upgraded version of the G7 with a decent Cursor Button module you would have a really appealing camera which would be better than either the G7 or the GX85 by utilising the best features of both.

I have already posted about this under the title ‘Why Panasonic needs the G8’.