Panasonic's new DMC-GX85 camera, which was announced on 5 April, 2016, slots into the company's interchangeable lens compact camera line-up just below the DMC-GX8 , which we reviewed in September 2015. The two cameras have similar body styling, although the GX85 is smaller and lighter.

The GX85 represents a refinement of Panasonic's Micro Four Thirds line. It's not the company's flagship, but in many ways it's arguably the most compelling Panasonic release to date.

There's a lot in the Lumix GX85 to appeal to family photographers and first-time mirrorless buyers as an alternative to a decent (as opposed to cheap) first dSLR like the Nikon D5500 .

It delivers excellent photo and video for a Micro Four Thirds camera; especially at its price; plus a great feature set and fast performance

The continuous autofocus occasionally fails to lock at all in burst mode; and the battery life is poor

There's a lot in the Lumix GX85 to appeal to family photographers and first-time mirrorless buyers as an alternative to a decent (as opposed to cheap) first dSLR like the Nikon D5500. It's got a great feature set, very good photo and video quality for its class, pretty fast performance, and an attractive, relatively compact design.

LIke other Panasonic models before it, the Lumix GX85/GX80 packs a lot for its price, including great photos, 4K video and speed.

It delivers excellent photo and video for a Micro Four Thirds camera; especially at its price; plus a great feature set and fast performance.

The continuous autofocus occasionally fails to lock at all in burst mode; and the battery life is poor.

Despite its midrange pice, the Lumix DMC-GX85 ($699.99, body only) is Panasonic's current entry-level Micro Four Thirds camera . It has a lot going for it that will appeal to casual photographers looking to better smartphone quality, as well as more serious shutterbugs and videographers, including a...

Compact; Built-in EVF and flash; Tilting touch screen; Quick autofocus; 8.6fps continuous shooting with large buffer; 30fps 4K Photo mode; 5-axis image stabilization; 4K video capture; Wi-Fi

4K video is slightly cropped; Omits weather sealing; Shooting rate slows during Raw or AF-C capture; Screen doesn't face forward for selfies; No mic input

Despite its midrange pice, the Lumix DMC-GX85 ($699.99, body only) is Panasonic's current entry-level Micro Four Thirds camera. It has a lot going for it that will appeal to casual photographers looking to better smartphone quality, as well as more serious shutterbugs and videographers, including a compact build, a crisp EVF, fast autofocus, and 4K video capture. It's a very strong performer, especially if you want to take advantage of the vast Micro Four Thirds lens system. But it doesn't quite better our favorite inexpensive mirrorless camera, the Editors' Choice Sony Alpha 6000 ($549.99 at Dell Technologies) , which offers higher resolution and a more advanced autofocus system. Design The GX85 ($799.00 at Amazon) is quite small, measuring just 2.8 by 4.8 by 1.7 inches (HWD) and weighing in at about 15 ounces without a lens. We're reviewing it as a body only, which is sold only in black in the US, but if you opt for a bundle with the compact 12-32mm ($291.06 at Amazon) zoom (a ...

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85 is a compact mirrorless camera with quick autofocus, strong image quality, and 4K video capture.

Compact; Built-in EVF and flash; Tilting touch screen; Quick autofocus; 8.6fps continuous shooting with large buffer; 30fps 4K Photo mode; 5-axis image stabilization; 4K video capture; Wi-Fi

4K video is slightly cropped; Omits weather sealing; Shooting rate slows during Raw or AF-C capture; Screen doesn't face forward for selfies; No mic input

The Panasonic Lumix GX800 / GX850 is an entry-level mirrorless camera that's aimed at anyone upgrading from a phone or compact camera. It features a 16 Megapixel Micro Four Thirds sensor, interchangeable lenses, the ability to record Full HD or 4k video, has built-in Wifi and a touchscreen that...

Compact, lightweight body with swappable lenses; Crisp, detailed and relatively low noise 16 Megapixel photos; 4K movies and 4K Photo modes with post focus adjustments; Touchscreen tilts up to face subject for selfies and vlogging; Fast single autofocus that works in very low light.

Screen doesn’t tilt down and becomes hard to view in bright conditions; No built-in viewfinder (but not surprising at this price); Optical stabilisation on kit zoom not as effective as other lenses; No mic input (again not surprising, but great for vloggers).

The Lumix DMC-GX850 might look like a classic camera, but it's actually a snapper for the selfie generation. With a flip-up screen, versatile lens and variety of shooting modes, the mirrorless camera has all the tools to improve your social feed. But does it do enough to justify carrying a camera…

The Panasonic GX850 puts excellent image-quality into a compact camera body. Even though the GX850 is a mirrorless, this and its price puts it in competition with Premium Compact cameras while having the advantage of interchangeable lenses and higher image-quality.

Low image noise until ISO 3200; Nicely saturated colors; Very good Automatic White-Balance; Very fast autofocus; Instant shutter-lag; Fast and highly responsive; Extremely compact; Advanced feature-set; Solid built quality

Slight general image softness; Metering overly bright; Dynamic-range not as wide as competition; Wrong Live-Histogram; No built-in EVF; Preview not always Exposure-Priority; Missing video mode; Video recording delay; Poor battery-life

The Lumix GX850, otherwise known as the GX800 in Europe or the GF9 in Japan, is the latest interchangeable lens model from Panasonic and also one of the smallest 4K capable cameras on the market today. As with all our most recent reviews, this full review is available in video format.