Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX8 vs. Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7

Comparison

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Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX8

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7

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Megapixels

20.30

16.00

Max. image resolution

5184 x 3888

4592 x 3448

Sensor

Sensor type

CMOS

Sensor size

Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm)

Sensor resolution

5196 x 3907

4612 x 3468

Diagonal

21.64 mm

Sensor size comparison

Sensor size is generally a good indicator of the quality of the camera. Sensors can vary greatly in size. As a general rule, the bigger the sensor, the better the image quality.

Bigger sensors are more effective because they have more surface area to capture light. An important factor when comparing digital cameras is also camera generation. Generally, newer sensors will outperform the older.

Learn more about sensor sizes »

Actual sensor size

Note: Actual size is set to screen → change »

	vs
1	:	1
(ratio)

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX8		Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7

Surface area:

224.90 mm²

Difference: 0 mm² (0%)

GX8 and GX7 sensors are the same size.

Note: You are comparing cameras of different generations. There is a 2 year gap between Panasonic GX8 (2015) and Panasonic GX7 (2013). All things being equal, newer sensor generations generally outperform the older.

Pixel pitch

3.33 µm

3.75 µm

Pixel pitch tells you the distance from the center of one pixel (photosite) to the center of the next. It tells you how close the pixels are to each other.

The bigger the pixel pitch, the further apart they are and the bigger each pixel is. Bigger pixels tend to have better signal to noise ratio and greater dynamic range.

Difference: 0.42 µm (13%)

Pixel pitch of GX7 is approx. 13% higher than pixel pitch of GX8.

Pixel area

11.09 µm²

14.06 µm²

Pixel or photosite area affects how much light per pixel can be gathered. The larger it is the more light can be collected by a single pixel.

Larger pixels have the potential to collect more photons, resulting in greater dynamic range, while smaller pixels provide higher resolutions (more detail) for a given sensor size.

Relative pixel sizes:

Pixel area difference: 2.97 µm² (27%)

A pixel on Panasonic GX7 sensor is approx. 27% bigger than a pixel on Panasonic GX8.

Pixel density

9.02 MP/cm²

7.11 MP/cm²

Pixel density tells you how many million pixels fit or would fit in one square cm of the sensor.

Higher pixel density means smaller pixels and lower pixel density means larger pixels.

Difference: 1.91 µm (27%)

Panasonic GX8 has approx. 27% higher pixel density than Panasonic GX7.

To learn about the accuracy of these numbers, click here.

Specs

Panasonic GX8

Panasonic GX7

Crop factor

Total megapixels

21.77

16.84

Effective megapixels

20.30

16.00

Optical zoom

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

Auto, 200-25600

Auto, 125, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400, 12800, 25600

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

Macro focus range

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

Aperture priority

Yes

Max. aperture

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

n/a

Metering

Multi, Center-weighted, Spot

Exposure compensation

±5 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Yes

Min. shutter speed

60 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/16000 sec

1/8000 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

Electronic

White balance presets

Screen size

Screen resolution

1,040,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

3840x2160 (30p/24p)

Storage types

SD/SDHC/SDXC

USB

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

Li-ion Battery Pack

Weight

487 g

402 g

Dimensions

133.2 x 77.9 x 63.1 mm

122.60 x 70.7 x 54.6 mm

Year

2015

2013

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Diagonal

Diagonal is calculated by the use of Pythagorean theorem:

Diagonal = √

w² + h²

where w = sensor width and h = sensor height

Panasonic GX8 diagonal

w = 17.30 mm
h = 13.00 mm

Diagonal = √

17.30² + 13.00²

= 21.64 mm

Panasonic GX7 diagonal

w = 17.30 mm
h = 13.00 mm

Diagonal = √

17.30² + 13.00²

= 21.64 mm

Surface area

Surface area is calculated by multiplying the width and the height of a sensor.

GX8 sensor area

Width = 17.30 mm
Height = 13.00 mm

Surface area = 17.30 × 13.00 = 224.90 mm²

GX7 sensor area

Width = 17.30 mm
Height = 13.00 mm

Surface area = 17.30 × 13.00 = 224.90 mm²

Pixel pitch

Pixel pitch is the distance from the center of one pixel to the center of the next measured in micrometers (µm). It can be calculated with the following formula:

Pixel pitch =	sensor width in mm	× 1000
	sensor resolution width in pixels

GX8 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 17.30 mm
Sensor resolution width = 5196 pixels

Pixel pitch =	17.30	× 1000	= 3.33 µm
	5196

GX7 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 17.30 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4612 pixels

Pixel pitch =	17.30	× 1000	= 3.75 µm
	4612

Pixel area

The area of one pixel can be calculated by simply squaring the pixel pitch:

Pixel area = pixel pitch²

You could also divide sensor surface area with effective megapixels:

Pixel area =	sensor surface area in mm²
	effective megapixels

GX8 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 3.33 µm

Pixel area = 3.33² = 11.09 µm²

GX7 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 3.75 µm

Pixel area = 3.75² = 14.06 µm²

Pixel density

Pixel density can be calculated with the following formula:

Pixel density = (	sensor resolution width in pixels	)² / 1000000
	sensor width in cm

One could also use this formula:

Pixel density =	effective megapixels × 1000000	/ 10000
	sensor surface area in mm²

GX8 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 5196 pixels
Sensor width = 1.73 cm

Pixel density = (5196 / 1.73)² / 1000000 = 9.02 MP/cm²

GX7 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 4612 pixels
Sensor width = 1.73 cm

Pixel density = (4612 / 1.73)² / 1000000 = 7.11 MP/cm²

Sensor resolution

Sensor resolution is calculated from sensor size and effective megapixels. It's slightly higher than maximum (not interpolated) image resolution which is usually stated on camera specifications. Sensor resolution is used in pixel pitch, pixel area, and pixel density formula. For sake of simplicity, we're going to calculate it in 3 stages.

1. First we need to find the ratio between horizontal and vertical length by dividing the former with the latter (aspect ratio). It's usually 1.33 (4:3) or 1.5 (3:2), but not always.

2. With the ratio (r) known we can calculate the X from the formula below, where X is a vertical number of pixels:

(X × r) × X = effective megapixels × 1000000 →

X = √	effective megapixels × 1000000
	r

3. To get sensor resolution we then multiply X with the corresponding ratio:

Resolution horizontal: X × r
Resolution vertical: X

GX8 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 17.30 mm
Sensor height = 13.00 mm
Effective megapixels = 20.30

r = 17.30/13.00 = 1.33

X = √	20.30 × 1000000	= 3907
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3907 × 1.33 = 5196
Resolution vertical: X = 3907

Sensor resolution = 5196 x 3907

GX7 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 17.30 mm
Sensor height = 13.00 mm
Effective megapixels = 16.00

r = 17.30/13.00 = 1.33

X = √	16.00 × 1000000	= 3468
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3468 × 1.33 = 4612
Resolution vertical: X = 3468

Sensor resolution = 4612 x 3468

Crop factor

Crop factor or focal length multiplier is calculated by dividing the diagonal of 35 mm film (43.27 mm) with the diagonal of the sensor.

Crop factor =	43.27 mm
	sensor diagonal in mm

GX8 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 21.64 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 2
	21.64

GX7 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 21.64 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 2
	21.64

35 mm equivalent aperture

Equivalent aperture (in 135 film terms) is calculated by multiplying lens aperture with crop factor (a.k.a. focal length multiplier).

GX8 equivalent aperture

Aperture is a lens characteristic, so it's calculated only for fixed lens cameras. If you want to know the equivalent aperture for Panasonic GX8, take the aperture of the lens you're using and multiply it with crop factor.

Crop factor for Panasonic GX8 is 2

GX7 equivalent aperture

Aperture is a lens characteristic, so it's calculated only for fixed lens cameras. If you want to know the equivalent aperture for Panasonic GX7, take the aperture of the lens you're using and multiply it with crop factor.

Crop factor for Panasonic GX7 is 2

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