Panasonic vs Olympus Quality, Help Required

I have been reading a lot about the Lumix GX85 and the Olympus OMD EM-10 Mark II to purchase as my first camera. From my reading it seems as if the JPEG colour profile of the Oly is more desirable than the Lumix but despite this I still prefer the lumix due to it's more accessible layout/shape for travelling and the type of photography i'm interested in (i'm interested in street, urban and night photography). Can anyone speak for the JPEG quality of the GX85 and how it differs from the Oly? Another question I have is that if I am to get the GX85 I would almost definitely get the 20mm 1.7 Zuiko lens to go with it... would this make any difference to the JPEG profile at all over the Olympus? Thanks!

I wouldn't let something like a JPG profile sway your decision, the likelihood is that if you get into taking photos you'll be shooting in raw anyway, at which point the JPG engine matters not.

As an old user of the GX85 (G80 in UK) and a new owner of the Olympus EM10 Mark II these are my thoughts so far. Not a technical view as I haven't had much chance to test the Olympus outside much due to Gales and Storms. Size wise I prefer the GX85 as it fits into my existing bags better, but I much prefer the grip, size of dials and viewfinder of the Oly. With the GX85 I tend to squint with one eye, but with the Oly I can keep both eyes open and still see through the viewfinder. I believe that this is because it protrudes more and is in a central in position.

I nearly always shoot in RAW with the Panny as I don't like the out of camera jpg files, however with the Oly I have found out of camera jpg files to be very good. Jpg files in the Panny don't give much possibility of post developing, but the Oly jpg still allow for quite a bit. Colours I find are more pleasing with the Oly jpg's and don't suffer from being oversharpened.

Initially I have found setting up the Oly to my way of working took a little time, but I seem to have it customised to my liking now. I cannot find any difference with using the 20mm lens on the Oly or the Panny as they both have 5 axis stabilisation in body. ( 20mm lens is not stabilised).

At present I intend to use the Oly with jpegs as they seem to be very good, but will probably revert back to RAW as this is how I have always worked. We shall see. I am mainly a landscape photographer due to living by the sea in a National Park, but also like to do macro, street and urban and I find both cameras fine for this. I rarely do night photography so can't advise on this.

I had the Panasonic G80 and the Olympus em10 mk11 on the odd occasion i shot jpeg i did prefer the Olympus straight out of camera, but these things are personal and subjective.

Thomas Keidan said:

I have been reading a lot about the Lumix GX85 and the Olympus OMD EM-10 Mark II to purchase as my first camera. From my reading it seems as if the JPEG colour profile of the Oly is more desirable than the Lumix but despite this I still prefer the lumix due to it's more accessible layout/shape for travelling and the type of photography i'm interested in (i'm interested in street, urban and night photography). Can anyone speak for the JPEG quality of the GX85 and how it differs from the Oly? Another question I have is that if I am to get the GX85 I would almost definitely get the 20mm 1.7 Zuiko lens to go with it... would this make any difference to the JPEG profile at all over the Olympus? Thanks!

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I think you mean the Panasonic 20mm f1.7?

I've had two of these. They're relatively slow focusing and can cause banding at high ISO (I've seen this banding but others say they've never seen it.) Personally I'd recommend the Oly 17mm f1.8 over this lens.

The GX80 EVF is IMO relatively poor, I think it helps to try and make sure that you always look at it dead centre.

PS.
I'd urge you to think about shooting raw and processing for best effect.

I’ve had both I prefer the menu system of the Panasonic but the Olympus felt better in my hands and the evf was much better.