Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH3 Samples

Crops below show the performance of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH3 next to the Olympus OM-D E-M5
Olympus OM-D E-M5, the one other weather-sealed Micro Four-Thirds mirrorless camera. Both these models use a 16 MP Four-Thirds CMOS sensor, covering at least ISO sensitivities from 200 to 25600. The GH3 adds an expanded Low ISO of 125.

All images below are 100% crops from their respective camera taken at the highest image quality JPEG setting available. ISO, aperture and white-balance were set on camera. As usual, cameras were calibrated to produce the best results they care capable of. These crops help determine which ISO settings are acceptable on these cameras. As noise increases, most cameras compensate with noise reduction which introduces softness and the point at which a print become unacceptably noisy is a matter of personal taste.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH3	Olympus OM-D E-M5
ISO 125
ISO 200	ISO 200
ISO 400	ISO 400
ISO 800	ISO 800
ISO 1600	ISO 1600
ISO 3200	ISO 3200
ISO 6400	ISO 6400
ISO 12800	ISO 12800
ISO 25600	ISO 25600

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH3 does very well in this series of indoor shots but its smaller sensor gives in to the top APS-C sensor. The sensor output, even with noise-reduction at its minimal setting produces soft output compared the the K-5. Still, the GH3 keeps noise well under control until ISO 800 which it appears with minimal damage. ISO 1600 is still relatively good but a yellow color-shift starts appearing. By then we notice the K-5 taking a 2-stop lead in terms of details and at least one in terms of image noise. This being two 16 megapixels camera, these differences will not be visible except on moderately large prints.