Panasonic G85 Video Autofocus Re-Test (Does +2 setting fix AF issues) 

Check out the original test that featured the Olympus E-M1ii and Sony A6500 with the G85 here= ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2BknDjJJUDI.html G85 on Amazon➡ geni.us/jEyA76A If you enjoy our content please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $2 a month helps us make more and better content for you! www.patreon.com/MaxYuryev Song in video: "Triboro" by Matt Wigton - Use Coupon code "Max" for 10% off unlimited yearly music licensing on Soundstripe(what I use for all my videos): soundstripe.grsm.io/e/6lv

Thanks, Max! Solid video. It's really too bad this camera isn't better. Every time I see a 70D/80D focusing I get so sad. They just nail it.

I just filmed an entire Martial Arts/sports(Kendo) event in CSULB with the G85: over 40 matches didn't have any AF issues at all. I used the kit lense, Af was set to AFC and continue af on, sensitivity set to +2. I did notice that the first few matches I had it set to point and I had some focus issues because I was aiming in between the competitors. But once I switched to the 49 points options, I had no problems at all shooting every match which varied from 1 minute to 20 minutes.

In a sense, I'm glad you included the GX85 as having the focusing issue, as it confirms what I am experiencing as less a problem with me, and one more associated with the camera. A drawback with the GX85 is that it does not have an AF Sensitivity option that I can experiment with. So the slight hunting back and forth before it locks down is indeed an issue that gives an decidedly unprofessional and distracting effect on the viewer. Slow focusing is not nearly an issue in the final look of a clip when compared to the hunting back and forth.

I've got both a 70d and the g85. I've pretty quickly learnt to 100% manual focus the g85 as auto focus is unusable. The trade off I guess to get the 4k super sharp video! Thinking I should have save the extra money for the a6500 but living in Australia, the over heating issues put me right off!!

Wow! 😳 thanks for this Max! This REALLY helped me to realize how terrible that AF is!

Man thats disappointing. G85 has so much potential.

I have been playing with autofocus a little bit on the G85 and it seems like everyone is looking to increase the sensitivity number but I dialed it back to -2. I also shut off face detection and have it set to 43 point. Knob set to AFF/AFS and continuous set to on the menu. It seems like the focus keeps steady and doesn't pulse which is a huge plus to get rid of that. Curious if anyone else has tried this setting or can and report back if it works better for them. Would be curious if I just got lucky during some testing or this actually might be the way to go for AF on the G85.

Thanks Max! Based on your results, we're going to test turning off the AF +2 setting and change it back to normal (0)... seemed like the normal / 0 setting performed a little better, not at all perfect but at least not completely out of focus as often. So odd that the AF systems seems to recognize the face and eyes perfectly so many times, yet it simultaneously still can't grab focus. Appreciate the testing!

I have a G80. I've done a lot of tests. And in my opinion the autofocus in 4k sucks, but in 1080 and 50p works pretty good.

Thanks for this comprehensive test. I was about to buy this camera but decided against it after seeing how poorly it autofocuses on video. Guess I'll stick with my Canon

Max, what were your other settings? Continuous AF on? Face Registration? Tracking?

Jeeeeeeze, that thing takes forever! Makes me appreciate my NX1 even more! :)

If Panasonic would just get better video af so many youtube vloggers would switch over to them.

Try to do your test again in tracking focus mode. I tested it and I had no racking (pulsating focus) motion but locks on instantly. In all other modes I did have the jittering focus as shown on your video. During preview mode it does however not seem to touch focus often but in recording mode it does much better somehow. For me tracking focus is working well. Eye tracking doesn't. Maybe a future update will correct these issues.

People are missing that the key for Continuous Auto Focus (CAF) is the lens. Many Lumix users use pancake lenses like the ones in point & shot cams. But CAF was not the idea on this type of lenses, designed mainly for photos. Use instead a Sigma 16mm f1.4 lens and you will not have any issue with CAF in your Lumix G85. You will not find Sony autofocus tests with pancake lenses, they are always done with big lenses, similar to the Sigma 16mm f1.4.

I've watched and read a lot of reviews on the G85 where they tested the autofocus and none of them displayed the same results as in this video. By far this test is the outlier, to the point where I'd have to throw out the conclusions. Maybe it has to do with the camera settings or lens used, or maybe this was just a defective copy.

Hi Max. I have a very specific concern. I am planning for a language instructional video. Suppose I do the shoot in 1080 60 fps, and there is a need to crop and magnify/enlarge a part of the picture (example the mouth area). Would the lower bitrate on the G85 be of much concern? Also, how does the G85 fare as a secondary camera for the gh4 or gh5? Are the colors similar or is there a lot of post editing to be done? A reply will be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Hi Max. Nice focus test. Been waiting for the G-85 to arrive here in my country but it's not available yet. Been seeing focus reviews of G-85 and tests reveals that it's slow on kit lenses but performs very well on better lenses. I'm planning to buy the G-85 once it gets here. How is G-85's lock focus (locked on one subject while camera moves or while subject moves) with kit lens? Most of my shots will be moving hand-held shots on a gimbal. Both cam and subject might be moving but will not be rack focusing from one subject to the other. My budget is around the price of G-85. If it won't be released here locally, what other brands and models would you recommend with the type of shooting I will be doing, preferably in the same price range of G-85 with the same features - IBIS, weather sealing, 4k, battery life and ease of use. Thanks in advance and looking forward to your next video.

Hi Max. I have the G80. Now that you have done so much testing with the GH5 do you think you could get better performance out of this camera? I have the feeling that using 1-Area with the area market set to its smallest works pretty well for touch focusing. In this mode I haven't noticed much difference between the different sensitivities but I need to test more. Thanks for the reviews.

I have a question. I have a green screen with 5 LED lights (2 Yongnuo YN-600's,3 Yongnuo YN-300's) Do you think i could get a flicker problem While using the G85 ?? thank You

Max we informally / briefly tested the "-2" setting on our G85 last night during TV Class... thought maybe that'd boost AF reliability in exchange for speed since (in our use) reliability and consistency is key. But I'd love if it was something you could test using your same method/subjects for comparison if you had the time? Perhaps include 0, -1, and -2 if you had the bandwidth, but the "-2" most interesting for us at the moment to test the farthest setting.

Hi, Thank you for this video. Please tell me, i can set camera to show on display how many minutes of video i have left (or i record it already)? Cheers, Marc

Interesting. I have two GX80s, and they both focus accurately, every time, whether using touch focus or tracking. They work best with faster lenses, but I guess that's no surprise. However, as a film maker for over forty years, I tend to use manual focus for video anyway.

Max did you have a chance to check out the nikon p900? Im thinking of buying it as a superzoom add up to my camera collection.

I was THIS close to biting on the G85... then this video saddened me greatly. I have small kids... this AF won't cut it... could it be the kit lens??? Perhaps another lens performs better? I think I saw a video to that effect...

Hey Max, I've been testing the G85 (among other cameras) at my local camera store recently. I noticed I wasn't able to assign Audio Gain (Volume) to one of the hard function buttons. Do you know if we are able to do this? Also is there a way to make the focus box disappear? Thanks

Thanks for the re-test much appreciated.

Hey Max, love your channel and your reviews...normally ;-) . Thing is here you are missing the basics: camera settings, firmware version, lenses being used as this could change a lot of things already, what f stop, fixed ISO? All cameras that use contrast to assist focus are sensetive to light, and lenses with a lot of depth of field variations. for sure Sony is better as do all that use phase for focusing but what is not clear for many watching is that if you would take a Alphe 6500 you would have a lot of cropping on 4K and on top a lot of rolling as well when you pan. For film making in most cases these cameras are used with fixed manual focus as I am sure you know well. Not defending Panasonic here, love them and love the Sony ones as well but to show a test like this would only be just bnest to describe better your test conditions. Keep up the good work! Cheers, Luis.

the light was not and easy item to focus :) would have been interesting to see the Sony and Canon and Olympus and Fuji on the same items - Would be interested in seeing this test with focusing on different items - processing on a light is almost focusing on a white wall :) and of course how often do we focus on a light -

MAX..HI MAX What lens were you using in this Testing?

Very strange indeed. I just purchased a Panasonic fz2500. I have found no auto focus problem at all. Focuses immediately from one part of the frame to another with touch screen.???? Am I missing something here???

Is this issue happening in 1080p also? (Sorry i cant remember what settings you are using)

What Is Or Was the FIRMWARE Version at the time of this Video and TESTING? THANK YOU,

I have a different experience. I use focus speed as -2 because it is not so important. But slower auto focus locks sharper images in video even while 'pulling' focus in the middle of a shot. Also, slower auto focus reduces focus hunting that saves the day for me. Focus hunting in professional work can mar your project. Does anyone have similar experience and is there a way to get even better than my way. I must add, I usually shoot at 1080p.

Does the g85 have variable frame rate options? or is that just on the GH4?

OK, so no match for the Canon 80D, which I was comparing it with. Very useful to know thanks.

Which lens did you use? My 12-60mm is ok in 4k, but in 1080p it is incredible fast

Max try the AFF setting, i have the g7 and the Focus has improve a lot!! hope this help!

How does the 12-60 rate as far as manual focusing in video mode? Would you say it's responsive and intuitive?

I wanted this one so bad... It has everything except a good auto focus.. Bummer man

Max are you going to do a similar test on the GH5 if it can match the A6500 that would be great.

Which is better for still image? Canon1200D or Lumix G85???

What do people expect? Cameras run on electrical energy. When it runs live-view, ibis, 4k, AF simultaneously, it's splitting the power over four demanding tasks. Canon cameras have a smaller resolution to handle without ibis as well, as such they can dedicate more power to AF.

still better than nikon af which is why i returned my nikon d5500 for this camera :D

Max , the more I watch your videos regarding the Panasonic range , I can't believe the engineers would knowingly put out such an inferior product. I can kick myself for spending a dime on these products .

+Max Yuryev, can you compare autofocus for Panasonic G85 and Canon 80d in the same situation? It will be interesting because all this cameras are about the same price. Thank you!

I'm totally frustrated also that indoor low light is so poor on top of the focus issues.

I think the lamp is not a good test possibly. The lamp has a horizontal line at the bottom and a round shiny black surface. It needs a non-horizontal line or other detail to focus on. It won't focus on round shiny black either from my experience with my GH3s.

Max, you are the best!!!!!!

I have a G80, and I have got much better results than in the video. I set eye detection, and +2 speed, with 3.5-5.6/12-60 lens, with gimbal, and in the real world, it's operating well. It isn't the best af, but it's useble.

Thanks Max

Is this a possible firmware problem? The eye tracking working perfect, but the camera doesn't focus...

Is there any way to fix these "never focused" issues? I am often in front of my camera working and can't always check my focus!

Touch to focus on my G85 is way fast than this. Not in very low light though, and not if I press too briefly.

DFD AF performs so slow. I think it requires more computing power to speed up the process. Maybe GH5 is a better choice.

I think I’m gonna get a follow focus and pull focus manually for film

Non ho provato altri messa a fuoco automatica, ma a doppio pixel Canon funziona molto ben

Do you guys use AF in video so much? I thought most of the time people are using MF in video.

Still finding the smooth gradation of skin of the 6500 harsher.

Sexy music ;) If you remember what it was, tell me. Starts at 0:38

I love this camera but this kills it

Canon is the king of autofocus land

Conclusion, auto focus for video is an option that should be pretty much removed from the camera. Sad to say my GH4 auto focus is just horrible.

How shall I fix this autofocus in movie mode? I tried using a lot of focusing mode and tried autofocus sensitivity to +2 and -2. Not helping. I'm one step away to sell back this camera. The autofocus in movie mode for this camera is unbearable.

I would never shoot that scene in auto focus with any camera, not even the mighty canon 80d...... I've had no real problems with AF on my GH4s and G85. Always use "49area" for any moving subject, such as chasing kids and animals around, bride and groom coming down the aisle, etc... If the light gets funky, or low contrast situations, use manual focus...... Same thing with the FZ1000.

i dont agree I saw many other reviews with better results

The autofocus in the g7/g85 is unreliable... i'm hoping the gh5 changes that

This confirms that G85's focus is pretty garbage, when it comes to videos. I still use it all the time, but man it does frustrate me often.

Even a Panasonic LX10 focuses better than this.

So it's the same conclusion: Sony a6500 is the best choice at the moment when we talk about focusing capacity.

maybe -2

Great video! This focusing is horrible.

gh5 dejavu

Panasonic video af speed still sucks after 3 years

AF is slow af.

it's just not usable((

bro, how about a test in normal daylight where most people use their cameras? you film nerds are always filming in dim light and in closets. wtf

Still terrible.

first 😀😘

a6300/6500 completely spanks the G85 in autofocus and 4K Image quality....