Panasonic GH4 vs Panasonic ZS8

Its time to look much closer at the Panasonic GH4 versus Panasonic ZS8, one being a Pro Mirrorless and the other is a Small Sensor Superzoom and both are offered by Panasonic. The sensor resolution of the GH4 (16MP) and the ZS8 (14MP) is fairly well matched but the GH4 (Four Thirds) and ZS8 (1/2.3") use different sensor measurements.

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The GH4 was released 2 years later than the ZS8 and that is quite a significant gap as far as technology is concerned. Each of the cameras come with different body type with the Panasonic GH4 being a SLR-style mirrorless camera and the Panasonic ZS8 being a Compact camera.

Before going straight into a full comparison, below is a simple summary of how the GH4 scores vs the ZS8 with respect to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

This is a sample of the gallery pictures for Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH4 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS8. The complete galleries are available at Panasonic GH4 Gallery and Panasonic ZS8 Gallery.

For those who are planning to lug around your camera often, you are going to need to factor in its weight and size. The Panasonic GH4 has got exterior dimensions of 133mm x 93mm x 84mm (5.2" x 3.7" x 3.3") and a weight of 560 grams (1.23 lbs) and the Panasonic ZS8 has specifications of 105mm x 58mm x 33mm (4.1" x 2.3" x 1.3") with a weight of 210 grams (0.46 lbs).

Examine the Panasonic GH4 versus Panasonic ZS8 in the new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Keep in mind, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change based on the lens you choose at that time. Here is the front view measurement comparison of the GH4 versus the ZS8.

Using dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the GH4 and ZS8 is 66 and 92 respectively.

Quite often, it can be hard to imagine the gap between sensor measurements only by reading through technical specs. The photograph here will help provide you a better sense of the sensor sizes in the GH4 and ZS8.

As you can tell, each of these cameras have got different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The GH4 because of its larger sensor is going to make shooting shallower DOF simpler and the Panasonic GH4 will resolve more detail as a result of its extra 2 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also let you crop images much more aggressively. The newer GH4 should have an advantage in sensor tech.