Panasonic GH4 vs Pentax WS80

Its time to take a deeper look at the Panasonic GH4 and Pentax WS80, former being a Pro Mirrorless while the latter is a Waterproof by brands Panasonic and Pentax. There exists a large gap between the image resolutions of the GH4 (16MP) and WS80 (10MP) and the GH4 (Four Thirds) and WS80 (1/2.3") enjoy different sensor measurements.

Photography Glossary

The GH4 was manufactured 4 years later than the WS80 and that is quite a serious difference as far as technology is concerned. Both cameras come with different body type with the Panasonic GH4 being a SLR-style mirrorless camera and the Pentax WS80 being a Compact camera.

Before we go straight into a more detailed comparison, below is a short view of how the GH4 scores versus the WS80 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

The following is a preview of the gallery photos for Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH4 & Pentax Optio WS80. The entire galleries are viewable at Panasonic GH4 Gallery & Pentax WS80 Gallery.

When you are looking to lug around your camera frequently, you're going to have to factor in its weight and volume. The Panasonic GH4 features exterior measurements of 133mm x 93mm x 84mm (5.2" x 3.7" x 3.3") along with a weight of 560 grams (1.23 lbs) while the Pentax WS80 has sizing of 92mm x 60mm x 22mm (3.6" x 2.4" x 0.9") accompanied by a weight of 125 grams (0.28 lbs).

Contrast the Panasonic GH4 and Pentax WS80 in our brand new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an ILC will change depending on the lens you are working with at the time. Below is the front view size comparison of the GH4 versus the WS80.

Taking into consideration dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the GH4 and WS80 is 66 and 95 respectively.

More often than not, it is difficult to visualize the contrast between sensor measurements purely by looking at specs. The photograph below will give you a greater sense of the sensor measurements in the GH4 and WS80.

As you can plainly see, both the cameras posses different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The GH4 due to its bigger sensor is going to make getting shallower depth of field less difficult and the Panasonic GH4 will resolve extra detail due to its extra 6MP. Higher resolution will also make it easier to crop pictures somewhat more aggressively. The more modern GH4 should have an advantage with regard to sensor innovation.