Panasonic LUMIX G85MK 4K Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera Kit, 12-60mm Lens, Lexar U3 64GB Memory Card, 2 Spare Batteries, Charger, Bag and Accessory Bundle

I spent weeks deciding on which camera I wanted to purchase. I narrowed it down to a mirrorless camera because I have used and handled DSLR's and I wanted the mirrorless for travel/lightweight purposes. The Lumix G85 won out for several reasons. 16MP is plenty for uploading online and printing pictures sized to hang up around my place or give as gifts to friends and family. The image stabilization is incredibly helpful on this device and, although I haven't used it on a tripod, taking pictures by hand with a lower shutter speed is possible (lowest I have tried so far is 1/8 and there was no noticeable shake blur whatsoever). This camera is splash-proof and weather sealed, which was important to me since I live by the beach/coastal area and also in an area where rain can move in and out quickly. I primarily take pictures of landscapes and nature, so that technical aspect is certainly useful. I find the auto-focus to be very quick and stable, although full disclosure; I have not taken any photos fast moving objects yet, so I cannot comment on that. However, once you read the manual it is easy enough to set the camera up to do so. The camera has good heft, but is very comfortable to hold and carry around. Hanging on my neck, it doesn't bother me at all. I had originally considered a sony a6000, but when I went to a store and held it in my hands I found it to be pretty uncomfortable. I also did not enjoy the feel or aesthetic of the EVF on the Sony. Speaking of which, the EVF on the Lumix is incredibly detailed and very easy to use and identify how your current mode and settings will affect the outcome of the photo. While this is the most advanced camera I've ever owned or used before, I find myself becoming more used to the controls and settings daily. It can seem confusing at first, but I fiddled with the menus for a few days and now I feel quite confident it making changes or finding different settings within the menu system. I DO highly suggest reading over the physical instruction manual that comes with the camera, it really helps explain the basics. The PDF version of the advanced instruction manual (available online) is very useful and easy to skim through, based on what you're looking to find. I'm taking my time getting comfortable with this camera and I try not to exhaust myself by just simply reading straight through the advanced manual (it is over 300 pages!!). The multi-angle touchscreen is very nice and looks really good when reviewing photos and information. I also really appreciate the ability to close the screen so the screen itself is not exposed. Makes me feel better when moving around and packing the camera away. I'm OCD like that. So maybe this won't be too big an issue for most. The kit lens is nice and while I plan on ordering several other lenses eventually, I find myself enjoying the clarity and ease of use of this lens. Ritz Camera included a lot of accessories here and while I may not utilize all of them, I find the SD card, filters, cleaning kit, and spare batteries well worth the price of admission. Ritz sent out the package 3 or 4 days after I ordered it, and it arrived within 2 days after it shipped. It was packed well (box within a bigger box) and the package was in very good condition. Would certainly order gear or accessories from Ritz Camera again. Thanks for reading my review. I hope I have helped anyone who may be mostly new to photography in deciding if this is the camera for them. I believe it certainly is for me!

This camera is very, very special. Pair this with a Sigma 16mm 1.4 and a decently lit shot and you have a completely professional youtube setup. For under $1k. I’m talking stunning sharpness and bokeh at the same time. Ibis is phenomenal. Like all cameras, you learn how to make it do what you want. And let me tell you, in most any situation, it can do what you want. I shoot 4k video primarily. Bump down the saturation and contrast in camera on the ‘natural’ setting and then bring it back in post and you can get absolutely stunning 4k shot. The still photos are fantastic too. Look for lenses that have wide apertures and you won’t mind the small sensor. I recommend the sigma contemporary series and the olympus Zukio 1.8. Touch screen has all the functionality that you’d expect from your phone (pinching, zooming, swiping). You know who doesn’t have that? Sony. Yes, it’s shocking. The autofocus is the weakpoint, however, learn how to use it and you’ll be fine. I use face and eye recognition and any talking head video will stay perfectly in focus with the movements of your head. If you need to hold up an object for a gear review for instance and still nail focus then you just switch to focus on a point (pick the center). Whatever you hold up in that center window will nail focus and when you set the object down it down the camera will nail focus on what remains in the center, like your face. This camera is the best bang for your buck in this price range especially for video. The only thing that’s close with flip around screens are the Sony alpha aps-c cameras. I say this because one requirement for me was unlimited record time. You may be shocked to know, most cameras can only record for 30min and then you need to re-hit record. The only competitor is the sony a6400. It’s more expensive and promises better autofocus and low light photos. Maybe that works for you. If you want to shoot really fast moving action like sports, this probably is better for you. But do not expect to walk and film video. The stabilization won’t stand up at all. You’re forced to get a gimbal. The G85 has a better articulating screen, better menu system, better touch functionality, and an absolutely different class of in body image stabilization. You can walk and your footage will still look smooth and cinematic with dual stabilzation - it’s insane. Also, I have both the G85 and Gx85. Though the gx85 is beautiful and minimal, everything about the design of this camera, the g85, is better. If you’re looking at the spec sheet and noticing you can get a lot in the gx85 package that you get here, it’s only sort of true. On paper yes, but this camera feels 3x the quality in your hands as a gx85 (I wish I were wrong!)

TL;DR: Everything works as expected, and I'm really enjoying the camera. Only issue so far is that I only received one battery with my order instead of the advertised 2 (for the Gold Kit). If not for this, I'd have given it 5 stars. Edit: After receiving the standard checkup email from the seller, I requested that they send me the missing battery. They obliged, and I have accordingly updated the review to 5 stars. In my couple days using it, I could hardly be happier about the camera itself. Still learning the settings, but I suspect I'll only grow to like it more once I master the function keys and menu system. The only quirks I've noticed that I didn't read about in other reviews before I purchased it are that there's a constant whirring noise when powered on (I assume it's the gyro for the IBIS) [Edit: This was changed in firmware version 1.2; it is now much quieter], and you don't seem to be able to charge the camera with the USB cable, meaning you do everything off of the batteries. I suspect this isn't uncommon for DSLR's, I just hoped I could give the batteries a break if I'm recording near an outlet. As for the accessories, most of it is of pretty mediocre quality, but hey, you're getting it essentially for free. I'll update this review if anything starts falling apart, but so far, it all seems functional. As stated above, I only received one battery [Edit: Now I've received both], but the other one works fine. I haven't done an objective test yet, but I'm getting the impression that the spare doesn't last quite as long as the original. Will update once I actually time them. Update: Indeed, I discovered that the extra batteries are rated at 950 mAh whereas the original is 1150 mAh, so that explains the impression I was getting. The spare battery charger is nice, especially if I had 3 batteries in constant rotation if I were shooting lots of 4k video. The legs of the tripod are surprisingly sturdy, though the plastic socket at the top concerns me. There's a bit of wobbling if you are handling the camera (which is pretty heavy) while it's mounted, but it hasn't caused any issues yet. The bag is a nice size, but the velcro system on the inside for resizing the individual compartments isn't ideal. It just makes it feel very cheap. The 64GB SD card was a nice inclusion, but the card reader is only USB 2.0, so at least on my system, I was transferring at about half the speed of my USB 3.0 card reader. Haven't touched the filters, cleaning kit, or slave flash, but I expect nothing magnificent nor horrendous from them. Update: The filters are rather pointless, but the cleaning kit is satisfactory. I won't be using the slave flash itself, but it did come with some hardware for attaching it that I was able to adapt to allow for more versatile use with an LED light array that I purchased later. I purchased this camera for the rave reviews on its video quality and IBIS (in-body image stabilization). I am not an avid photographer/videographer, but I'm beginning a project for which I really wanted the ability to do 4k. That meant either getting a G7 or G85 (or a used GH4). Despite the leap in price from the $600 G7 ($500 on sale) to the $1000 G85, I knew that I would be frustrated every time I used the G7 if the footage shook a little bit more than I'd like, constantly reminding me that I could've bought the camera with great IBIS if I had just sucked up the difference in price.

First of all I’m returning this camera, that being said I’m only doing so because I’m upgrading to a gh5 and gh5s and I needed the money. This is a great camera, if your budget is $1000 there are few options that offer this kind feature rich camera at this price range. I was able to shoot footage of two live shows at dive bars with less than ideal light conditions and I was pleasantly surprised at its low light performance. Photos were really crisp and if you work with it you can absolutely achieve beautiful shallow depth of field. Also the kit lens is great for the price. The bundle is decent. It has what you need to start building your arsenal.. love this camera Pros- 4K footage, impressive image stabilization, flip out screen, weather sealed, tough build, Panasonic’s phone app is amazing, good evf, good battery life, great bang for your buck Cons- footage is a bit noisy at super high iso levels(still impressive lowlight capabilities but there are better cameras for this) no headphone jack, autofocus is not great by a long shot

Well, it was either this kit, or the camera alone for the same price. The camera is awesome, I love it so far. Anyone looking at this camera has already done their research, so I won't go on about that, but I am already impressed with the shots I have gotten with it. The kit has a lot of "junk", but it was all pretty much free, so I figured what the heck and went for it. I will go over the stuff in that kit below: -The SD card is only rated for 95mbps, so recording video in 4k, or using the 4k photo mode, etc. may not function correctly while using this SD card. Again, this stuff was pretty much free with the kit, so it is what it is. The card is just fine for 1080 30p, and regular photo shooting. -The camera bag is decent, it fits all the stuff in the kit, no problem, plus an extra lens or two, and it's built well, nothing special, but I dig it. -The Polaroid batteries are only 650mAh, where as the Panasonic OEM battery is 1200mAh. The Polaroid batteries are good enough for spares, but you won't get near as many shots with them, the charger is handy though, it comes with an adaptor for plugging it into a 12v cigarette lighter in your car. -Allll the other stuff is nice to have, the flash is not really worth while, but the lens cleaning goodies and maybe the filters are nice to have. -I wouldn't hang this camera in precarious positions using the little tripod in this kit, maybe I will use it just sitting on a tabletop, but it is far to sketchy to trust with this camera. I am using it with my Sony action cam, it is perfect for that. Overall, the kit is perfect for someone just getting into photography and needs a bag, and a few basics to get started, or even for the fact that it is all practically free with this camera. I wasn't disappointed, just don't expect top quality stuff (other than the camera itself, it's sweeet).

I was really frustrated when Panasonic would not get on the phone to give me tech support. I had question that I needed to ask and it was a dire task to get help. And because of that, I sent the camera back for a refund. I had no idea what worked and what didn't work since I could not get anyone on the phone to tell me if I was doing something wrong or if there was a glitch in the camera.

There are loads of detailed reviews out there singing the praises of this camera and I tend to agree with them. The camera has a wonderful feel in the hand and the new mechanical shutter is amazingly smooth and quiet. The biggest gripe from reviewers is probably the slower speed of auto focus, but I don't find that to be an issue for my use. I actually find the focus to be very fast with the 12-60 stock lens and the 14-140 mkii. I did have to replace the original camera after a one week of use since it developed a display/sensor issue where the screen would go pink, which required a battery pull to resolve. I've been using the replacement camera for about 3 weeks with no issues. I've owned several Lumix cameras over the yeas and this is the first one to fail, so I'm cutting panny some slack and not taking off any stars. Finally, the Dual IS image stabilization (in-body combined with in-the-lens) is amazing, I'm including a hand-held slow shutter speed waterfall photo as an example. I should also add that the bundle I purchased was sold by Ritz Camera and they handled the return and refund of the failed camera without issue. The Ritz bundle was the best deal available at the time I purchased the G85 (especially considering no sales tax), but as other reviews note, the bundle items are pretty cheap. The batteries are lower capacity than OEM, but do work fine as spares, and I've been using the bundle 64gb memory card without issue, and I also use the camera case. And now that I think about it, the attached waterfall photo was shot through the bundled circ polarizer filter to knock down some light since I didn't have any nd filters.

This is my first camera and I am very pleased with it, however, there are plenty of reviews on the camera itself, so I will talk about what comes in this kit. At the time of purchase, this kit was $899 compared to the standalone camera from Panasonic priced at $897. So basically, everything apart from the camera cost me $2. Bearing this in mind, here is my review of the kit. The Good The SD Card is great, and it was very convenient that I didn't have to order one separately. It gave me a great reason to purchase this kit rather than buying the camera alone from Panasonic. The cleaning kit is good, with brushes and cleaner. If/When my camera gets dirty, this will come in handy. The carrying case is cheaply made but could work if you don't have anything else. The tripod is ok, but I had already ordered a GorrillaPod and so I didn't use it. The USB adapter is useful for importing files to my Laptop that doesn't have an SD slot. There are two nice microfiber towels included that are great for cleaning the lens and screen. I have yet to use the flash that is included. The not so Good The two extra batteries included in this kit did not fit into the camera. They would go in about half way and then get stuck. If you want extra batteries, you would be better off buying them separately. But, as previously stated, they were pretty much free so it's not a huge deal although it would add a lot more value to this kit if they worked. Conclusion Overall, great camera and the included extras, no matter how cheap or useless, still make buying this kit a great deal