Natural
"PHOTO STYLE"
-0
CONTRAST
+5
SHARPNESS
-0
-1
-3+3
HIGHLIGHT SHADOW
OFF
iDYNAMIC
OFF
16-255
LUMINANCE LEVEL
Unsharp Mask*
ADOBE
POST-PRODUCTION
AMOUNT
RADIUS
THRESHOLD
REAL RATINGS
After testing each lens-sensor combo, I like to know if the rendering is going to look realistic SOOC (Straight Out of Camera) or if it will need a LUT (to match the shots to other lenses and cameras).

CONTRAST
B
IS THE CONTRAST "REAL"?

SHARPNESS
C
IS THE SHARPNESS "REAL"?

NOISE
C
IS THE NOISE "REAL"?

COLOR
B
IS THE COLOR "REAL"?
*Click here to learn more about "REAL" Ratings. These ratings are AFTER my custom settings are applied (most combos don't look real good with default settings).
Published:
April 22, 2025 at 10:02:06 PM
For this camera (Panasonic G85) or on ANY Micro Four Thirds sensor camera, I don't really like this focal length for a MACRO lens, and I am starting to lean towards either a 40 or 60mm MACRO lens, or even a 50mm with a HELICOID adapter. The working distance of 85mm on this lens sometimes seems too close or too far away (based on where I can stand) at times. Also, I am getting to the point where I really appreciate making things look REAL, so this focal length of 85mm is introducing too much telephoto compression to look realistic, especially when used for MACRO images (where you are closer to the subject, etc.) Additionally, while the bokeh (out of focus background) is smooth, there is not quite enough blur, even wide open...but that is only f/3.5 so you can see what I mean (and an f/2.8 is where I want to be on M43 sensors when I want to create enough background blur). Lastly, there is not enough SHARPNESS in this lens (even with the compensation set to MAX +5) to work on this sensor (which means that this sensor does not have enough resolution to make the limited sharpness of this lens look realistic). Therefore, I don't think this lens is a good fit for this camera (Panasonic G85)...and maybe not for this M43 size of sensor overall (though the G9 or GH5 or other higher-megapixel M43 sensors might be okay, but I won't say until I test those).
My goal for these camera settings is to improve the "lens-sensor relationship" by adjusting the contrast, sharpness, noise reduction and color with the result that it produces an image that looks less "digital" and more "organic" (more like film, etc). The first step is to apply these settings while shooting (produces an image that looks pretty good straight out of camera) but keep in mind there may need to be slight color grading (or a LUT) applied to finalize each shot.