Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Friday, 31 October 2008 10:51
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 2
The quest to make cameras with interchangeable lenses lighter, smaller
and easier to use is one that camera manufacturers have been working on
for years, with Panasonic’s DMG-C1 the latest to emerge.
The world’s first “Micro Four Thirds System Camera”, the Lumix DMC-G1 has been unveiled by Panasonic, promising an “innovative mirror-less design, allowing the development of an ultra-compact, light-weight body.”
Panasonic says this is a “groundbreaking new camera” which breaks with the “tradition of conventional digital SLR cameras, as it is neither bulky, heavy or hard to use,” and adds that “the mirror-less system, the G1's flange back, which is the distance between the mount and the image sensor, has been reduced from 40mm - as specified in the Four Thirds System - to approximately 20mm.”
Full-time Live View is also standard, as it is in compact digital cameras and increasingly now for Digital SLR (DSLR) cameras, as is Panasonic’s “Intelligent Auto” capability to make taking better photos an easier process for non photo-pros.
The image sensor is the same physical size as that used in Panasonic’s regular DSLR cameras, being a 4/3-type 12.1-megapixel Live MOS image sensor.
Alistair Robins, Panasonic Australia Category Manager, Mobile AV, said: "The LUMIX DMC-G1 writes an entirely new chapter in the evolution of photography. It offers the best of both worlds - combining the high image-quality of an SLR sensor with the ease-of-use of Intelligent Auto and small form factor of a compact camera, thanks to its innovative design."
Robins continued: "With the G1, photographers will enjoy the advantages of Full-time Live View when using both the LCD and the electronic viewfinder, giving them the ultimate viewing and playback ease. This is one of the ways Full-time Live View uses digital technology to give the photographer valuable and user-friendly new features and functions."
"For people who have been hesitant about moving up to an SLR camera, the G1 is a perfect fit. The G1 offers the performance of a digital SLR without the weight and bulk. This small, sophisticated, easy-to-use camera will greatly expand any user's photographic capabilities and will open the door to a world of fun and unlimited creative possibilities," Robins said.
Available in three colours (black, blue and red), Panasonic says its new G1 camera is simply unlike anything from the competition.
Continued on page 2.
