Panasonic DMC-GF1 first look
The compact 12.1MP DMC-GF1 strengthens Panasonic's Lumix G Micro System.
The DMC-GF1 is the third model in the G series of digital interchangeable lens system cameras, based on the Micro Four Thirds system. It's being flagged by Panasonic as 'The world's smallest and lightest digital interchangeable lens camera with built-in flash in an artistic flat design'. Now that's a mouthful. Indeed, the GF1 is certainly a good looking and robust camera. Panasonic has made the GF1 35% smaller and 26% lighter than the G1, putting it in-line with the retro-styled Olympus E-P1. But despite the diet, the feature set has beefed out in some areas.
The GF1 can shoot 1280 x 720 high-def video in AVCHD Lite or Motion JPEG format. It also comes with several preset filters in My Colour mode, which really went down a storm with the photography press yesterday where PhotoRadar went hands-on with a pre-production model. In both still and movie mode, you can choose from Expressive, Retro, Pure, Elegant, Monochrome, Dynamic Art, and Silhouette (where the end result looks like an HDR exposure with a vignette) presets. These are lots of fun and for beginners may help bypass some fiddly post-production work later on.
The GF1 also inherits the G1's Custom mode, which lets you manually set the colour, brightness and saturation levels. Of course, GF1 comes with Live View, so you can see the effects of these settings before you shoot. The popular film modes seen in the G1 haven't been forgotten about either. There are 9 in the GF1 and you can set the contrast, sharpness and saturation levels for each.
Another impressive new feature is the new Peripheral Defocus mode. This lets you manually select a point where you want the focus pin sharp, then gently softens the focus around it.
The GF1 will be avaliable in red and white, as well as the traditional black and silver, which a Panasonic spokesman says will make the camera "more atttractive to young female users, in addition to more advanced users." Indeed the camera is cetainly beginner friendly, with 16 scene modes and Intelligent Auto. The camera's exposure meter can be displayed in the PASM shooting modes and the correlation between shutter speed and aperture is shown, with a colour-coded warning that alerts users when the settings are not in the proper range.
The slimline yet robust GF1 boasts a 3.0-inch Intelligent LCD with a wide viewing angle and 460,000-dot resolution, which means you can really check the detail and sharpness of your shots when out shooting. Other features include a new Venus Engine HD processer and Dust Reduction System. The GF1 is compatible with an optional Live View Finder (DMW-LVF1), which provides the full-time live view function with 100% field of view regardless of the lens attached.
In addition to the GF1 Panasonic has also announced two new lenses, the LUMIX G 20mm / F1.7 ASPH and LEICA DG MACRO-ELMARIT 45mm / F2.8 ASPH. / MEGA O.I.S.
The LUMIX G 20mm / F1.7 ASPH is a compact and lightweight pancake lens, which complements the GF1's compact design. We've used it with our test camera and found to be incredibly bright. The other new Micro Four Thirds lens, the LEICA DG MACRO-ELMARIT 45mm / F2.8 ASPH. / MEGA O.I.S. has been eagerly awaited. Built to stringent Leica standards it promises exceptional image quality.
The GH1 will be avaliable from early October 2009. We estimate pricing to be similar to that of the Olympus E-P1.
Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, 2nd Sep 2009 at 02:42pm GMT.
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