Here you have it, the world's first
micro Four Thirds camera, the Lumix DMC-G1. Panasonic calls it the "world's smallest and lightest digital interchangeable lens camera," a fancy of way of saying it's not a traditional DSLR nor is it a regular point and shoot -- it's something in between. Remember, the micro four-thirds format ditches the internal mirror and prism while maintaining a DSLR-sized sensor -- in this case, we're looking at a new flip-out, 3-inch, high resolution (1.44 million pixels!) Live viewfinder and a 12.1 megapixel Live MOS Sensor. That allows this cam to weigh in at 385-grams (0.85-pounds) and just 20-mm thick. Rounding out the specs are optical image stabilization (MEGA OIS), intelligent ISO, AF tracking, face detection, HDMI output, and intelligent scene selector with Venus Engine HD image processing and a Supersonic Wave Filter dust reduction system under the hood. Pricing will be announced in October. The cats over at
dpreview have a preview model in house if you want a detailed first-look. Trust us, you should.
Update: In Japan, the G1 will go on sale on October 31st. The body alone is expected to cost ¥80,000 (about $750 tax inclusive) on up to ¥120,000 (about $1,200 tax inclusive) with bundled
LUMIX G Vario 45-200mm F4-5.6 MEGA OIS lens.[Via
Digital Camera resource page and
1001noisycameras and
Impress]
Read -- Press Release
Read -- Preview
posted Sep 12th 2008 3:05AM
It's not an SLR at all. It has no lens, no "reflex," as it were.
Crap, I meant mirror...not lens. I r stoopid.
True, which is why no one is calling it an SLR. Not Panasonic (which calls it "the world’s smallest and lightest digital interchangeable lens camera"). Not DP Review. Not even Engadget.
That hand is way to small for a 20mm back..., more like a tiny person mini-me hand...oompa loompa
You changed the picture!!!
Now my comment above just looks stupid, I am so depressed!
Whatever will I do now, my life has no meaning...
"Whatever will I do now, my life has no meaning..."
You could always blog for Engadget. Ohhhh, snap!
I had a much earlier version of the Lumix, and I frickin' love the design. They feel like a serious camera in your hand. Maybe it's because they ripped off the Leica (earlier versions even had "Leica" badged lenses), but they're super fun to use. I don't know how much value you're getting at this price, but cut it down to the $300 range, and I'd be all over one as a supplement to my DSLR.
There's a preview on dpreview.
Looks interesting. It's not quite as small as I had hoped, but I think the idea of a non-SLR interchangeable lens system makes sense.
The high-res viewfinder shows they realize what it'll take to compete with SLRs. And the fact that it can preview shutter speed (motion blur) shows that there are reasons to prefer an electronic image over a mirror box.
I still think it needs to be a bit smaller, like a Leica. That will draw the photojournalists in.
It looks like a good option as an SLR introduction, but at that price it does seem a little silly - obviously some people don't want it, but i would rather buy a D40 or similar at that price (especially given how expensive it'll be in the UK).
Does it have in camera lens focus or does it rely on the USM/HSM/SWM type system?
I like it muchly.
Well, it seems like some of the concerns of not having a mirror have been addressed somewhat, according to dpreview. The contrast detect AF (vs phase detect) seems to be much quicker than normal, although it couldn't be as good as a good lens+DSLR. This is much better than the normal "a second or two" AF seen on most compacts (vs "near-instant" on DSLRs). The viewfinder is also a first, with fast refresh, and good resolution, nearly comparable to a DSLR, but still not as good, especially in low light. Both these things make you wonder why they didn't implement something similar, or at least nearly as good, before this, and kept EVFs and AF on compacts in the "abysmally inept" category. Lens choice is ok, thanks to an adapter for fourthirds lenses.
The size, as I commented before, is still not that small. Smaller than the smallest DSLR, but with a lens, it's still a monster compared to a compact. As I recall, the big gripe of many low end DSLRs was that they were *too* small, and couldn't be held comfortably, especially by men. The pinky finger would always fall short of the grip.
There is a downer, in that the sensor is always exposed, vs being only exposed during exposures on a DSLR, and I don't see any dust removal feature. There is also the question of battery life. DSLRs have always been the king of battery life because their sensors are only activated during exposures, vs compacts which have their sensors on all the time. Also strange is that there's no in-body IS.
All in all, it looks like a lot of compromises, although they did seem to achieve some good breakthroughs in AF and EVFs. People will buy it (people will buy anything), but I doubt that it will have a significant market share.
It is a new format that offer more flexibility... The idea is for the swapping of lens, I for one carry a super-zoom and a wide-angle compact, it would be great to combine these into one single decent compact.
The size for lacking of a hand model is hard to judge, but see the copycat design from Sony-DSC-H1 down to the hand grip jog dial (very useful feature I must add), high resolution LCD, decent pixel count, HDMI output... San the garish red edition, Looks pretty good so far.
All good points, they should make a rangefinder or something close to Sigma DP9 using this technology. This is where it will be in the end - the compacts - and not so much in smaller dSLRs. Looking at Nikon D60 and Canon 1000D, both are as small and as usable SLRs can get, without crippling it with EVF/Contast Detect AF.
Another problem is the market for this Panasonic - who is this for? People with super zooms, compacts digicams or SLRs users wanting a smaller backup? Super zoom users already have live view, are smaller with a greater zoom range then micro 4/3, and cheaper. SLR owners who want smaller back ups? Back up to what - Panasonic SLRs? How many users is that? Now we finally have compact digicam users, and first time digital buyers. This is probably the target market, but debatable how many mom/dad types would walk into the store and come away with a micro 4/3... I can just see the sales person going "well actually this is like a digital SLR but without a mirror box and uses contrast detect focus as opposed to phase detect, minus the optical viewfinder which is replaced with an EVF..." ugh...
I think they said it had the same SSWF system in the current Olympuses and Panasonics
Correct, Shaun. The Micro Four Thirds standard specifies SSWF.
I love the way the internet is eroding the old US units of measure.
Yes, inch-by-inch the un-fathom-able US system moves over to the miles better metric units. Tally-ho!
Are our units not from Britain anyway?
And all we use anymore is really miles, gallons, and feet/inches when measuring people. Maybe cups.
But really, in most applications the US is metric. Then again, I'm mostly involved with the science and art world (Europe is hip, dog).
The "U.S. system," if you wanna call it that, is very counter-intuitive, and in many ways, impractical. I think Americans just don't want to use a "French" system, like the Systeme Internationale (the metric system, as it's often called). ;)
BTW, just three countries in the world have not yet officially adopted the SI: the good ol' US of A, Liberia, and Myanmar (Burma). Now THAT'S exclusive (if not exactly elite) company!
"And all we use anymore is really miles, gallons, and feet/inches when measuring people. Maybe cups."
Most of those units never used to be used when measuring people!
I don't understand what the fuss is all about. Converting to metric is easy, just double it and add thirty.
@johnzilla
That's a joke, right?
@loosely_coupled
Yes, circa 1980. Famous SNL skit by Rick Moranis and Doug Thomas as "Bob and Doug McKenzie in The Great White North". At least, I thought it was famous.
As in, "there are 42 metric beers in a six pack".
Maybe I'm just old. They even had an album featuring Geddy Lee.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_and_Doug_McKenzie
But back on topic ... this is big news in the digicam world, a proper step-change in functionality rather than the usual incremental improvements.
Well done Panny!
Pity this is a Panasonic, can't wait for Micro APS-C from Nikon or Canon.
Why the pity? It's a step forward, especially for the market and this will make, if Nikon/Canon have any intention, to branch out into the micro 4/3rd market with sensible pricing to functionality. Just because it's not the big 2 brand don't mean it's pants.
@ Colin
It's a pity because 4/3 sensor has a smaller dynamic range, opposed to say APS-C. Secondly, I like Nikon lenses (and Canon ones aren't too shabby :)), especially wide angles and primes. But I am not knocking this in any way, it is revolutionary in its own right.
> Secondly, I like Nikon lenses (and Canon ones aren't too shabby :))
If you have collection of lens, then the (imaginary uAPS-C) product is likely not for your.
The whole point is that not only body is smaller, but also new lenses for the format are smaller too.
And thanks to proper branding and consistent feature set, consumers would not get confused over what lens on what camera has what feature - what is pretty much state of affairs on Nikon/Canon side. As newcomer to DSLR, I choose Oly & FourThirds solely because I got tired reading all the FAQs about D40 and lenses you can/cannot use on it (and D40 still remains better choice for DSLR newcomers due to price/performance ratio).
To people who want to get a taste of DSLR quality - but do not want to carry around a heavy bag full of equipment - the compacts are pretty perfect start to learn photography. Though the price at the moment is really ugly ($750) and would hardly appeal to anybody, except professionals who often like to buy /interesting/ stuff.
@Ihar, without derailing too much, this is why I'm still giving money to Pentax... All of my lenses that I've collected from years and years of shooting on a wide variety of Pentax 35mm cameras are supported on all of their DSLRs... Even the ancient screw-mount lenses are compatible with the same K adaptor I've been using forever. I haven't felt a need to switch to any other system because they've always stayed compatible.
That said, the micro four thirds system is the first thing in a while that's given me even the slightest desire to switch...
If they made an adapter to allow M39 lenses to be mounted on the body, I'd buy one in a heartbeat. I love the classic Leica/FED image look, and would kill for a digital rangefinder, but the only two ones on the market (Leica M8 and Epson R-D1) are both out of my price range.
Nice thought, but the trick is the light from wide angle rangefinder lenses make a very oblique angle with the sensor, more so than old SLR lenses. This is a real problem, causing falloff (remember the M8s microlenses). The u3/4 system wont have the problem because the lenses are specifically designed for it, rather than for 35mm film.
Great Looking camera (in Black, not sure about the red one), great niche?
I'm afraid they lost the whole idea of being "micro" after making the name...
I always thought it would fit into a pocket. But I don't have industry-sized pockets, do you?
I thought it was going to be in a compact camera as well. I just got the TZ5 two weeks ago and thought I would have to return it quick to get this great new camera that was the same size as that, but with a huge sensor.
I like this camera though and will have to break down and buy a full size camera one day for use when I don't need to hide the fact I have a camera or when walking/hiking/kayaking/biking and don't want to have to take a huge camera (even the G1 is too big).
I'd wait for Zuiko's Pancake (25mm (= 50mm)) being remade for u4/3 :)
Pancake got its name for being very slim lens - only 20mm deep.
Though I know from my own experience how fast people get addicted to zooms and Pancake is so slim in part because it is not zoom lens.
The point is that you can have a pancake mounted for all the casual photos - and it would fit any (large) pocket perfectly. And for cases of something more complicated you can always carry in a bag one/more extra zoom lens.
Wow, who would get this one?! It`s the size of an Olympus E420, but it`s still a crappy digital camera and not an SLR.
Yeah, you are right, apart from the fact that it's smaller, it's good, and it was designed not to be a SLR.
It may have been designed to make pizza, I don`t care. Fact is, the external lens is useless with a crappy digital camera CCD chip.
> ... crappy digital camera CCD chip.
From RTFA: "a 12.1 megapixel Live MOS Sensor" - pretty much the same sensor as in Oly E-3.
The point of u4/3 was to reuse the sensor. That's why in the name "Four Thirds" remained.
Compared to normal compacts - 1/1.8" or 1/2.5" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge-coupled_device#Sensor_sizes ) - the camera is really high-end.
I grew up around photography. I even had a dark room in my family's basement. My old man did months of research before getting a nice digi, and he went with a Panasonic FZ-30. Why? Because the worst part about a DSLR is the SLR. If you have the technology to make the mechanical obsolete, or at least less appealing, why use mechanical systems. It'd be like choosing a 64gig mechanical hard drive for your laptop when a 64gig SSD is on sale for the same price.
Based on the reviews I've read for the FZ-30 and FZ-50 on sites such as DPReview, I expect really big things from this camera.
If its going to be $750 for just the body why not buy a dslr? You can get dslr bodies for cheaper then this.
For $750 you get:
The smallest and lightest body that supports interchangeable lenses.
Yet, with a viewfinder as large as a 35mm camera (or a "Full Frame" DSLR), and brighter than in normal situations due to its ability to gain.
A flip and tilt back display.
Quiet operation (no noisy mirror swing).
If none of this is important to you, then by all means, get a DSLR.
The lack of SLR functionality is not a feature - in 99% of situations, no one would use a digital viewfinder if an optical one was present.
It looks like it would compete with the prosumer compacts but really there isn't much point with that entire product line. They're still too large to fit into something like a jacket pocket and there isn't much of a price gap with entry level DSLRs which provide much better functionality. And today's DSLRs are so idiot proof that anyone could operate one without knowing a single thing about photography.
I also like the buzzwords... "intelligent ISO"? Cameras started having built in exposure meters in the 1970s... the effect of ISO, shutter speed and aperture on exposure is trivially easy to calculate. The only way it can live up to this and still have some meaning is if it can accurately identify scenes dominated by bright objects such as snow and compensate accordingly - although normally you'd change the shutter speed before messing with the ISO speed. ISO speed logic is simple, keep it as low as possible because high ISO = high noise.
@invincible
While the optical viewfinder right now is preferable to EVF, there is no reason to believe that this would remian the case in a few years from now. Already we see atleast two advantages of EVF on this camera:
1) it has a magnification of 1.4x (or 0.7x in terms of FF) making it almost as big as a 5D viewfinder. This is not something which would not have been feasible using an optical viewfinder with a 4/3rds sensor (E-420 or D40 etc are no competition here)
2) Display does not go dark when you use Depth of Field preview
3) Viewfinder magnification linked to focus ring - i.e when you turn the manual focus ring, the area around the selected focus point would automatically become magnified, making critical focusing much easier. Again optical viewfinders dont have an answer to this
Plus you have the "shutter speed preview" - not esential but just an indication of new possibilities which open up once you move things into digital. And things move rapidly in digital land so the EVFs could soon reach a lvel of resoltion and clarity which surpasses the optical viewfinders.
Other great advantage of this camera over competing SLRs:
21 focus points covering almost the whole screen or 1 focus point which can be placed anywhere on the screen!! - I use a Canon 30D and those 9 points packed closely in the center are pathetic in comparison
So whether this particular camera is earth-shattering or not, it is starting in a direction which would likely be the future of this industry
I actually love the design and the color.
Are they allowed to use RED?
Why not ?
Did RED patented red? :)
DSLRs get better quality pictures because of the sensor technology, not the prism and mirror.
Companies can afford to cram the latest digital tech into DSLRs because they know their target demographics are willing to spend the money, no compromises.
Apparently nobody thought of putting DSLR sensors into a regular digital camera box, until now.
Actually, no, there is a large DSLR-ish sensor in the Sigma DP1, released last year. It's also actually compact, and not DSLR-like size like superzooms or this Panasonic. Too bad it didn't get very far, as the results weren't very good.
Panasonic is doing something pretty strange with this camera, so I'm not surprised at the unconventional color. However, it does clash with the fact that they did marketing research which led to them keeping the SLR-ish form, because people wanted something they could recognize.
People seem to get stuck on the "WYSIWYG" mentality of the EVF, as in they want to see blur, rather than actually seeing what's happening in order to properly frame the picture and push the shutter at the right time. It's pretty easy to judge if you're going to get image blur, just look at the shutter speed and focal length.
But one thing that I like about this camera is the leap in advancement of EVFs and contrast detect AF. If Panasonic can do it, then I have do doubt that this or similar tech will make its way into other compacts, and that will make using compacts *much* more enjoyable.
It's the sensor tech and sensor size, but also the fact that the sensor is not always exposed to light and turned on all the time. SLRs only expose the sensor for a short time, this prevents heat from building up. Heat = noise.
Yet another horrible Panasonic camera.
Argh! No IR sensor for a wireless remote! Argh!
Not small enough for me. I want a pocket sized point and shoot with something like a 35-70, 70-300, a wide angle and a fish eye. Is this physicaly possible? I would think so.
Doesn't applying the interchangeable lens idea sort of defeat the whole idea of pocket size camera? You're not really going to be able to fit your camera and lenses together in your pocket. The other problem is trying to get 12X of zoom range out of something that small. You're going to end up with all kinds of distortion.
Wait a year. Panasonic already stated they could make it smaller but in doing so, remember you'll have to eliminate so bloat.
For instance, you could get rid of the peer-through EVF and just use the back display, that gets rid of a lot of bulk right there. Making that back display flush to the body (not pivot and tilt) also reduces size. Get rid of the hand grip or drastically reduce it to, say, one like the DMC-LX3 and you're getting really close to pocket size. Snap on the upcoming 20mm f/1.7 pancake they have on their roadmap (2009) and I think you'll have it.
But for now, they want a full-featured whiz-bang camera to compete with the medium-range DSLR market looking for something smaller than what's being offered.
Also, Olympus should be releasing their models next year, too.
@ehisforadam
Actually I think it makes sense to have interchangebale lenses in this case for following reasons:
1) Even if you buy only one lens, you could decide what is the range and speed that you need. Consider 3 different types of point and shoots: Canon S5 with a 12x zoom, Canon G9 with shorter zoom but better lens AND better sensor, and upcoming FX3 with a 24-60mm 2.0-2.8 lens. Each serves users with different requirements. Instead of making a micro 4/3rd camera with a fixed lens thus fixing its target users, why not let the user decide which type of lens is best for their needs, even if thats the only lens that they ever buy.
2) It is easier to make an "all-purpose" lens with small sensors - my minolta A200 had a lens which was optically superb despite being a 28-200mm f/2.8 zoom (35mm equivalent off course) (and the camera still cost only $450 when new). A lens like that on a 4/3rd body would be either not so great optically or very expensive or maybe both (and pretty large as well). Add to that the fact that macro like capabilities are piece-of-cake for P&S cameras - you really can't match all of that in a single lens with this larger format.
3) Camera bodies become obsolete quickly these days but lenses dont. A good micro 4/3rd lens would cost atleast a few hundred dollars, why not keep that lens and use it with your next body instead of throwing it away when the body becomes old. A case in point is Sony R1, a fixed lens camera with a APS-C sensor. Its 24-120 lens was considered to be a gem which was alone worth the price of the camera (close to $900 if I remember correctly). But an R1 owner can't use that great lens anymore once they move to a newer camera.
The dilema is that if you just want to do some point and shoot photography you really don't care about having a true optical viewfinder. However if you are doing real serious photography you need a true optical viewfinder.
Sorry but even with a 2-4X zoom to help with the manual focus using an EVF it still isn't good enough in a 12 megapixel camera. Even if it looks like the image is in focus it may not be. You also have to fiddle with the focus ring for a much longer time with an EVF to get proper focus.
With true optical viewfinders you can recognize proper focus almost instantly because you are looking at something in much higher definition than any screen can reproduce. In order to see accurate focus of a 12mp image you would need a 23" monitor attached to the lens. Sorry but a 1 million pixel EVF can't reproduce that.
In the last photoshoot for my company I got 3 DVDs full of images, about 450 images, and out of that I could only use 10. Nearly every photo was out of focus. I am sure the photographer was using the live preview on his new DSLR instead of the viewfinder. He just trusted the autofocus of the camera so I got plenty of pictuers with a belt buckle in focus or the hand in front of the face instead of the face.
While this camera may be a great piece of equipment it fills a void that doesn't have any active people looking for it. Maybe with a pancake lens so it can fit in a purse.
"While this camera may be a great piece of equipment it fills a void that doesn't have any active people looking for it. Maybe with a pancake lens so it can fit in a purse."
This is exactly not true. It fills a void that does, in fact, have a good number of people looking for it. There's no such thing as a perfect camera for everyone, but I think people should stop thinking "not perfect for me" is the same as "not perfect for anyone."
Long live Olympus, Canon, and Nikon.
The micro 4/3rds Olympus should be announced very soon...
If they would attach a non-removable lens with ring focusing and the range of the Z 28, Panasonic could not keep up with the demand.
Hi, I have set up a camera reviews database website, I call it dprGuru.com
Just added links to the dpreview.com and imaging-resource.com Lumix G1 product previews to the database, you're welcome to see at http://www.dprguru.com/?model=779512606
Hopefully they will post detailed reviews soon, and we will update the links (anyone can recommend links to new reviews, actually) at dprGuru.com