Panasonic announces Lumix G1 Micro Four Thirds SLR
Panasonic has announced the 12.1 megapixel Lumix G1. The digital SLR is the first camera by Panasonic to use their Micro Four Thirds format.
Panasonic as part of a partnership with Olympus created the Micro Four Thirds format. Olympus released their first camera using the format in August. Micro Four Thirds is a format designed to allow interchangeable lenses to be used on smaller camera bodies. This is achieved by eliminating the moving mirror and using smaller lenses in general. The camera will have two lenses available when it first ships one 14-45mm lens and one 45-200mm lens.
The camera also has Live View, something that we’ve seen pop up in a lot of digital cameras this season. Live View allows photographs to use their cameras LCD to frame shots rather than their cameras viewfinder. The Lumix has a 60 frame per second refresh rate with the Live View, which will take away some of the screen stuttering that has been present in other Live View cameras.
The Lumix G1 will be available in traditional black as well as the less traditional blue and burgundy. No pricing or availability information has been announced for the camera, but prices are expected to be around $800.
One huge downside of this camera is going to be lens compatibility. Most professional photographers have worked up an arsenal of lenses to use with their camera, while they may be willing to switch camera bodies, switching camera bodies and your entire lens library as well is quite an undertaking, not to mention an expensive endeavor.
A smaller SLR could be a fantastic thing to have however, especially for events and trips where you’re carting your camera around for several hours, it could be nice to take even a few pounds off the load.
How many of you would be interested in buying one of these?
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September 15th, 2008
I currently have a Sony Alpha 700 and several lenses. Most of my photographic efforts occur during active vacations, hiking and cycling. I used the Sony for a 2 week hiking trip in the Canadian Rockies this and found it to be very heavy and cumbersome. For a trip to Newfoundland later in the summer, I left it at home and took a Canon G9 instead which worked exceptionally well.
The Lumix G1 looks like a perfect compromise for my type of photography and I am seriously considering trading in my Sony and lenses for this system.