Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1

Lumix G1 with an adapted manual-focus Meyer lens (Image rights)

images by Uwe Kulick (Image rights)

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1 is a mirror-less digital system camera and Panasonic's first camera built around the Micro Four Thirds format co-developed with Olympus.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC G1 is a 12.1 megapixel digital system camera for interchangeable lenses of the Mico 4/3 system. It is the first in its class from Panasonic, and in a very real sense, the first in its kind from any manufacturer. That means that it has a high-resolution electronic viewfinder showing the actual image caught by the image sensor. The finder has an ocular with diopter-correction facility. Behind the finder optics is a 1.400.000 Pixel extra display. The common 460.000 Pixel digicam display in the camera back offers also high resolution, and it is tilt- and turnable. The camera has a moveable autofocus area.

The camera delivers fine imaging results. With appropriate diopter setting the finder image is sharp enough for exact focusing. Sometimes that kind of finder is a bit slow when accomodating to fast changing light or focus. Thus an optical finder still has an advantage. But for the amateur market it's now cheaper to produce "100%-viewfinders" of system cameras the electronical way instead in the opto-mechanical way of SLRs and DSLRs.

Further reading

• Panasonic Lumix G1 Review by Simon Joinson, Lars Rehm, Phil Askey, Richard Butler at Digital Photography Review
• Lumix G1 at Olypedia - In German