Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1

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Panasonic was the first to launch a camera for the Micro Four-Thirds lens bayonet which enabled the makers of the Four-Thirds DSLRs Panasonic, Leica and Olympus to make more compact cameras for their Micro Four-Thirds image sensors. This first camera was the Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1, the mirror-less system camera with the high-resolution electronic viewfinder. The company understood that there would be also customers for viewfinderless compact system cameras and introduced further Micro Four-Thirds cameras like the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1. When comparing it to concurrent products of Olympus and Sony it must be admitted that only Panasonic did not forget to add a data setting thumb-wheel for ease of operation.

The GF-1 uses a 12 megapixel sensor which produces images with a maximum resolution of 4000 x 3000 (4:3). A 3 inch LCD with a resolution of 460,000 dots. An optional VLF1 electronic finder is also available. The GF1 can record HD video at 1980 x 720, 30fps and uses the AVCHD format. It uses a monaural microphone. Interfaces include USB 2.0, and HDMI. SD / SDHC cards are used as removable storage. An updated model Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2 was available a year later.