Panasonic Updates Micro Four Thirds Camera Lineup

 
This week, Panasonic added two new cameras, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-G10 and the Lumix DMC-G2, and one lens, to their Micro Four Thirds System lineup. The Micro Four Thirds System offers DSLR-comparable performance in a smaller, lighter, interchangeable lens system camera. Panasonic was the first to introduce a Micro Four Thirds camera, the Lumix G1, a little over a year ago, with Olympus introducing their first, the E-P1, about 7 months later. The G2 takes the original G1 platform and adds a touchscreen display and HD video. The second camera, the Lumix G10, is an entry-level Micro Four Thirds camera with a built-in viewfinder (EVF electronic viewfinder). The new Panasonic cameras add to the growing momentum of Micro Four Thirds and other mirrorless system cameras like the Samsung NX10 and the concept camera Sony announced at PMA in late February.

The new Panasonic Lumix G2 builds on the original G1 platform with the same 12-megapixel Live MOS sensor, an electronic viewfinder and a tilt-swivel LCD display. The G2 adds 720p AVCHD Lite video and a 3-inch, 460k-dot, touchscreen LCD display, making it the first interchangeable lens camera to have a touchscreen LCD. Touchscreen mobile phone users might be familiar with some of the new “touch-control” LCD features. You can take pictures and control auto focus just by tapping on the LCD display, zoom in to check focus and browse saved photos by touching and dragging. For those who aren’t comfortable with the touchscreen features, everything can also be controlled via standard touchpad and menu controls.

Besides HD video and the touchscreen display, the G2 also has Panasonic’s excellent iA Intelligent Auto shooting mode, a dedicated video capture button and Intelligent Resolution technology, an advanced image processing system that’s supposed to deliver better image quality in stills and video. It looks like a great camera for people who want DSLR control and quality in a smaller package. That could be a pro who wants to travel light or a family who doesn’t want the size, hassle and cost of an actual DSLR camera.

Panasonic says the new Lumix G10 is, “the world’s lightest digital interchangeable lens camera with a viewfinder,” that viewfinder being an EVF (electronic viewfinder). Aside from that it looks like a pretty basic, entry-level Micro Four Thirds camera. Pricing for the new cameras hasn’t been announced yet but it’s a safe bet that the G10 will have a lower price than previous Panasonic G-Series cameras in order to compete with the recent, $599 Olympus E-PL1 Micro Four Thirds camera.

It’s not immediately clear how the new Lumix G Vario 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 Mega O.I.S. zoom lens differs from Panasonic’s original 14-45mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens, which also has an aspherical element and Mega O.I.S. image stabilization. I took a close look at the specs of the original kit lens and it has the same number of aperture blades (7), the same minimum focus distance (30cm) and I’m sure it also has the same f/22 minimum aperture. They don’t explicitly say it in the press release, but it looks like the difference between the two lenses is a new internal auto focus mechanism:

 
That would suggest the new lens, like the 14-140mm lens that came with the GH1, is designed for fast, silent auto focus operation – especially continuous AF in the movie mode. If that’s the case, it’s a solid redesign for the kit lens. Of course, we’ll have to actually use the lens to see what kind of a performance improvement it delivers. But better auto focus performance is always a good thing. And an internal focusing system that doesn’t telescope out when you focus is nice.

Since the summer of 2008, when the Micro Four Thirds announcement was made, Panasonic and Olympus have been pushing the new format hard, introducing a total of eight Micro Four Thirds cameras, including the two just announced by Panasonic. That’s a lot of cameras in a very short period of time. With Samsung and Sony now offering their own mirrorless compact, changeable lens camera systems (Sony’s is still in the concept stage), the category is hot right now. It’s the most interesting camera tech and marketing competition to watch at the moment. For more on what’s currently happening with Micro Four Thirds and mirrorless system cameras, read my Sony Compact Alpha Announcement And EVIL Cameras PMA report.

Panasonic Lumix G2 Announcement >>
Panasonic Lumix G10 Announcement >>
Panasonic Lumix G Vario 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 Mega O.I.S. Lens Announcement >>

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