Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1
November 18th, 2008
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1 has made history as the first non-SLR digital camera to sport interchangeable lenses. After all the talk about the Micro Four Thirds Standard shrinking down the size of shooters, we didn’t really find the G1 much smaller than the Olympus E-420, which is currently the world’s smallest dSLR. However, the Panasonic’s profile is slimmer. What we really like about the G1 would be its displays. The 3-inch swiveling LCD gave good representation of the scene and the high-resolution electronic viewfinder redefined what EVFs are capable of. Although the screens were slightly laggy under dim lighting, they performed exceptionally well in daylight situations.
The Lumix DMC-G1 is almost indistinguishable from other dSLRs despite Panasonic’s attempts to differentiate it from that class. Its rationale for this design is that the company’s survey found that consumers still preferred traditional designs. Hence the G1 was styled like a dSLR, right down to the handgrip and the faux prism hump which now houses the Live View Finder.
As the Micro Four Thirds Standard does not require any mirror mechanisms, the optics to sensor distance is reduced by 50 percent. This sounds like it could probably slim down the camera a lot, but in reality it is just a tad more petite than the Olympus E-420, which is currently the world smallest and lightest dSLR.
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