Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1 First Thoughts

Providing a larger image sensor in a compact camera body has, in the past year, arguably become the holy grail of consumer camera development. It seems that all of the major camera manufacturers are working on a solution to this technical problem, or are talking about a solution, or are talking about why they're not working on a solution. In each case, the quest for DSLR image quality in a smaller, more accessible camera has become almost all-consuming in the build up to the 2008 holiday season.

Panasonic was one of the early adopters on this bandwagon, joining Olympus in the development of a Micro Four Thirds standard that specifies squeezing a Four Thirds format DSLR imager into a space requiring about half the depth of the full-size Four Thirds mount. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1 is the first actual camera to come to market taking advantage of this development, and when Panasonic called to see if we wanted to spend a day shooting a pre-production G1 in conjunction with the European launch of the camera in Cologne, Germany, we weren't about to turn down the opportunity. I had spent some hands-on time with another pre-production Lumix G1 prior to this week's shooting event, and have already made my opinions about the G1 as a concept clear. The only question remaining in my mind is whether the actual camera lives up to this concept's lofty aims.

David Rasnake

more : digitalcamerareview