Earlier today Panasonic announced several new products for the upcoming photography exhibit Photokina 2014 that will open tomorrow in Germany. The products include 2 camera, 2 lenses and a hybrid smartphone/camera – here are the details.
Panasonic had some big announcements today – two micro 4/3 cameras – one with exchangeable lenses and a compact camera as well as 2 lenses and one macro lens announcement under development. Lets start with the LX100 – a compact camera with the first micro 4/3 sensor, 4K video capability and a few other handy features.
The new compact LX100 – small size large sensor
Some of the features of the LX100:
- Sensor: 16.8MP micro 4/3″ Multi-Aspect MOS.
- Lens: Leica DC Vario-Summilux f/1.7-2.8 with a focal length of 24-75mm (35mm Equivalent).
- EVF: high res 2,764k dot.
- LCD: 3.0″ 921k-dot screen.
- Video: 4K Ultra HD Video at 30/24 fps in MP4 (up to 60p in
- Full HD Video at 60fps in MP4 or AVCHD
- Manual Control Rings and dials.
- WIFI/NFC (with an app).
- External Flash (included).
- Price: $900 (starting November 2014).
Ian Cook talk to Jessops on the LX100
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6mWeF3wNTY[/youtube]
Apart from the LX100, Panasonic also introduced a mirrorless camera – Lumix GM5 – a successor to the tiny Lumix GM1. The new version introduces a viewfinder and a few other nifty features but keeps the body size very small indeed (although there are some drawbacks this such as battery life).
The new tiny GM5 – with an EVF
Some of the features of the GM5:
- Sensor: 16MP micro 4/3″ MOS.
- EVF: high res 1.1m-dot.
- LCD: touch 3.0″ 921k-dot screen.
- Continuous shooting – 5.8 fps.
- Shutter – up to 1/16,000 sec (with electronic shutter).
- WIFI (with an app).
- Battery life: 220 CIPA.
- Price: $900 (starting November 2014).
Official Panasonic GM5 video
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV2lMlKKKPA[/youtube]
Apart from the two cameras, Panasonic also announced a new hybrid smartphone-camera called Lumix CM1. This interesting device is Panasonic most recent attempt at a high quality Android based camera phone. Unlike the not really attractive Nokia devices (with their Windows Mobile Phone OS) or the Samsung Galaxy cameras with their small sensors, the Lumix CM1 tries a different approach – a large sensor in a modern body with full 4.4 Android OS and some real modern horsepower to make it all work together.
The new Lumix CM1 – is it a smartphone or a camera?
Official Panasonic video on the Lumix CM1
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJiJfGY_tLA[/youtube]
Some of the features of the CM1:
- Sensor: 20MP 1″.
- LCD: touch 4.7 with 1080p resolution.
- OS: Android 4.4.
- 2GB RAM.
- Chip: 2.3Ghz quad-core Qualcomm 801 (plus Venus engine for the camera).
- WIFI/NF/LTE/BT 4.0.
- Thickness – 21mm (thicker than most smartphones on the market).
- Weight: 204 grams.
- Built in memory – 16GB (with a microSD slot).
- Physical buttons for taking picture/flash.
- 4K video capability (but only up to 15fps).
- Price: $900.
Apart from all the cameras (and hybrid cameras), Panasonic also announced 3 new (and upcoming) lenses. Lets start with the upcoming. Panasonic announced that it is developing a 30mm f/2.8 macro lens (no other details are known at this stage).
The two new lenses that were actually announced today are:
- Lumix G Vario 35-100mm F4.0-5.6 ASPH Mega O.I.S – an inexpensive zoom lens (24-70mm equivalent in 35mm) with 7 aperture blades, 12 elements in 9 groups, min focus distance of 90 cm and a weight of only 135 grams. Price will be $400.
- Lumix G 14mm F2.5 II ASPH – a small wide pancake lens (28 mm in 35mm equivalent),. The lens has 6 elements in 5 groups (including 3 asperical elements). The min focus distance is 18 cm and it only weight 55 grams. Price is also $400.
Iddo Genuth 
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