Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2

In summary

An update to the popular G1 Lumix camera with a new touch-screen interface plus easier video recording.On its release this month, Panasonic’s Lumix DMC-G2 will be the world’s first system camera with touch-control shooting and playback. Offered in black, blue and red, the new model retains many of the features of its predecessor, including the 12.1-megapixel (effective) Live MOS sensor and 1,440,000-dot Live View Finder. However, it’s quite a bit cheaper and, unlike the G1, it can be used for video capture, where it offers a top resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. . . [more]

Full review

On its release this month, Panasonic’s Lumix DMC-G2 will be the world’s first system camerawith touch-control shooting and playback. Offered in black, blue and red, the new model retains many of the features of its predecessor, including the 12.1-megapixel (effective) Live MOS sensor and 1,440,000-dot Live View Finder. However, it’s quite a bit cheaper and, unlike the G1, it can be used for video capture, where it offers a top resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels.

Angled front view of the new Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2. (Source: Panasonic.)

The articulated, 3-inch LCD monitor sports the same 460,000-dot resolution but the addition of touch-screen capabilities adds a new dimension for users. The touch-screen is particularly well integrated into the camera’s control system. It’s particularly useful for focusing, where the touch control works well with AF point selection and focus tracking.

In this mode, simply touch the screen and the DMC-G2 locks on and automatically follows the subject as it moves, adjusting the focus and exposure settings accordingly. In addition, when the camera is in iA (Intelligent Auto) mode (which you can switch quickly to via a dedicated button on the top panel), simply touch the subject on the LCD and the G2 automatically selects the optimal scene mode.

The colour Live View Finder is the same as the G1’s, with 1,440,000 dots plus 100% field of view coverage. It has a refresh rate of 60 fps and provides excellent detail and colour. It also displays the same controls as the main LCD monitor, enabling users to change camera settings without having to lower the camera from the eye.
Build and Ergonomics
Superficially, the G2’s body looks and feels a lot like its predecessor. It’s exactly the same size but, interestingly, weighs nine grams less without battery and card. Build quality is similar to the G1 and the new camera’s body has the same smooth, rubber-like coating as its predecessor. The moulded hand grip has been slightly restyled but still has an adequate notch for the second finger.

Front view comparisons of the Lumix DMC-G1 (left) and the new DMC-G2 (right). (Source: Panasonic.)

A complementary rear thumb-grip moulding is located just below the push-and-turn dial, which has been shifted from the front to the rear panel, where it’s operated with the thumb instead of the second finger (as in the G1). Depending on the shooting mode, pushing the dial in adjusts exposure compensation or switches between aperture and shutter speed settings.

Rear view comparisons of the Lumix DMC-G1 (left) and the new DMC-G2 (right). (Source: Panasonic.)

A new video button sits just behind the shutter button, replacing the Q.Menu button. Pressing this button starts and stops video recording, using whatever resolution has been set via the camera’s menu (the default is 720p in AVCHD Lite format). The Film Mode button on the G1 has also been superseded by a dedicated button that switches the camera to iA mode.

Top comparisons of the Lumix DMC-G1 (left) and the new DMC-G2 (right). (Source: Panasonic.)

The other controls on the right side of the top panel are essentially unchanged but the focus controls on the left side have been improved with the addition of an AF point selection setting to the main dial and a new subsidiary dial for selecting between AF-C, AF-S and manual focusing modes.

Panasonic has added a stereo microphone connector to the new model by making the remote control socket do double duty. However, it only accepts 2.5mm plugs. In contrast, the separate card compartment on the G1 has been taken away; cards are now inserted into a slot in the battery compartment (a less convenient arrangement).
Touch Screen Controls
The specifications of the LCD monitor are essentially unchanged from the G1, although the touch screen interface is new and provided by a pressure-sensitive overlay. A stylus is supplied with the camera for using this screen but it’s just as easy – and probably safer – to operate the touch controls with a fingertip – provided your fingers aren’t too large and you’re reasonably dextrous.

When you switch the camera on, two icons appear on the right side of the screen. One opens the Q.Menu, while the other triggers the Touch Shutter mode (which sets the camera to focus on the subject and take a quick shot when it’s tapped). Both functions can be switched off via the camera’s menu.

The content of the Q. (Quick) Menu is essentially the unchanged from the G1. Pressing the dedicated button on the rear panel displays an array of icons across the top and bottom of the LCD. Sub-menus for each parameter drop down as you move from one to the next using either the arrow pad or the front dial control.

Using the Q.Menu function by touch is straightforward. Simply tap lightly on one of the icons ranged across the top or bottom of the screen and select the required mode by tapping on the required icon in the drop-down sub-menu. Adjusting white balance this way is particularly effective because the selected mode appears as a preview showing its effect on subject colours.
The main benefit of the touch screen is for focusing the lens. Four AF modes are available: AF tracking, 1-area AF, 1-area AF in Face Detection and Multi-area AF. They’re mostly self-explanatory. In 1-area AF in Face Detection mode, face detection is engaged but you can over-ride it by touching the screen to focus on a selected part of the subject, such as the subject’s eyes or an object in front of or behind the subject.
In Multi-area AF the camera divides the 23 AF areas into nine groups, any of which can be selected by touch. The camera will then automatically select the ‘best’ area to focus upon and the cursor will display this point within the selected range.

Regardless of whether you’re shooting stills or video, you can touch a spot on the screen and the lens will focus on it. In manual focus mode, pressing down a little magnifies the selected area five times. Icons on the screen allow this magnified area to be doubled to 10x, if required, or stepped between 5x and 10x when touched.
In iA (Intelligent Auto) mode, the appropriate scene pre-set is also selected automatically, ensuring the optimal focus and exposure for the subject. In the other modes, the G2’s touch screen lets you adjust the aperture, shutter speed and exposure compensation by simply sliding your finger over the screen. You can also fine-tune white balance adjustments across two axes and apply colour temperature adjustments via the touch screen.

The touch screen also allows users to move the vertical and horizontal guidelines and histogram overlay with a touch. This feature is useful when shots must be framed precisely. It’s also handy if a guideline or the histogram is blocking your view of part of the subject. In both cases, the overlay can be simply dragged to another part of the screen.
Several touch-control operations make playback quick and easy, even for novice users. Touch-Scroll Playback enables users to scroll through images by simply sliding a finger across the LCD. Touch-Zoom Playback enables part of the image to be enlarged up to 16x when it is touched.

Other Controls
Aside from the relocation of certain buttons, most button-based controls are the same as in previous G-series cameras. We’ve covered the majority of them in our review of the G1.

One exception is the shifting of Film Mode selection to the left side button on the arrow pad. Options include, Standard, Dynamic, Smooth, Nature, Nostalgic and Vibrant for colour and Standard, Dynamic and Smooth for B&W. The two ‘My Film’ memories for saving your own preferred adjustments remain but there are now three ‘Multi Film’ modes for capturing up to three shots at a time, changing the film setting each time the shutter is released.

Other functions accessed via the arrow pad include the ISO and white balance sub-menus plus the Fn (function) button. You can register one of the following functions to this button via the Custom menu: focus area, aspect ratio, quality, metering mode, iExposure, guide line, recording area or remaining display.

In the default mode, pressing the Fn button controls focus area selection and displays a yellow square on the screen. This screen can be moved about with your fingertip or by using the arrow pad buttons. A line bar on the right side of the screen lets you adjust its size (four settings are provided).
Sensor and Image Processing
The 4/3-type, 12.1-megapixel Live MOS sensor in the DMC-G2 is essentially unchanged from the G1 and details of it can be found in our review of the G1. Coupled to it is a new Venus Engine HD II image processor, which was first used in the Lumix DMC-GH1 camera but was also featured in the GF1. Details of this processor can be found in our review of the G1.

The G2 provides the same range of image sizes for both still pictures and video clips as the GF1. Raw file capture is possible for stills capture at all aspect ratios and for all image size settings. Typical image sizes are shown in the table below.

Aspect ratio	Image Size	Resolution	Fine	Standard
4:3	RAW	4000 x 3000	15.5MB
	L	4000 x 3000	7.3MB	3.6MB
	RAW+JPEG	4000 x 3000	23.3MB	19.7MB
	M	2816 x 2112	4.0MB	2.0MB
	RAW+JPEG	2816 x 2112	19.7MB	17.7MB
	S	2048 x 1536	1.7MB	0.87MB
	RAW+JPEG	2048 x 1536	17.1MB	16.5MB
3:2	RAW	4000 x 2672	14.6MB
	L	4000 x 2672	7.0MB	3.5MB
	RAW+JPEG	4000 x 2672	22.3MB	18.3MB
	M	2816 x 1880	4.0MB	2.0MB
	RAW+JPEG	2816 x 1880	19.0MB	16.5MB
	S	2048 x 1360	1.5MB	0.8MB
	RAW+JPEG	2048 x 1360	16.0MB	15.5MB
16:9	RAW	4000 x 2248	13.5MB
	L	4000 x 2248	6.8MB	3.4MB
	RAW+JPEG	4000 x 2248	20.5MB	17.1MB
	M	2816 x 1584	3.9MB	2.0MB
	RAW+JPEG	2816 x 1584	17.7MB	15.5MB
	S	1920 x 1080	1.1MB	0.6MB
	RAW+JPEG	1920 x 1080	14.6MB	14.2MB
1:1	RAW	2992 x 2992	12.2MB
	L	2992 x 2992	5.4MB	2.7MB
	RAW+JPEG	2992 x 2992	17.7MB	15.1MB
	M	2112 x 2112	2.4MB	1.2MB
	RAW+JPEG	2112 x 2112	14.6MB	13.5MB
	S	1504 x 1504	1.2MB	0.6MB
	RAW+JPEG	1504 x 1504	13.5MB	12.8MB

Video
The addition of video capture is a key feature distinguishing the G2 from its predecessor. Essentially, Panasonic has taken the video functions it introduced with the GF1 and added them to the new camera. Two video recording modes are provided: AVCHD Lite (HD) and Motion-JPEG.

AVCHD Lite, which features MPEG-4/H.264 compression, is used for high-definition video capture with a widescreen (16:9) aspect ratio and resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. Motion-JPEG settings cover both widescreen and standard 4:3 aspect ratios. The table below shows the video settings provided by the G2 plus the amount of video that can be recorded on a 4GB memory card.

Video format	Aspect ratio	Picture Mode	Picture size (pixels)	Frame Rate	Bit rate	Recording time/4GB card
AVCHD Lite	16:9	SH	1280 x 720	60 fps (sensor output is 30 fps)	17 Mbps	30 min. 30 sec.
		H	1280 x 720		13 Mbps	40 minutes
		L	1280 x 720		9 Mbps	60 minutes
Motion JPEG		HD	1280 x 720	30 fps	n.a.	16 min. 30 sec.
		WVGA	848 x 480		n.a.	41 min. 520 sec.
	4:3	VGA	640 x 480		n.a.	43 min. 40 sec.
		QVGA	320 x 240		n.a.	125 minutes

Playback and Software
Playback settings for still pictures are essentially the same as in the GH1 and include the option to play all images, only still images, only motion images, or images tagged as ‘Favourites’. When choosing to play only motion images, AVCHD and Motion JPEG videos can be played separately. The standard play/pause, stop and fast or frame-by-frame forward and rewind controls are provided.

If you’ve recorded still images and video clips on the same memory card, you can play them back as a ‘slideshow’ with seamless transitions between stills and video. If you haven’t added sound bites to still pictures, background music can be added to slideshows, with a choice of Natural, Slow, Swing or Urban themes. The recorded soundtrack takes precedence over added music when video clips are played. You can also switch off the background music.

The Category Play setting lets you play only images taken in certain Scene modes; for example the Portrait category covers shots taken in the Portrait, Soft Skin, Night Portrait and Baby modes. You can add text comments to images in the Title Edit and Text Stamp functions – but only with Small (2048 x 1536 pixels or less) image files. Shooting and travel dates can also be superimposed on selected JPEG images.

Other playback functions include in-camera cropping and resizing, aspect conversion and rotation. DPOF tagging for automated printing is also supported and selected images can be tagged for protection against accidental deletion when memory cards are formatted. Short sound bites can be added to JPEG images via the audio dub setting and you can clear and replace all information relating to face recognition in selected image files.

Owners of Panasonic’s Viera TV sets can playback recorded images and videos by inserting the camera’s memory card in the Image Viewer slot on the TV set or DIGA Blu-ray Disc Player. They can also use the set’s remote control to operate the camera for playback.

The software disk contains PhotoFun Studio 5.0 HD Edition, which is used for acquiring, managing and editing still images. Unfortunately, we were unable to get it to recognise – or open – video clips recorded with the review camera that had been uploaded to our computer. And, since the AVCHD Lite files can’t be opened with QuickTime, we can’t provide any frame grabs showing their quality.

Ichikawa Soft Laboratory’s Silkypix Developer Studio 3.1 SE is provided in Windows and Mac versions for editing raw files. Also on the disk are QuickTime and a USB driver, both for Windows. We’ve already covered these applications in Photo Review’s review of the Lumix DMC-LX3.

The Kit Lens
The G2 will be sold as body only (RRP $1099) and in two kits; one with the Lumix G Vario 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH zoom lens (RRP $1299) and the other with the 14-42mm plus the Lumix G Vario 45-200mm f/4-5.6 ASPH zoom lens (RRP $1599). For our review, we received the Lumix G Vario 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH zoom lens, which is a new addition to Panasonic’s line-up and sells separately for $599.

This compact, lightweight lens consists of 12 elements in 9 groups and includes one aspherical element that minimises distortion at wide angles. Multi-coating reduces internal reflections to minimise flare and ghosting. Covering a popular zoom range equivalent to 28-84mm on a 35mm camera, it includes Panasonic’s MEGA O.I.S. stabilisation system plus an internal focusing design that is driven by a stepping motor, which provides fast and accurate autofocusing plus quiet operation.

Seven diaphragm blades close to a circular aperture for attractive bokeh. This lens will focus to 30 cm, where it provides a maximum magnification of 0.16x. It accepts 52mm filters. Build quality is good for a mostly plastic lens, although the asking price is high for a lens with a plastic mounting plate. The lens is supplied with a petal-shaped lens hood plus front and rear end caps.

The zoom ring is approximately 24 mm wide and carries a ribbed, hard plastic ring roughly 15mm wide that serves as a grip. It turns smoothly with minimal creeping and rotates through a little less than a quarter of a turn.

No zoom lock is provided. It’s not particularly fast, although it has similar light-transmission to the Lumix G Vario 14-45mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. MEGA O.I.S. lens supplied with the G1. As you move the zoom ring, the maximum aperture changes with focal length as follows:

Focal length setting	Maximum aperture
14mm	f/3.5
18mm	f/4.1
25mm	f/4.6
35mm	f/5.3
42mm	f/5.6

The focusing ring, which is located just behind the lens hood mounting, is about 12 mm wide and made from hard plastic with a ribbed, 7mm wide band around its middle. It rotates through 360 degrees wand there are no stops for setting close-up or infinity positions.
Our tests showed this lens to be a better performer than its predecessorat smaller apertures but did not reach the resolution of the 14-45mm lens we reviewed with the CF1. Flatness of field was generally good and we found only a slight degree of barrel distortion at the widest focal length. This had vanished by the 25mm setting and no pincushioning was observable at 45mm. The results of our Imatest testing, based on JPEG files at each aperture and focal length setting are shown in the graph below.

We detected a little coloured fringing – but only when test shots were enlarged to 100% so this probably wouldn’t be evident unless images captured with the camera were enlarged substantially. Lateral chromatic aberration was negligible at most aperture settings, rising to low at the widest apertures and moderate for the longer focal lengths at wide apertures. The graph below shows the results of our Imatest tests.

The lens-based image stabiliser enabled us to shoot hand-held at shutter speeds down to 1/20 second with the 42mm focal length setting. This equates to a little more than one f-stop of shutter speed advantage over an unstabilised lens. The small sensor made it quite difficult to obtain truly out-of-focus backgrounds at wide apertures when the lens was set at the 42mm focal length – and even more difficult at 14mm. Bokeh was compromised as a result.

Performance
Overall performance for shooting both stills and video clips was as we expected on the basis of our tests on previous Lumix G-series cameras. Autofocusing was reasonably fast for a contrast-based system – but slow compared with the phase-difference systems used by DSLR cameras.

The touch AF control enables users to overcome weaknesses we identified in our review of the G1, such as focusing on the wrong part of the subject. However, autofocusing remained slow in dim lighting and the lens still tended to hunt.

Even in adequate lighting, the combination of slow autofocusing and capture lag reduced the number of sharp images in sequences we shot of fast-moving subjects with both the single-shot and continuous shooting modes, even with AF Tracking enabled. Autofocusing could also be patchy with slow-moving subjects, although stationary subjects were usually sharply focused.

Metering was generally accurate, regardless of the metering mode selected, and exposures were similar to those taken with the G1. Unfortunately, there appears to have been little or no improvement in the sensor’s dynamic range, despite more favourable lighting conditions in the testing environment (due to the different time of year).

Image quality was similar to the G1, which isn’t surprising as both cameras have the same sensor and image processor, according to their specifications. JPEG images contained plenty of detail and we found no instances where shots were over-sharpened. Colour saturation was modest but contrast was slightly high. Compression artefacts were generally absent from JPEG shots.

Imatest showed resolution to be slightly below expectations for a 12-megapixel camera at ISO 100. However, as in the G1, it remained relatively high right up to ISO 1600 but dropped sharply at ISO 3200. The bundled Silkypix Developer Studio software delivered good results when processing raw files at low ISO settings but poorly at high ISOs. Highest resolution was obtained from raw files processed in Photoshop CS5 with the latest version of Adobe Camera Raw. The graph below shows the results of our tests.

Test shots taken in dim lighting with and without flash showed little visible noise right up to ISO 800, even without noise reduction processing. Stepping up to ISO 1600 produced a noticeable increase in granularity and some blotchiness in the darker areas of the picture. By ISO 3200, both colour and pattern noise were visible and shots were distinctly blotchy, particularly in long exposures. Switching on noise reduction processing subdued both grain and blotchiness at the expense of image sharpness.

Auto white balance performance wasn’t quite as good as the G1. The test camera left residual orange casts in shots taken under of incandescent lighting and green casts with fluorescent lights. The both pre-sets came close to neutrality and manual measurement produced neutral colours under both types of lighting. With adequate scope for in-camera tweaking of colour balance, this issue is largely irrelevant for serious photographers.

Flash performance was similar to the G1 and the built-in flash provided even illumination of an average-sized room throughout the camera’s ISO range. Flash exposures were also well balanced for low-light portraits and close-up shots in which flash provided the main illumination.

We recorded our video tests on an 8GB Silicon Power SDHC card with a Class 6 speed rating. This card had the same speed rating as the card we used when testing the GH1. Interestingly, the AF system in the G2 appeared to be quite a bit faster in movie mode than the system in the GH1. Unfortunately, we can’t say whether this was due to a more modern memory card or improved camera performance.

Video clips produced by the review camera weren’t quite as sharp and clear as we expected. This was true for both AVCHD Lite clips and those recorded in Motion JPEG – even at the highest resolution settings for each format. In the Motion JPEG mode, the picture quality of clips taken with the HD mode was noticeably lower. Audio quality was generally good.

Camera response times varied. With an 8GB Silicon Power SDHC Class 6 card, the review camera took just over one second to power up ready for shooting. Shot-to-shot times averaged just under one second, regardless of file format, because it took between 3.3 and 3.4 seconds to process JPEG, RAW and RAW+JPEG files.

With the high-speed continuous shooting mode, the review camera captured 10 frames in 4.8 seconds. Processing appeared to be on-the-fly as it was completed within three seconds of the last shot recorded. Raw file capture is limited to six frames in a burst at approximately 2.6 frames/second. It took 13.8 seconds to process this burst.

For RAW+JPEG capture, the review camera could only record four frames in a burst, with a frame rate of 3.8 frames/second. It took 14.2 seconds to process this burst. Frame rates were slower with the medium- and low-speed settings, the former recording 10 frames in 4.8 seconds and the latter taking 5.1 seconds to capture 10 JPEG files. processing times were similar to the high-speed burst mode.

Buy this camera if:
– You’re transitioning from a digicam to a more sophisticated camera and want straightforward controls and logical, easy-to-use menus. The touch screen is a big plus for buyers in this category.
– You’re interested in capturing and adjusting raw files (there’s plenty of potential in the G2’s raw files but you need better software than the bundled application to exploit it).
– You want to shoot high-definition video and don’t demand Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels).
– You wish to make a style statement (red and blue DSLR-like bodies will still generate interest).

Don’t buy this camera if:
– You plan to leave the camera on full-auto for all shots.
– You need a pocketable camera (the G2 isn’t).
– You want to use ultra-wide lenses (the only ones available are Four Thirds System lenses).
– You only shoot JPEG images.

IMATEST GRAPHS

JPEG image files

Raw image files converted into 16-bit TIFF format with Adobe Camera Raw 6.1 in Photoshop CS5.

SAMPLE IMAGES

Auto white balance with incandescent lighting.

Auto white balance with fluorescent lighting.

50-second exposure at f/4.5; ISO 100, 25mm focal length.

13-second exposure at f/7.1; ISO 800, 25mm focal length.

8-second exposure at f/16; ISO 6400, 25mm focal length.

Flash exposure, ISO 100; 42mm focal length

Flash exposure, ISO 800; 42mm focal length

Flash exposure, ISO 6400, 42mm focal length.

14 mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/80 second at f/5.6.

46mm focal length, ISO 125, 1/100 second at f/5.6.

Close-up: 14mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/60 second at f/3.5.

Close-up: 42mm focal length, ISO 250, 1/80 second at f/5.6.

14 mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/250 second at f/8.

Crop from 100% enlargement of the above image showing coloured fringing.

42mm focal length, ISO 400, 1/160 second at f/7.1

Available light portrait indoors, 39 mm focal length, ISO 400, 1/50 second at f/5.5.

Stabilisation test: 42mm focal length, ISO 400, 1/1000 second at f/7.1

Three shots from a burst sequence, showing the review camera’s patchy AF performance. 42mm focal length, ISO 250, 1/200 second at f/7.1

In focus.

Out of focus.

In focus.

Still frame from AVCHD Lite video clip at maximum resolution; bright outdoor lighting.

Still frame from AVCHD Lite video clip at maximum resolution; indoor lighting.

Still frame from Motion JPEG video clip at maximum resolution.

Still frame from Motion JPEG video clip at VGA resolution.

 

Specifications

Image sensor: 17.3 x 13.0 mm Live MOS sensor with 13.1 million photosites (12.1 megapixels effective)
A/D processing: 12-bit
Lens mount: Micro Four Thirds
Focal length crop factor: 2x
Digital zoom: up to 4x
Image formats: Stills – RAW, JPEG (Exif 2.21); Movies – AVCHD Lite/QuickTime Motion JPEG
Image Sizes: Stills – 4:3: 4000 x 3000(L), 2816 x 2112(M), 2048 x 1536(S); 3:2: 4000 x 2672(L) / 2816 x 1880 (M) / 2048 x 1360 (S); 16:9: 4000 x 2248 (L) / 2816 x 1584 (M) / 1920 x 1080 (S); 1:1: 2992 x 2992(L), 2112 x 2112(M), 1504 x 1504(S); Movies: 1280 x 720, 848 x 480, 640 x 480, 320 x 240, all at 30 fps
Image Stabilisation: Lens-based
Dust removal: Supersonic wave filter
Shutter speed range: 1/4000 to 60 seconds plus Bulb (up to approx. 4 minutes)
Exposure Compensation: +/- 3 EV in 1/3 EV steps
Exposure bracketing: 3, 5 or 7 frames in 1/3 or 2/3 EV steps, across +/-2 EV
Self-timer: 2 or 10 seconds delay plus 10 seconds delay + 3 images
Focus system: Contrast AF system
Focus modes: Face detection, AF Tracking, 23-area-focusing/1-area-focusing, Touch (1-area-focusing in Face detection, AF Tracking, Multi-area-focusing, 1-area-focusing)
Other focus controls: Touch shutter, Pre AF (Quick AF/Continuous AF), Touch MF Assist (5x, 10x); AF-Assist lamp
Exposure metering: 144-zone multi-pattern sensing system with Intelligent Multiple, centre-weighted and spot modes
Shooting modes: P, A, S and M plus 11 Scene presets (Portrait (Normal, SoftSkin, Out-Indoor, Creative), Scenery (Norm., Nature/Architecture, Creative); Sports (Norm., Out-Indoor, Creative); Close-up (Flower, Food, Object, Creative); Night Portrait. (Night Portrait, Night Scene, Illuminations, Creative); Sunset, Party, Baby1/2, Pet, Peripheral Defocus)
Picture Style/Control settings: Colour: Standard, Dynamic, Nature, Smooth, Nostalgic, Vibrant; Black and white: Standard, Dynamic, Smooth, Others: My Film1, My Film2, Multi Film
Colour space options: sRGB, Adobe RGB
Custom memory: Up to three sets of camera controls can be registered
ISO range: Auto, ISO 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400; Intelligent ISO
White balance: Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Halogen, Flash, White Set 1,2, Colour temperature setting (2500-10000K in 100K steps); Blue/amber & magenta/green adjustments; WB bracketing 3 shots on B/A or M/G axis
Flash: Pop-up flash; GN 11
Flash modes: Auto, forced on, forced off, slow synch; red-eye reduction is available
Sequence shooting: 3.2 frames/second for 7 RAW or ‘unlimited’ JPEGs
Storage Media: SD/SDHC/SDXC cards
Viewfinder: Live View Finder with 1.44M dots, 100% FOV; 17mm eyepoint
LCD monitor: 3-inch free-angle TFT LCD with touch panel, 460K dots
Video Capture: Yes; AVCHD Lite (1280 x 720@ 30 fps) and QuickTime Motion JPEG
Playback functions: Single, multi, calendar playback, category playback; up to 16x zoom magnification, slideshow, re-size, trimming, aspect conversion, rotation, face recognition editing, still capture from movie clip, protection, deletion, DPOF tagging
Interface terminals: USB 2.0 Hi-Speed, HD AV output, Mini HDMI (Type C); PAL/NTSC video; stereo Mic-IN; Viera Link
Power supply: 7.2V, 1250mAh lithium-ion battery pack; CPIA rated for 120 pictures/60 minutes with LCD ON
Dimensions (wxhxd): 124 x 83.6 x 74mm (body only)
Weight: 371 grams (body only)

 

Retailers

 

CamBuy

 

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Camera Pro

 

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Suite 607, 180 Queen St, Brisbane 4000
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Australian owned and run company based in Brisbane.

Camerasdirect

 

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Retailer of digital camera equipment and more.
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Camerastore.com.au

Camerastore.com.au
Ph: 1800 155 067

Camera-Warehouse

 

www.camera-warehouse.com.au
Comprehensive range of digital cameras and accessories online (www.camera-warehouse.com.au) and an online print service (www.royalexpress.com.au).

Digital Camera Warehouse

 

www.digitalcamerawarehouse.com.au
174 Canterbury Road 367 High Street
Canterbury Northcote
NSW 2193 VIC 3070
Ph: 1300 365 220

Electronics Warehouse

 

www.electronicswarehouse.com.au
1300 801 885
Australian retailer of Vapex rechargeable batteries offering factory direct prices and fast, free shipping Australia wide.

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Photographic Equipment & Supplies – Retail & Repairs. Click here for list of stores.

Ted’s Cameras

 

www.teds.com.au

1800 186 895
Big range of cameras and photographic products with stores in most states and online.

Rating

 

RRP: $1099 (body only); $1299 (as reviewed, with Lumix G Vario 14-42mm /F3.5-5.6 ASPH / MEGA O.I.S lens)

Rating (out of 10):

• Build: 8.5
• Ease of use: 9.0
• Autofocusing: 7.5
• Image quality: Stills 8.5; Video 8.0
• OVERALL: 8.5

Buy