Panasonic DMC-GF1: first impressions

Panasonic DMC-GF1
Panasonic DMC-GF1

Panasonic has unveiled its latest addition to the Lumix G Micro System line-up, and TechRadar has got to grips with the Lumix DMC-GF1.

The micro four-thirds camera is billed as the world's smallest and lightest system camera with built in flash and interchangeable lenses, and it's certainly a nice looking bit of kit.

gf1

In real terms the GF1 is 35 per cent smaller and 26 per cent lighter than Panasonic's G1, and it's certainly reminiscent of the Olympus E-P1.

The feature set has not been slimmed down, however, with AVCHD Lite or Motion JPEG filming capacity, 60fps an exposure meter and shutter speed preview is visible in live view and, for those that find black a bit 20th century, you can also get the camera in 'active red' and 'sleek silver'.

gf1

The Lumix DMC-GF1 does not contain the pentaprism usual to cameras with interchangeable lenses and the mirror-less structure is responsible for the savings on size.

The camera has a 3 inch 'intelligent' LCD screen with 460k dot resolution that can be viewed from wide angles.

And, as you can see below - it's very, very pretty. We'll have a full review of the Lumix DMC-GF1 soon.

gf1

gf1

gf1

gf1

gf1

gf1

gf1

gf1

You can also get Photoradar's impressions of the camera over at photoradar.com.

Marc Chacksfield

Marc Chacksfield is the Editor In Chief, Shortlist.com at DC Thomson. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.