Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1 – Nicely Designed

We’ll be honest with you and say that we liked the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 pretty much, for what it is: a camera which boasts shooting speed and photo quality, which the beginner photography enthusiasts coming from point-and-shoot want. And all that in a significantly smaller body in comparison to dSLR and along with a user interface which is familiar to the users. But when the camera actually entered the market, we heard a lot of buyers upset about it as they were looking for an actual heir in the GF series. The aspiring customers where bothered about the slightly bigger size of the camera in replace of a hot shoe and physical mode dial.

Well, it seems as if Panasonic heard all those peevishness as well or may be this was always their primary plan. Whatever would have been the case, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1 Micro 4 Thirds-based camera is the heir to GF1, which technically GF2 should be. Also it brings back the improved design for the camera with enhanced shooting design; most importantly it brings back the physical mode dial, which was omitted with the Panasonic GF2. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1 in fact is a tad bigger than the current model, and is deeper and longer, but its depth could be attributed to the comparatively bigger grip. In addition to all that the Lumix DMC-GX1 sees significant enhancement in photo quality and performance as oppose to its precursor.

Design and Controls:

We actually liked the overall design of Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1, but we still have our own set of issues with it. The Lumix DMC-GX1 is a tad bigger than all the other cameras of its league, but then none of its rivals actually are adequately small with a lens attached for considering it smaller than others. The camera clearly has a respectably-sized thumb rest and grip, which makes holding the camera comfortable and also allows single-handed shooting and at the same time feels well built.

The Lumix DMC-GX1 has a flash pretty much like what we saw in GF3, and you could even hold that tilted slightly back for allowing the light to bounce, it’s a nice move. In addition to this the hot shoe of the camera also functions as a position for an elective electronic viewfinder. Apart from this the rest of the control layout for the camera is pretty normal. The mode dial for the camera comprises the normal set of PASM modes, and in addition there also are 2 slots for 4 custom setting groups, sight modes, and rather uninspiring Creative Control individual-effects modes of Panasonic. The Lumix DMC-GX1 also boasts an iA intelligent automatic override switch for rapidly entering and exiting the automatic mode, a Panasonic-explicit execution we like, and a video record switch.

Specifications:

• Price (MSRP): $949.99
• Dimensions (W x H x D): 4.6 inches x 2.7 inches x 1.6 inches
• Weight (with media and battery): 9.6 ounces
• Megapixel: 16 megapixel
• Storage media: SDHC Memory Card , SDXC Memory Card , SD Memory Card , SDHC UHS-I Memory Card and SDXC UHS-I Memory Card
• White balance: Automatic, Custom and Presets
• Exposure Modes: Program , Shutter-priority , Bulb , Manual and Aperture-priority
• Shooting Programs: Sports mode, Sunset, Flower, Night portrait, Architecture, Party/indoor, Illumination snap, baby1, baby2, Soft skin, Night scene, Food, Peripheral defocus, Pet, Scenery and Portrait mode

• Special Effects: Miniature, High Dynamic, Expressive, Low Key, High Key, Sepia, Toy camera and Retro
• Image Stabilizer: Optical (POWER O.I.S.
• Flash Modes: Fill-in mode, Rear curtain sync, Auto mode, Slow synchro, Red-eye reduction and Flash OFF mode
• Additional Features: Display brightness control, Digital image revolution, Scene Detection Technology, 1080i Total HD movie recording, Audio recording, In-camera red-eye remotion, Intelligent Resolution Technology, Dolby Digital Stereo Creator, Resizing a picture, AF/AE tracking, Subject Detection technology, Cropping an image, Intelligent D-range Control, Face Recognition, Exif Print back up, Date/time stamp, Regular Live View, Intelligent Auto Plus (iA+), Face detection, DPOF support, Inbuilt speaker, RGB primary color filter, Multi-picture bust, Motion Detection Technology, Digital noise reduction, Digital level meter, Touch screen control, Dolby Digital AC-3 (2 channel) recording, Histogram display, Shade adjustment, Intelligent Scene Selector, Automatic display brightness alteration, Camera orientation finding, Highlight point display, PictBridge support, In-camera movie editing, USB 2.0 compatibility, Takes photos while movie recording, Touch AF, Light Speed AF and Direct print
• Operating System Support: Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows ME, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows XP, Apple Mac OS X 9.0 or later or Microsoft Windows 7
• Peripheral Devices: USB port and CD-ROM drive
• Included Accessories: Lens cap, Dust cap, Shoulder strap and Body cap
• Supported Battery: 1 x Li-ion rechargeable battery – 1010 mAh

Performance:

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1 certainly delivers the best photo quality from Panasonic till date, but still the JPEG processing for the images remains to be seen, and even the noise profile of the images could match the NEX-5N. The JPEG images can be shot up to ISO 400 in decent lightening conditions without any significant degradation in details. That said, even the images shot at ISO 200 have some extent of softness, and even at their lowest sensitivity of about ISO 160, you still could see a bit of noise in darker regions. But the raw mode appears pretty decent even at ISO 800.

The video shot from the DMC-GX1 also came pretty clear, and the 1080/30p MP4 option for the camera we think is pretty ice option to interlaced AVCHD (though we were shocked for not including the AVCHD 2.0. The videos were pleasingly sharp and nicely saturated.

Verdict:

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1 is a nicely designed camera with a user interface, which we think will excite the innovative photographers.