More CES love? Aw, shucks, well, sure. This time, it’s Panasonic on the block, with a total of five entries to its Lumix line of compacts. Two are updaes to the SZ series, 2 are updates to the FH series, and one is the new DMC-S2. What’s all that mean, exactly? Well, why not hop on over to Engadget, who not only nabbed the press releases, but some pretty pictures too?
› posts tagged ‘lumix’
Panasonic Announces 4 Lens Converters For Micro Four-Thirds Kit Lenses
Like your Panasonic 14-42mm or 14mm f2.5 for your G-series interchangeable lens compact, but just wish it had a bit more… flexibility? Luckily, Panasonic feels ya, and has announced four converter lenses that work with one or both of those lenses. Up for grabs are The following:
- Wide-angle converter DMW-GWC1 converts the 14mm (28mm equiv) to 11mm (or 22m equiv)
- Telephoto converter DMW-GTC1 converts the 42mm (84mm equiv) end of the kit zoom to 84mm (168mm equiv)
- Macro converter DMW-GMC1 reduces your minimum focusing distance down to .14m (5.5″), but doesn’t tell how to calculate the change in magnification from such.
- Fisheye converter DMW-GFC1 er, makes things fisheye. A 120 degree one, though.
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- DMW-GWC1
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- DMW-GFC1
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- DMW-GMC1
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- DMW-GTC1
Compatability for them is as follows:
| Converter | LUMIX G X VARIO PZ 14-42mm/F3.5-5.6 ASPH./POWER O.I.S | LUMIX G 14mm / F2.5 ASPH |
| Wide-angle | Yes | Yes |
| Telephoto | Yes | No |
| Macro | Yes | Yes |
| Fisheye | Yes | Yes |
Panasonic Announces Sleek and Stylish Lumix DMC-FP5 and DMC-FP7 Shooters
I have a soft spot in my heart for cameras with folded-optics and slide-plate covers/on/off switches. I do. And the DMC-FP5 and DMC-FP7 really hit the spot for me.
Now, because beauty is just skin deep, let’s see what these two beauts have to offer in a long-term committed relationship.
The FP5 starts with a 14.1 megapixel sensor mounted behind a 4x optically stabilized zoom. Around back there are no buttons, just a big 3″ touchscreen. There’s a Venus VI processor moving things along, and it can do some nifty cleanup to your people shots including redeye removal, teeth whitening, and it can apply eye shadow. No, really. And, it takes SD/SDHC/SDXC like all forward-looking cameras should.
The FP7 is mostly the same, but it moves you up to a 16.1 megapixel sensor and a hugenormous 3.5″ touchscreen (there’s a slower framerate on the video, though it’s the 24fps instead of 30, so, it’s up to you to decide how you feel about that).
And yes, they both do 720p. More pictures? After the jump.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-S1 and -S3
I’d just gotten around to noticing a distinct lack of marshmallow-looking cameras in my blood and on our website, so, Panasonic had some pretty good timing with this release. The new DMC-S1 and it’s partner the DMC-S3 are both entry level shooters with a focus on easiness and a design aesthetic that makes me want to play some old Kirby games. But, let’s take a look at what’s wrapped up in that cotton-candy exterior, shall we?
So, the DMC-S1 has a 12 megapixel sensor matched to a 4x zoom that starts at 28mm and has some predictably slow and unremarkable f numbers. It does have proper optical image stabilization, and not that silly electronic IS people are always trying to sell us on. There’s a Venus VI processor humming along in the pipeline, and a 2.7″ LCD around back. And, because in the current market it’d be laughed out of town if it didn’t, it includes the now apparently-requisite 720p movie mode. It’ll be available in blue, black, silver, pink, and bling… er… gold.
The DMC-S3 looks a lot like the S1, as you’d expect, but ups the ante to 14 megapixels, throws in auto-redeye reduction, and comes in blue, red, black, and violet.
Pictures after the jump, but I only have them for one color of each model thus far. Le sigh.
Panasonic Comes Clean with DMC-LX5 Finally
So, you remember the LX3? Popular camera, broke a lot of ideas as to what a high end compact digicam should be? Was stuck on our allocation list for like years? Well, it’s finally getting its long due update, the LX5.
Of special note is the fact that despite identical numbers, the sensor is all new, and talking up a wider dynamic range than the already well-received LX3. Combined with the newest incarnation of the Venus engine, which features 3 processing cores and can analyze chroma and luminance noise both separately as well as in relation to each other, the LX5 is promising a leap forward in image processing ability.
The LCD is now backlit with High Color Range Index LEDs. The movie mode is better now, too, adding AVHCD Lite to the codec options as well as manual exposure, color modes, and optical zoom during recording.
And it supports SDXC now, natch. It should go without saying there are a lot of expectations riding on this model, since the LX3 broke down so many walls and outperformed in so many ways. We’ll wait and see if this camera does too. It’ll be available in the pictured white, or black (so stop worrying, Jody), and it’s available for pre-order allocation right now over on our site.
| SPEC | LX5 | LX3 |
| Sensor | 10.1MP, 1.63″ | 10.1MP, 1.63″ |
| Processor | Venus Engine FHD | Venus IV |
| Optical Zoom | 3.8x | 2.5x |
| Equiv. Focal Length | 24-90mm | 24-60mm |
| Aperture | f2.0 – 3.3 | f2.0 – 2.8 |
| Lens Type | Leica DC VARIO-SUMMICRON | Leica DC VARIO-SUMMICRON |
| Image Stabilization | Optical, Power OIS | Optical, Mega OIS |
| ISO Range (Expanded) | 100-12,800 | 100-3,200 |
| LCD | 3.0″ TFT, 460,000 Dot, High CRI LED Backlit | 3.0″ TFT, 460,000 Dot |
| AVHCD Lite Video Recording | Yes | No |
| Manual Exposure in Movie Mode | Yes | No |
| Optical Zoom in Movie Mode | Yes | No |
| Available Electronic Viewfinder | Yes | No |
| Records To | SD/SDHC/SDXC, Internal Memory | SD/SDHC, Internal Memory |
Panasonic Lumix ZS7
Pansonic’s Lumix DMC-ZS7 (sometimes called the TZ10), has been updated to firmware v1.1, which includes apparently two things. One is a cryptic fix that ‘improves stability when the camera is turned on,’ which is a bit disconcerting. The other is a bit more pedestrian and improves performance when using it in the optional underwater housing with third party strobes, a combination of events so common I’m sure every last one of you has been banging your head against the wall and pleading to the very gods that Panasonic would hurry up and provide you a fix.
I’m unsure where you actually go to find that firmware update, but maybe if you happen to own a ZS7 you’ll know anyway.
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