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Panasonic today announced the world’s first interchangeable lenses designed for the new Micro Four Thirds System.  The LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm/F3.5-5.6 ASPH./MEGA O.I.S will be the standard kit lens with the LUMIX DMC-G1, the world’s first Micro Four Thirds System digital camera, which also debuted today. In addition, the LUMIX G VARIO 45-200mm/F4.0-5.6/MEGA O.I.S. telephoto lens, also designed for the Micro Four Thirds format, offers an enhanced zoom range for use with the DMC-G1 and other cameras based on the new standard.

“The first thing you notice about the G1 is that it really is quite small. In fact, it’s smaller in every dimension than the ‘world’s smallest SLR’ (the Olympus E-420), which is one of the benefits promised by Micro Four Thirds’ elimination of the reflex mirror. From a design point of view it is, in almost every respect, very careful to mimic DSLR design, with a large grip and command dial embedded in the front of it. And the result is a camera that will be instantly familiar to users familiar with DSLRs and, perhaps more importantly, one that is consistent with the expectations of users aspiring to own a DSLR.”

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Panasonic today announced the world’s first Micro Four Thirds system camera, the LUMIX DMC-G1, the world’s smallest and lightest digital interchangeable lens camera, weighing in at approximately 385 grams (0.85 lbs).* Based on the new Micro Four Thirds System standard, the LUMIX G1 eliminates the internal mirror structure that defines digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras, thus reducing the size and weight by nearly half.** With the mirror-less system, the G1’s flange back, which is the distance between the mount and the image sensor, has been reduced from 40 mm – as specified in the Four Thirds System – to approximately 20 mm. 

Panasonic today announces the LUMIX DMC-FX500, the company’s first digital camera with a 3-inch touch-screen LCD – also featuring a 25mm ultra-wide-angle Leica DC lens, 5x optical zoom and 10.1 megapixels.  With a dual control system using both touch-screen and joystick operation, the ability to record High Definition (HD) video and advanced Intelligent Auto technologies, the FX500 packs innovative features and intuitive design, helping consumers enrich the digital photography experience and take better photos. 

Panasonic’s second digital SLR is a far more conventional affair than its first attempt, the DSC-L1. It’s also quite obviously aimed at a very different type of user - the beginner / first time user / upgrader from a compact. To this end the L10 has perhaps the most compact-like operation and user interface of any SLR to date (and if you were being cruel, the most compact-like JPEG image quality too). And though it may look a lot more conventional, in typical Panasonic fashion it has a few unique tricks up its sleeve, mainly centred around the sophisticated live view capabilities.