IFA: Pansonic GF1 camera offers small size and high performance

At the IFA Consumer Electronic show in Berlin, Panasonic showed off it’s latest digital camera it’s announced earlier in the week in Japan. The DMC GF1 is based on the Micro four third system standard, which means it has similar performance capabilities of the digital SLR but in a more compact size. The company claims the device to be the world’s smallest and lightest system camera with built-in flash and during its press conference, Panasonic was eager to show the GF1 size. The Micro four third standards allows for interchangeable lenses but removes the need for a reflexive mirror found in SLR's thus making the body smaller. Right behind the lens is 12.1-mega pixel image sensor that provides both a live preview and captures the image.

Because the LCD is showing a live view of what’s coming through the lens, it’s possible to adjust to various settings such as the shutter speed and see what effect they’ll have on the finished picture before taking the photo. Panasonic showed six lenses that will work with the camera and keeping with the camera’s small size, the lenses are smaller too. For example, the equivalent of a 40-millimeter pancake lens would be a 20-millimeter lens for the GF1. The camera itself is aimed that users who want better photos than a compact camera but not a larger device.

The camera can shoot up to 60 frames per second full time live view images, it can also record 720 P high def video in AVC HD light the company’s video codec. It will launch in Japan on September 18th and will be priced at just under ¥90,000 or about USD975. From IFA 2009 in Berlin, I’m Nick Barber, IDG News Service.


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