Earlier this year, Japanese electronics giant Panasonic unveiled a prototype of its entry into the DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) camera market: The Lumix DMC-L1.

The company recently finalised the specifications and announced that the camera will hit the Japanese market next month and in the United States in September.

The DMC-L1 is a DSLR body with a Four Thirds lens mount – the same system currently used by Olympus’ DSLRs.

In fact, it shares the same 7.5-megapixel LiveMOS sensor, mirror box, autofocus system and viewfinder as the Olympus E-330. It is also compatible with a large collection of existing Olympus- and Sigma-branded Four Thirds lenses.

Additionally the camera uses the same external flash system as Olympus’ E-System. Thus, external flashes made by both Panasonic and Olympus are cross compatible.

But that’s where the similarities end – the DMC-L1 looks more like an old-fashioned Leica rangefinder camera and has dedicated knobs and switches for adjusting its shutter speed, drive mode, metering mode and focusing modes.

Interestingly, the DMC-L1 has a clever built-in flash that can be angled upwards for bounce-flash – a first for a DSLR.

To top it off, the Leica-branded Four Thirds lenses launched with the camera even have aperture adjustment rings – just like manual focus cameras of yore. As such, the DMC-L1 is bound to appeal to photography purists.

The DMC-L1 uses a different imaging processor to the Olympus – Panasonic’s own Venus III engine, which has an advanced noise reduction system (NR) that differentiates between chromatic (colour) and luminance noise, reducing the effects of the former for more filmlike grain in pictures taken at high ISO sensitivities.

Best of all, users are allowed to adjust the strength of the camera’s NR.

The camera also has a selectable film mode to digitally emulate the use of different film stocks for different colour response and tones – similar to the PictureStyle settings used on some Canon EOS DSLR models.

Panasonic’s emphasis on colour continues with the camera’s 2-axis white balance adjustment – along the amber/blue or green/magenta axis to effectively remove colour casts from photos.

To round off the specifications sheet, the DMC-L1 has an ISO sensitivity range of 100-1600 and a 3-frames/sec burst mode that takes with up to six successive shots in RAW or an unlimited amount in JPEG mode.

Secure Digital (SD) memory cards are used rather than CompactFlash (CF). The camera is also compatible with the soon-to-be-released SDHC cards that boast storage capacities above 2GB.

The DMC-L1 will be bundled with a Leica D Vario-Elmarit 14-50mm f/2.8-3.5 zoom lens (film equivalent: 28-100mm) featuring Panasonic’s Mega Optical Image Stabilisation system to quell camera shake at slower shutter speeds.

If the usual standards from the Leica-Panasonic partnership are kept, this should be one of the best consumer DSLR zoom lenses launched this year.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1 camera and lens bundle will cost US$1,999 (RM7,336). No word yet on pricing or availability in Malaysia. – CHRIS CHONG

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http://panasonic.co.jp/pavc/global/lumix/