Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1

I've been writing an awful log in this blog about my experience with the new Olympus Pen E-P1 Micro Four Thirds system camera that I've recently invested in.  Panasonic has also been in the Four Thirds game for a while now and they just announced a new Micro Four Thirds camera, the Lumix GF1.  This camera seems to be looking to fill the same niche as the Olympus Pen does, that of a very high quality but small sized near professional system with inter-changeable lenses, Live View, HD movie recording, etc.  It looks like they've one-upped Olympus a bit by including a built in pop-up style flash as wells as an optional Live View shoe mounted finder.  (My Pen has an optional finder that is strictly glass and is only in scale when used with the 17mm pancake lens.  I also need to put on the very stylish flash gun to use that option - no built in flash on the Pen.)  Amazon is taking pre-orders for the camera and it looks to be priced in line with the Olympus.  I'll be curious to read the reviews and comparisons that will be done between these two systems.  To date I've been nothing but pleased with my Pen but could I have jumped the gun too soon?  We'll find out.  One thing I do know for sure is that having another Micro Four Thirds system on the market is a good thing as that should translate into a slew of new lenses that are sized appropriately for this format and won't require the use of an adapter.

Enjoy!
Tom Laux
September 3, 2009