Digital Home Thoughts: The Most Fun I've Ever Had With a Digital Camera: The Panasonic Lumix GF1

This is my review video of the Panasonic LUMIX GF1 [affiliate], easily the most unique camera I've ever had the opportunity to look at. It's similar to a DSLR in that you can change lenses, but the micro four-thirds system doesn't use a pentaprism or mirror, so it's not a DSLR. Panasonic calls it a DILC: Digital Interchangeable Lens Camera. I don't see "DILC" taking off as a term, but this camera is hot stuff. And I'll state right up front that I'm an unabashed fan of the Panasonic GF1. As I explain in the video, there's something magical about getting DSLR-like performance and image quality from a camera that's not much bigger than a point and shoot camera. Panasonic is on to something really special with the GF1, and I'm glad that I purchased this camera - I've used it to capture some really special memories already, and that's what I want from every camera I buy.

The GF1 has a 12.1 megapixel Live MOS sensor (17.3 x 13.0mm in size), capturing JPEG or raw images at a maximum resolution of 4000 x 3000 pixels. It's also capable of 720p video capture (1280 x 720) in either AVCHD Lite or MJPEG formats. It can shoot in burst mode, up to three frames per second.

If I could influence the feature list for a GF2, I'd ask Panasonic to add image stabilization in the body of the camera - to me, the mystique of this camera is greatly lessened with any lens other than the 20mm f/1.7, and because that lens lacks image stabilization, I want it in the body. I'd also like to see 1080p video at 60fps, and better ISO performance at 800 and above.

All in all, I'm thrilled with the performance and features of the GF1, and if you're in the market for something that takes vastly better pictures than any point and shoot camera, but is much smaller than even the smaller DSLR, the Panasonic Lumix GF1 is worth a serious look. If there was a Digital Home Thoughts camera award, the GF1 would win it.

Jason Dunn owns and operates Thoughts Media Inc., a company dedicated to creating the best in online communities. He enjoys photography, mobile devices, blogging, digital media content creation/editing, and pretty much all technology. He lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with his lovely wife, his son Logan, and his sometimes obedient dog. He likes buying digital cameras and lenses...perhaps a little too much!

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