Panasonic DMC-L1 dslr

DoctorIt

This is probably old news from PMA, but I just stumbled across this and without reading much, thought "wow, what a cool looking camera!"

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0602/06022609panasonicdmcl1.asp

I know there's been some E-330 threads, this seems similar, only the design harks back to old school Leica's. I dig the minimalistic thing. What a great pocket dslr taht would make. What are guesses on price, with that lens?

Bob Bell

DoctorIt wrote:

This is probably old news from PMA, but I just stumbled across this and without reading much, thought "wow, what a cool looking camera!"

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0602/06022609panasonicdmcl1.asp

I know there's been some E-330 threads, this seems similar, only the design harks back to old school Leica's. I dig the minimalistic thing. What a great pocket dslr taht would make. What are guesses on price, with that lens?

I've been a fan of the Lumix P&S, so its pretty cool that they have a DSLR. Leica glass on a P&S and now a big investment in a Leica mount for their DSLR is a good thing if only from the fact it keeps Leica around.

cmason

Bob Bell wrote:

I've been a fan of the Lumix P&S, so its pretty cool that they have a DSLR. Leica glass on a P&S and now a big investment in a Leica mount for their DSLR is a good thing if only from the fact it keeps Leica around.

Well the DMC-LC1 (NOT the DMC-L1) is a 5MP camera, with what appears to be the same Leica lens, only not removable. It has similar layout and presumably features, and sells for $1599. I can only imagine the L1 being higher priced.

kini62

cmason wrote:

Well the DMC-LC1 (NOT the DMC-L1) is a 5MP camera, with what appears to be the same Leica lens, only not removable. It has similar layout and presumably features, and sells for $1599. I can only imagine the L1 being higher priced.

It's not the same lens at all. The LC-1 uses a much smaller lens for the tiny 1/1.8" sensor in the camera.

The 14-50 Leica/Panasonic is quite large, probably close in size to the new 17-55IS Canon.

Gene

marlof

Rumors are that it's about $2000, for body and lens. But that's what they are: rumors. Nobody knows for sure. If you want to learn more of the size of this combo, see the video preview at Imaging Resource.

cmason

Update: DPReview has a preview of the DMC-L1 posted. I must say, I am very disappointed based on the specifications on the first page. I would expect far more from this camera, but it appears to be less than the Oly 330 in many ways:

There appears to be no White Balance or Flash Exposure bracketing, which seems very odd, though they appear to have removed some of the more consumer oriented items, like play modes, and arguably the in-camera image parameters. My only guess here is that they think users will rely on post-processing to handled exposure and white balance?

Oddly many of the ISO settings have been reduced, perhaps in an effort to keep the noise down?


Hmm, jury still out on this one.

marlof

I'm particularly interested in seeing the first images from this camera, since it'll show the direction Panasonic is going with their Venus III engine. What will the announced ability to distinguish chroma from luminance noise mean for noise reduction? What effect will it have on image details? How's the dynamic range of this camera? I like the fact that they also have some kind of roadmap, showing longawaited OIS lenses for Four Thirds. And even the fast 1.4 normal prime everybody was lusting after. All in all, it's good news for "my" mount. And BTW, rumors seem to have been right: SRP for the body + lens kit is $1999 according to DPReview.

marlinspike

I like it, but it's much to expensive for what it is. With the lens, in todays market, that camera should be $1200.

marlof

marlinspike wrote:

I like it, but it's much to expensive for what it is. With the lens, in todays market, that camera should be $1200.

Say what? I do think the suggested retail price of $1999 is too high, but I expect street prices to fall below that. If you take into consideration the build quality (this is not a plastic fantastic camera) and the speed and optical stabilization of the kit lens, $1200 is not realistic.

marlinspike

marlof wrote:

Say what? I do think the suggested retail price of $1999 is too high, but I expect street prices to fall below that. If you take into consideration the build quality (this is not a plastic fantastic camera) and the speed and optical stabilization of the kit lens, $1200 is not realistic.

Well, maybe $1200 isn't realisitic, but I don't think this will attract the $2000 camera buyer. That person wants something pro looking, like a 30D or something of that nature. Any camera with a dimmer than necessary viewfinder, that is compact, low fps, and has limited functionality, will not appeal to that crowd. The crowd for this camera is people who want a dSLR that is still relatively small, and they are not willing to spend so much.