Panasonic last week announced their newest addition to the Micro Four Thirds category, the Lumix DMC-G3. Available in red, white, black, and brown, the new compact system camera features a new 16.0 MP Live MOS sensor and a faster Venus Engine FHD image processor. It also has a tilt-swivel LCD touchscreen which lets you capture those weird angles without hurting your back too much.
The relatively responsive touchscreen allows users to tweak their focal points to satisfaction. Commendably, Panasonic didn’t go for an all-out touchscreen approach and kept the physical buttons to important functions such as ISO and white balance settings so that, with some practice, users can adjust them quickly without having to look down.
The Lumix G3 does feel like an SLR in several areas, including an extremely fast auto-focus and impressive image quality with rich colour reproduction. It can also capture videos in full HD (1,920 x 1,080) at 30fps.
The new camera is noticeably smaller from its predecessor, the G2, and feels lighter. However, Panasonic had to sacrifice the more ergonomic handgrip found in the G2 in order to make the camera smaller, which could be uncomfortable for some photographers, especially those with larger hands.
Panasonic offers a wide range of lenses for the Lumix G3, including macro and wide-angle lenses, ensuring that the camera can be adapted to a variety of sets and situations. There’s definitely more to this little guy than meets the eye at first glance, and would no doubt be a great starting companion for aspiring photographers.
