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Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1 12.1MP Micro Four-Thirds Interchangeable Lens Digital Camera with 14-45mm Lens | 
| Brand: Panasonic
Category: Photography
List Price: $899.95
Buy New: $705.00
as of 7/30/2010 19:56 CDT details
You Save: $194.95 (22%)
New (13) Used (2) Refurbished (1) from $594.99
Seller: Greatdealsonline
Rating:  33 reviews
Sales Rank: 184
Media: Electronics
Floppy Disk Drive: None
Optical Zoom: 3.2
Display Size: 3
Maximum Focal Length: 45
Minimum Focal Length: 14
Maximum Resolution: 12.1
Has Red Eye Reduction: Yes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 4
Dimensions (in): 9 x 5 x 6
MPN: DMC-GF1K-K
Model: DMC-GF1K-K
UPC: 037988263875
EAN: 0037988263875
ASIN: B002IKLJUK
Release Date: September 24, 2009
Shipping: Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | 4/3-type 12.1-megapixel Live MOS sensor; clear images even when taken at high ISO sensitivity | | • | Elegant, compact design; includes Lumix G Vario 14 - 45 mm F3.5 - F5.6 ASPH.Mega OIS lens | | • | Capture 1280 x 720 HD video in AVCHD Lite format for longer recording time | | • | Full-time Live View; new My Color mode | | • | Capture images to SD/SDHC memory cards (not included) |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Versatile Functions and Superb Images. Uncompromising Performance in the World's Smallest, Lightest System Camera*The GF1 adopts the Micro Four Thirds System standard, which was developed as an extended version of the Four Thirds System standard for digital camera systems. By using this standard and developing a camera body that eliminates the mirror box and optical viewfinder unit, LUMIX® was able to achieve a dramatic reduction in both size and weight compared with conventional digital SLR cameras, to create a new-generation system camera that features Full-time Live View, high-speed, high-precision Contrast AF, HD movie recording, and more. The GF1 is small enough to take anywhere yet sophisticated enough to take you as far into photography and movies as you want to go.
*For a system camera with a built-in flash as of September 2, 2009
Micro Four ThirdsTM and Micro Four Thirds Logo marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Olympus Imaging Corporation, in Japan, the United States, the European Union and other countries. 12.1-Megapixel Live MOS Sensor: Higher Image Quality, Lower Power Consumption The 4/3-type 12.1-megapixel Live MOS sensor featured in the GF1 offers the best of both worlds the superior image quality of a CCD sensor, and the lower power consumption of a CMOS sensor. This sensor is also advantageous for photo and movie recording with its high S/N, thanks to a new circuit structure that is unaffected by the noise generated in each of the circuits. It results in clear images even when taken at high ISO sensitivity. Extended HD Movie Recording with SLR Quality The hybrid GF1 lets you take both high-quality photos and HD movies. You can shoot breathtaking HD (1280 720) movies in AVCHD Lite format (MPEG-4/H.264) backed by the high sound quality of Dolby Digital Creator. And you can record for a longer time without running out of memory because AVCHD Lite stores data more efficiently than Mo
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 33
 Takes a beating and keeps on ticking July 12, 2010
Richard Lin (San Diego, CA United States)
Most what can be said about this camera feature-wise has been said. But I think few have subjected their camera to as much abuse as I have recently, so I'll offer my experience here.
I bought the Panasonic GF-1 with the 14-45 mm lens and used it on a two week family trip to Europe recently. Well, it came days before the trip and in the midst of chaos I left the camera strap at home and just stuffed the camera in a small, sagging camera bag. On day two, while on the road, the camera flew out of the opened bag, and landed on hard pavement after tumbling a few feet. A small section of the edge of the LCD screen was dented. I was surprised there were no additional physical damage. And this was just the beginning of the trip. In all, the camera got dropped, in the bag, a few more times (due to the lack of a strap) during the trip.
After all that, the camera performed as well as new. Pictures came out very well. No rattles or loose parts. Lens mount seems to be very solid still.
This could not be said about my Sony point and shoot (W290), which probably saw less abuse. Before the Sony, it was a Canon SD800 IS. My son's soccer ball sent it to digital camera heaven (lens came loose).
Bottom line, a very solid camera that is easy to use and produces very good image quality.
 Camera bag July 10, 2010
Colleen J. First (Bay Area, CA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'll let those who "know" review the camera (I am very happy with it, suffice to say) but I do recall there being a question as to what camera bag would work well for this unit. I have the "Digital Video/Photo Bag" from Tamrac. The tag is listed as Model #5697. The bag itself is well-constructed and I can easily carry the camera body w/pancake lens and a 200mm lens in it.
Nice features & images; but delicate build and overpriced July 9, 2010
J. Mason (USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I already own two digital cameras ... a Canon D40 DSLR and a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 DSLR-Like camera. Both of these cameras have their good and bad points. Despite being very rugged, my D40, paired with an 18-250mm lens and using a neoprene strap, is bulky and heavy. After carrying it around all day, my neck gets stiff as a board. My Lumix FZ28 is lightweight and the superzoom is awesome. On the other hand, I've missed so many action shots while waiting for my FZ28's mechanical zoom to position itself. Being able to "twist to zoom" my D40 is so much faster.
I really wanted the best of both worlds ... a lightweight camera that had the manual zoom responsiveness of a DSLR. When I read about the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1, it seemed perfect. The micro four thirds system makes the GF1's body light and compact; while the interchangeable lens give me the manual zooming capability of a DSLR. So I now own 3 digital cameras!
I just bought the GF1 with the 14-45mm kit lens. I also got the optional viewfinder (EVF) and a separate 45-200mm lens. Other than the price, which was outrageous, I'm reasonably happy with my purchase.
For a casual day out, the GF1, paired with its 14-45mm lens, is small enough to fit in my purse or a large coat pocket. And, when I want more zoom power, I can switch to the 45-200mm lens. At the camera's full 12.1 mexapixel resolution, each photo is 5-7mb; so I can do some pretty extensive cropping and still have great looking shots.
Below are some of my first impressions ... pro and con ... about the GF1.
1. Image quality: In good light the GF1's image quality is outstanding.
For outdoor scenery shots, the GF1 images (shot in full auto mode) had excellent depth of field, keeping much of the foreground and background in sharp focus.
I also shot a couple of portraits using the GF1's full auto mode, with the flash on. There also came out extremely good. It might have something to do with the GF1's face detection ability; but the facial highlights were beautiful, the skin tones were accurate, and the sharpness was just right ... not to soft and not to harsh.
For comparison, I also shot the same scenery and portraits with both of my other two cameras. The GF1's images were the best out of the bunch.
Low-light shooting (full auto mode, inside with just the house lights on) was a different matter. In this situation, the GF1's image quality was fair to poor. I've read some reviews that claim the GF1 performs excellent in low light; but that certainly wasn't my experience. My test photos came out slightly blurred, under exposed and off-colored. Many museums and galleries don't allow flash photography; so I'm rather disappointed in the GF1's low-light, non-flash image quality. I may be able play around with the camera settings (e.g. ISO, White Balance, etc.) in order to improve the quality.
I haven't really played with the video mode much; but so far, it appears to be pretty decent in good lighting, and only so-so in low light.
2. Camera Build: The GF1's size is wonderful; but being tactful, the moving parts (flash, battery compartment door) feel a bit too delicate. The owner's manual clearly states that the camera is not weather sealed and advises owners to avoid using it in dusty/sandy areas or in the rain. Hummm? In fairness to Panasonic, their goal was to build a small, lightweight camera that rivals the heavy DSLR's already on the market; so in order to accomplish that goal, a whole lot of plastic had to be used.
a. Lens Mount - The lens and lens mount both have metal rings and contact points; but changing lenses requires careful attention so as not to strip/cross-thread them. Even when properly aligned, the lens doesn't turn as smoothly as it should when being mounted on the camera. I cringe as I'm mounting a lens, and then, when I finally hear it click into place, I breathe a sigh of relief.
b. Menus & Controls - Overall, I like the GF1's menus and control. They are fairly similar to my other Panasonic camera; so I didn't have too much of a learning curve. One thing I especially like is the ability to set the function button to whatever menu option I want. For example, I frequently change between displaying and not displaying a grid on the LCD screen. I set the function button to access the grid menu settings; so now I can quickly change back and forth without going through the full menu system.
One poorly designed feature is the drive mode lever, used for changing between single shot, burst mode, bracketed exposure, and self timer. Having a lever to change between these drive modes is much more convenient than what I have to go through on my D40. On the other hand, the lever is located directly in front of the camera's mode dial, making it difficult to change the camera mode without accidentally hitting it. While changing modes, I inadvertently bumped the drive mode lever, moving it to the self timer position. When I then tried to take a picture, there was about a 10 second delaying after I'd fully pressed the shutter button. After a bit of head scratching and frustration, I finally figured out what I'd done.
c. Flash - Most cameras have the built-in flash in the center; but the GF1's flash is located on the left side (when shooting) of the camera. This location makes it a bit awkward to hold the camera and open the flash. Also, if you use the auto flash and/or red-eye reduction settings, your hand can get in the way and interfere with the flash opening properly.
When the flash opens, it pops up and then moves forward a bit. When closing the flash, you have to push the flash head back before pushing it down. If you were to push straight down, as you do on most other cameras, you might break the flash's hinges, which are very fragile.
3. Lens Build: The lens' optical quality is excellent and the size/weight is considerably less than comparable DSLR lenses. Aside from the mounting issue, mentioned above, the lens has a nice feel to it. The zoom and manual focus rings have just the right amount of resistance ... not too tight and not to loose. Also, the auto focus response is fairly fast.
4. Battery & Charger: The battery life is average to good for this type of camera. For all of my other camera equipment, I've purchased a spare 3rd party battery and never had any problems with them. It's important to note that Panasonic has started encoded their batteries (supposedly for safety; but I'm sure it helps their sales too) to prevent the use of 3rd party batteries that don't meet their rigid safety standards. As present their website says there are no 3rd party batteries that currently meet their standards. The bottom line ... plan on spending twice as much for an OEM battery if you want a spare one.
Also, my other battery chargers have a flip out plug; but this one has a detachable power cord. The cord is just one more thing to have to pack when traveling; but the charger works just fine.
5. Viewfinder/LCD Screen: The GF1 comes with an LCD screen; but it doesn't have a built-in eyepiece/viewfinder. This was done in order to reduce the camera's size.
For those of us who like using a viewfinder (especially in bright sunlight), Panasonic sells an optional Electronic Viewfinder (EVF) that connects to the camera's hot shoe. The optional EVF has a diaptor dial and a button that switches between it and the LCD screen. It also tilts 90 degrees for shooting high/low subjects without breaking your neck.
There are a few issues worth mentioning about the EVF.
First, since it uses the hot shoe, you can't use the EVF and an external flash at the same time.
Next, when I slid my EVF onto the hot shoe, it slid on very tightly. As a matter of fact, the fit is so tight that I'm afraid to remove the EVF for fear of possibly breaking it or the camera's hot shoe. I'm not happy about this; but since I want a eyepiece/viewfinder and I don't use an external flash, I can live with the EVF being permanently attached to the camera body.
Last of all, on most cameras, the image quality is sharper through the viewfinder than what you see on the LCD screen. You can also see through the viewfinder even when the camera is turned off. The GF1's EVF simply transfers the LCD image display from the screen to the eyepiece, with the same LCD quality. It also requires that the camera to be turned on in order for it to work.
Overall:
I want to give this camera a high rating because (1) The GF1's features truly rival those found on larger digital SLR's, (2) It take great pictures in good lighting or with the flash, and (3) It's so lightweight and small. On the other hand, the GF1 has too many little nuances and it's way overpriced. (In addition to paying for the actual camera, we're still paying for the research that went into the Panasonic/Olympus development of the four thirds and micro four thirds technology.)
Under the circumstances, I'm being a bit generous to give the GF1 a 4 star rating. If I could, I would drop my rating to 3.5 - 3.75 stars.
Finally! June 20, 2010
Carlos Rayon (Tampa, FL USA)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
First off this is a great camera!
I have always wanted a smaller camera that operates like a DLSR. To me the image quality is on par with many entry level DSLRs and that is good enough for me right now. I'm not going to be printing poster sized pictures any time soon.
The camera build is excellent. It's got just the right weight to it.
The controls take some getting used to if you've ever used a DSLR as the camera doesn't expose all of them as switches and dials, and some options feel like you can't get to them fast enough at first. Eventually the controls become second nature and you'll find you can adjust settings to your liking quite quickly.
This is an easy choice for anyone who needs a smaller compact to compliment their current DSLR. You'll have it for situations when you don't want to haul out the "big guns" and still want some creative control.
No regrets.
Panasonic Lumix GF-1' Get one you love it! June 12, 2010
Larry O. Glass (NH, USA)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Purchased for my wife as a replacement for her canon point and shoot digital. She loves the camera, the low light performance in HD video and stills is exceptional
Showing reviews 1-5 of 33
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