Panasonic Unveils New Lumix G-Series Cameras

Japanese electronics giant Panasonic has released two new Micro Four-Thirds cameras, the Lumix DMC-G2, which has been hailed as "the first interchangeable lens system camera with touch-control shooting" and the DMC-G10.

The G2, which replaces the G1, comes with a 3-inch articulated touchscreen LCD panel while the G10 has a 3-inch fixed LCD screen instead. Both feature the Venus Engine HD II processing engine and like the G1 that they replace, have a 12.1-megapixel sensor.

Both can record MJPEG 720p HD video footage with the higher end G2 offering the option of capturing content in popular AVCHD Lite format at 50fps (PAL) or 60fps (NTSC).

Mono Sound is recorded via a built in microphone on both models although the G2 also offer an optional microphone entry to record in stereo. In addition, it has a dedicated video record button that is lacking on the G10.

Both models will be offered from June (ed: why paper launch them now?) and are expected to have a starting price of £500 (at least for the G10 which Panasonic says is the "lightest digital interchangeable lens camera with a viewfinder".)

The MFT format was announced back in August 2008 and allows for smaller camera formats to be designed. Unsurprisingly, two Japanese companies, Panasonic and Olympus, came up with the idea of having mirrorless D-SLR like cameras.