Secaucus, N.J. — Panasonic said Wednesday that its recently introduced Lumix DMC-GH1 Micro Four Thirds digital camera will be available in June at a $1,500 suggested retail.
The high-performance camera, which is positioned to compete against digital SLRs, will incorporate FullHD video-recording capability and includes the Lumix G Vario 14-140mm/F4.0-5.8 ASPH/MEGA OIS lens as part of the kit.
Panasonic said the new lens was specially designed to support HD movie recording, and features the unusual addition of a silent motor and continuous auto focusing (AF) capability.
The U.S. version of the GH1 will be available in black and has advanced photography features, including the
ability to record AVCHD 1080p/24p high-definition video.
The camera incorporates Panasonic’s iA (Intelligent Auto) mode, which enables fully automatic control of the camera settings, a popular feature in the company’s point-and-shoot DSC line.
Advanced photographers may also manually select settings, including shutter speed and aperture, for more creative control, even during video recording.
“The introduction of the Lumix GH1 allows photographers of all levels to take superior quality photos and shoot HD video with a more compact, easy-to-use camera that provides increased creative capabilities,” said David Briganti, Panasonic imaging senior product manager.
A key feature in the Lumix GH1 is its ability to record high-resolution FullHD (1,920 by 1080p) video at 24 fps or smooth HD video (1,280 by 720p) at 60 fps using the AVCHD format (MPEG-4/H.264), which doubles recording time in HD mode compared to Motion JPEG. The previous G1 model omitted video-recording capability.
The camera also includes a dedicated video-record button on the back that allows shooting video
even while shooting still photos.
