lumix

Zoom lenses sell cameras these days, so it's no surprise that manufacturers are doing everything they can to get longer lenses into increasingly smaller bodies.

A 3x or 5x zoom lens used to be the standard for ultracompact cameras -- those measuring 1 inch thick or slimmer -- but in 2012, you can easily find a skinny point-and-shoot with a 10x optical zoom.

The frontrunner here is the sub-$250 Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX150 thanks to its excellent features, fast autofocus, and the quality of its pictures and video (though its color accuracy could be better). Most of the category consists of sub-$200 cameras, though, so there are several options if you're just looking for a simple pocket camera with a long lens.… Read more

While the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 isn't perfect, it's still my favorite choice for snapshooters looking for a faster, better camera but one that's similar enough to a point-and-shoot that they're not forced out of their comfort zone.

The GF3's small size, well-designed touch-screen interface, fast performance, and solid photo quality -- and, for its type, a more-or-less reasonable price -- make it a compelling option. With the DMC-GF5, Panasonic makes some subtle updates and enhancements that improve on the GF3 for that same snapshooter.

The most important physical change is the new grip; the GF3's was very slippery, and this larger rubberized grip is a huge improvement, especially if you need to shoot one-handed.… Read more

The very first image of the new Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF5 was supposedly leaked by a trigger-happy Instagram user named Angelababy who posted the image to her user profile, according to 4/3 Rumors.

A quick check of her account shows the image has since been removed, but the rumor site speculates that Angelbaby could be a model involved in a commercial shoot with the new camera. … Read more

BARCELONA, Spain--I'm here in Barcelona, going phone crazy at Mobile World Congress. Tucked in among the huge, monster-powered smartphones is a new blower from Panasonic that's bearing the Lumix branding proudly worn by its superb line of cameras.

Panasonic hasn't had much to show off in the mobile line in a long time, but has unveiled the new Eluga and Eluga Power smartphones to us hungry tech journalists. The Lumix range of phones, however, dispense with the slim and sleek designs but pack lenses and sensors you'd normally expect to find on some of its dedicated compact snappers.

The Lumix Phone 101P that I had a hands-on with packs a 13.2-megapixel sensor--bigger than the sensors you'd normally get in phones, which should hopefully result in more detailed images. At just under 10mm (less than half an inch) thick, it's a tad bigger than many new phones we've seen this year, but it is waterproof, so taking some snaps in the rain shouldn't be a problem.

Read more of "Panasonic Lumix Phone shows potential in hands-on pics" at CNET UK. … Read more

Panasonic announced four converters at CES to make its Lumix G series lenses photograph subjects that are farther, closer, and wider.

The four converters increase the flexibility of the lenses--and of Panasonic's Lumix G series of Micro Four Thirds. These cameras, one of the early entrants and now strong players in the interchangeable lens camera (ILC) market, forsake SLRs' reflex mirrors for a smaller design. So far even relatively strong ILC companies like Panasonic can't match the range of lenses available to SLR leaders Canon and Nikon.

Enter the converters, which will ship sometime in 2012 for as-yet … Read more

Back in September at the IFA electronics show, Panasonic showed off a prototype of a dual-lens, dual-sensor 3D compact camera. Apparently that wasn't so much a prototype as it was a preproduction model because as of today the Lumix DMC-3D1 is coming to market.

The full details and specs are available on Panasonic's global site, but the gist is that it has two, 25mm ultrawide-angle lenses (that seem way too close together) each with 4x zoom paired with two high-speed 12-megapixel MOS sensors that can capture 8-megapixel 3D images or 9-megapixel 2D images as well as 1080/60i … Read more

BERLIN--Panasonic has offered high-end 3D videocameras as part of its effort to advance the premium technology, but now it's begun showing off a prototype for a 3D model from its Lumix line of still cameras.

"We are also developing a 3D compact camera for this winter," Takuya Sugita, vice president of Panasonic's AVC Networks Company, said here this week at a press conference at the IFA electronics show, which officially starts today. The company showed two prototypes under glass at the show.

The company has offered a couple tidbits about the coming 3D Lumix camera: it … Read more

There was one thing that kept the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ100 from earning a CNET Editors' Choice award: photo quality. Its replacement, the FZ150, was announced today, and although much of the camera stays the same as its predecessor, a new imaging sensor might fix its photo woes.

The main issue was Panasonic's JPEG processing of photos taken above ISO 200 that produced soft smeary details and yellow blotching caused by noise. It's not great for any camera, but it's especially disappointing in a $500 one. The FZ150 gets a new 12-megapixel MOS sensor (dropping from 14 megapixels in the FZ100), which Panasonic claims improves its signal-to-noise ratio, and new noise reduction more evenly suppresses noise in dark and light areas of photos as well. The end result should be better photos at higher ISOs. … Read more

Compact cameras powered by AA-size batteries are a rarity these days and when you do find them they're either large megazooms or budget-priced entry-level compacts. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS5 announced today is the latter, but at least Panasonic didn't make it without value.

Instead of sticking a slow, narrow lens on the LS5, it has a 5x, 26mm wide-angle lens with a maximum aperture of f2.8. That's wider and longer than you typically find in this class and while the f2.8 aperture probably won't give you a shallow depth of field for anything other … Read more