Panasonic G2 full press release
World’s First Interchangeable Lens System Camera with Touch-Control Shooting
The DMC-G2 from LUMIX G Micro System
Part of the highly commended Lumix G Micro System of digital still cameras, the 12.1 megapixel DMC-G2 is stylish, sophisticated and packed with features – whilst remaining committed to ease of use even for beginners. Standing out from the crowd, the new DMC-G2 is the world’s first interchangeable lens system camera with touch-control shooting1, offering consumers an entirely new kind of system camera shooting.
With a feature set to be proud of – including a 12.1 megapixel Live MOS sensor, the new Venus Engine HD II processor, double Live-View function, AVCHS Lite high definition movie recording, popular My Colour Mode and iA (Intelligent Auto) mode – to name but a few, the DMC-G2 offers revolutionary shooting ease and comfort.
The intuitive touch-control shooting- world’s first in an interchangeable lens system camera1
Continuing to push the boundaries, Panasonic’s new DMC-G2 adopts touch-control shooting for the first time in an interchangeable lens system camera. AF is immediately set to the subject by just touching it on the large, 460,000-dot LCD. You can even release the shutter using a single touch.
Once you lock on the subject by touch, the camera tracks the subject even if it moves with the AF tracking function. Just one touch on the screen lets you select the part and size of the AF area with the 1-area AF. The 1-area AF in Face Detection even allows you to set finer focus on the persons eye while capturing a great portrait.. The Multi-area AF allows users to set a group of AF point according to the composition. With the Intelligent Scene Selector in the iA mode, the camera automatically switches to the appropriate mode according to the subject touched, for example, a touch on a human face switches to the portrait mode and the a touch on the background or a scenery to the scenery mode while a touch on the subject close to the camera to the macro mode. In the manual focusing, you can enlarge the key part of the subject by just a touch to select 1x, 5x or 10x zoom. The touch operation dramatically reduces the time of changing settings in the menu, too.
The touch-screen operation excels not only for shooting but also for playing back images with outstanding visibility. You can play back the image you want by touching on the one in the thumbnail. To play back images one by one in order, you can drag the image across the screen with a finger to browse the collection of photos as you flip over the pages of the book. Max.16x of enlargement is also easy with touches.
The large, high resolution LCD with wide viewing angle rotates 180° from side to and tilts 270° up and down offers approx.100% of field of view. The free-angle LCD with a touch-screen operation makes both monitoring and touching at any physical position.
The double Live-View function offered by the large and bright 3.0-inch 460,000-dot free-angle Intelligent LCD and 1,440,000-dot 1.4x (0.7x) Live View Finder makes it possible to see how settings results in the picture in advance to the shooting. The 12.1-megapixel Live MOS sensor and the new Venus Engine HD II integrating Intelligent Resolution technology assure high image quality in both photo and movie recording.
Despite the incorporation of the high-performance LCD, the DMC-G2 remains small and light to offer excellent portability.
Superb Image Quality
While achieving breakthroughs in advanced functions and compactness of design, Panasonic also refined its comprehensive digital imaging technologies for every cameras of LUMIX G Micro System to raise the level of image quality that rivals or even surpasses D-SLR cameras. The 4/3-type 12.1-megapixel Live MOS sensor featured in the DMC-G2 offers the best of both worlds — the superior image quality of a CCD sensor, and the lower power consumption of a CMOS sensor. Advanced technology that makes it possible to read 4 channels of data simultaneously also helps the G2 deliver 60 frames-per-second Full-time Live View images, while faithfully reproducing high-resolution images with fine detail and rich gradation.
The new Venus Engine HD II features exceptionally advanced signal processing capabilities. This sophisticated LSI separates chromatic noise from luminance noise and applies the optimal noise reduction to each, so you capture clear and beautiful images even when shooting at high ISO sensitivity levels. The Venus Engine HD II also provides independent gradation control for each of the R, G and B colours, so even delicate colour nuances are reproduced faithfully. Linking smoothly with the Live MOS sensor, the Venus Engine HD II records stunning high-resolution 12.1-megapixel images with exceptional accuracy. Signals containing a large amount of image data are sent from the Live MOS sensor to the Live View Finder at 60 fps, resulting in clear, smooth live view.
The high-speed, high-performance Venus Engine HD has been re-engineered to compile the new image processing technology “Intelligent Resolution”. It enables the recording of beautiful photo and high-definition movie with higher quality signal processing. With the Intelligent Resolution technology, 3 areas – outlines, detailed texture areas and soft gradation areas are automatically detected. The outline parts are enhanced effectively to give edges more clearness while giving a moderate accentuation to the texture areas to look more finely detailed. To the soft gradation part, superior noise reduction system of the Venus Engine HD II is applied to make it smoother. Apart from the uniform enhancement of sharpness, the innovative technology Intelligent Resolution precisely performs signal processing pixel by pixel in the most effective way for it. As a result, images are naturally clear and crisp in both photo and movie recording.
Cameras of LUMIX G Micro System are equipped with a highly efficient Dust Reduction System. If dust or other foreign matter gets inside the camera when you’re changing lenses, it could cling to the image sensor and show up as a spot in your photos. The Dust Reduction System in the G2 helps eliminate this possibility by placing a supersonic wave filter in front of the Live MOS sensor. Vibrating vertically around 50,000 times per second, the filter repels dust and other particles effectively.
HD Movies with Ease Thanks to AVCHD Lite
The DMC-G2 can record 1280 x 720 high-definition motion picture in AVCHD Lite that features long recording time and high compatibility with audio-visual equipments. Users can enjoy recording HD motion images taking maximum advantage of the large sensor size and the interchangeable lenses. The action starts at a single press of a dedicated button on the top while most of the settings for photo recording are succeeded, which is convenient when you record the same subject at the same situation in both photo and movie. HD Motion JPEG in 1280 x 720 can also be selected as an alternative movie recording format in addition to QVGA, VGA and WVGA, which is more compatible with PCs. High quality sound can be recorded with Dolby Digital Creator and optional accessory Stereo Microphone (DMW-MS1) can be attached to the G2. A Wind Cut function is also available to block out most of the noise from background wind.
Even video beginners can record excellent movies with DMC-G2 because the popular iA (Intelligent Auto) is also available in motion image recording. Optical Image Stabilizer (O.I.S.) helps prevent handshake when using high-powered zoom. Face Detection automatically detects a face in the frame and adjusts focus, exposure, contrast, and skin complexion on it so it always turns out beautifully. Intelligent Exposure continually checks the ambient light level and adjusts the exposure setting as conditions change to prevent blown highlights and blocked shadows. And Intelligent Scene Selector automatically switches between Portrait, Scenery, Close-up and Low Light modes according to the situation to optimize visual quality.
The G2 also provides a My Colour mode, Film mode and carries over a variety of scene modes from photo scene modes in movie recording. Motion picture P mode that lets you change the aperture for more creative HD movie recording. You can try professional-like movie recording with these variety of options like you do with photo recording.
Now the DMC-G2 can take photo while recording movie by just pressing a shutter button. Plus you can save a frame of movie as photo during playback. Newly added Video Divide function lets you split a video into two at the point you desire. This makes it possible to delete the unwanted part by cutting it off.
Creativity for Photographers
The DMC-G2 is artistic not only in form, but also in function. It provides an array of features that lets users either capture precisely true-to-life images or create their own beautifully expressive images. The G2 features My Colour mode with a total of seven preset effects – Expressive, Retro, Pure, Elegant, Monochrome, Dynamic Art, and Silhouette – while inheriting the previous Custom mode, which lets users manually set the colour, brightness and saturation levels. With the Full-time Live View function, users can see how these settings will affect the images before they shoot, making it easier to capture the exact mood or atmosphere desired. For even more elaborate effects, users can choose from a total of nine Film modes, and set the contrast, sharpness and saturation levels for each. A custom function lets users store their favorite settings in memory. The G2 also provides a total of 26 Scene modes including the Peripheral Defocus mode. Most of these modes can be used when shooting motion images too, letting users create movies with dramatic, theatrical effects without having to edit after they shoot.
The exposure meter can be displayed in the P/A/S/M shooting modes. The correlation between shutter speed and aperture is shown, with a colour-coded warning that alerts users when the settings are not in the proper range. For newcomers to system camera photography, this makes it easy to learn proper settings both visually and logically, enhancing their photography skills.
iA (Intelligent Auto) mode for Great Shots Every Time
The DMC-G10 is ideal for compact camera owners who want to step up to higher-quality photos and advanced functions that are easy to use. Panasonic achieved this superb ease of use by continuing to improve the iA (Intelligent Auto) mode – with its shooting assist functions that have proven extremely popular in LUMIX compact cameras – and adding it to the LUMIX G Micro System’s advanced imaging technologies. iA mode is available not only in photo but also movie recording.
With AF Tracking, the G2 can lock onto any subject and keep it in focus even if it moves – making it easy to get beautiful, clear shots when a great photo opportunity suddenly arises. Simply aim, lock, and shoot. The Face Recognition function remembers registered faces to give an appropriate AF/AE on the people. In playback, you can choose to display only photos that contain a specific registered face using Category Playback.
In addition to the advanced functions mentioned above, the iA mode inherits fundamental functions users need in a good digital still camera. These include MEGA O.I.S., which helps prevent blurring from hand-shake, and Intelligent ISO Control, which reduces motion blur by adjusting the ISO sensitivity if the subject moves as the shot is taken. Intelligent Exposure optimizes the exposure for each part of an image, preventing blocked shadows and blown highlights and helping ensure that gradation and details are reproduced beautifully. It also features an automatic backlight compensation function that activates whenever the camera detects the subject is in backlight. Intelligent Scene Selector automatically detects the most common shooting situations – Portrait, Night Portrait, Scenery, Night Scenery, Close-up and Sunset – and switches to the appropriate Scene mode.
The user can activate all of these useful, convenient shooting-assist functions by simply selecting iA mode.
- Some functions in iA mode may not be available depending on the lens that is mounted.
Enjoy watching high quality photos and movies on a HDTV with VIERA Link networking
Both still images and motion images in AVCHD Lite recorded on SD Memory Cards are easy to view on a Panasonic VIERA TV with dynamic HD resolution. The user simply inserts the card into the VIERA Image Viewer (SD Memory Card slot) on a VIERA TV or DIGA Blu-ray Disc Player to play the content. Alternatively, an optional mini HDMI cable can be used to output still and motion images recorded with the DMC-G2 directly to the TV for easy VIERA Link operation. This makes it possible to take maximum advantage of the camera’s playback functions, including slideshows in which both still and motion images are played sequentially, or calendar displays and so on. All control is possible using only the TV’s remote control.
In addition, with the included software PHOTOfunSTUDIO 5.0 HD Edition, it is easy to view and edit your recorded contents. You may also choose to upload your videos to YouTube or burn them to a DVD disc for archiving.
An Expanding System
The Micro Four Thirds System products are joining today’s Four Thirds System products to provide customers with even higher levels of performance in a digital interchangeable lens camera. In addition to LUMIX G lenses, the LUMIX DMC-G2 and LUMIX G Micro System can use any interchangeable lens that complies with the Four Thirds standard via an optional mount adaptor DMW-MA1 and with the prestigious Leica M/R Lenses via DMW-MA2M or MA3R. This gives the user access to the unlimited number of lens properties.
With the LUMIX G Micro System and the growing assortment of lenses becoming available, the expressive possibilities are unlimited. The LUMIX DMC-G2 system camera offers a wide variety of options to choose from to match every shooting situation and shooting style.
The DMC-G2 with HD movie recording capability offers an abundance of advanced funtions with an unprecedented ease of use realized by an innovative touch control. A new-generation system camera that gives you both stunning images and super-easy operation – Panasonic’s new DMC-G2 will be available from June 2010.