The age of the connected camera is well and truly upon us, with a host of manufacturers announcing models with varying levels of connectivity on an almost monthly basis. In fact, it’s often more common for a camera to be released with Wi-fi functionality rather than without.

However, there are still relatively few models on the market which deliver the full connected experience to the consumer – namely the ability to connect to the internet wherever they are in the field thanks to the utilisation of a data connection through a SIM card in the manner of a smartphone.

Samsung is a manufacturer which has pioneered this approach with its Galaxy Camera series, although in the shape of the all-new Lumix CM1 it would appear that Panasonic has decided to give the Korean electronics giant some serious competition.

The CM1 wowed the crowds at last year’s Photokina trade show thanks to the combination of a fully-specced smartphone body with a Leica lens and a seriously impressive 1in, 20MP MOS sensor.

The question that’s been asked is whether the CM1 is in fact a phone with a camera attached or a camera with a phone attached or rather a successful meshing of the two. Let’s take a closer look to find out…

Panasonic Lumix CM1 Review – Features

The key feature on the camera side of the equation is no doubt the aforementioned sensor. The chip is a 20MP MOS sensor that is 1in in size – a specification more equivalent to advanced compact cameras such as Sony’s RX100 series than the CM1’s smartphone peers.

In fact, the 1in sensor is actually around four times larger than the standard 1/2.3in sensors found in the majority of smartphones on the market

This higher spec sensor is paired with a Leica DC Elmarit lens, once again ahead of smartphone competition in terms of specification. The lens may be fixed, however the 28mm focal length is useful in terms of the situations you’re likely to be shooting in.

Furthermore, the lens also features a maximum aperture of f/2.8 – perfect for portrait photography and getting more light to the sensor.

The camera aspect of the CM1 also benefits from a Panasonic Venus Engine image processor, a feature which will come in handy when it comes to shooting in the supported DNG Raw format.

The model also offers video capture at the new Ultra HD 4K resolution, which in real terms equates to a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels.

Smartphone capability

The smartphone functionality, and the CM1 on the whole, is powered by the Android 4.4 (KitKat) operating system and as such offers access to the Google Play store for a wide range of applications.

The smartphone element also features a pretty serious amount of processing power, with a 2.3GHz Quad-core processor on hand for making the operational speed as fast as some of the best smartphones no the market.

The CM1 also packs in some 16GB of internal storage, with a micro SD slot on hand should you require either further expansion.

One of the final highlights of the specification, as you might expect for a camera / smartphone hybrid, is an ample LCD touchscreen – in this instance it’s a 4.7in full HD capacitive screen which facilitates point-and-shoot functionality and gives a great display of images in the field.