Panasonic Lumix CM1 Review – Design

While most of the cameras released to date with smartphone, or equivalent, functionality have appeared more like a smartphone with an advanced camera specification, that’s certainly not the case with the Panasonic CM1.

Thanks to the presence of both the Leica branded optics and all the hallmarks of Panasonic’s Lumix brand, the CM1 feels every bit a quality compact.

That being said, there are a few niggles with the general design of the camera. Firstly, the camera features a faux-leather face which, while pleasing to the eye, feels a touch cheap in the hand and does very little to aid the hold of the camera when shooting.

A more welcome choice would have been to employ a textured or rubberised material to aid the grip, or alternatively to utilise a raised rubber strip as seen previously in Panasonic’s range of TZ ‘travel zoom’ compacts.

Lacking tripod thread

There’s also the slight issue with regards to the CM1’s tripod thread, or the lack thereof. When you consider that almost every other camera on the market has a tripod mount, the fact that the CM1 is lacking a relatively basic feature feels like somewhat of an oversight.

There are other areas of the design which disappoint slightly, the most noticeable being the material used to cover the microUSB port and nano sim covering and mechanism, both of which feel a touch vulnerable. In a move to keep the device as small and light as possible the materials used feel a touch lightweight and as though they might not stand the test of time or heavy use.

Outside of these few flaws, in general the Lumix CM1 impresses. The smartphone element of the camera is well concealed in a slim body unlike some of the other cameras with smartphone functionality.