Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1

The basics

Panasonic enters the interchangeable lens arena with this stunning Lumix DMC - G1 featuring Full time Live View. Unlike most digital SLR cameras, the Lumix G1 will display live picture information on the high resolution 460,000-dot LCD monitor or colour LCD viewfinder prior to shooting.

The good

Did someone put the G1 through a hot wash? This dinky camera looks like a normal SLR but shrunk to fit today’s micro-miniaturised lifestyle. Despite weighing just 385g, the 12MP G1 is packed with full-fat features, such as face detection, brainy auto systems and a top quality 3x zoom lens. Peering through the electronic viewfinder is like entering a tiny High Definition kingdom: the 1.4 million pixels inside give three times the detail of its 3-inch LCD screen, which is itself pretty darn sharp. Image quality is a world above compact cameras and at least as good as the other budget SLRs out there – complete with RAW capture for all you aspiring pros.

The bad

Anyone used to the reassuring heft of an SLR might find the G1 a touch on the teeny side – although the kit lens’s superb image stabilisation keeps camera wobble to a minimum. One bizarre omission: there’s no movie mode on the camera, which should have been totally straightforward in the new Micro Four Thirds format.

The bottom line

All the ease of use of a compact camera, all the quality of an SLR – the first Micro Four Thirds camera could be the start of something, er, small. A miniature marvel, lacking only video capture.