Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1 Review Summary

Category	Rating
Large Fixed-Lens Camera	Excellent
Interchangeable Lens Camera	Average
DSLR	Good

For the final rating, the GF1 was put in the large digital camera category because it is not a DSLR but when we take into account the size of the lens, even the smallest, it does form a rather sizable camera. Anecdotally, the reason the rating would be higher in the DSLR category is because the rating system considers performance of all DSLRs which have been around for much longer.

There are not many competitors to look at. The GF1 has a larger, SLR-shaped sibling, the GH1, that looks more like an ultra-zoom than anything. It has nearly the same feature set except that it can shoot 1080p video instead of the GF1's 720p. There was an older model, the G1, which did not have a movie-mode at all. It is interesting to see that these cameras are evolving to offer a more distinct proposition than their predecessors.

There are certainly a few things that will be changed as the interchangeable lens camera market picks up. It is about rethinking what the camera can do when there is no reflex viewfinder to accommodate. The main usability draw-back of the Panasonic GF1 is the lack of a built-in viewfinder which makes it harder to steady the camera and see subjects in bright light. For this, Panasonic has an optional EVF that goes into the hot-shoe instead of an add-on flash. This EVF provides reasonable visibility but is far from being best-in-class, something that belongs to the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1 with its 1.5 MP EVF, the highest resolution ever made.

The bottom line is that the GF1 outperforms fixed-lens cameras in most regards and by a fair margin when it comes to image quality. Speed is good but there are some very fast models in this category which will run circles around a GF1. Compared to a DSLR, things are different because of the Panasonic Lumix GF1's smaller sensor, it shows more noise and less dynamic range than virtually all DSLR cameras. The proposition though is that this digital camera can be taken to more places and is considerably more discrete than the average DSLR.

Neocamera detailed review Read the full review of the Panasonic GF1 here.