Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3
Encyclopedia
The Panasonic
Panasonic
Panasonic is an international brand name for Japanese electric products manufacturer Panasonic Corporation, which was formerly known as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd...

 Lumix
Lumix
Lumix is Panasonic's brand of digital cameras, ranging from pocket point-and-shoot models to digital SLRs.Compact digital camera DMC-LC5 and DMC-F7 were the first products of the Lumix series released in 2001. They are equipped with Leica lenses....

 DMC-G3
is a digital mirrorless interchangeable lens camera
Mirrorless interchangeable lens camera
A mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera is an emerging class of digital system cameras, intermediate between compact digital cameras and digital single-lens reflex cameras . They are characterized by a no-mirror design and an interchangeable lens mount...

 adhering to the joint Olympus
Olympus Corporation
is a Japan-based manufacturer of optics and reprography products. Olympus was established on 12 October 1919, initially specializing in microscope and thermometer businesses. Its global headquarters are in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan, while its USA operations are based in Center Valley, Pennsylvania,...

 and Panasonic
Panasonic
Panasonic is an international brand name for Japanese electric products manufacturer Panasonic Corporation, which was formerly known as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd...

 Micro Four Thirds System
Micro Four Thirds system
The Micro Four Thirds system is a standard created by Olympus and Panasonic, and announced on August 5, 2008, for mirrorless interchangeable lens digital cameras and camcorders design and development...

 (MFT) system design standard. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3 is the eighth Panasonic MFT camera introduced under the standard and the thirteenth model MFT camera introduced by either Olympus or Panasonic, as of the G3 product announcement date.

The G3 includes full HD video recording capability in AVCHD
AVCHD
AVCHD is a file-based format for the digital recording and playback of high-definition video....

 format accordance with the MFT system design standard. As its name implies, the G3 is a successor to the Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2
Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2
- Introduction :The Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 is a digital mirrorless interchangeable lens camera adhering to the Olympus and Panasonic developed Micro Four Thirds System system design standard....

 designed primarily for users interested in still photography. Significantly, the G3 design departs from previous G series designs with a smaller size, new sensor design and new processing power.

Physically, the G3 approximates the size of the small Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2 is the sixth camera in Panasonic's Lumix G-series, using the Micro Four Thirds System. The model number implies that it is the successor to the DMC-GF1, although critics complain that the GF2 is not a true successor to the GF1 because the photographer's interface with...

, but includes an electronic viewfinder (EVF) and an articulated, touch control enabled, LCD panel. This made the G3, upon its introduction, the smallest available MFT camera with a built-in EVF. The G3's smaller physical size limits the space available for manual control buttons and dials, with many functions now controllable through the articulated 3 inches (76.2 mm) LCD panel on the camera back.

The G3 has a 16.7 megapixel sensor derived from the one in the top-of-the-line Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2 is a digital camera with HD video recording capability that uses the Micro Four Thirds System. Though commonly referred to as a DSLR camera, it has no mirror or optical viewfinder, but has instead both a fold-out LCD screen and a electronic viewfinder...

. This is an improvement over the previous 12.1 megapixel four thirds sensors used by other Olympus and Panasonic MFT cameras, with the exception of the unique multi-aspect sensors used on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1 is a digital mirrorless interchangeable lens camera adhering to the Olympus and Panasonic developed Micro Four Thirds System system design standard...

 and GH2 hybrid video/still MFT cameras.

The G3 has faster Auto focus
Auto Focus
Auto Focus is a 2002 American biographical film directed by Paul Schrader that stars Greg Kinnear and Willem Dafoe. The screenplay by Michael Gerbosi is based on the book The Murder of Bob Crane by Robert Graysmith....

 speed than most previous Panasonic MFT cameras. Panasonic claims that it possesses a revised JPEG engine which reputedly renders more pleasing colours (e.g., skin tones), with higher image quality and lower noise at higher ISO than any of the previous Panasonic cameras, with the possible exception of the GH2. However, some reviewers have criticised the quality of the G3s JPEG files.

At the center top of the G3 there are weak built-in pop up flash with GN10.5 at ISO160 (GN8.3 at ISO100), hot shoe and stereo microphone (G2 still monoaural).

The G3 was announced in May 2011, and started shipping in June 2011. Available colors, depending on market, were black, chocolate brown, red, and white. In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, the suggested MSRP
MSRP
MSRP may refer to:* Manufacturer's suggested retail price, in business* Message Session Relay Protocol, a protocol used for multimedia communications* MSRP Motorsports, a former name of the HP Racing NASCAR team...

 for the camera and 14-42mm kit lens was USD 700.00

About the Micro Four Thirds System

The Micro Four Thirds (MFT) system design standard was jointly announced in 2008 by Olympus
Olympus Corporation
is a Japan-based manufacturer of optics and reprography products. Olympus was established on 12 October 1919, initially specializing in microscope and thermometer businesses. Its global headquarters are in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan, while its USA operations are based in Center Valley, Pennsylvania,...

 and Panasonic
Panasonic
Panasonic is an international brand name for Japanese electric products manufacturer Panasonic Corporation, which was formerly known as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd...

, as a further evolution of the similarly named predecessor Four Thirds System
Four Thirds System
The Four Thirds system is a standard created by Olympus and Kodak for digital single-lens reflex camera design and development.The system provides a standard that, with digital cameras and lenses available from multiple manufacturers, allows for the interchange of lenses and bodies from different...

 system pioneered by Olympus. The Micro Four Thirds system standard uses the same sized sensor as the original Four Thirds system, which is one-quarter the size of a full-frame sensor. One advantage of the smaller sensor is smaller and lighter lenses, but one disadvantage is lower image quality. For example, a typical Olympus MFT M.Zuiko 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens weighs 112g, is 56mm in diameter and 50mm in length. The equivalent Canon APS-C DSLR EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 kit lens weighs 190g, and is 69mm in diameter and 80mm in length

While the older Four Thirds system design standard allowed the incorporation of a single lens reflex (SLR) camera design including a mirror box and pentaprism
Pentaprism
A pentaprism is a five-sided reflecting prism used to deviate a beam of light by 90°. The beam reflects inside the prism twice, allowing the transmission of an image through a right angle without inverting it as an ordinary right-angle prism or mirror would.The reflections inside the prism are not...

 based optical viewfinder
Viewfinder
In photography, a viewfinder is what the photographer looks through to compose, and in many cases to focus, the picture. Most viewfinders are separate, and suffer parallax, while the single-lens reflex camera lets the viewfinder use the main optical system. Viewfinders are used in many cameras of...

 system, the MFT system design standard sought to pursue a technically different camera, and specifically slimmed down the key physical specifications which eliminated the ability to include the traditional complex optical path and the bulky mirror box needed for a SLR optical viewfinder. Instead, MFT uses either a built-in (Panasonic) or optional (Olympus/Panasonic) compact electronic viewfinder
Electronic viewfinder
An electronic viewfinder or EVF is a viewfinder where the image captured by the lens is projected electronically onto a miniature display. The image on this display is used to assist in aiming the camera at the scene to be photographed.-Operation:...

 (EVF) and/or LCD back panel displaying a Live view from the main image sensor. Use of an EVF/back panel LCD and smaller four thirds image sensor format
Image sensor format
In digital photography, the image sensor format is the shape and size of the image sensor.The image sensor format of a digital camera determines the angle of view of a particular lens when used with a particular camera...

 and allows for smaller and lighter camera bodies and lenses. The MFT system offers better video recording functionality than tradtional DSLRs.

MFT cameras are physically slimmer than most interchangeable lens cameras because the standard specifies a much reduced lens mount flange to imaging sensor plane distance of 20mm. Typically this so called flange focal distance
Flange focal distance
For an interchangeable lens camera, the flange focal distance of a lens mount system is the distance from the mounting flange to the...

 is over 40mm on most interchangeable lens cameras. The MFT system design flange focal length distance allows for, through use of an adapter, the possibility to mount virtually any manufacturer's existing and legacy still camera interchangeable lens (as well as some video and cine lenses) to an MFT body, albeit using manual focus and manual aperture control. For example, many theoretically obsolete 35mm film camera lenses, as well as existing current lenses for APS-C and full frame DSLR's are now usable on MFT cameras.

Panasonic Releases

Panasonic has annoucned the following firmware update

Still Photography Formats


AVCHD Format (.MTS files)


M-JPEG Format (.MOV files)


Micro Four Thirds Camera Introduction Roadmap

Item Model Sensor Electronic View Finder (EVF
EVF
EVF may refer to:*Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation*Electronic viewfinder*Erythrocyte volume fraction or hematocrit*Embryonic ventral forebrain-2...

)
Announced
1 Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1
Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1 is the first digital mirrorless interchangeable lens camera adhering to the recently developed Micro Four Thirds System system design standard...

 
4:3 / 13.1 mp (12.1 mp effective) EVF; 1.4x magnification; 1.44K dots 2008, October
2 Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1 is a digital mirrorless interchangeable lens camera adhering to the Olympus and Panasonic developed Micro Four Thirds System system design standard...

 
4:3; 3:2; 16:9 (multi-aspect); 14.0 mp (12.1 mp effect) EVF; 1.4x mag; 1.44K dots 2009, April
3 Olympus PEN E-P1
Olympus PEN E-P1
The Olympus PEN E-P1 announced on 16 June 2009 is Olympus Corporation's first camera that adheres to the Micro Four Thirds system design standard. The first camera to use the Micro Four Thirds mount was the Panasonic's G-1 camera.-Features:...

 
4:3 / 13.1 mp (12.3 mp effect) optional hotshoe optical VF-1; 65 degree AOV
AOV
-Technology, science, and medicine:* AoV or aortic velocity, the speed of blood flow in the aorta of the heart, a maximum measurement of can be noted as AoVmax or more commonly as Vmax* Air operated valve* Analysis of Variance, also known as ANOVA...

 
2009, July
4 Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1 is the third camera in Panasonic's Lumix G-series, using the Micro Four Thirds System. Its body design similar to that of the recently released Olympus E-P1, the GF1 is 35% smaller than earlier G models...

 
4:3 / 13.1 mp (12.1 mp effect) opt hotshoe EVF LVF1; 1.04x mag; 202K dots 2009, September
5 Olympus PEN E-P2
Olympus PEN E-P2
The Olympus PEN E-P2 announced on 5 November 2009 is Olympus Corporation's second camera that adheres to the Micro Four Thirds system design standard...

 
4:3 / 13.1 mp (12.3 mp effect) opt hotshoe EVF VF-2; 1.15x mag; 1.44K dots 2009, November
6 Olympus PEN E-PL1
Olympus PEN E-PL1
The Olympus PEN E-PL1, announced on 3 February 2010 is Olympus Corporation's third camera that uses the Micro Four Thirds mount after the Olympus PEN E-P1 and Olympus PEN E-P2....

 
4:3 / 13.1 mp (12.3 mp effect) opt hotshoe EVF VF-2; 1.15x mag; 1.44K dots 2010, February
7 Panasonic Lumix DMC-G10
Panasonic Lumix DMC-G10
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-G10 is the sixth digital mirrorless interchangeable lens camera introduced that adheres to the recently developed Micro Four Thirds System system design standard, and the fourth Panasonic model MFT camera introduced...

 
4:3 / 13.1 mp (12.1 mp effect) EVF; 1.04x magnification; 202K dots 2010, March
8 Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2
Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2
- Introduction :The Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 is a digital mirrorless interchangeable lens camera adhering to the Olympus and Panasonic developed Micro Four Thirds System system design standard....

 
4:3 / 13.1 mp (12.1 mp effect) EVF; 1.4x mag; 1.44K dots 2010, March
9 Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2 is a digital camera with HD video recording capability that uses the Micro Four Thirds System. Though commonly referred to as a DSLR camera, it has no mirror or optical viewfinder, but has instead both a fold-out LCD screen and a electronic viewfinder...

 
4:3; 3:2; 16:9 (multi-aspect); 18.3 mp (16.0 mp effect) EVF; 1.42x mag; 1.53K dots 2010, September
10 Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2 is the sixth camera in Panasonic's Lumix G-series, using the Micro Four Thirds System. The model number implies that it is the successor to the DMC-GF1, although critics complain that the GF2 is not a true successor to the GF1 because the photographer's interface with...

 
4:3 / 13.1 mp (12.1 mp effect) opt hotshoe EVF; 1.04x mag; 202K dots 2010, November
11 Olympus PEN E-PL1s  4:3 / 13.1 mp (12.3 mp effect) opt hotshoe EVF VF-2; 1.15x mag; 1.44K dots 2010, November
12 Olympus PEN E-PL2
Olympus PEN E-PL2
The Olympus PEN E-PL2, was announced in early January 2011 at the CES. This is Olympus Corporation's fourth camera that uses the Micro Four Thirds mount after the Olympus PEN E-P1, Olympus PEN E-P2 and Olympus PEN E-PL1. At the time it was announced, it had a US dollar MSRP of $599.99...

 
4:3 / 13.1 mp (12.3 mp effect) opt hotshoe EVF VF-2; 1.15x mag; 1.44K dots 2011, January
13 Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3 4:3 / 16.6 mp (15.8 mp effect) EVF; 1.4x mag; 1.44K dots 2011, May
14 Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 is the eighth camera in Panasonic's Lumix G-series, adhering to the Micro Four Thirds System design standard, and was announced in June, 2011. The model number implies that it is the successor to the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2...

 
4:3 / 13.1 mp (12.1 mp effect) N/A 2011, June
15 Olympus PEN E-P3
Olympus PEN E-P3
The Olympus PEN E-P3 announced on June 30, 2011 is Olympus Corporation's seventh camera that adheres to the Micro Four Thirds system design standard...

 
4:3 / 13.1 mp (12.3 mp effect) opt hotshoe EVF VF-2; 1.15x mag; 1.44K dots 2011, June
16 Olympus PEN E-PL3
Olympus PEN E-PL3
The Olympus PEN E-PL3 announced on June 30, 2011 is Olympus Corporation's seventh camera that adheres to the Micro Four Thirds system design standard...

 
4:3 / 13.1 mp (12.3 mp effect) opt hotshoe EVF VF-2; 1.15x mag; 1.44K dots 2011, June
17 Olympus PEN E-PM1  4:3 / 13.1 mp (12.3 mp effect) opt hotshoe EVF VF-2; 1.15x mag; 1.44K dots 2011, June

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK