Panasonic have just announced 2 new cameras with Micro Four Thirds sized sensors which will be very attractive to those wanting a compact travel camera yet high image quality of a larger sensor.

The LX-100:

The LX-100 is a fixed lens camera (you cannot change the lens) but with a useful 3 x zoom and good low light capabilities and a built in viewfinder, but perhaps most interesting of all, is it has incredible 4K video capability.

This would make a perfect companion for a Micro Four Thirds camera with a 75mm f/1.8 lens!

Specs at a glance:

• 16mp multi-aspect sensor giving 12.7mp actual at 4:3 aspect ratio
• 11 fps (6.5 fps in C-AF) with 1/16,000th sec shutter
• 10.9-34mm (24-75mm equiv.) F1.7-2.8 ASPH Leica lens, close focus 3cm, 9 aperture blades, aperture dial and aspect ratio selector, focus mode selector, 43mm filter thread, but no OIS nor IBIS
  • much more depth of field (DOF) control than smaller sensor cameras such as the Canon G7 X, G1 X II or Sony RX100
• DFD AF technology to give faster AF
• XGA EVF
• 3“ 921k dot LCD but no touch
• 4K HD video (and 4K photo mode) at 30p, plus 1080 60p
• electronic silent shutter mode
• mechanical shutter is INSIDE the lens and thus allows flash sync at all mechanical shutter speeds!
• bundled flash with support for wireless TTL flash
• WiFi with NFC for smartphone control
• 393g, 115 x 66 x 55mm
• $US899

The Panasonic GM-5:

The Panasonic GM-5 is a true Micro Four Thirds camera with interchangeable lenses and replaces the GM-1, and importantly adds a built-in electronic viewfinder.

My main disappointment is the slow flash sync of only 1/50th sec but for those using this camera, they probably will not be using flash much any way.

Specs at a glance: