Panasonic Shows Lumix Cameras
Trio of high-end digicams will ship in August.Paul Kallender, IDG News Service
Matsushita Electric Industrial, widely known by its Panasonic brand name, plans to release in late August three new Panasonic Lumix digital still cameras. The lineup includes a model capable of shooting in a 16:9 aspect ratio, and another model that has a 19X optical zoom, company representatives said at a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday.
New are the FX9, expected to cost about $444; the LX1, about $560; and the FZ30, around $665, all in Japan. The cameras will go on sale in Japan on August 26, and will be available internationally at around the same time, the company said.
Camera Specs
All three of the models use the company's anti-blur technology. The 6-megapixel DMC-FX9 is the smallest camera of the range at 3.75 by 2 by 1 inch, and features a 3X optical zoom and a 2.5-inch LCD monitor. It has five focusing modes, with the high-speed mode enabling the camera to focus in 0.27 seconds, according to the company.
The FX9 can also shoot up to 270 pictures per battery charge, company representatives said.
The DMC-LX1 has an 8.4-megapixel CCD sensor that is able to capture 16:9 aspect ratio images and comes with a 4X optical zoom and a 28-mm wide-angle lens that helps add depth and scope to pictures, according to the company.
The 16:9 aspect ratio images, stored on an SD memory card, can be viewed on a wide-screen TV without image distortion. The company is considering offering the 16:9 aspect ratio capability to future camera models if this feature proves popular, it said.
The LX1 comes with a joystick used to set the shutter speed, control manual focus and to shortcut to a menu containing frequently used settings. The camera has the same 2.5-inch monitor as the FX9, according to Matsushita.
The 8-megapixel DMC-FZ30 is aimed at advanced users and has an optical zoom that is capable of 19X magnification. The camera has manual focus and zoom rings similar to traditional film cameras and a 235,000-pixel, 2.0-inch LCD monitor, Panasonic said. It is part of the same family of digicam models as the Lumix DMC-FZ10S, introduced last year.