Panasonic boasts the new Lumix DMC G2 digital camera. The Panasonic G2 is the world’s first Micro Four Thirds camera with touchscreen capability.

Panasonic Lumix G2, the world’s first interchangeable lens camera system , also boast of 12.1 megapixel and newly developed Venus Engine HGII processor. The Lumix G2 can also shoot high definition video function at 30 frames per second on a 1,280 x 720 pixels setting.

Other features of the Panasonic Lumix G2 include an expanded sensitivity range which spans up to ISO 6400/39° and an interrupted Live View feed bust shooting.  The Micro Four thirds camera comes with a 14-42 mm kit zoom lens. Camera fanatics out there can avail of the Panasonic Lumix G2 this June 2010.

THE BACKSTORY

In 2008, Lumix introduced the first camera for the Micro Four Thirds standards dubbed as the Panasonic Lumix DMC G1. It was the first Micro Four Thirds camera, it resembles a typical digital SLRs but in a more compact size. The Panasonic Lumix G1 was not capable of recording video. Then enter G1’s successor, the Pansonic Lumix G2 (a sensible moniker), a Micro Four Thirds camera that is so much the same as the G1 but made more powerful with a video option and a touchscreen LCD which you can flip out and swivel.

TOUCH IT!

The Panasonic Lumix G2 has a menu LCD that shows crucial details  like aperture, shutter speed, ISO sensitivity and metering mode in one glance. A user can change the setting by tapping on the touch screen.

Another cool feature, according to Panasonic,  is that the Lumix G2 has a touch-to-shoot function which lets users tap on the subject. This allows the Lumix G2 to automatically focus the lens and trigger the shutter. When it comes to the video-recording mode, the user can refocus on other parts of the scene by tapping on the display as well.

Once you lock on the subject by touch, the camera tracks the subject even if it moves with the AF tracking function. Just one touch on the screen lets you select the part and size of the AF area with the 1-area AF. The 1-area AF in Face Detection even allows you to set finer focus on the persons eye while capturing a great portrait.. The Multi-area AF allows users to set a group of AF point according to the composition. With the Intelligent Scene Selector in the iA mode, the camera automatically switches to the appropriate mode according to the subject touched, for example, a touch on a human face switches to the portrait mode and the a touch on the background or a scenery to the scenery mode while a touch on the subject close to the camera to the macro mode. In the manual focusing, you can enlarge the key part of the subject by just a touch to select 1x, 5x or 10x zoom. The touch operation dramatically reduces the time of changing settings in the menu, too.

The Panasonic G2 is said to be a good camera for beginners who want to have an easier learning curve when it comes to interchangeable lens system cameras. The design which doesn’t  stray away from typical digital SLR designs makes newbies, who are probably used to the more mainstream digital SLRs, to not be overwhelmed when using this new Micro Four Thirds camera system.

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