"The lens that our unit had, and one many will opt for, is a new compact 14-42mm F/3.5-5.6 with both power zoom and power focus. It’s very compact when the camera is off, but a front element protrudes about an inch when it’s powered on. The on/off process is fairly quick, so it’s no trouble to turn it off when you need the camera to be more portable, though I personally would prefer a nice pancake prime to minimize size. As a

Ouch! Outlook for 2012 is not very bright either:

"Regarding the annual forecast for fiscal 2012, the company revised its previous sales forecast of 8,300.0 billion yen downward to 8,000.0 billion

It may LOOK similar to the TZ20 it is replacing, but the differences under the hood are anything but subtle: Useable ISO @ 1600 despite the rising to 14 megapixels, better image stabilization, full manual controls, 20x zoom (starting at 24mm), very quick response times and more, well this baby deserves a place into both the 'superzoom' and 'prosumer' tags:

P.S Original video files from both cameras are only available to download for Vimeo 'plus' customers.

"After evaluating some aspects of the image quality of Sony's new NEX-7 it's now time for a closer look at the video quality by comparing it to the current flagship of the MicroFourThirds (mFT) system cameras, the Panasonic Lumix GH2. 

Is the Panasonic DMC-GF3  just a stripped down miniscule GX1, or does it have a valid right to exist on its own merit? Also, note to Author: Sony does NOT manufacture micro four thirds cameras, and they probably never will.

"I know that on paper this is a crazy comparison.  It’s also not fair in that we have two very different sensors, one, a 21 mega pixel full frame at the end of it’s 3+ year life cycle and the other about a quarter of the size and which is not even 10 months into its own.  Well, these are the two

These "short & sharp" reviews are pretty amazing, they reallt live up to their name:

"A short, sharp review of the GX1, Panasonic's mirrorless system camera for the discerning enthusiast. Tested alongside the Sony NEX-5N to see which one comes out on top. View at 1080p to see sample shots at 1:1 pixel ratio."

The GX1 is a sturdy shooter with flexible controls. This is no point-and-shoot camera: It fills up your hands like an old rangefinder. Are you a DSLR snob who loves buttons? It has lots of buttons. ISO, drive, AF mode, and white balance are neatly mapped to the four directional buttons on 

"As is common with many digital cameras these days, the GX1 allows you to choose from a set of predefined processing styles. In keeping with other recent Lumix G-series releases the GX1 offers a choice of: Standard, Vivid, Natural, Monochrome, Scenery, Portrait and Custom. We

"Both cameras offer high image quality, quick shooting, good value for money and access to the ever increasing Micro Four Thirds lens range, as well as numerous third party lenses and adapters, making either camera a great choice. The features available with each and what is right for

"The Panasonic Lumix GX1 is designed to satisfy the needs of advanced photographers and those wanting a premium compact camera with higher resolution sensor and high quality video. The camera looks great with the new compact 14-42mm X lens that compacts to the size of a

Before we go on to the main dish, here's a reader commentary on the same Engadget page:

"Why does everyone simply forget panasonic G3? It has the same sensor as GX1, marginally bigger body but with EVF builtin, an extremely handy tilted screen with touch focus and same resolution as gx1. It's basically the same or even better than GX1!!

"Straight off the camera the GH2 can look great, but the Scarlet holds up far better in post, where you are able to change pretty much any aspect of the image to a massive extent. This simply isn’t possible with DSLR footage.

"Myth busting time! Yes the GH2 really can do clean, detailed ISO 12,800 in low light, and it is the best current DSLR for low light shooting, with an organic fine grain noise pattern like the Canon C300. How? It all depends on picture profiles, as EOSHD shows in this video tutorial.

Hands-on video review of the Panasonic Lumix GX1 video review

Stuff-Review has made a nice little chart that pits the newcomer against the almost established crowd. That's all pretty theoretical though, since 3 of the 4 cameras are practically not available in the majority of the western world:

There's something about the CES environment that makes usually tight-lipped executives a bit less tight..and a bit more candid:

"Much has been talked about a successor for GH2. The GH2 has been out now for a little over a year, so people are wondering about the next model. There’s no one great thing I can say that we’re going to plan on and actually produce right at this time. Certainly, we’ll eventually produce

Panasonic Press Release

"Panasonic have unveiled two new concept lenses, the 12-35mm and 35-100mm, at CES 2012.

Being shown under glass, the Lumix 12-35mm (24-70mm equivalent) and 35-100mm (70-200mm equivalent) are both Power O.I.S lenses with maximum apertures of f/2.8, and they accept 58mm filters.

Well, maybe they have a hint or two about each others existence. FTA:
""One thing that struck me once again while unboxing some new m4/3 lenses is that Panasonic sure seems to not mention the word "Olympus" in their m4/3 materials. Other than acknowledgement of Olympus' trademark of the Four Third and Micro Four Third names

"We were impressed by how fast the GX1 was able to acquire and lock focus on static and moving subjects--with our hit rates also increasing thanks to its AF tracking capabilities. 

"Smartphones have punched a hole in many product categories, not the least of which is the simple pocket digital camera. Still, one category of pocket digital camera that's not withered is the pocket long zoom, or travel zoom, and and quite a few players have joined the category in the last few years. As ubiquitous as they are, smartphone cameras can't pretend to zoom to even 3x optically, let alone compete with the 12-18x optical zooms we've gathered for our Travel-Zoom Shootout.

FTA: "Several factors have combined to make the Beginners' class the most competitive of the Mirrorless camera market. The main one is the camera makers' belief that there is an un-tapped market of buyers who would like to get better pictures than their compact camera

This is DigitalRevTV video review. FTA:

"The Panasonic GF series has taken an interesting change of direction ever since the brilliant GF1 was first announced. With the GF2 and GF3 losing admirers of the range thanks to them losing key features. But now the GX1 is here and it's promising to be the successor to the GF1. Is it any good though?"

Vying for the same space as the Sony NEX7  is tough, really tough, but this is the one possible challenger:

From the review: "

Aimed at advanced enthusiasts, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1 is designed to fill the void left by the acclaimed Lumix DMC-GF1, which sported a level of manual functionality that photographers missed with the subsequent launches of replacements; the Lumix GF2 and Lumix GF3. Could the flagship model of Panasonic's brand

FTA:  "My sole complaint about the interface is that some of the buttons are flush with the body and hard not only to feel, but to press. This includes the movie record button, which provides little tactile feedback and the Q Menu button, which is simply too important to be so hard to feel. The silver buttons are also etched, rather than labeled, and it's nearly impossible to see the etching in dim light without tilting the camera toward a light source.