Panasonic has announced the new Lumix DMC-GF2, smaller and lighter than the GF1 before it, and sporting an even more powerful image processing engine in tandem with its 12-megapixel CMOS sensor.
Panasonic calls it the DSLM, for DSL Micro compact mirrorless interchangeable lens camera, compatible with lenses from the Micro Four Thirds standard. The GF2 is also compatible with Panasonic’s new 3D interchangeable lens, the LUMIX G 12.5mm / F12, for taking 3D photos.
The GF2 features a newly-designed Touch Q-menu to allow the user to customize the camera’s shortcuts with the most commonly used settings.
Panasonic’s much-touted Venus Engine FHD enables Intelligent Resolution technology, according to the company. This means that three areas – outlines, detailed texture areas and soft gradation – are automatically detected. Then, the outline parts are enhanced effectively to give edges more clearness while giving a moderate accentuation to the texture areas to look more finely detailed. To the soft gradation part, noise reduction system is applied to make it smoother. Apart from the uniform enhancement of sharpness, Panasonic said the innovative technology Intelligent Resolution precisely performs signal processing pixel by pixel, resulting in images that are naturally clear and crisp in both video and photos.
The aluminum body Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GF2 will be available in black, silver, white, and red models with the following kit options: DMC-GF2C – 14mm F2.5 Lens Kit and DMC-GF2K – 14-42mm Zoom Lens Kit. The LUMIX GF2 will be available in January 2011 and pricing will be announced approximately 30 days prior to shipment.
[Site: Panasonic Lumix]