Panasonic
If you wanna shrink a full featured camera system with interchangeable lenses down to a manageable size (without losing any functions), try Prof. Marvell's Patented Shrink-o-Matic Ray--or, you can check out the Lumix DMC-GF2 Digital Micro Four Thirds Camera W/14-42mm Lens (Black) from Panasonic, the smallest and lightest (at the time of release) interchangeable lens camera available.
This Micro Four Thirds contender is 19% smaller and 7% lighter than its immediate predecessor, but still has a 12.1MP Live MOS sensor, a lightweight 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 (equivalent to 28-84mm) 3x zoom lens, dazzling 1920 x 1080 HD video, and is compatible with the full range of Micro Four Thirds lenses (including Panasonic's 3D 12.5mm f/12 lens)--in short, the speed and customization of an SLR camera in highly portable form.
A bright 3" 460,000-dot LCD display for composition and review can also be used as a touch-screen for making and changing settings like focus and exposure--a touch on a human face, for instance, switches to the portrait mode and a touch on the background or scenery switches to the scenery mode, while a touch on the subject close to the camera switches to the close-up mode.
Despite its tiny size, the GF2 is packed with photo and video goodies. The My Color mode offers 7 preset imaging effects (such as Retro, Elegant, Cinema, Monochrome, Silhouette, etc.), and also allows users to customize color, brightness, and saturation on the fly. The LUMIX GF2 can record 1920 x 1080 videos at 60i or smooth HD 1280 x 720 movies at 60p in AVCHD. For those looking for better compatibility with computers, the LUMIX GF2 can also record HD Motion JPEG in 1280 x 720 and QVGA, VGA and WVGA. The body supports autofocus during video recording and Movie Program Mode allows for selective depth-of-field control.
Additional features of the DMC-GF2 include a built-in pop-up flash, contrast detection autofocus, integrated dust reduction technology, and high ISO 6400 sensitivity.
Smallest and lightest interchangeable lens system camera.
12.1MP Live MOS sensor has the superb image quality of a CCD sensor, plus the lower power consumption of a CMOS sensor.
The Lumix G Vario 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH/MEGA O.I.S. wide-angle lens is equivalent to a 28-84mm zoom lens in 35mm format.
Compatible with lenses from the Micro Four Thirds standard, including Panasonic's new 3D interchangeable lens
Extremely easy to operate, with a redesigned user interface, which allows for the focus to be set, or shutter released, by simply touching the large 3" touch-screen LCD, which has brilliant 460,000-dot resolution.
The touch-screen operation dramatically shortens the time spent navigating the menus. With the Touch Q-menu, the user can customize the camera's shortcuts with the most commonly used settings. Together with the simple button components, including dedicated buttons for video recording and iA (Intelligent Auto) mode which lights in-use, users can operate the camera intuitively with ease.
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 a touch on the background or scenery switches to the scenery mode, while a touch on the subject close to the camera switches to the close-up mode.
The fast contrast AF focus system has an AF tracking function that makes it easy to take photos of moving subjects by automatically keeping the focus on your subject.
The Venus Engine FHD image processor features exceptionally high performance signal processing capabilities in both photo and movie recording. With the advanced noise reduction system employing the 3D NR and CNR (Chromatic Noise Reduction), users can capture clear, naturally-balanced images even when shooting at high ISO sensitivity levels to help prevent the color bleeding.
The Venus Engine FHD enables IntelligentResolution technology, in which 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 is applied to make it smoother. In addition to the uniform enhancement of sharpness, Intelligent Resolution performs signal processing pixel by pixel, resulting in images that are naturally clear and crisp in both video and photos.
If dust gets inside the camera when the user changes lenses, it could cling to the image sensor and show up as a spot in photos. The highly efficient Dust Reduction System helps to reduce this risk by placing a supersonic wave filter in front of the Live MOS sensor. Vibrating vertically around 50,000 times per second, the filter repels dust and other particles.
The LUMIX GF2 can record 1920 x 1080 videos at 60i or smooth HD 1280 x 720 movies at 60p in AVCHD. For those looking for better compatibility with computers, the LUMIX GF2 can also record HD Motion JPEG in 1280 x 720 and QVGA, VGA and WVGA. A dedicated video record button makes it easy to start shooting videos and a high quality sound is recorded with the stereo microphone for Dolby Digital Stereo Creator. Panasonic's iA mode extends to video recording, featuring AF Tracking that lets you select the subject by simply touching it on the screen, and track the subject if it moves. 5 detection and correction functions including the AF tracking are simultaneously activated to optimize the settings, so you can get stunning HD movies every time. iA Movie functions also includes Face Detection, Shake Detection - Mega O.I.S., and advanced light detection Intelligent D-range Control.
My Color mode offers a total of eight preset effects - Expressive, Retro, Pure, Elegant, Cinema, Monochrome, Dynamic Art, Silhouette, plus Custom mode, which lets users manually set the color, brightness, saturation and contrast levels.
There are 17 Scene modes, most of which can be used during video shooting, too.