New Panasonic G1, the first Micro Four Thirds camera!

[HOT!] Hands-on preview of the new Panasonic G1 at dpreview.com by Simon Joinson and Richard Butler. 12-pages long. And the announcement at dpreview. Dpreview says this is exclusive, which means they will likely be the only site having an early hands-on preview posted.

Japanese Prices - via digitalcamera.jp

• 80,000 yen body
  
• 90,000 yen G1 with the 14-45
  
• 125,000 yen G1 with the 2-lens kit
  
• 45-200mm lens (H-FS045200) on its own: 49350 yen
  
• October 31st release in Japan

Production Numbers - from Panasonic Japan

• Body Only: 1000 units per month
  
• One-lens kit: 6000 units per month
  
• Two-lens kit: 8000 units per month
  
• Total: 15,000 units per month

More at DC Resource! where Jeff Keller posts his first impressions based on a pre-production model he handled a few weeks ago.

And another hands-on preview, this one by Imaging Resource, where we learn that pricing may be disclosed in early October. (NEW)

Also discussed by Lori Grunin at CNet Crave.

From Japan, coverage at DigitalCamera.jp There we learn that the Panasonic FX35 has been #1 in Japan for 25 consecutive weeks. Oh my!

[NEW] Thanks to one of our readers for this, a gallery of the launch event in Japan at Akihabara News.

It started by Panasonic Japan via the Panasonic dpreview forum and the Olympus SLR Talk forum!

Meet the Panasonic G1

• 12mp LiveMOS sensor
  
• 3" LCD twist and shout (swivel LCD - see picture)
  
• 3 fps (7 RAW, or unlimited JPEG)
  
• Hot-shoe
  
• At 10-megapixels, you can chose 3:2, 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio
  
• Between 330 to 350 shots
  
• no movie mode (afraid of impact on camcorder sales?)
  
• No Price mentioned
  
• Shown in black, in blue and in red at the Panasonic Japan website.
  

The Lens Situation

• Lenses are Panasonic Vario brand, not Leica
  
• Two new lenses announced with the camera: 14-45mm f3.5-5.6 and 45-200mm f4-5.6. Multiply by 2 for 35mm FOV-crop-equivalency.
  
• Two kit lenses and upcoming 14-140 HD lens will have image stabilization (OIS)
  
• Lens Roadmap - four zooms, one prime pancake (20mm f1.7)
  
• Can use Four Thirds lenses using an adapter...
  
• ... however, Four Thirds lenses cannot autofocus, unless the lenses support CD-AF (sad!)
  

Accessories (via Pana Japan)
DMW-FL500 and FL360 "flashlight", filters, mount adapter (4/3rds), remote control, battery pack, shoulder strap, bags, etc. Some will be released right away, others later on.

Early Opinion

• Look at the model name, G1, G-series, taking a shot at the Canon G-series? Interesting or coincidence :-)
  
• The sensor cat's out of the bag! We should expect future Four Thirds DSLRs as well to have this new 12mp Live MOS sensor!
  
• Perhaps this is why Panasonic has not announced the "L100" in Four Thirds.
  
• Boo at the IDG News service for saying with authority that this would have been an L10-DSLR, not a Micro 4/3rds.

PS: If this post is more chaotic than usual, it is because it developed as a "live update".