Panasonic continued to advance and expand its lineup of Lumix G series Micro-Four Thirds single lens mirrorless cameras with the introduction Tuesday of the Lumix GX9.
At the same time, Panasonic showed its continuing support for the compact long-zoom point-and-shoot camera category with the addition of the ZS200, which the company bills as a pocket-sized long travel zoom camera that upgrades the ZS100. The ZS200 includes a 15x (24-360mm 35mm equivalent) Leica zoom lens, a 20.1 megapixel 1-inch MOS image sensor and 4K video recording.
The GX9 mirrorless interchangeable lens camera is a refresh for the GX8, which it updates with a new 20.3-megapixel Micro-Four Thirds Live Mos image sensor without a low-pass filter. Removing the low-pass filter ensures images stay as sharp as possible at the scarifice of some moire filtering. The camera also includes a new L.Monochrome D mode to Photo Style, to enable easily making detailed dynamic monochrome photos that add more realistic-looking and adjustable film grain effects.
Read more about Panasonic’s new cameras after the jump:
The GX9 also features a 5-axis Dual I.S. (Image Stabilizer) to suppress blur. The system combines a 2-axis Optical Image Stabilizer (OIS) and a 5-axis in-Body Image Stabilizer, to compensate for a wider range of camera and lens movement even in wide to telephoto and low-light conditions.
A camera employs a wide screen 2760K-dot-equivalent Live View Finder (LVF) that tilts up 90 degree and offers 100% color reproduction. The 16:9 LVF provides approx. 1.39x/0.7x (35mm camera equivalent) magnification and 100% field of view, Panasonic said.
The camera includes 3.0 inch 1240k-dot high resolution tilting touch-screen monitor with nearly a 100% of field. The monitor tilts up approximately 80 degress and down by 45 degrees to accommodate high and low angle shooting.
The Contrast AF system in the Lumix GX9 features Depth From Defocus (DFD) technology and excels in both speed and accuracy by exchanging digital signals between the camera and the lens at a maximum 240 fps, for ultra-fast auto focusing in approx. 0.07 seconds.
The camera also packs a range of AF functions including Face/Eye Detection AF, Pinpoint AF, One-shot AF and advanced Low Light AF to enhance usability, Panasonic said.
Additionally, a Live View Boost function makes it possible to check composition even in total darkness by boosting sensitivity just for live view.
The Lumix GX9 records 4K Ultra HD video in 3840×2160 resolution at 30p or 24p in MP4. A 4K Photo feature is added to make it easier to capture creative stills from high-resolution video. This includes Auto Marking and Sequence Composition, which are added to Post Focus, Focus Stacking, Light Composition and 4K Live Cropping.
The Lumix GX9 will ship at the end of March in a bundle including a 12-60mm non Leica lens for a $999.99 suggested retail price. Panasonic is also offering an optional handgrip ($59.99) and eyepiece ($19.99).
Meanwhile, the Panasonic Lumix ZS200 is designed as a pocket-sized long-zoom point-and-shoot with a built-in 15x (24-360mm/f3.3-6.4 eqivalent) Leica zoom lens.
The camera adds a number of new features including depth from defocus 4K shooting, Full HD 1080p 120 fps high-speed shooting, 3cm close focus macro shooting, and L-Monochrome black and white film grain enhanced images.
The ZS200 includes a 20 megapixel 1-inch MOS sensor and is said to offer improved color accuracy. The combination of a High Sensitivity MOS Sensor and Venus Engine delivers up to ISO 12,800 for high sensitivity.
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The camera includes a 0.21-inch, 2.330 K-dot Live View Finder (LVF) with high magnification ratio of approximately 1.45x/0.53x (35mm camera equivalent). The camera features an auto eye sensor that clicks the shot when the shooter’s face is put up againt the camera. In addition, the ZS200 includes a full-integrated 3-inch static touchscreen display that provides a nearly 100% field of view, and Touch Point AF system.
The camera also includes 5-Axis hybrid optical Image Stabilizer Plus to suppress hand-shake in both photo and video recording.
The camera’s extensive contrast AF auto focus system includes an ultra fast (.1 second) AF speed, with 240 fps AF drive and Low light AF and Starlight AF settigs. The AF system has the ability to take up to 6 fps in continuous mode. The camera will enable super fast shooting in bright light, with a top electronic shutter speed of 1/16,000th second.
The camera will capture 4K video inn QFHD 4K video (3840×2160) at 30p or 24p in MP4. The 4K Photo mode lets users capture memorable moments by extracting single frames from 4K burst files shot at 30 fps to save as 8-megapixel equivalent images. Panasonic adds Auto Marking and Sequence Composition to Post Focus and Focus Stacking for greater flexibility and ease of use.
The ZS200 includes Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity for control (including remote shutter release) and monitoring through a connected mobile device.
The ZS200 will be available in stores on March 20th at a $799.99 suggested retail price, with a choice of black or silver body colors.
By Greg Tarr
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