Just posted! Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1 review

Just posted! Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1 review

Wednesday, 11 April 2007 15:55 GMT

Just posted! From the 'better late than never' section of our review queue comes our detailed in-depth review of Panasonic's first digital SLR, the DMC-L1. The L1 is fairly unique in the digital SLR world in that not only is it not available 'body only' but that its kit lens makes up a good portion of the total price. We can though forgive it somewhat because of the clever integration of lens features (manual aperture, optical image stabilization) and the fact that it's an incredibly high quality lens. So read on to see how the L1 performed and how it stacked up to the competition.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1 Review

On February 26th 2006, in a packed press conference on the first day of PMA 2006 Panasonic revealed their first digital SLR, the DMC-L1. The DMC-L1 represents another first, it's the first non-Olympus Four Thirds digital SLR which has to be good news for the system which has up until now been an Olympus only affair. When it was announced many noted the resemblance to the E-330, this is no coincidence as the DMC-L1 shares its optical subsystem (lens mount, mirror box, viewfinder, auto focus and exposure sensors) with the Olympus E-330.

The L1 features the same 7.5 megapixel 'LiveMOS' sensor used in the E-330 (which we now know is manufactured by Panasonic), this provides the camera with TTL live view capability in a similar manner to the E-330. Unlike the E-330 however the DMC-L1 does not have a secondary Live View CCD and so provides only one Live View mode, this is known as 'B mode' on the E-330 and utilizes the main image sensor. The downside to this is that although the DMC-L1 provides auto focus in Live View it requires the mirror to be lowered and raised again during focusing.

Firmware ver 2.0 (March 2007)

As most of the first half of this review was written before Panasonic issued firmware 2.0 (here) hence it's worth noting the following improvements included:

  1. Added a multiple exposure function.
  2. Added panning mode [MODE3] to the optical image stabilizer.
  3. Added a low-angle viewing mode that makes it easier to view the LCD display when the camera is held below eye level.
  4. Added feature that simplifies setting the aperture when using a lens without an aperture ring.
  5. Added two manual white balance settings to GUI. GUI design uses navigational cursor to easily select, and set, white balance (WB) to change the color temperature, or set the ISO sensitivity or flash. Time restriction for making changes was removed.
  6. Added "HOLD" option to Auto Review time, enabling continuous viewing.
  7. Added feature to allow zoomed playback of photos. It's now possible to move back to the preceding images or forward to the next images while the image is still zoomed.
  8. Added [AUTO] for the ISO sensitivity in the aperture-priority AE mode [A] and shutter speed-priority AE mode [S].
  9. Added GUI option to easily check the firmware version.

Panasonic DMC-L1 vs. Olympus E-330 Live View modes compared

 
DMC-L1 Live View
E-330 A Mode
(full-time live view)
E-330 B Mode
(macro live view)
Method Using 'Live MOS' sensor with mirror up and shutter open Using small CCD sensor in viewfinder chamber Using 'Live MOS' sensor with mirror up and shutter open
Auto focus Yes, but screen frozen, mirror down during AF Yes Yes, with firmware 1.2 (same method as L1)
Metering Normal (main sensor) Normal *1 Not indicated *2
Viewfinder Unavailable (mirror up) Available Unavailable (mirror up)
Frame coverage 100% 92% 100%
Shutter release Delayed approx. 1 sec *3 Normal Delayed approx. 1 sec *3
Extra display modes Thirds grid, 6x6 grid Passport modes Golden section, Grid, Scale
Live view magnify Yes in MF; 4x or 10x No Yes, 10x
Depth of field Accurate Not representative Accurate
White balance Applied to live view Not applied to live view Not applied to live view
Exposure comp. Applied to live view Not applied to live view Not applied to live view

Compared to the Olympus E-330 feature and specification differences

The design and price point hint that the DMC-L1 is aimed at a different target market than the Olympus E-330, however there's no doubting that because of the shared components these two cameras will always be compared. Hence the table below which outlines the feature and specification differences between them.

What the DMC-L1 shares with the Olympus E-330

As mentioned above the DMC-L1 shares its lens mount, mirror box, auto focus and auto exposure sensors with the Olympus E-330. In addition of course they both share the same Panasonic sensor. Unlike the E-330 however the DMC-L1 does not have an additional small live view CCD on the top of the viewfinder chamber (you can just make out where it should be below), so only has one live view mode. Disappointingly this means that in normal viewfinder mode you're actually looking through a half-mirror with a dimmer view for no actual gain.