Panasonic G3

A DSLR-like, mostly still photography-oriented camera.

  • Sensor: 16mp Panasonic CMOS sensor, 17.3 x 13mm (2x crop)
  • Mount: Micro 4/3 (m4/3)
  • Images: 4592 x 3448 pixel JPEG or 12-bit raw maximum, 5 fps max 
  • Video:  1080i/60, 720P/60/30, 480P/30, 240P/30 AVCHD or Motion JPEG for 720P or lower, stereo audio
  • Shutter: mechanical 60 sec to 1/4,000 sec, bulb
  • Exposure: multi, center-weighted, spot metering, -3 to +3EV exposure compensation, 5 white balance settings (plus Auto and Custom), ISO 100-6400, AUTO ISO
  • Focus: ? point contrast detect, single point, multi-area, face detect, tracking, manual focus override
  • Display: 3" 460k dot swivel touch-sensitive LCD, built-in EVF (1.44m dot)
  • Flash: pop-up flash included (11m ISO 200 GN), hot shoe, 1/160 flash sync, red-eye reduction, slow sync
  • Remote: optional DMW-RSL1
  • Other Notable Features: 
  • Cards: SD, SDHC, SDXC
  • Battery: DMW-BLC12PP
  • Size: 4.5 x 3.3 x 1.9" (115 x 84 x 47mm) wide, tall, deep
  • Weight: 12 ounces (336g)
  • Colors: Black, White, Red, Brown
  • Price: US$700 with kit lens
  • Firmware: current version 1.2 (October 2011)
  • Announced: May 2011 (discontinued)

Olympus Lenses for the camera

Panasonic Lenses for the camera

Thom's Mini Review: if you don't mind an EVF and you don't press the ISO values up, this is another decent Panasonic camera for still photography. It handles mostly like a mini-DSLR. It does not offer as many video options (nor as good a quality, in my opinion) as the GH2, but it can produce good quality video in a pinch. JPEGs are better than many previous Panasonic models, though still not quite at the level of the best JPEG engines we've seen in other cameras, but Panasonic is a bit heavy handed with the noise reduction, especially at the highest ISO values. Note that raw files even at base ISO have noise in them, though it's easily managed up to about ISO 800. The G3 is one of the smallest DSLR-like cameras on the market. While it's far from pocketable, a complete system of a G3 and some good flexible m4/3 lenses packs small. Unlike a lot of the m4/3 bodies at launch, the G3 appears to be reasonably priced (i.e. my Value rating wouldn't be out of whack). 

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