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PanasonicLumix DMC-G3

G ForcePanasonic’s third-gen G-series camera is both smaller and more capable than the previous model, although it’s also been repackaged to have wider appeal. report by Paul Burrows.

The G3 steps up to video recording at the Full HD resolution and has a built-in stereo microphone. Video functionality is increased too, and includes focus tracking.

t’s true to say that the compact system camera market hasn’t really panned out the

way its promoters expected. Outside Japan, the uptake has been quite slow and, more signifi-cantly, a good number of these purchasers have been enthusiasts looking for a compact compan-ion for their D-SLR kits. Bear in mind the concept was originally intended to be an alternative to the ‘traditional’ D-SLR.

Consequently, there’s a bit of rejigging of model line-ups going on at the moment, especially from the key players in the Micro

Four Thirds format – Olympus and Panasonic. This is mostly to increase the attraction of these cameras to buyers ready to step up from a high-end fixed lens compact. Of course, this was the original intended audience, but they didn’t bite in the numbers anticipated perhaps because the first generation cameras were still perceived as being a bit too high-end. Consequently, both Panasonic’s third-generation Lumix G models are designed to be more approachable with the GF3, in particular, continuing the downgrading started by the GF2 (to the disappointment, it has to be

said, of users of the original GF1 which was a big hit with enthusiast-level shooters).

Panasonic has been a bit more careful with the G3, but it has been repositioned in relation to the flagship GH2. If you’re a G2 owner then the Lumix G3’s arrival could be considered a bit premature (especially if you’ve made the purchase recently), but take comfort in the fact that the update has partially come about because Panasonic had been a bit too generous and there just wasn’t enough differentiation between the G2 and the GH2. Consequently, G3 users win some and lose some.

The wins are a restyled body that’s prettier, smaller and lighter; an all-new sensor (the first in Lumix G system history), a smarter and simpler user-interface, a step-up to Full HD resolution video recording, and some welcome revisions to the image processing functions which we’ll detail shortly. The losses are an input for an external stereo microphone (fortunately, the built-in pick-up is now stereo), the eyepiece proximity sensors which automatically switched between viewfinders, and some handy external controls, most notably the focus point selector dial and AF mode lever. We have made fun of this little analog-era leftover in the past, but it did have its conveniences.

Another loss is from the G3’s price tag, but this is obviously more of a positive, although it’s further evidence that Panasonic is repositioning this model to have wider appeal beyond just the enthusiast-level shooter to which the G2 was just about perfectly matched... in looks, feel and capabilities. Of course, the G3 is still very much equipped to mid-range D-SLR standards, but it’s true to say that there still hasn’t been a CSC aimed specifically at professionals, although Olympus has hinted at one being in the pipeline.

The Biggest LoserPanasonic has obviously listened to the feedback about its G-series cameras not being compact enough compared to the smallest D-SLRs. Mind you, these comments were mostly made in refer-ence to the diminutive Olympus E-400 series D-SLRs which are no longer around, and entry-level models like the Canon EOS 600D or Nikon D3100 aren’t nearly as compact.

Nevertheless, the G3 has been on a major diet, shedding 25 percent in total volume which is most evident in the much slimmer bodyshell, but actually every dimension is smaller than the G2’s. The construction is mostly plastic, but there’s an alloy faceplate and the styling is very tidy indeed. The new body’s weight is reduced by nearly ten percent. Importantly, the G3 retains the classic SLR look, although of course, the distinctive ‘bump’ contains an EVF rather than an optical finder. Nevertheless, it is an eyelevel finder which

is important given all external monitor screens, no matter how good, have their limitations. Curiously, Panasonic Australia is only offering the G3 in black despite there being a choice of body colours elsewhere... apparently we really haven’t embraced the idea that a serious camera can be anything other than black or silver.

Although it’s Kate Moss thin, the G3 still has a reasonably-sized handgrip and feels very nice in the hand. For a while at the start, you really are continually surprised by how small it looks. A main mode dial is retained, but as mentioned earlier there’s been a culling of the external controls as vacant panel space is now at a premium. In addition to the focus settings dial, the drive mode lever has also gone, along with the AF/AE lock button and the dedicated ‘Q.Menu’ button. The movie start/stop button moves from the top deck to the back panel while the AF and drive selectors take over keys in the four-way navigation cluster, so the remaining buttons all become multi-function rather than having dedicated duties. The ‘iAuto’ (Intelligent Auto) button remains on the top panel. Externally, then, things have been simplified a little to work better in concert with the revised GUI. This starts with a picture-based main menu with six tiles which can be simply touched to access the

settings or navigated in the conventional way via the four-way keys or the control wheel. Once you’re in each of these menus, however, there is no touch control so it’s back to doing things the old way. Nevertheless, as before, the G3’s menus are cleanly designed and easy to get around.

Nice TouchFull touch control is available via the ‘Q.Menu’ option (short for Quick Menu) which allows for a very nifty drag-and-drop method of customisation by adding or subtracting functions.

The other touch-control functions include focusing and shutter release which, when enabled, both operate when you touch on the subject in the screen. Touch focus is possible at any point on the screen (i.e. right to the edges) and there’s a new mode called ‘Pinpoint AF’ for fine-tuning via a 6x+ enlargement on a very small focus point. Also new is a picture-in-picture (PIP) arrangement to assist with manual focusing while allowing for your framing to be more easily maintained. The enlarged section can be moved around the screen via touch control and quickly enlarged to full screen. As we noted with the G2, it’s surprising how quickly you get used to using the touch screen controls over the menus and hard keys, especially if you’re also an iPhone or iPad user. You’d have to think touch screens are the future in all categories of digital camera.

The G3’s 7.62 cm main screen has full tilt/swing adjustability and remains at 460,000

I

“Importantly, the Lumix G3 retains the classic SLr look, although of course, the distinctive ‘bump’ contains an eVF rather than an optical finder.”

Simplified main mode dial no longer incorporates the drive mode selector lever and the video start/stop button – which was on the G2’s top panel – moves to the back of the G3.

The new sensor not only has a 25 percent increase in resolution, but employs new noise reduction techniques which significantly improve the G3’s performance at the higher ISO settings.

Rear control cluster looks a lot more accessible thanks to its redesign. The pair of ‘Fn’ buttons can be assigned the functions that once had a dedicated key.

The third-generation Lumix G-series model is significantly smaller than its predecessor and repositioned in terms of features and pricing to have wider appeal (as well as increase the differential with the flagship GH2).

The rear panel layout had been cleaned up too, but the G3 retains a 7.62 cm tilt/swing monitor screen with touch controls.

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1.44 megapixels with 100 percent coverage and it mostly replicates the external screen’s displays, but with the touch operations converted to the navigation controls. Panasonic says the G3’s EVF has been improved over the G2’s and, subjectively, this is indeed the case. The dynamic range is significantly better and so is the smoothness during panning which appears to have eliminated any lag-induced ‘stuttering’. The colours are still a bit dull compared to an optical finder (or even the monitor screen), but the resolution is superb and really helps with the PIP and Pinpoint AF focusing operations.

Signal BoostThe Lumix G3’s new sensor is still a ‘Live MOS’ type device (which is based on the CMOS architecture) and, of course, is still Four Thirds Standard in dimensions, giving a focal length magnification of 1.97x compared to the 35mm format. The total resolution is increased to 16.68 megapixels of which 15.8 MP are put to work, giving a maximum image size of 4576x3432 pixels (at the 4:3 aspect ratio).This is a significant step up from the 12.1 MP of the second-generation Lumix G cameras and it’s matched by improvements in the data processing which yields an increased signal-to-noise ratio despite the smaller pixels.

This is really where the most justification for introducing a new generation camera can be found, and the G3 is proof positive there’s still plenty of room for improved image quality in digital capture. Panasonic says noise reduc-tion processing on the new sensor (a benefit of the CMOS design) is now being done at both the pixel level and as the signal passes through the amplifier circuits. The sensitivity range is equivalent to ISO 160 to 6400 which is pretty much as on the G2, but bear in mind the G3’s 25 percent increase in resolution and, importantly, noise levels are reduced. There’s a claimed 6.0 dB increase in signal performance at ISO 3200 and 9.0 dB at ISO 6400 which is significant.

The new sensor is mated with the ‘Venus Engine FHD’ image processor which is the same

device as is used in the GH2, but obviously tweaked for the G3’s imager. The increased processing power enables the G3 to record video at the Full HD resolution of 1080/50i which is done using the full AVCHD compression (rather than the G2’s AVCHD Lite).

However, there’s also the option of recording at 720/50p using the Motion JPEG format

which is a little more user-friendly if you aren’t a dedicated videophile.

The FHD processor also delivers an increased continuous shooting speed in still photography of 4.0 fps (up from 3.2 fps) and faster AF response times. There’s a ‘Super High Speed’ mode which captures at 20 fps, but at a reduced image size of 4.0 MP. Stills can be recorded in any combination of three image sizes, four aspect ratios and two compression ratios. The RAW+JPEG options are limited to large/fine and large/standard compressed attachments.

The level of video functionality is pretty high, including full-time autofocus tracking which is made possible by the FHD processor and the new sensor which reads out at 120 fps rather than just 60 fps to greatly increase responsiveness. Quite a number of subject/scene modes and image processing functions are available for video recording as is dynamic range expansion processing. The built-in stereo microphone has adjustable levels and a wind- cut filter.

Styles And EffectsPanasonic has re-organised the G3’s JPEG processing functions which were previously a bit confusing in terms of the way they were labelled. The old ‘Film Modes’ are now called ‘Photo Styles’ which is much more 21st century and there’s a choice of six presets – Standard, Vivid, Natural, Monochrome, Scenery and Portrait. All are adjustable for contrast, sharpness, colour saturation and noise reduction over plus/minus two steps.

This includes Monochrome where the colour saturation adjustment tones the image from se-pia to blue. There’s also the provision for creating a custom ‘Photo Style’.

The previous ‘My Colour’ modes have been better renamed ‘Creative Controls’ as these are essentially special effects – namely Expressive, Retro, High Key, Sepia and High Dynamic. This brings the Panasonic into line which what’s happening on D-SLRs, although it’s strange that the likely-to-be-lesser-used ‘Creative Controls’ are easily accessed via the main mode dial while

the ‘Photo Styles’ require a more involved trip to the menu system.

The G3 has three levels of dynamic range expansion – low, standard and high (plus off) – via a revised method of analysis and correction which Panasonic now calls ‘Intelligent Dynamic’ (rather than ‘Intelligent Exposure). There is also long exposure noise reduction (on/off) and

The menu design remains pretty much the same as previously. It’s clean and simple in its design and logical in its navigation.

“The effective resolution is increased to 15.8 MP which is a significant step up from the 12.1 MP of the second-generation Lumix G cameras and it’s matched by improvements in the data processing which yields an increased signal-to-noise ratio despite the smaller pixels.”

Movie recording has a dedicated three-page menu which is an indication of just how much adjustment is available including the new ‘Photo Style’ presets (top).

The G3 offers a total of 17 subject/scene modes of which 11 are available when shooting video clips. The camera’s auto scene recognition systems (in ‘iAUTO’ mode) uses seven of them.

The old ‘My Colour’ modes have been better renamed ‘Creative Controls’ and reduced to a set of five special effects.

As a result of the size reduction, a number of external controls have been eliminated, most notably the focus mode dial and selector from the top panel. Consequently, the G3’s external control layout looks a lot tidier.

The G3’s ‘iDynamic’ dynamic range expansion processing preserves quite a bit of detail in the highlights and shadows. While contrast reduced in these overcast conditions, there was still a reasonable brightness difference between the sky and station.

The performance at the ISO settings beyond 800 is the best seen on any Micro Four Thirds camera so far, knocking Panasonic’s own GH2 off its throne.

The colour reproduction with JPEG capture is excellent, but obviously the ‘Picture Style’ settings allow plenty of scope for adjusting the saturation.

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Type: Fully automatic digital camera with Micro Four Thirds bayonet lens mount.Focusing: Automatic 23-point wide-area system using contrast-detection via imaging sensor. Single focus point – with variable area size – can be moved around the image frame. Manual switching between one-shot and continuous AF modes, the latter with a track-ing function. Face detection and recognition. Sensitivity range is EV 0 - 18 (ISO 100). AF assist provided by dedicated illuminator. Metering: 144-point multi-zone, centre-weight-ed average, spot and TTL flash. Metering range is EV 0 to 18 (ISO 100/f2.0). Exposure Modes: Continuously-variable program with shift, shutter-priority auto, aper-ture-priority auto, metered manual, TTL auto flash and TTL flash. Plus 17 subject/scene programs. Subject programs also set appro-priate white balance, sharpening, contrast and colour saturation. Auto scene selection in ‘Intelligent Auto’ mode (portraits, scenery, macro, night portrait, night scenery, sunset and baby). Eleven subject programs available for movie shooting.Shutter: Electronic, vertical travel, metal blades, 60-1/4000 second plus B (up to 240 seconds). Flash sync to 1/160 second. Exposure compensation up to +/-5.0 EV in 1/3 stop increments.Viewfinder: LCD EVF type with 1.44 dots resolution. Coverage = 100% vertical/horizon-tal. Magnification = 1.4x (50mm lens at infin-ity). LCD displays and focus point indicators. Eyepiece strength adjustment built-in. Manual switching only between EVF and external LCD monitor screen.Flash: Built-in pop-up unit with GN 10.5 power (ISO 160/metres) and 14mm coverage (equiv-alent to 28mm). External flash units connect via hotshoe. Flash compensation range of +/2.0 EV in 1/3 stop increments. Flash modes are auto, red-eye reduction, fill-in, off, slow speed sync and second curtain sync.Additional Features: Camera settings dis-played in main monitor screen, AE/AF lock, face-detection AF/AE (up to 15), auto expo-sure bracketing, multi-mode self-timer (2 and 10 second delays, one or three shots), audible signals, auto power-off, hard-wired remote triggering. Optical image stabilisation via pack-aged 14-42mm ‘MEGA O.I.S.’ zoom lens.

DIGITAL SECTIONSensor: 16.68 million (total) pixels Live MOS with 17.3x13.0 mm imaging area and 4:3 aspect ratio. Sensitivity equivalent to ISO 160-6400.Focal Length Magnification: 1.97x.Formats/Resolution: Two JPEG compression settings, RAW output (lossless compression) and RAW+JPEG capture. Three resolution settings at 4:3 aspect ratio; 4576x3432, 3232x2424 and 2272x1704 pixels. Three resolution settings at 3:2 aspect ratio; 4576x3056, 3232x2160 and 2272x1520 pixels. Three resolution settings at 16:9 aspect ratio; 4576x2576, 3232x1824 and 1920x1080 pixels. Three resolution settings at 1:1 aspect ratio;

3424x3424, 2416x2416 and 1712x1712 pixels. 24-bit RGB colour for JPEGs, 36-bit RGB colour for RAW files.Video Recording: AVCHD format at 1920x1080p pixels, 50 fps and 16:9 aspect ratio and at 1280x720 pixels, 50 fps and 16:9 aspect ratio. Motion JPEG format at 1280x720 pixels, 25 fps and 16:9 aspect ratio. Also at 640x480 and 320x240 pixels and 30 fps. Stereo sound recording. HDV clips in Motion JPEG format limited to 2.0 GB file size which is roughly 15 minutes at maximum quality. HDV clips in AVCHD limited to just over 13 hours (in theory); up to four hours and 14 minutes with a 64 GB SDXC memory card. Recording Media: SD, SDHC and SDXC memory cards.Continuous Shooting: Seven JPEG/large/fine frames at up to 4.0 fps (JPEG/large/fine) or seven RAW frames. Medium (3.0 fps) and low speed modes (2.0 fps) also available. ‘Super High Speed’ mode allows for 20 fps at 4.0 MP resolution.White Balance: TTL measurement. Auto mode, five presets and two custom settings. White balance compensation (amber-to-blue and/or green-to-magenta) in all presets, and white balance bracketing. Manual colour temperature setting from 2500 to 10,000 degrees Kelvin. Interfaces: Multi-connector (USB 2.0 and NTSC/PAL composite video), HDMI mini..Additional Digital Features: Built-in sensor cleaning, 7.62 cm LCD monitor (460,000 dots) adjustable for viewing angle (270 degrees tilt, 180 degrees swing) and with touch con-trol, digital zoom (up to 4.0x), Adobe RGB and sRGB colour spaces, long exposure noise reduction, six ‘Photo Style’ presets (Standard, Vivid, Natural, Scenery, Portrait and Monochrome), one user-defined ‘Photo Style’, in-camera adjustment of ‘Photo Style’ param-eters (contrast, sharpness, colour saturation and noise reduction), five ‘Creative Control’ modes (Expressive, Retro, High Key, Sepia and High Dynamic), ‘Defocus Control’ func-tion (with iAuto and Creative Control only), luminance/RGB histogram displays, highlight alert, adjustable image display time, auto image rotation, slide show (with variable dis-play times and background music), playback zoom (up to 16x), 12 or 30 thumbnail displays, capture date calendar display, image resiz-ing and cropping, DPOF support, PictBridge direct printing support.Power: One 7.2 volt/1010 mAh rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack (DMW-BLD10PP type).Dimensions (WxHxD): body only = 115.2x83.6x46.7 mm.Weight: body only = 336 grams (without battery or memory card). Price: $899 body only. $999 with Lumix Vario G 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 ASPH Mega OIS image stabiliser zoom. $1299 for twin lens kit which adds the Lumix Vario G 45-200mm f4.0-5.6 Mega OIS zoom. Available in black only.Distributor: Panasonic Australia, telephone 132 600 or visit www.panasonic.com.au

* with Lumix G Vario 14-42mm ASPH zoom

something called ‘Intelligent Resolution’. This was introduced on the second-gen cameras, but only as part of the ‘iAuto’ suite of full auto operations so now it’s selectable for use with any camera configuration. ‘Intelligent Resolution’ detects outlines, textures and areas of soft gradations and then enhances the edges to increase the definition and, consequently, the perception of sharpness.

Panasonic has also re-arranged the ‘iAuto’ (Intelligent Auto’ control so there is now the option of ‘iAuto Plus’. In ‘iAuto’ the G3 basically

runs the whole show itself whereas, in ‘iAuto+’, there’s the option of some manual fine-tuning to the focusing (i.e. depth-of-field), exposure and colour balance. This is similar to Canon’s ‘Creative Auto’ mode on its entry-level D-SLRs. Both ‘iAuto’ and ‘iAuto+’ are available for video recording and use all Panasonic’s ‘Intelligent’ processing functions to optimise the focusing, exposure, contrast and colour reproduction. It also includes automatic scene selection from a selection of seven modes – portraits, scenery, macro, night portrait, night scenery, sunset and baby. The total set of subject/scene modes numbers 17, accessed via the ‘SCN’ position on the main mode dial. Eleven are available for movie shooting.

In ControlThe G3 retains the same main exposure control options as its predecessor, starting with a choice of three metering modes – multi-zone (using 144 segments) centre-weighted average and spot. The standard selection of ‘PASM’ exposure modes is supplemented by program shift, an AE lock, up to +/-5.0 EV of compensation (applied on 1/3 EV increments) and auto bracketing. The bracketing range is also up to +/-3.0 EV, adjust-able in 1/3, 2/3 or full-stop increments with variable sequencing across three, five or seven frames. The AE lock function is now assigned to one of the two ‘Fn’ function buttons on the camera’s back panel and which allow for some degree of control customisation.

The shutter speed range is 60-1/4000 second with flash sync up to 1/160 second. The G3’s built-in flash is supplemented by a hotshoe, and the ‘on-board’ modes include fill-in, red-eye reduction, slow speed sync, second curtain sync and flash compensation of up to +/-2.0 EV. Red-eye removal processing can be enabled via the Record menu.

The white balance control options comprise auto correction, five presets, and the capacity to make and store two custom measurements plus manual colour temperature setting from 2500 to 10,000 degrees Kelvin. Fine-tuning is available along either the blue-to-amber or green-to-

Touch controls include shutter release and focusing. Once activated, just tapping on the subject in the screen will set the focus and trip the shutter.

magenta ranges with bracketing over three frames which is now more easily set up Canon EOS-style.

The autofocusing system still uses 25 distance measuring points, but has been significantly upgraded in speed thanks to the new sensor and processor. Of course, it’s still based on contrast-detection measurements, but the sensor’s faster read-out and the processor’s faster number-crunching significantly reduce the dwell time (which is when the contrast is rechecked, prior to finalising focus). We’ve

already mentioned the upgraded features such as the Pinpoint AF mode, the PIP manual assist and the capacity to move the single-point right to the image frame’s edges. The AF tracking also benefits from the faster focus checking rates so it improves in its precision, and the face detection facility will find up to 15 faces in the frame with the option of entering face recognition data (for up to six individuals which the camera then prioritises).

The frills list includes ‘Shading Compensation’ (to correct for lens vignetting), a multi-mode self-timer, a choice of four guide grids, a real-time histogram display, and provisions for storing two customised set-ups.

The image review/playback screens include a full set of brightness and RGB histograms, a highlight warning and a thumbnail with capture data. The replay modes include 12- or 30-image thumbnail pages, zooming up to 16x and a slide show with variable display times and a choice of background music. Video clips and stills can also be mixed in the slide show. The in-camera editing functions are limited to resizing, cropping and changing the aspect ratio. The touch control options in replay include a swipe action to move between pictures and a drag to scroll through an enlarged image. The actual enlarging and reducing, however, is done via the command wheel rather than an Apple screen’s sexy two-finger expand or squeeze.

Speed And Performance Against the clock, the G3 captured a burst of 13 maximum quality JPEGs in 3.025 second which represents a shooting speed of 4.29 fps. How-ever, this is only at the ISO 160 sensitivity setting and the camera slows markedly at the higher ISO settings. For example, at ISO 400 we fired off a sequence of seven frames in 2.25 seconds which means the shooting speed has dropped to 3.1 fps. Presumably this is related to the noise reduction processing.

The specs are quite vague about burst lengths beyond saying that the maximum is seven if RAW files are involved. If not, it all depends on “the capacity of the card”. In reality, we found that 12

to 14 frames was the maximum, depending on the image content and this was with everything that could possibly chew up more time (dynamic range expansion, for example) switched off. The G3 will indeed go on shooting until the card is full, but at a significantly slower rate than 4.0 fps. Mind you, in this regard the Panasonic camera is now different from many other CSCs and D-SLRs so there is a need for the definition of this specification to be tightened up.

There are a number of marked performance improvements delivered by the G3 (sorry G2 owners), starting with the autofocusing which is noticeably faster and, it has to be said, now on a par with a good phase-difference detection system. Importantly, it seems to be a lot faster than any D-SLR using contrast-detection in the live view mode.

The second big performance jump is in the quality of the JPEG images, notably in terms of the colour fidelity across the spectrum and the noise levels which are significantly lower at the higher ISO settings. Until now, things have started to deteriorate with any Micro Four Thirds camera beyond ISO 800 (with the possible exception of the excellent GH2), but the G3 is a revelation at ISO 1600 and 3200. Noise levels stay exceptionally low without any significant loss of detailing while good colour saturation and overall accuracy are maintained as well. Some slight softening is evident in areas of low contrast detailing (such as textures), but the high contrast details stay exceptionally well defined all the way up to ISO 6400. And even at this sensitivity setting the colour rendition, contrast and gradation smoothness are all still reasonably good... even by ‘APS-C’ sensor standards. In this regard, the G3 does better than the GH2 and blows the G2 clean out of the water.

Sharpness steps up a grade too, so the levels of detailing are very good and the dynamic range is good with the new ‘iDynamic’ processing tweaking things. Shooting RAW improves the dynamic range, resolution and sharpness, but the differences between these files and the JPEGs is nowhere near what it was on the earlier Lumix G cameras.

The VerdictWe liked the Lumix G2 because it was primarily aimed at the enthusiast-level shooter (compared to the entry-level G10) and consequently worked pret-ty well as the alternative to a compact D-SLR. The G3 has been shifted more towards the up-graders from fixed-lens compacts so it has lost some of its predecessor’s business-like look and feel.

However, the G3’s performance upgrades in terms of the AF operation, JPEG quality and the movie clip quality easily tip the scales in its favour. Importantly, Panasonic now has a Micro Four Thirds CSC that can comfortably counter the claims of superior imaging performance from the ‘APS-C’ brigade. Right now, the G3 tops the CSC performance charts full stop. And between them, Panasonic and Olympus, offer an impressive line-up of MFT mount lenses (including the latest M.Zuiko primes) so, in terms of balancing size, capabilities and image quality, the Lumix G3 is the most faithful interpretation of the CSC design brief we’ve seen so far.

“The G3 is proof positive that there’s still plenty of room for improved image quality in digital capture, and this is really where the most justification for introducing a new generation camera can be found.”

This is the new main menu page which uses graphics to identify each section. The ‘Scene Mode’ tile only appears when the main mode dial is set to ‘SCN’.

The Quick Menu can be easily customised by dragging and dropping the desired function icons.

Tilt/swing screen provides a number of benefits and, if Panasonic can make the hinge so compact, why isn’t this a standard feature on D-SLRs?

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