Today, Olympus introduces their first Micro Four Thirds camera – the E-P1. The compact new Olympus E-P1 has a 12.3-megapixel sensor and it’s Olympus’ first changeable lens camera to offer a movie mode (720p HD). The Micro Four Thirds format was announced last August and since then I’ve been anxiously waiting to find out what Olympus would do with it. Panasonic has introduced two Micro Four Thirds cameras, the Lumix G1 and the GH1 with HD video. But until now, the only Micro Four Thirds action we’ve seen from Olympus was behind glass at tradeshows. But now there’s an Olympus Micro Four Thirds camera we can bank on – and it’s not just a list of specs and features, either. I was lucky enough to get a pre-production E-P1 last week so I could get a feel for the camera, make my own product photos and shoot a hands-on video preview of the new Micro Four Thirds camera.
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Hands-On In Miami With The Panasonic Lumix ZS3 & TS1

Panasonic 2009 Lumix Digital Camera Intro
I’m wearing shorts and sandals and I’ve got a greasy film of sunscreen on my pale, winter skin. Forty-eight hours ago I was skiing knee deep Utah powder at 10,000 feet. Now I’m on a beach taking pictures of a girl in a bikini with a huge albino snake. Is this a dream? Nope – it’s Panasonic’s 2009 Global Lumix Seminar. I’m on Miami’s famous South Beach and I’ve got two pre-production Panasonic digital cameras to play with and pretty girls to point them at. It’s a crazy paradigm shift to be sure. But I’m a pro and I can handle it.

The word “Lumix” comes from combining “lumi,” meaning light and “mix,” for the combination of technologies Panasonic uses in their digital cameras. Panasonic introduced the Lumix designation in 2001. They manufacture nearly all of the critical camera elements in their own factories, which means they have the ability to really control the quality of their digital cameras. They got outside help for one part of the camera, and for that they went to one of the most respected names in optical design and manufacturing – Leica. The Leica DC Vario-Elmar lenses on Panasonic’s Lumix cameras are all made in Leica certified factories.
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Official Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX37 Press Release

Panasonic has introduced an updated version of the FX35 digital camera that we reviewed in April of this year. Like the FX35, the new FX37 has a 10.1-megapixel sensor, a 25mm super wide zoom lens, as well as Panasonic’s MEGA O.I.S. image stabilization and their latest Venus IV imaging processor.

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