Lumix DMC-FX90
Panasonic added a social-media-friendly pocket cam, the FX90. Featuring WiFi connectivity as well as the ability to connect with Apple iOS smart phones and tablets as well as Android devices, the camera is designed for online sharing via Panasonic’s Lumix Club, a cloud sharing service that was also introduced today. Users can connect directly with Facebook, Flickr, Picasa and YouTube. The camera has a 12.1MP sensor, 24-120mm (35mm equivalent) f/2.5-5.9 lens, an ISO range of 100-6400, shutter speeds 60-1/4000 second, and a 3-inch, 460k dot LCD. Pricing and availability to be announced. Go to end of article for full press release.
Lumix DMC-FZ150
Panasonic today also announced the Lumix DMC-FZ150, a 12MP superzoom EVF camera with 24x optical zoom lens that has a 25-600mm (35mm equivalent) range. Panasonic boasts 5.5fps burst rate at full resolution as well as 1080p video capture at up to 60fps. Panasonic also claims 0.1 second lag time, which is pretty darn fast. Other features include Intelligent Auto (iA) in both still and video modes, 8 artistic effect filters, a hot shoe to mount external flash and microphones, and more. Scroll down for Panasonic’s full press release.
Lumix G 14-42 and 45-175 lenses for MFT
Panasonic also announced a pair of zoom lenses for its Micro Four Thirds cameras. The G X PZ 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 standard-range lens. Strikingly, the lens collapses down to pancake lens size when not in use. In fact, Panasonic states the lens is 48 percent lighter, as well as significantly smaller than the previous version, and the company claims improved optical performance. Panasonic also announced the GX 45-175mm f/4-5.6, with a 35mm equivalent range of 90-350mm.
Full press releases:
The following are full, unedited press releases provided by Panasonic.
Panasonic Adds Wi-Fi® Connectivity To The New Lumix FX90 Stylish Compact Digital Camera
With Wi-Fi Connectivity LUMIX FX90 Easily Shares Photos Via Popular Social Networks Direct from Compatible Smartphones
SECAUCUS, NJ (August 26, 2011) — Panasonic today announces a new stylish compact digital camera, the LUMIX DMC-FX90, which adds Wi-Fi® connectivity (802.11 b/g/n) to a high-performing and feature-rich model that boasts a 24mm ultra-wide LEICA DC VARIO-SUMMARIT lens with F2.5 brightness. With the addition of the Wi-Fi connectivity, the LUMIX FX90 addresses the growing communities of people who take photos and videos and want to share them instantly via online social networks.
Panasonic also introduces today LUMIX CLUB, a cloud-based service that is accessible via a smartphone and a computer browser that allows consumers to upload photos taken with the LUMIX FX90 to the following social networks: Facebook™, Flickr™, Picasa™ or YouTube™. Photos can even be shared with these sites simultaneously, making it easy and quick. Additionally, once a LUMIX CLUB account is acquired, Panasonic will also provide a free, dedicated application called “LUMIX LINK”, which will be compatible with iPhone® and Android™OS smartphones, thus consumers can instantly share photos by connecting the LUMIX FX90 just once to their compatible smartphone and then using the carrier network to share photos online. After the initial set-up, sharing photos will be as simple as using the LUMIX LINK application on the smartphone.
“The FX90 is a digital camera packed with high-end imaging features, enabling consumers to take photos and videos that they are proud to share with friends and family, as well as archive to preserve their memories,” said Darin Pepple, Senior Product Manager, Imaging, Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company. “With the FX90’s Wi-Fi connectivity capabilities, users can now share these photos instantly on popular social networks via an iPhone or Android OS-based smartphones. Sharing photos online is one of the biggest trends now and Panasonic believes image quality does not have to be comprised. With the FX90’s incredible F2.5 lens, photos will be crisp and clear, even when taken indoors with poor lighting. And with its sleek body and extremely fast Auto Focusing, the FX90 is the ideal digital camera to capture all of life’s moments — big and small.”
Using the LUMIX LINK application, users can enter and store all their social network account information and will not have to log-in to individual sites after the initial set-up. At home, users can directly upload the images to the social networks via the access point of a home router or a wireless connection. To make accessing Wi-Fi even easier, the LUMIX FX90 has a convenient dedicated Wi-Fi button that when pressed, directly opens a Wi-Fi Connection mode outside home and gets WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) connection at home. The Wi-Fi module is located on the opposite side of the grip so as not to interfere with the connection signal.
In addition to its Wi-Fi connectivity features, the LUMIX FX90 is an outstanding digital camera complete with a stylish design and sleek body. With an ultra-wide-angle Leica lens complete with a 5x optical zoom (available also in video recording) and an F2.5 brightness, the LUMIX FX90 excels in a variety of shooting environments. Whether taking a photo of a landscape, or capturing moving subjects even in low-lit situations — the LUMIX FX90’s outstanding lens will take the photo brightly and crisply.
The LUMIX FX90 also features a 3.0-inch 460,000-dot LCD with Smart Touch, meaning all controls can be made by intuitively touching the screen. Touch operations while recording, include: Touch AF, Touch Zoom or Touch Shutter. And during playback, the Smart Touch feature can be used with the Beauty Retouch and Art Retouch modes. In addition, functions and settings used most often, such as O.I.S., AF point and white balance, can easily be customized to the user and accessed via the shortcut setting by dragging the icon to the main menu.
The LUMIX FX90’s outstanding performance is powered by a 12.1-megapixel Hi-Speed CCD sensor and is compatible with high-speed, large-capacity signal processing required for 1920 x 1080 60i (sensor output 30p) full-HD video recording in the AVCHD format. Videos can also be recorded in MPEG4 format to easily playback on a computer and other portable electronic devices. To complement its high-quality video capabilities, the LUMIX FX90 also includes Dolby Digital Creator to record high quality audio. The Venus Engine powers the Sonic Speed AF, enabling extremely fast start-up times, making the LUMIX FX90 not only a powerful digital camera, but a speedy one, too. Also, the Venus Engine also provides precisely selective noise reduction to the chromatic noise without affecting the border of colors, so images are naturally clear and crisp in both photo and video recording.
Like all of Panasonic’s digital cameras, the LUMIX FX90 features Intelligent Auto. When in iA mode, the LUMIX FZ47 automatically chooses the best setting based on the shooting environment and features include: Active Mode in MEGA O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilization), Motion Deblur*, Face Recognition, Face Detection, AF Tracking, Intelligent ISO Control and Intelligent Scene Selector and Intelligent Exposure. Even when shooting video, the LUMIX FX90 enables the following features when in iA: AF Tracking, MEGA O.I.S., Face Detection, Intelligent Scene Selector and Intelligent Exposure — all available to help take clear videos worthy of sharing with friends and family.
Access to the LUMIX CLUB is expected, be available on September 5, 2011 here: http://lumixclub.panasonic.net and will allow consumers to easily share their images on Facebook, Flickr, Picasa or YouTube. In addition the LUMIX LINK applications for iPhone and Android OS smartphones will be also available. The LUMIX CLUB site will available in six languages: English, Italian, German, French, Spanish and Japanese. In the future, LUMIX CLUB plans to add the following features:
A storage service so photos can be uploaded to an album that resides in the cloud-based networks and then viewed from smartphones, and Internet-enabled Panasonic VIERA HDTVS and Blu-ray Disc players
An intuitive user interface with a Timeline function that has a drag-and-drop feature
A photo sharing album function that will allow users who attended the same event, such as a wedding or party, to exchange and comment on photos and videos
Pricing and availability for the LUMIX FX90 will be announced approximately 30 days prior to shipping. For more information about Panasonic LUMIX digital cameras, please visit www.panasonic.com/lumix.
The Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Logo is a certification mark of the Wi-Fi Alliance.
* The Wi-Fi Protected Setup Mark is a mark of the Wi-Fi Alliance.
* “Wi-Fi”, “Wi-Fi Protected Setup”, “WPA” and “WPA2” are trademarks or registered trademarks of the “Wi-Fi Alliance”.
* Leica is a registered trademark of Leica Microsystems IR GmbH.
* The LEICA DC VARIO-SUMMARIT lenses are manufactured using measurement instruments and quality assurance systems that have been certified by Leica Camera AG based on the company’s quality standards.
* The “AVCHD” is a high definition (HD) digital video recording / playback format jointly established by Panasonic Corporation and Sony Corporation.
* Facebook is a registered trademark or trademark of Facebook, Inc.
* Flickr is a registered trademark or trademark of Yahoo! Inc.
* Picasa is a registered trademark or trademark of Google Inc.
* YouTube is a registered trademark or trademark of Google Inc.
* iPhone is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.
* iTunes is a registered trademark of Apple Inc. in the United States and/or other countries.
* Android is a registered trademark of Google Inc.
* All other company and product names are trademarks of their respective corporations.
* This unit is compatible with both SD/SDHC/SDXC Memory Cards. You can only use SDHC Memory Cards on devices that are compatible with them. You cannot use SDHC Memory Cards on devices that are only compatible with SD Memory Cards.
* Design and specifications are subject to change without notice.
Panasonic Expands Popular Lumix FZ Series With Premium 24x Super-Zoom, 3D Shooting Compact Digital Camera
New Panasonic LUMIX FZ150 Digital Camera Packs a Powerful 24x Optical Zoom in High-Quality 25mm Ultra Wide-Angle Leica Lens That Shoots Full HD Video
SECAUCUS, NJ (August 26, 2011) — Panasonic today introduces the newest addition to its super-zoom LUMIX FZ-Series digital cameras. The new LUMIX DMC-FZ150 is fully equipped with a 25mm ultra wide-angle LEICA DC VARIO-ELMARIT lens and a powerful 24x Optical Zoom (35mm camera equivalent: 25-600mm) available for shooting both stills and videos. Additionally, the LUMIX FZ150 has two of Panasonic’s newest features — newly advanced Nano Surface Coating technology which helps minimize light reflection that causes ghost and flare — and the new 3D Photo Mode.
As the top-end model of LUMIX’s popular FZ series, the FZ150 combines a new 12.1-megapixel MOS sensor and the renowned Venus Engine giving the camera high-performance image recording capability in both higher light sensitivity and speed. And as a step-up from the recently announced LUMIX FZ47’s 1920 x 1080 60i video feature, the FZ150 realizes 1920 x 1080 60p Full-HD AVCHD Progressive (MPEG-4 / H.264) format. It is also possible to take still images while recording video simultaneously (3.5-megapixel) and the powerful 24x optical zoom is available in video recording. The FZ150 incorporates a stereo zoom microphone with a Wind Cut function, so that videos come with high-quality stereo sound through Dolby® Digital Stereo Creator.
“Panasonic continues to strive to meet the photography demands of its consumers by providing unique features and advanced technology in all our LUMIX digital cameras,” said Darin Pepple, Senior Product Manager, Imaging, Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company. “With the 24x Optical Zoom and 3D shooting capabilities the FZ150 is a versatile, powerful camera that gives users endless options to take creative and high-quality images and videos.”
The Light Speed AF of approx. 0.1 sec never misses fleeting photo opportunities. To encourage step-up users to enjoy shooting even more, full manual control is available with the FZ150. Users can enjoy image shooting while expressing their intention not only in photos but also in video, utilizing a host of options including the new Creative Control and Photo Style with a wide variety of preset options. The effective hand-shake correction system POWER O.I.S. now gains Active mode, which helps to record stable video even if shot while walking.
The LUMIX’s popular iA (Intelligent Auto) Mode powerfully assists in any shooting situations to get the best results. Thanks to the Intelligent Resolution technology, Intelligent Zoom is available with the FZ150 extending the zoom ratio by approx. 1.3x, maintaining the picture quality while combining a digital zoom. This means the 24x optical zoom can virtually extend to a 32x equivalent. Not only drawing near the subject that is far away with its powerful optical zoom, the 25mm ultra wide angle lens captures approx.196% wider angle of view compared with a standard 35mm camera. This is helpful for shooting dynamic landscape or indoor group portrait.
The popular iA (Intelligent Auto) Mode is also available in video recording. The POWER O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer), Face Detection, Intelligent Scene Selector and Intelligent D-range Control also support shooting beautiful videos with ease. The Intelligent Scene Selector automatically switches between Normal, Portrait, Macro, Scenery, and Low Light modes according to the situation, to optimize visual quality. The Intelligent D-range Control makes images look more natural by preventing blocked shadows and blown highlights to optimize the exposure for each part of an image. It also ensures a beautiful reproduction of gradation and details.
A new 12-Megapixel High Sensitivity MOS sensor pursuing Resolution, Sensitivity and Speed has been incorporated along with the renowned Venus Engine enabling the FZ150 to excel in image processing power. The combination of these powerful components results in the S/N ratio improvement by 3.9dB (ISO 100) to 4.7dB (ISO1600) compared with the predecessor — the FZ100. Newly developed Multi-process Noise Reduction applies optimum noise reduction according to the brightness of the part of the picture. Both high frequency noise that occurs in the dark part and low frequency noise in the light part are suppressed even in a picture. As a result, Images recorded in low-lit situations are now dramatically clear.
The Venus Engine has a quad-circuit system for processing large amount of progressive Full HD data at high speed. Not only 1920 x 1080 60p smooth Full-HD video recording, but also super fast consecutive shots at 12 fps (without auto focusing) and 5.5 fps (with auto focusing) in full resolution. It is also compatible with recording high-speed video at 220fps in QVGA. At the same time, the multi-task image-processing engine, the Venus Engine, realizes a super-fast response time. The auto focus gains approx. 50% faster speed compared with the FZ100, achieving Light Speed AF of approx. 0.1 second. The speed in AF Tracking also becomes faster, thanks to the improved tracking performance which doubles its sampling frequency.
The FZ150 provides the new Creative Control mode with a selection of artistic effect modes; Expressive, Retro, High Key, Sepia, High Dynamic, Miniature Effect, Film Grain and Pin Hole. In addition, Photo Style is newly added to the FZ150 for the expression of finer nuance. It has Standard, Vivid, Natural, Monochrome, Scenery, Portrait presets, while enabling finer adjustment of contrast, sharpness, saturation and noise reduction by each.
As a further step-up from the FZ47, the FZ150 is equipped with a hot shoe allowing attachment of various accessories including an optional stereo microphone (DMW-MS1) or an optional external flash (DMW-FL220 / FL360 / FL500). The FZ150 is also compatible with an optional remote shutter (DMW-RSL1) for advanced expression in photography.
The newly-added 3D Photo mode takes 20 panning shots and then the camera automatically selects the two most suitable images — one for the right eye and one for the left eye — to synthesize a 3D composite. The 3D image can then be viewed on any VIERA 3D HDTV. The format of 3D images is compatible with MPO which can be played back on other MPO-compatible equipment.
Other features of the Panasonic LUMIX FZ150 include:
Motion Deblur Mode, which helps to prevent blur.
Intelligent Handheld Nightshot Mode, which generates beautiful night scenery with illumination by layering multiple images shot consecutively.
PHOTOfunSTUDIO 6.5 BD Edition Software makes it possible to sort and organize photos not only of those newly taken but also of those stored on the PC with quick start-up and fast read-in of images. Recorded videos can be edited with the Short Movie Story function and written into MPEG2 to burn onto a Blu-ray or DVD disc.
The Panasonic LUMIX FZ150 will be available in black for a suggested retail price of $499.99,starting in late-September 2011. For more information on Panasonic LUMIX digital cameras, please visit www.panasonic.com/lumix.
1.The “AVCHD Progressive” is a high definition (HD) digital video recording / playback format jointly established by Panasonic Corporation and Sony Corporation.
Leica is a registered trademark of Leica Microsystems IR GmbH.
The LEICA DC VARIO-ELMARIT lenses are manufactured using measurement instruments and quality assurance systems that have been certified by Leica Camera AG based on the company’s quality standards.
Dolby and the double-D symbol are trademarks of Dolby Laboratories.
All other company and product names are trademarks of their respective corporations.
This unit is compatible with both SD/SDHC/SDXC Memory Cards. You can only use SDHC Memory Cards on devices that are compatible with them. You cannot use SDHC Memory Cards on devices that are only compatible with SD Memory Cards. (When using an SDHC Memory Card on another device, be sure to read the operating instructions for that device.)
Some accessories are not available in some countries.
The use of recorded or printed materials that are protected by copyright for any purpose other than personal enjoyment is prohibited, as it would infringe upon the rights of the copyright holder.
Design and specifications are subject to change without notice.
