Photokina 2002: Panasonic has announced (and demonstrated) the new two megapixel DMC-FZ1 digital camera which has a unique "Leica" F2.8 12x optical zoom lens with a built-in stabilizer. The camera has selectable sensitivities of ISO 50 - 400, an electronic viewfinder, a 1.5" LCD monitor and stores images to SD / MMC cards. The DMC-FZ1 will soon be available in Silver (DMC-FZ1-S) or Black (DMC-FZ1-K) finishes.

Phil: Specifications below are preliminary and not particularly detailed, as soon as we find out more about this camera we'll post an update to this news article.

Panasonic DMC-FZ1


Sensor 1/3.2" 2.1 megapixel CCD
Effective pixels 2.0 million
Max image size 1600 x 1200
Other sizes • 1280 x 960
• 640 x 480
Image format JPEG (EXIF 2.2)
Lens

• Leica 12x optical zoom with optical image stabilization
• 35 - 420 mm equiv.
• F2.8 (constant throughout zoom range!)

Digital zoom Up to 3x
Focus distance • Normal: 30 / 100 cm - Infinity
• Macro: 3 / 100 cm - Infinity
Focus modes

Auto focus (Wide / Spot)

Exposure modes • Program AE
• Scene mode
Sensitivity • Auto
• ISO 50
• ISO 100
• ISO 200
• ISO 400
Metering • Intelligent multi-segment
• Spot
Shutter speed 1/8 - 1/1000 sec
Exposure comp. +/- 2.0 EV in 0.3 EV steps
White balance • Auto
• Sunlight
• Cloudy
• Incandescent
• Fluorescent
Self Timer 2 or 10 seconds
Burst mode • 4 frames per second
• Max 4 images at Fine JPEG
• Max 7 images at Standard JPEG
LCD Monitor • 1.5" TFT LCD
• 114,000 pixels
Viewfinder Electronic Viewfinder
Storage SD / MMC card
Connections • USB 1.1
• A/V Out
� DC-IN
Power Lithium-Ion rechargeable (supplied)
Dimensions 125 x 70 x 83 mm
Weight (no batt) 314 g