Panasonic DMC-L1 Optics

The Panasonic DMC-L1 is equipped with an interchangeable lens mount that accommodates the full range Four-Thirds lenses from all Four-Thirds lens manufacturers, such as Olympus and Sigma. A lens release button on the lower right side of the front panel releases the lens from the mount, and a set of alignment marks on the mount itself helps you line up the lens appropriately. Because the camera is compatible with a range of lenses, focal lengths and aperture ranges will vary with the lens in use.

We tested the included Panasonic 14-50mm f/2.8-3.5 Mega O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilization) kit lens. Equivalent to a 28-100mm lens on a 35mm camera, this big optic is quite beautiful to hold and use. It comes with all caps and a lens hood, and should work with all Four-Thirds cameras. Not included in Olympus's Four-Thirds lens line is the manual aperture ring around the barrel. Panasonic's only other announced lenses are the 25mm f/1.4 prime lens, equivalent to a 50mm lens, and the 14-150mm f/3.5-5.6. These lenses were not available at the time of this review. There are 11 other Sigma lenses and 14 Olympus lenses that should work with the Panasonic L1. To see the full line of lenses available in the Four-Thirds system, visit http://www.four-thirds.org/en/products/lense.html.

The Panasonic DMC-L1 employs a three-point TTL Phase-Contrast Detection autofocus system, and the three AF points are outlined in black in the viewfinder display. Through the LCD menu, you can manually select which of the AF points you'd like to base focus on, or set the AF area to automatic selection (all three AF points active). The AF button on the rear panel lets you select Manual, Single AF, or Continuous AF modes.

When manual focus is enabled, you simply turn the focus ring around the outside of the lens to set focus. The focus indicator on the right of the optical viewfinder (a solid green circle) lights to indicate that you've achieved accurate focus. In Live View mode, you get no confirmation, you just go by what you see on the screen. Note that this is not a true mechanical or analog focus, however. Turning the ring simply activates the camera's focus mechanism, actuating the focus motor built into the lens. Single AF mode means that the camera only sets the autofocus once when the Shutter button is halfway pressed, while Continuous AF mode continuously adjusts the focus before each shot, used for moving subjects.

Continuous AF uses what Panasonic calls Predictive AF. The camera anticipates where the subject will move next and adjusts focus just before it reaches that point. The modes combining Single and Continuous AF with Manual focus tell the camera to set focus with a half press of the Shutter button, but leaves the manual focus ring active so that you can fine tune the setting before pressing the Shutter button the rest of the way to trip the shutter.

The Panasonic DMC-L1 also lets you tell it whether to adhere to focus- or release-priority. In focus-priority mode, the shutter won't fire unless the subject is properly focused. Conversely, release-priority means that the shutter will fire whenever you tell it to, whether the subject is focused or not.

An AF illuminator option can be turned on through the camera's Record menu, to help the camera's AF system determine focus in dark shooting conditions. The Panasonic L1 uses a red LED to illuminate the subject, rather than a pulse flash like many competing SLRs use. The LED is preferred in most cases because many cameras, the L1 included, can't deploy the flash on their own.

"Supersonic Wave Filter" Automatic Sensor Cleaning
The DMC-L1 includes a built-in Supersonic Wave Filter for sensor cleaning. This is a feature that's hard to evaluate in any sort of a rigorous, quantitative way.

Dust has proven to be a problem for digital SLR users from the beginning. In film cameras, the imaging surface (the film) is constantly refreshed as each new frame is advanced. Any dust that might accumulate on one frame will thus not affect subsequent ones. In digital SLRs though, the sensor surface is fixed, so any dust falling on it tends to stay there, the surface becoming increasingly dirty over time. Various accessories are available to clean CCD surfaces, but their use presents an ongoing risk of accident. (That is, while the cleaning gadgets themselves may be perfectly safe, every time you open your SLR and start sticking things inside the camera body, there's a finite risk that you'll do something to damage the sensor.)

In the DMC-L1, every time the camera is turned on (or commanded to do so via a separate menu setting), an ultrasonic system activates, vibrating the protective cover glass over the sensor at a frequency of 350,000 cycles/second, thereby dislodging any dust particles that may have settled on the sensor's surface. (Dislodged dust is collected and trapped in an internal receptacle, so it won't float around the mirror compartment to cause more problems down the line.) A full cleaning cycle takes only 200 milliseconds (0.2 seconds).

To set appropriate expectations for Panasonic's Supersonic Wave Filter system, it's important to note that it almost certainly won't be effective against grease smudges caused by fingerprints. -- So continue to be careful about putting your fingers inside the mirror compartment when the sensor is exposed.

 

The images above were taken from our standardized test shots. For a collection of more pictorial photos, see our Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1 Photo Gallery .