Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1
Review based on a production DMC-L1, firmware ver 1.1
On February 26th 2006, in a packed press conference on the first day of PMA 2006 Panasonic revealed their first digital SLR, the DMC-L1. The DMC-L1 represents another first, it’s the first non-Olympus Four Thirds digital SLR which has to be good news for the system which has up until now been an Olympus only affair. When it was announced many noted the resemblance to the E-330, this is no coincidence as the DMC-L1 shares its optical subsystem (lens mount, mirror box, viewfinder, auto focus and exposure sensors) with the Olympus E-330.
The L1 features the same 7.5 megapixel ‘LiveMOS’ sensor used in the E-330 (which we now know is manufactured by Panasonic), this provides the camera with TTL live view capability in a similar manner to the E-330. Unlike the E-330 however the DMC-L1 does not have a secondary Live View CCD and so provides only one Live View mode, this is known as ‘B mode’ on the E-330 and utilizes the main image sensor. The downside to this is that although the DMC-L1 provides auto focus in Live View it requires the mirror to be lowered and raised again during focusing.
Firmware ver 2.0 (March 2007)
As most of the first half of this review was written before Panasonic issued firmware 2.0 (here) hence it’s worth noting the following improvements included:
- Added a multiple exposure function.
- Added panning mode [MODE3] to the optical image stabilizer.
- Added a low-angle viewing mode that makes it easier to view the LCD display when the camera is held below eye level.
- Added feature that simplifies setting the aperture when using a lens without an aperture ring.
- Added two manual white balance settings to GUI. GUI design uses navigational cursor to easily select, and set, white balance (WB) to change the color temperature, or set the ISO sensitivity or flash. Time restriction for making changes was removed.
- Added “HOLD” option to Auto Review time, enabling continuous viewing.
- Added feature to allow zoomed playback of photos. It’s now possible to move back to the preceding images or forward to the next images while the image is still zoomed.
- Added [AUTO] for the ISO sensitivity in the aperture-priority AE mode [A] and shutter speed-priority AE mode [S].
- Added GUI option to easily check the firmware version.
Panasonic DMC-L1 vs. Olympus E-330 Live View modes compared
|
DMC-L1 Live View
|
E-330 A Mode
(full-time live view) |
E-330 B Mode
(macro live view) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Method | Using ‘Live MOS’ sensor with mirror up and shutter open | Using small CCD sensor in viewfinder chamber | Using ‘Live MOS’ sensor with mirror up and shutter open |
| Auto focus | Yes, but screen frozen, mirror down during AF | Yes | Yes, with firmware 1.2 (same method as L1) |
| Metering | Normal (main sensor) | Normal *1 | Not indicated *2 |
| Viewfinder | Unavailable (mirror up) | Available | Unavailable (mirror up) |
| Frame coverage | 100% | 92% | 100% |
| Shutter release | Delayed approx. 1 sec *3 | Normal | Delayed approx. 1 sec *3 |
| Extra display modes | Thirds grid, 6×6 grid | Passport modes | Golden section, Grid, Scale |
| Live view magnify | Yes in MF; 4x or 10x | No | Yes, 10x |
| Depth of field | Accurate | Not representative | Accurate |
| White balance | Applied to live view | Not applied to live view | Not applied to live view |
| Exposure comp. | Applied to live view | Not applied to live view | Not applied to live view |
| *1 | The user manual does note that the most accurate metering is only available in this mode with the eyepiece shutter closed (because of stray light entering view the viewfinder). |
| *2 | The metering sensor is in the viewfinder chamber and so exposure is only measured when the shutter release is half-pressed. |
| *3 | Because the mirror has to come down and the shutter close before the exposure can be taken (also for metering, see *2). |