: Lumix DMX-L1, the official announcement in Japan

Panasonic invited the Japanese press today for the official presentation of their first real DSLR, the Lumix L1. We already saw glimpses of this device in the USA and Japan (Held by Panasonic) over the past months, but this was the official event explaining to the entire Japanese media community what this L1 is about. So what do we remember about this device? The DMC-L1 is a 7.5MP DSLR with ISO values between 100 and 1600, a 2.5" control screen and RAW/Jpeg support. Important to note is the presence of a Dust Free sensor that, according to Panasonic, makes the device very easy to keep clean. The L1 uses SD and SDHC memory cards up to 4GB. As of standard, the device comes with a Leica D Vario - Elmarit 14-50mm lense with an OIS (optical image stabilizer) and the case measures 145x86.9x80 for 1kg (without lense). Seems like a cool device, but this is more aimed at the general public and not for professionals... that's what we thought until Panasonic talked about the price. The L1 with lense will retail for a bit less than 1800 EUR in Japan and 1500 in the USA (maybe you'll understand why, but we don't)... and that's about 700 EUR more than a Canon 350D. This price places the product in the professional league and not in the consumer market it seems to be made for. anyway, we'll have to await a full test of this device by some Photo freaks before we can judge that.

Tune in tomorrow for an HD video of this Lumix L1!