Barney Sykes: So here we have the GX1 that will be available in black and silver. We’re also introducing a level gauge with it, and touch focus, function buttons, high grade body and high speed focus, plus we’ve changed the movie offering so that not only do we offer AVCHD 50i, we’re now offering MP4, catering for that trend in the movie market of people wanting a more PC friendly solution for High Definition movie.

It will be available in six options. So we’ll have black and silver with the power zoom 14-42mm. Black and silver with the normal 14-42mm kit lens, and black and silver body only.

Photography Blog: The silver finish looks attractive.

Barney Sykes: (with a smile) We’re calling it Aston Martin silver. And we’re also introducing the new electronic viewfinder the LVF2, which has a 1.44 million-dot resolution, tilting, and 100% field of view. It will be sold as an optional accessory, not bundled with the camera.

Photography Blog: Right. Was there any thought given to trying to build a viewfinder into your premium camera?

Barney Sykes: That may price it out of the range of the people we’re trying to reach. And not everybody wants a viewfinder, so at least this gives the consumer the option of having it or not. Personally I do not use them…

Photography Blog: But I ask because enthusiasts do tend to like them, and that’s the market this is aimed at…

Barney Sykes: Yes they do, and what we’ll be doing is potentially offering an attractive bundle for those who do want to purchase it, but obviously it’s down to personal taste… So on the GX1 you can see it has all the major controls: the shutter button, iA button, mode dial, stereo mic, hotshoe, rear dial, AF/AE lock, etcetera.

Photography Blog: The on and off button’s now on the shooting mode dial: that’s a new feature compared to the original GF1.

Barney Sykes: Yes, in that respect it’s the same as the GH2. And in terms of the high-speed auto focus the GX1 is working at 60fps and when you half press the shutter that doubles to 120fps. That light speed AF is also on the G3 and GF3.

Michiharu Uematsu: And from the GX1 we’ve changed from 60fps to 120fps. This means we’ve doubled the speed compared to before.

Photography Blog: This is just when it’s used with the 14-42mm lens?

Michiharu Uematsu: Yes, and this makes the change [in AF speed] from 0.1 to 0.09.

Steve Lucas, Visual Specialist, Panasonic UK: So this is the first camera with 1/20th second lens control.

Michiharu Uematsu: Yes, because it comes from the frame rate of a motion picture. Over every frame we exert control in order to make the synchronisation.

Photography Blog: So in this one respect the GX1 is ‘better’ than the G3 and GF3?

Barney Sykes: Yes and we’ve kept the pinpoint auto focus that we introduced on the G3, as well as full area focusing. We’ve also introduced a new type of focus mode called AFF, or Auto Focus Flexible, which means with a half press it’s automatically focusing and framing if the subject moves. So it’s kind of like AF tracking; it will automatically focus on a moving subject. Also, manual focus assist is bought in from the G3 that will allow you to 10x magnify the picture. We’ve improved the shutter speed so we’ve now got 4fps at 16megapixel resolution, or 20fps at four megapixel resolution, which is the same as the G3. Enhanced shooting functions include the level gauge, which will allow you to balance the image.

Photography Blog: Is that an addition based on customer feedback?

Michiharu Uematsu: Yes, there have been so many suggestions from customers.

Barney Sykes: Yes, and we’ve also changed the Fn buttons so the preferred functions can be positioned to the two hard buttons and the two touch icons. So essentially you can choose which menu you activate quickly using the Function buttons.

Photography Blog: Is there a default menu set?

Barney Sykes: There will be one with the camera that you can then over-ride using this. The camera shipment date is the 10th of December. We’ve also changed the enhanced shooting functions so that when you use the dial you can automatically adjust the shutter speed and aperture and using a one-touch setting adjust the equilibrium to the maximum of each.

Photography Blog: In other words it’s a short cut.

Barney Sykes: You can also do it manually and there is a red warning bar for when the shutter speed’s too fast or too slow. With one touch you can go to the best setting. We’ve got two custom modes on the shooting mode dial and a third one, which you can set via the touch screen.

The sophisticated square design also includes a new handgrip, a new dial, on/off switch and at the back you can see the buttons have a premium quality feel to them.

Photography Blog: Not a dramatic change when compared with the GF1.

Barney Sykes: No, but the buttons here have a metal finish rather than rubber.

Photography Blog: And the small details make all the difference.

Barney Sykes: On-screen displays have changed so we’ve now got a black-based operating system. Not a huge difference, but again a premium feel, and one that has synergy with our Lumix range where the FZ models and the LX also have this black graphic user interface.

And we’ve added some modes to Creative Control: for the GF3 we added miniature effect and here we’ve added two more: Low Key and Toy. The latter is because it’s replicating the look of toy cameras. We’re also keeping intelligent Auto+ which gives you more manual control even within the iA functionality over colour, white balance or peripheral defocus. We’re keeping Photo Style and menu customisation to make the camera fit your needs with the functions you use on a more frequent basis.

In terms of pricing the Yen is very strong at the moment. So we haven’t got 100% pricing but rather an indication. For the GX1 with 14-42mm power zoom it will be hopefully less than £700. With the 14-42mm kit lens, it is hopefully under £600 and then the body only will be less than £500. But that’s very tentative at the moment.

Photography Blog: I was expecting slightly more expensive pricing, with this being your premium product?

Barney Sykes: We have to position the product very carefully in terms of where some of the competition are expected to come and play. We have to price it not only on the cost of building it but also making it a sellable model. If it’s somebody’s second camera they’re not going to pay…

Photography Blog: What do you see as being the GX1’s main competitor?

Barney Sykes: Probably the Sony NEX-5. We’re not targeting this one to compete with the NEX-7.

Photography Blog: And I’d guess another one would be the Olympus E-P3.

Barney Sykes: Yes, and it’ll be interesting to see what the V1 from Nikon is like because that already has a viewfinder option.

Photography Blog: One thing I didn’t ask for anyone who might want to buy the new LVF2 viewfinder is the expected price?

Barney Sykes: That’s £200. And as I say we will be looking at doing some sales promotions and bundles. Because it’s so close to Christmas and we want to be in the mind of those people who are thinking of purchasing this camera we’re going to be working with some retail partners to be in their stores on the weekends with some samples so that we can show the consumers the camera working and they can pre-order it if they choose to.

Photography Blog: And is the new EVF backwards compatible with the GF1?

Michiharu Uematsu: No, it won’t be.

Photography Blog: But I guess the GX1 is compatible with your 3D lens.

Barney Sykes: Yes. We’ve recently seen a slight upturn in sales for that.

Photography Blog: Is that the same in Japan Mr Uematsu? Has the 3D lens proved popular?

Michiharu Uematsu: Mmm... not so popular.

Barney Sykes: Sorry. I didn’t say it was popular, it’s just starting to sell a bit better.

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