The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZX1 is a new 12.1 megapixel camera with an 8x optical zoom lens in a slim and compact body. The 25-200mm ultra wide angle lens is ideal for both broad landscapes and tight indoor shots, and the Panasonic ZX1 (also known as the DMC-ZR1) also offers an improved Optical Image Stabilizer and ultra high-speed auto-focus. High definition 1280x720, 30 fps motion jpeg movies can be recorded by the ZX1, and the new High Dynamic scene mode helps to capture a scene with moderate exposure even if it contains both bright and dark areas. Available in early September, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZX1 is priced at £269.99 / $279.95.

Panasonic Europe Press Release

25mm Ultra Wide Angle 8x Optical Zoom Lens in a Compact Body
12.1-Megapixel DMC-ZX1
The Versatile Travel Camera with POWER O.I.S.(Optical Image Stabilizer)
*35mm film camera equivalent: 25-200mm

Lisbon, Portugal (July, 2009) – Panasonic is pleased to introduce the Lumix DMC-ZX1 digital camera from new ZX series featuring powerful zoom with a remarkably slim and compact body. Newly developed lens unit including world’s first 0.3mm super-thin aspherical lens and industry’s first 0.3mm industry first spherical lens realizes to fit the high performance 25mm ultra wide angle 8x optical zoom lens*1 into the slim and compact body.

The powerful 8x zoom lens makes it easy to pull in subjects from far away a step closer compared to the conventional stylish point-and-shoot cameras. For an added boost, zoom power can be increased to 15.6x with the Extra Optical Zoom function*2. The 25mm ultra wide-angle feature is ideal for both broad landscapes and tight indoor shots, letting photographers capture a wider view. The 12.1-megapixel resolution allows photos to be greatly enlarged while still retaining outstanding detail, or edited by trimming and enlarging parts of the photo to print.

Panasonic’s Intelligent Auto mode – a hallmark of Lumix cameras – now includes POWER O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer) which features double the repression power compared to the conventional image stabilization system MEGA O.I.S. The hand-shake, which is physically generated when pressing the shutter button or when shooting at night with a slow shutter speed, is effectively compensated by the new POWER O.I.S. to enjoy blur-free photography. In the popular Face Recognition*3 mode, up to three people can be simultaneously recognized to show their names on the monitor once registered.

Another main feature of the ZX1 is its high-speed AF, the industry’s fastest level. Combined with a high-speed start-up of only approx. 1.1 second, this gives the ZX1 a fast response that helps to catch even the most fleeting photo opportunities. The 2.7-inch large Intelligent LCD offers dynamic and clear view out of its small body. The battery life is also as powerful as approx. 330 pictures shooting thanks to the highly energy efficient image processing LSI, the Venus Engine V4. 

Users can choose from a wide range of colors: silver, black, blue, white or red*5, all comes out with high-quality aluminum texture which resists fingerprints and soiling. With its slim, compact, pocket-fitting size and impressive specifications, the ZX1 is a great partner for traveling or for everyday snapshots.

25mm Ultra Wide Angle 8x Optical Zoom High Quality Leica DC Lens in a slim and compact body
The DMC-ZX1 features a 25mm ultra wide angle LEICA DC VARIO-ELMAR lens and powerful 8x optical zoom (equivalent to 25-200mm on a 35mm film camera) together with a 12.1-megapixel high resolution CCD into a compact body. The lens unit comprises of 9 elements in 7 groups, including 4 aspherical lenses with 6 spherical surfaces. Notably, Panasonic achieved the world’s first incorporation of 0.3mm super thin aspherical lens and industry first 0.3mm spherical lens, both mold and mass production is difficult, in to the newly developed lens unit. This makes it possible to fit the 25-200mm high performance lens in astonishing slim and compact body.

With the long zoom range from 25mm to 200mm, the DMC-ZX1 can be the best suitable camera to take expansive scenery with dynamic perspective and a close-up of a distant subject, having the appealing angle of view. This powerful zoom also works during the motion picture recording.

Further, in 3-megapixel resolution mode, the Extra Optical Zoom function uses the centre part of the CCD to provide additional magnification, extending the zoom power to 15.6x.

Outstanding Basic Performance – Superb Image Quality with the Exceptional Response and Enhanced Performance of the Venus Engine V
The common concept shared by all new LUMIX products for 2009 second half is the seamless operation, which is indispensable for stress-free photography. In order to respond to the foremost desire of all photographers – to catch every possible shooting opportunity—Panasonic went back to the basics and developed an industry-leading, ultra high-speed AF that is twice as fast as its sister model DMC-TZ7 while dramatically shortened the start-up time, too.

To realize the ultra high-speed AF, a number of re-engineering and improvements are made including the adaptation of a higher-speed actuator, the optimization of algorithms and the parallelization of software processing element. The result is ultra high speed yet accurate AF performance for users to enjoy the airy shooting that has experienced never before. Panasonic also replaced its linear program processing with parallel processing to achieve an ultra high-speed start-up of approx. 1.1 second.

In image processing, luminance noise and chromatic noise are reduced separately before and after signal processing. This is further refined by separating noise two-dimensionally into high-frequency and low-frequency noise. The circuits then effectively reduce only the low-frequency noise to minimize the unwanted noise and help produce beautiful, sharp still and motion images.

This multi-task image-processing engine has a super-fast response time. The shutter release time lag is as short as approx. 0.007 seconds, making it easy to capture sudden, spur-of-the-moment photo opportunities. In burst shooting mode, the ZX1 can snap approx. 2.3 shots per second at 12.1-megapixel full resolution*1. In High-speed Burst shooting mode, it fires off an incredible approx. 10 shots per second*2 and the Flash Burst mode makes it possible to take consecutive shots with continuous emissions of the flash*3.

Despite its outstanding performance, the high performance engine is also more energy efficient to extend the battery life up to 330 shots (CIPA) per a single charge.

iA (Intelligent Auto) Mode Further Advances for Easy Photography
With the DMC-ZX1, taking great photos is that easy. Panasonic incorporated the Intelligent Auto mode in pursuit of the ultimate ease of operation and the reduction of misshots. In iA mode the camera does all the work, leaving you free to compose shots and capture moments. Just press aim, and shoot. This mode is now further advanced with the inclusion of further advanced image stabilization system POWER O.I.S. and Face Recognition* for DMC-ZX1.

Taking advantage of Panasonic’s accumulated optical technologies, MEGA O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer) has been incorporated into Lumix cameras from the early stage of digital camera development. This helped to show all digital camera users the absolute need for hand-shake compensation, and led to its prevalence throughout the industry. MEGA O.I.S. has now evolved into the new POWER O.I.S. on the DMC-ZX1, with a great performance improvement - twice the shake suppression capability of previous models.

The hand-shake component, which is physically generated when pressing the shutter button or when shooting at night with a slow shutter speed, is recognized as a low- frequency vibration, for which the new POWER O.I.S. is particularly effective. This greatly improves the quality of shots taken at night or indoors where a flash cannot be used, or where the photographer doesn’t want to use a flash because it would spoil the mood. It captures beautiful photos in situations that previously resulted in blurring.

The ZX1 features Face Recognition, a function that “remembers” faces. When a familiar face is recorded several times, the camera will prompt you to register the face. Once complete, if the familiar face appears into your frame again, the camera will display the name you specified for the person and prioritize focus and exposure so that the registered face is bright and in sharp focus. Up to six people’s faces can be registered, and up to three can be simultaneously recognized to show their names once registered. Three face images can be registered for each person, to dramatically raise the detection accuracy. And when the angle of view is changed horizontally, the name display also rotates for easier reading.

With AF Tracking, the ZX1 can lock onto any subject and keep it in focus even if it moves – making it easy to get beautiful, clear shots when a great photo opportunity suddenly arises. Simply aim, lock, and shoot.

In addition to the advanced functions mentioned above, the iA mode inherits fundamental functions users need in a good digital still camera. These include Intelligent ISO Control, which reduces motion blur by adjusting the ISO sensitivity if the subject moves as the shot is taken. Intelligent Exposure optimizes the exposure for each part of an image, preventing blocked shadows and blown highlights and helping ensure that gradation and details are reproduced beautifully. It now features an automatic backlight compensation function that activates whenever the camera detects the subject is in backlight. Intelligent Scene Selector automatically detects the five most common shooting situations – Portrait, Night Portrait, Scenery, Night Scenery and Macro – and switches to the appropriate Scene mode.

The Quick AF system helps keep focus on the subject while the camera is in recording mode even before pressing the shutter button halfway. This improves the result out of a shutter chance because the focus is always near the subject and AF time is minimized. The user can activate all of these useful, convenient shooting-assist functions by simply selecting iA mode.

HD photos and HD movies with VIERA Link networking
Both photos and 1280x720, 30 fps motion jpeg movie recorded on SD Memory Cards are easy to view on a Panasonic VIERA TV with dynamic HD resolution. The user simply inserts the card into the VIERA Image Viewer (SDHC/SD card slot) on a VIERA TV or DIGA Blu-ray Disc Player to play the content. This makes it possible to take maximum advantage of the camera’s playback functions, including slideshows in which both still and motion images are played sequentially, or calendar displays and so on. Operation using only TV’s remote controller is super-easy.

In addition, with the included software PHOTOfunSTUDIO 4.0, it is easy to view and edit your recorded contents. You may also choose to upload your videos to YouTube or burn them to a DVD disc for archiving.

Other Options for Fun
One of the ZX1’s unique feature of ZX1 is the newly added Travel mode. From the top menu, you can quickly go into the mode and organize various information related to your travel such as destination, date, world time and so on. It’s also easy to play back images by designate the date or period of travel on the calendar menu interface.

The High Dynamic mode is newly added to the existing scene modes. This mode helps to capture a scene with moderate exposure even though the scene contains both bright and dark area together. The user can select either of three options, Standard, Art, or B/W, depending on the desired effect and personal taste to make the photo look natural to artistic.

About Included Software PHOTOfunSTUDIO 4.0
The latest version of the bundled software PHOTOfunSTUDIO 4.0 allows you to view, edit and archive your captured photo and motion pictures with greater ease and fun. The new PHOTOfunSTUDIO 4.0 features dramatic speed-up of operation by achieving 10x as fast as the previous edition for start up and 8x for initial image registration process*. The GUI is re-designed by adopting simple graphic elements and layouts as well as the incorporation of wizard method, making the operation more intuitive and extremely easy.

The portrait images taken with the camera’s Face Recognition function are organized neatly in the folder of the name registered with the camera. Not only that, the software also features an independent Face Recognition function that recognizes the faces in the picture stored in your PC to sort the photos by the face speedily. You do not have to pick out each photo one by one out of thousand of photos when you only want pictures of a specific person. With PHOTOfunSTUDIO 4.0, the software automatically sorts your images into virtual folders based on the faces you registered. You can also enjoy slideshows with a variety of effects and use your iTunes music library as background music. Motion pictures can be uploaded directly to YouTube using the built-in YouTube uploader.
*Panasonic in-house comparison. The speed may vary depending on the specifications of PC and the number of images stored in the PC and other condition.

About Panasonic
Panasonic Corporation is a worldwide leader in the development and manufacture of electronic products for a wide range of consumer, business, and industrial needs. Based in Osaka, Japan, the company recorded consolidated net sales of 7.77 trillion yen (US$78.4 billion) for the year ended March 31, 2009. The company’s shares are listed on the Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and New York (NYSE: PC) stock exchanges. For more information on the company and the Panasonic brand, visit the company’s website at http://panasonic.net/.

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