New Era of "small" DSLR Camera

Since the pass two years, Micro Four Thirds system have been taking place on the DSLR market. The pioneer being Olympus and Panasonic, have set out a new course, which has obviously become a hit with the consumers like me. Well, almost one year I wish to have one Olympus E-P1, then finally (collected enough of "hobby fund") decided to have one which combines the size of compact camera with SLR image quality.

There is a lot of enthusiasm for Micro Four Thirds, causing others to also assign their R&D department to create a similar concept. Including Sony and Sumsung, with their introduction of the Sony NEX-5 and NX10 respectively. Despite of image quality, those manufacturer also aims on photographer at entry level, which with affordable trial price. For sure, I am so happy with that.

First of all, Olympus come out with E-PL1 which has its build in flash as demanded by most consumers and the price is much lower because of its plastic body (instead of metal). Then Lumix has its G series, DMC-G2 and its sister DMC-G10.

Lumix DMC-G10 is Panasonic's latest addition to its G family of m4/3 cameras. It is, in short, Panasonic's attempt at creating a strong competitor to Canon and Nikon's entry-level DSLR line-up and at the same time attack the entry-level consumer who may be in the market for an ultra-zoom point and shoot or, barring that, a standard pocket camera. The price for Lumix DMC G10 shall be around 599 USD (approximately RM 1940) compare to G2 which offer at the price range above 799 USD (approximately RM2800). The main different is that G2 features a brand-new touch-sensitive, articulating LCD screen, with touch controls.

After considering the price and the feature, I was hardly decided to buy Lumix DMC G10. Build in flash, view finder, handy, changeable lenses (though I don't know how and what lenses to use yet) and one more important thing is I like its user friendly operation buttons with rear dial, which I found easier instead of pressing plus or minus buttons.

The feature of Panasonic Lumic DMC G10 (See the main part of Lumix G10.)

Type	Live MOS Sensor
Effective pixels	12.1 Megapixels
Total pixels	13.1 Megapixels
Aspect Ratio	4:3, 3:2, 16:9, 1:1
Colour filter type	Primary colour filter
Mount	Micro Four Thirds mount
Type	Contrast AF system
Exposure metering	Program AE, Aperture Priority AE, Shutter Priority AE, Manual
AF modes	Face detection / AF Tracking / 23-area-focusing / 1-area-focusing
AF lock	AF/AE LOCK button or Shutter button halfway pressed in AFS mode
AE lock	AF/AE LOCK button or Shutter button halfway pressed
AEB	3,5,7 frame, in 1/3 or 2/3 EV Step, ±2 EV
Type	Focal-plane shutter
Speed	Still Images: 1/4000 ~ 60 and Bulb (up to approx. 4minutes)
Release	Remote control with bulb function by DMW-RSL1 (Optional)
Settings	Auto / Daylight / Cloudy / Shade / Halogen / Flash / White Set 1,2 / Color temperature setting
Viewfinder	Live View Finder (202,000 dots equivalent)
Magnification	Approx. 1.04x / 0.52x (35mm camera equivalent) with 50mm lens at infinity; -1.0 m-1
Eyepoint	Approx.17.5mm from eyepiece lens
Dioptre connection	-4.0 ~ +4.0 m-1
Monitor	3.0inch / 3:2 Aspect / Wide viewing angle
Coverage	Approx. 100%
Brightness	Brightness (7 levels), Color (7 levels)
Hotshoe	TTL Auto with FL220/FL360/FL500(Optional)
Second Curtain sync	1st. Curtain Sync, 2nd Curtain Sync.
Still image type	RAW, RAW+Fine, RAW+Standard, Fine, Standard
Pict. bridge	PictBridge compatible（Print size, Layout, Date setting is selectable ）
Batteries	ID-Security Li-ion Battery Pack
Dimensions	124 x 83.6 x 74mm / 4.88 x 3.29 x 2.91 in (excluding protrusions)
Weight (body only)	Approx. 558g

Cool huh? 
But I have not seen any Lumix DMC G10 in Malaysia...and most of the camera dealers never heard of Lumix G10!! Is it my illusion??