Product type Digital cameras Country Japan | Introduced 2001 | |
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Ambassador(s) Marco Reus, Ayumi Hamasaki, Karena Lam |
Lumix is Panasonic's brand of digital cameras, ranging from pocket point-and-shoot models to digital SLRs.
Contents
Compact digital cameras DMC-LC5 and DMC-F7 were the first products of the Lumix series, released in 2001. They are equipped with Leica lenses.
Indeed, many Lumix models are fitted with Leica lenses (e.g. Nocticron or Elmarit lenses), designed by Leica's German optical engineers, and are assembled in Japan. Others are rebranded as Leica cameras with different cosmetic stylings. Leica had a similar relationship with Minolta in the past, where late model Leica SLRs (and some 35 mm point-and-shoot models) were strongly based on Minolta bodies.
Most Lumix cameras use differing releases of the Panasonic Venus Engine for digital image processing; the original version (2002) was followed by II (2004), Plus (2005), III (2006), IV (2008), HD, V (2009) and VI, HD II, FHD (2010).
Panasonic produces most of Leica's branded digital point and shoot cameras in Japan, but not film cameras, the Leica M8 or Leica M9 digital rangefinder cameras, the X1 and X2 digital cameras or the Digital Modul R digital camera back for the Leica R9 film SLR.
Panasonic showed a prototype of a planned 3D Lumix camera in September 2011, saying that it would have twin 4x zoom lenses with folding optics and optical image stabilization for both video and still images.
In November 2015, Panasonic released a free firmware update for its Lumix G7, GX8 and FZ300 cameras. The update gives the cameras a new mode called "Post Focus," which can capture up to 49 points of focus in a single burst, and the mode works with any lens that offers autofocus capabilities.
Model lines
Some cameras are available in a choice of colour, indicated by a suffix letter: K is black, S silver, A blue, R red, W white. Most lower-priced models have small sensors of about 10.2 mm / 1/2.5". More expensive ones often have sensors of about twice the area, 14.1 mm to 15.4 mm / 1/1.65" to 1/1.8". dSLRs and Micro Four Thirds cameras have much larger sensors. Larger sensors produce a better image signal-to-noise ratio and better dynamic range. The GH series of Micro Four Thirds cameras have a unique "multi-aspect" sensor, that is larger than the lens image circle. This allows three different aspect ratios, 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9, to be used natively. As a result, the image diagonal remains the same in all three aspect ratios and provides full coverage of the sensor, and a larger field of view with higher resolution than one would get by simply cropping the 4:3 aspect to the narrower ratios.
Current
Discontinued
Promoters
Panasonic Lumix sponsors German football player Marco Reus of German Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund and Germany.
In Japan, pop singer Ayumi Hamasaki promotes the Lumix cameras with her songs. She announced on May 8, 2007, that Panasonic would be releasing an Ayumi Hamasaki x Hello Kitty x Lumix collaboration camera, a Lumix FX-30 which sells for ¥54600 (about US$455). Recently Hamasaki promoted the Lumix FX 40. Hong Kong actress and singer Karena Lam also appeared in a local Hong Kong Panasonic commercial for the now discontinued FX01.