Panasonic DMC-L1

Reviewed September 2006

Introduction

As one realizes immediately when picking it up, the Panasonic DMC-L1 is a different type of camera. Alone in the current digital photography universe, it offers all the analogue controls of traditional SLR film cameras, as did the DMC-LC1 (or Leica Digilux 2) two years ago.

The DMC-L1 is a Four Thirds camera, a term that describes the proportions of the sensor, using the standard established by Olympus and Panasonic, which is designed to offer a compatibility between lenses produced by companies participating in this open standard.

In as much, the Panasonic DMC-L1 shares a number of traits with the Olympus E300: it has a Porro viewfinder which sends the image to a viewfinder positioned on the left of the lens instead of above as it is on conventional SLR cameras; it too has a Live-MOS sensor (conceived by Panasonic); the Supersonic Wave Filter, which operates every time the camera is turned on and shakes off any dust that might have settled on the sensor; and of course the Four-Thirds mount.

The DMC-L1 is sold as a kit with a 14-50 mm f2.8-3.5 Leica D Vario-Elmarit zoom lens. The lens has a aperture ring near its base that is labelled with 7 apertures, f2.8 through f22, selectable in 19 increments. At one end of the aperture range a button allows locking the aperture ring at the position, which lets the camera select the aperture automatically. At the top, the lens offers a focus distance indicator in both metres and feet.

A switch, on the left side of the lens barrel, controls the MEGA O.I.S. optical stabilizer. And while the switch only offers On or Off settings, the way the stabilizer functions can be selected in the menu (see the Characteristics section of the review).

Moving towards the front of the lens, the next ring is the focus ring which only works when the camera is set to Manual Focus. Next comes the much wider zoom ring, which is labelled with the lens’ 35 mm focal lengths: 14, 18, 25, 35, 50 mm. Since the NMOS sensor is smaller than a 35 mm frame, indicated focal lengths have to be multiplied by 2, becoming equivalent to 28, 36, 50, 70 and 100 mm.

Two other controls are mounted under the shutter speed dial:

• The Metering Mode lever, which offers:
  • Spot metering, based on 2% of the image as metered at the centre of the frame.
  • Intelligent Multiple metering, which uses 49 segments when the TTL viewfinder is used, and 256 segments when the monitor is used in Live View mode.
  • Centre-weighted, which meters the centre of the frame and its surroundings, while giving greater importance to the centre when calculating the average.
    
• The Drive Mode lever, which has four positions:
  • Single: captures one frame each time the shutter release is pressed.
  • Burst: captures bursts of images at 3 frames per second (High Speed), or 2 frames per second (Low Speed) for up to 6 images in RAW format, or, with the image quality set to JPEG format, for as long as there is space on the memory card.
  • Auto Bracket: automatically captures a series of images, bracketing the exposure with images that are under and overexposed (3 or 5 frames total), over a range of ±2 EV in 1/3 EV increments and a capture order (0/-/+ or -/0/+) that can be selected in the menu.
  • Self-Timer: offering a 2 or 10 second delay after the shutter button has been pressed.

Two buttons are positioned to the right of these controls. The buttons can be programmed in the camera menu to access any one of a number of functions, but by default they control:

• FUNC.1: allows choosing the size and image quality (see the Characteristics section of the review).
• FUNC.2: controls exposure compensation (±2 EV in 1/3 EV increments).

As noted earlier, the DMC-L1 is equipped with a Porro type TTL viewfinder. The Porro system uses 4 mirrors to redirect the image coming through the lens so the exit pupil is on the left side of the camera's back, allowing for a more compact design.

While the placement of the viewfinder's exit pupil makes it comfortable to use, the viewfinder itself is a bit narrow and for those who wear glasses, the information presented on the right side can be difficult to see. This makes it almost a necessity to remove one's glasses and use the dioptre correction — adjusted using the dial on the left side of the viewfinder — to see the camera settings (see below). The exit pupil is fitted with a rubber eyepiece that can be replaced by an eyepiece cap to prevent stray light from entering the camera during long exposures, or when the Live View mode is used.

A flash hot shoe is built into the top part of the viewfinder's exit pupil, designed to accept flash units DMW-FL360 and DMW-FL500.

The camera settings shown in the viewfinder are aligned on the right side of the image, and are backlit in green, which allows for a good contrast that makes them stand out clearly:

• aperture,
• AE-Lock indicator,
• shutter speed,
• exposure scale over ±2 EV,
• focus indicator and AF-L,
• exposure compensation when in use,
• auto bracketing indicator if active,
• flash mode indicator,
• number of recordable pictures, and
• card access indicator.

Two buttons are placed immediately to the right of the viewfinder:

• One, labelled LIVE VIEW, activates the monitor, displaying the image coming through the lens (see below).
• The other controls the manual release of the flash.

When Live View is used, the mirror is raised so that the image be transmitted to the LCD. The DMC-L1 is equipped with a 2.5-inch LCD screen with 207,000 pixels.

The pop-up flash of the DMC-L1 is opened in two-stages. The first stage directs the flash towards the ceiling, allowing for bounce flash photography; and the second stage deploys it fully, directing the flash's light straight ahead.

The flash has a Guide Number (GN) of 13 meters when the camera is set to Auto ISO and has an X synch of 1/160 second. Its output can also be adjusted over ±2 EV in 1/3 EV increments in the Rec. menu (see the Characteristics section of the review for more information about the options and settings contained in the menu).

The lever serves to set the focus mode:

• AFS: the auto focus only operates when the shutter release button is pressed halfway, and locks when the shutter release is maintained there.
• AFC: the auto focus operates continuously when the shutter release is pressed halfway, and will continue to adjust the focus until the shot is captured.
• MF: allows focus to be manually set.

The centre AFL/AEL button serves to lock the metered exposure and the focus. It can also be set to lock the exposure only, the focus only, act as a toggle, or even to activate either the metering or auto focus without having to use the shutter release (the way the button operates is decided in the menu).

Farthest on the right is the camera On/Off switch, which has a small green LED next to the On position, active when the camera is on.

the remaining external controls of the DMC-L1 are arranged on either side of the monitor. On the left are four buttons:

• WB serves to select the white balance setting: Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Halogen, Flash, White Set 1, White Set 2 and by Colour Temperature from 2500 through 10,000°K.
• ISO allows setting the sensitivity of the sensor: Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800 or 1600 ISO;
• serves to select the flash mode when the flash is open: Auto, Auto with Red-eye Reduction, Fill-in (forced on), Fill-in with Red-eye Reduction, Slow Synch and Slow Synch with Red-eye Reduction.
• controls Flash Exposure Compensation offering a range of ±2 EV in 1/3 EV increments.

On the right side of the screen the controls start with a dial that protrudes from below the raised area that supports the monitor. The Command dial can be used to navigate menus, select apertures when the lens in use has no aperture ring, magnify part of an image in playback, or review images as index screen, showing first 9 then 25 thumbnails per screen, or presenting the images in a calendar format. In addition, the Command dial also serves to change the settings that are selected through various buttons, and to select specific shutter speeds when the shutter speed dial is set to 1000/4000 and 2-60/B.

The column of four buttons aligned on the edge of the screen are:

• starts the Playback mode, making it possible to review images.
• DISPLAY controls the information superimposed on the monitor, either in the Live View mode or the Playback mode.
• controls the aperture, making it possible to preview the depth of field available with any given aperture.
• serves to delete unwanted images, one at a time or using an index view, or to delete all non-protected images.

When the camera is set to the capture mode and the optical TTL viewfinder is in use, the DISPLAY button presents a screen that shows the most important current camera settings.

Using the Command dial, it is possible to change highlighted camera settings directly using the screen, and thereby avoid having to access the menu system.

The Cursor buttons are composed of 4 arrow buttons surrounding a fifth button. The arrow buttons serve to navigate menus and review photos when the camera is set to the playback mode. The right and left arrows also serve to select the focus point.

At the centre, the button labelled MENU SET serves to display the camera's menu system (see the Characteristics and Interface and Software section of the review for more details about the menu) and also serves to confirm a selection made in the menus.

The Panasonic DMC-L1 is clearly designed for photography aficionados. It does not offer any Scene modes, but only the basic P, S, A and M modes, as determined by the settings of its dials. The external controls are very comfortable to use, with the possible exception of the shutter release whose position takes a bit of time to adjust to. One small regret, however, the fact that the monitor is not mounted on a hinge system.