WIDER IS BETTER
Now this is something new in the world of digital photography. From my favorite digital photography site, DPREVIEW,
Panasonic has today announced the world's first wide angle compact camera with a 16:9 ratio CCD. The fully manual Lumix DMC-LX1 offers a 8.6 megapixel 1 /1.65" CCD and is the first camera in the LUMIX 16:9 wide LX series.
The aspect ratio is easily selectable between 3:2 and the conventional 4:3 by using a slider switch located on the lens barrel. As with all Panasonic cameras, the LX1 features two-mode MEGA OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) for its 4x optical Leica DC zoom lens. It also boasts a 28 - 112 mm focal length, Venus Engine II, five AF modes and a 16:9 wide VGA movie mode at 30 fps.
Besides the 8.6 megapixels, and the Leica lens, the new element here is the 16:9 format.
One could make the argument that digital photos are increasingly going to be viewed and shown on laptops and plasma screens, most of which are increasingly being sold in the wide-angle, 16:9 format due to the popularity of DVDs and home theater set-ups.
To be able to show pictures on those big screens and share with friends and family could be pretty cool. Kudos to Panasonic for thinking out of the 4:3 format box.
P.S. Sample gallery of the pictures can be seen here. Pictures of the camera and the announcement can be found here. A couple of thumbnails of the samples and camera images are shown below, via dpreview...just click for larger image.
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