Announced at the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) show in Orlando, Florida, camera is the first Panasonic product being an effect of their co-operation agreement with Olympus. It shares a number of features, specs, and even some parts and sub-assemblies with the new Olympus E-330, but, no doubt, it is a quite different model than its Olympus cousin.

The significance of the Panasonic announcement goes beyond just one new camera model. There are at least two more aspects to it:

• The L1 is the first non-Olympus camera following the Four Thirds standard of lens mount. This increases the chances of the Four Thirds standard to survive on the market. I consider this a good news, because I think Four Thirds is better than the APS-C format used by other manufacturers, each with its own, proprietary lens mount.
• The L1 is the first digital SLR manufactured and marketed by a major corporation with no previous tradition of making SLRs. This means Panasonic (Matsushita) wants to become a significant player in this field. (Sorry, just slapping the Samsung logo on the otherwise very nice Pentax model does not count.)

The new camera will accept all existing Four Thirds lenses (made so far by Olympus and Sigma), at the same time bringing to the table some new ones of its own. For starters, there is a Leica D Vario Elmarit bundled with the L1; others will, without a doubt. follow shortly. The L1 is also compatible with the current Olympus flash system (FL-50, FL-36, FL-20, plus macro and ring units), and I have seen pictures of the FL-50, slightly modified and re-branded as Panasonic. (Actually, of the Olympus models at least the FL-20 is made by Panasonic anyway. Small world.)

Generally, I am not against paying extra for the quality, feel, and ergonomics, after my picture-taking requirements are met. How much extra, remains uncertain. Assuming camera's specs and performance are close to the new Olympus E-330 ($1100), is an extra $700 a price worth paying for the look, feel, and convenience? With a difference of, say, $300, I would have no doubts; the way things are, I am not sure. The answer depends on the buyer. I am sure that a significant number of people (mostly middle-aged men like myself) will be willing to pay the price.

The flat-top body was made possible by using the same mirror chamber assembly as that in the E-330, together with the side-swinging mirror, three mirrors redirecting the light to the eyepiece, and yet another mirror, directing some of it towards the exposure-metering matrix, and letting some through to the live-preview image sensor.

Yes, like the E-330, the L1 offers a live, electronic image preview. Details are discussed in my E-330 write-up; you may want to read it to see how this feature works. At this moment it is available only in these two models, and it will take a while for the rest of the industry to catch up — if they decide that the market wants this feature (which is possible but uncertain).

An important, and often overlooked, feature is the use of the Olympus ultrasound dust-cleaning system. After having used three SLR sharing the same solution, I can say it really works, making more difference than many numeric specs, hotly argued upon in discussion groups (like how much lower the noise becomes if you increase the sensor size by 13% linear).

Note the mechanical lever controlling the focusing mode, placed on a ring around the AE/AF lock button. This may be nice or cumbersome, depending how it is implemented. Only handling a production camera will answer this.

The picture above reveals more information about operating the camera. First of all, notice the lever switching between drive modes (single, serial, exposure bracketing, and self-timer). Very neat.

Another, similar lever (mostly obscured at 2 o'clock) switches between metering patterns (matrix, center-weighted, and spot). Then, there are two function buttons, assignable to a number of possible functions; using, most probably, the press-and-turn metaphor.

Last but not least, the shutter release button is placed in the center of the shutter speed dial. I hope the latter has a proper indentation and/or locking mechanism to avoid accidental changes. Once again, the devil is in details, and this may make it or break it.

The layout of controls on the camera's back is quite different than in Olympus models; clearly, Panasonic has its own ideas about this. The four buttons aligned vertically to the left of the monitor control white balance, ISO, flash mode, and flash exposure compensation. (I am pretty sure they do that together with the control wheel). A similar row at the right is used for DOF preview, turning the display on/off, reviewing, and deleting pictures on the card. Above the monitor, in addition to the AE/AF lock, you will find buttons for switching the live view on/off (possibly also changing between two preview modes), and for popping up the flash.

Having two vertical rows of buttons allowed the designers to use the cursor ones only for their primary function: screen navigation. (In Olympus SLRs they double up as dedicated control buttons when the screen is not active.) While this is not a big deal, the Panasonic design is cleaner and more elegant.

The hot shoe is identical to that used by Olympus; not just the placement of contacts, but even the pesky plastic cover I hate so much from day one (did I mention I already lost six of those?). This is good news, as (a) the camera can use the available Olympus flash units; (b) if Panasonic decides to devote resources to develop flash units for the L1, they will be, most probably, compatible with E-System cameras. This may only benefit the users of both brands.

Under the hood, Panasonic is using the same 7.5 megapixel MOS imager the E-330 uses. The sensor is made by Panasonic, and 7.5 MP is just 3% less in linear resolution than 8 MP in the E-300 and E-500. The L1, however, uses its own, proprietary image-processing engine. The sensor is claimed to have a good dynamic range and low levels of high-ISO noise, but this is what all makers say in their press releases, so I would wait with any comments on this until I see (or preferably shoot) some samples.

From other specs we know only that the camera uses SD (Secure Digital) memory cards, and supports the FAT-32 file system, thus allowing for cards bigger than 2 GB.

This is all we know at this time. As the camera is at least six months from the production stage, many things may still change. Even this early, however, the L1 already looks like a very attractive option for those who can afford it, as long as the actual execution of the design is flawless, and the image quality meets the high expectations. To know how this turns out we will have to wait until, probably, September.