Panasonic Lumix GF3 leads the hybrid revolution

Panasonic introduces its best compact system camera yet, which is light and fast but produces excellent results.

Panasonic's Lumix GF3 is its best compact system camera yet

Way back when there were only two types of camera, the fixed lens compact and the interchangeable SLR, Panasonic and fellow Japanese firm Olympus were working away on something different.

A type of camera that boasted similar dimensions to the pocket sized compact, but had the swappable lenses of an semi-professional SLR. These ‘compact system cameras’, as they’ve come to be known, were an overnight success and are now one of the most popular types of shooter available.

The Panasonic Lumix GF3 is — as the name suggests — the third in Panasonic’s range and so small that you could mistake it for one of the company’s own standard compacts. It’s elegant, light and handles beautifully well, just like the 35mm rangefinders of old, from which it takes its style cues.

Despite its size, it’s packed full of features, including a pop-up flash, 12.1MP sensor and 1080p video recording. Most importantly, it focuses near instantly and has a 3inch touch screen around the back for framing shots and deciding on focal points.

And the picture quality is, of course, superb with any of the kit lenses. It’s fully compatible with all of Panasonic’s Micro-Four Thirds lenses too, and even at high sensitivity levels pictures aren’t too grainy.

One of the important aspects of these ‘hybrid’ cameras is that they give you full creative control over the pictures you shoot. Getting manual control of shutter speed, aperture settings and focal length is easy, and they’re a great tool for taking your photography to the next level if you’re tired of using a straightforward point and click snapper.

It’s a lovely little camera, perfect for slipping into a backpack and taking on adventures. Panasonic, who helped to start the compact system revolution, remain at the forefront of it.

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