Cameras have become a major point of differentiation for smartphone manufacturers, with each company trying to make its products stand out by offering unique optics. Samsung’s got the Galaxy K Zoom with an optical zoom, HTC has the One (M8) and its Duo Camera with UltraPixel setup and Nokia’s Lumia 1020 offers a 41-megapixel PureView shooter. Now Panasonic has unwrapped its own entry into the cameraphone competition.
The Panasonic Lumix CM1 boasts a 20-megapixel rear camera with a 1-inch sensor and an f/2.8 Leica lens. Also included is a manual control ring, mechanical shutter and 4K UltraHD video capture, making the Lumix CM1 a serious pocket shooter.
Of course, the Lumix CM1 also happens to be a smartphone, and so I’m sure you’re interested in finding out how its other specs compare to its rear camera. Answer: pretty well. Panasonic has given its Lumix CM1 a 4.7-inch 1920x1080 display, 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, a microSD slot with support for cards up to 128GB in size and a 2600mAh battery. The phone is powered by Android 4.4 KitKat.
When it comes to pricing, well, the Panasonic Lumix CM1 and all of its camera goodies won’t come cheap. The handset is set to launch in France and Germany for €900 ($1,150 USD). Panasonic says that it’ll see how the Lumix CM1 performs in those two countries and then decide where else it might launch its new cameraphone.
Obviously the main draw of the Lumix CM1 is its rear camera, but the rest of its feature set is pretty respectable. You’ll pay a pretty penny to call the Lumix CM1 your own, but if you’re big on mobile photography, this could be a device worth keeping an eye on.
Would you use the Panasonic Lumix CM1 as your daily driver?
Via Android and Me, The Verge, Panasonic
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