Five months after Panasonic confirmed that its Android-powered Lumix CM1 cameraphone would be launching in the US, the phone has finally gone up for pre-order.
You can now pre-order the Panasonic Lumix CM1 from Panasonic’s online store at a price of $999.99. You can also snag it from third-party vendors like Adorama and B&H if you’d prefer. Panasonic estimates that the CM1 will begin shipping in mid-June.
In exchange for your cool $1000, you’ll get an unlocked smartphone with a 1-inch 20.1-megapixel MOS sensor and a 28mm f/2.8 lens made by Leica. The CM1’s also got a manual control ring for changing features like shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. Rounding out the CM1’s camera features is RAW support, 4K video capture, and a 1.07-megapixel front camera.
Of course, the Lumix CM1 is also a smartphone, and so it’s got some regular handset features to highlight. That includes a 4.7-inch 1920x1080 display, 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor, 16GB of storage, a microSD slot, 2GB of RAM, and a 2600mAh battery. In terms of connectivity, the CM1 supports LTE bands 2, 4, 5, 7, and 17, so it should play nicely with AT&T and T-Mobile in the US. Finally, the CM1 ships with Android 4.4, but Panasonic says Android 5.0 will be available in June 2015.
While the Lumix CM1 isn’t quite as high-end as some recent smartphones in terms of raw specs, obviously the draw here is its rear camera, complete with Leica lens. The CM1 is meant for photography enthusiasts that care about things like a Leica-made lens, RAW format support, and a manual control ring, all in a package that looks more like a camera than a phone. Considering all of the photography goodies that the CM1 packs, we’re looking forward to spending some hands-on time with the device to see what kind of shots it can churn out. Here’s to hoping that we get to try one soon.
Are any of you thinking about pre-ordering a Panasonic Lumix CM1?