Panasonic DMC-G1

Manual Control Options
The G1 provides full manual exposure controls along with shutter-priority and aperture-priority shooting, and program mode with program-shift override. Manual focus is also available, as you'd expect on an interchangeable-lens camera.

Focus
Auto Focus (10.00)
What could have been the camera's downfall, based on experience with other Live View focus systems, turned out to be a decided strength. Contrast-based auto focus, which uses image sensor data to establish sharpness rather than the separate focusing sensor used in traditional SLRs, has always been too slow and unresponsive for practical handheld shooting on the SLRs that tried Live View auto focus. The G1, though, is the first interchangeable-lens camera we've seen that makes Live View auto focus practical in the wild. We chased small children and larger dogs, pivoted quickly from one part of a scene to another and from distant to close-up subjects, and found virtually no focus lag beyond what we'd expect in a traditional SLR.

A variety of auto focus modes are available. Face detection, as expected, locates the folks in your photo (up to 15 in all) and prioritizes keeping them in focus. Single area-auto focus locks in on the subject in the center of the screen, and auto focus tracking attempts to follow a single selected subject as it moves around the frame. The size of the single area can be adjusted, and its position moved around the screen. Finally there's 23-area-focusing, which superimposes a grid over most of the screen and looks for the most likely subject, even if it's off-center.

There are three focus mode choices available from a dial on the camera top: auto focus single, auto focus continuous and manual focus. There is also an effective auto focus assist lamp, located in a front corner. According to Panasonic, the auto focus assist lamp has a range of approximately 3.28 - 9.84 feet when using the 14-45mm kit lens at its widest setting.

Manual Focus (9.50)
The manual focus system works exceptionally well. Manual mode is selected directly from the camera, rather than the lens itself, via a mode knob on top of the camera. When you begin turning the focus ring near the front of the lens the Live View display instantly jumps to a full-screen magnified view. The magnification can be adjusted by turning the front control wheel, and the position of the magnified section is controlled using the four-way buttons. This automatic magnification can be switched off if you prefer full-frame focus, but we found the enhanced view, which start at about 5x and can be raised to 10x magnification, was both very accurate and very welcome.

ISO (9.00)
ISO values range from 100 to 3200. There are two automatic settings. The standard Auto mode adjusts the ISO based on light level alone, while the Intelligent ISO factors in on-screen movement too, allowing for faster shutter speeds and reducing the risk of blurry photos.

ISO values are set, by default, in full stop increments, though if you want finer control you can choose 1/3 EV steps, which doesn't change the ISO range, of course, but boosts the number of available steps to 16.

White Balance (7.75)
In addition to automatic white balance, the G1 provides presets for sunny, cloudy, shade, incandescent and flash light sources. Each of these presets can then be tweaked along the green-magenta and orange-blue axes using the four-way controller, though the procedure isn't entirely instinctive, Strangely, there is no preset for fluorescent lighting, an area that often merits more than one preset due to the variation in fluorescent lighting colors. In our lab test, though, we did note that the automatic white balance system handled fluorescent light exceptionally well.

There are two manual white balance slots available, so you can create a setting by shooting a neutral white or gray card under the lighting you'll be using and return to that stored setting later. And for particularly savvy shooters, there's also the option to manually set a white balance value in degrees Kelvin.

Three-shot white balance bracketing is available if you choose to use the fine-tuning option, but it isn't as flexible or easy to access as the implementation on other cameras that offer this bracketing capability.

Exposure (9.25)
In addittion to standard automatic and program exposure, full manual and shutter- and aperture-priority modes, the G1 includes Panasonic's iExposure (Intelligent Exposure) system, accessible via the Record menu, which adjusts contrast and ISO settings in high-contrast shots. It can be set to one of three levels, Low, Standard or High.

Exposure compensation spans ± 3 EV, in ten steps. Automatic exposure bracketing is also available, in user-defined increments.

Metering (7.25)
The metering system uses a 144-zone sensor. There are three available patterns. Multiple balances exposure across the entire screen, center-weighted favors the middle and spot concentrates on a small target at the center of the screen.

Shutter Speed (10.00)
The shutter speed range is extensive, from a fast 1/4000th second to an unusually lengthy 60-second exposure.  A Bulb setting, which holds the shutter open as long as the button is pressed (4 minute maximum) is also provided.

Aperture
Available apertures will, of course, vary depending on the lens mounted on the camera. The kit lens is a 14-45mm (28-90mm equivalent) optically stabilized zoom, with a maximum aperture of f/3.5 at its widest setting and f/5.6 at maximum telephoto. The minimum aperture value is f/22, which turned out to be a limiting factor when shooting long exposures: shots taken under low light were overexposing because the lens couldn't be stopped down enough.