Panasonic’s oddball hybrid Lumix CM1 smartphone camera is finally confirmed for full availability across the UK.
It’s been on sale in very limited quantities for a little while now, but Panasonic has revealed the device will see a full nationwide rollout starting from mid-April 2015.
There’s a raft of retailers already on board to flog the device too, including Jessops, Harrods, Dixons Travel, Park Cameras, Wilkinson Cameras, Cameraworld, London Camera Exchange, and Warehouse Express.
If you haven’t heard of the Lumix CM1, it’s Panasonics bold attempt to bridge the gap between a smartphone and a compact camera.
It’s targeted at the niche of people who want both a smartphone and a compact camera, but don’t want to carry around two devices.
Panasonic is selling the CM1 as a camera first and foremost, while describing it as having ‘smartphone functionality’.
That’s because it runs off Android 4.4 KitKat OS, although Panasonic did say this will be upgradeable to the newer Android 5.0 Lollipop sometime in May.
Related: Best Smartphone 2015
As far as the actual camera capabilities go, it’s not a bad shooter. For starters, it makes use of a 1-inch 20-megapixel high-sensitive MOS sensor.
In true compact camera fashion, it can shoot in both JPEG and raw formats, and offers full manual settings control.
The lens is a Leica DC Elmarit, with a 28mm focal length, and a selectable aperture that ranges from f/2.8 right up to f/11.
In terms of smartphone tech, you’re getting a 4.7-inch 1080p display, a 2.3GHz quad-core processor, and 4G LTE support.
Unfortunately, all of this doesn’t come cheap, with pricing set at around £799. You are getting two devices in one, mind…
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
