The Panasonic GF1's performance is a bit slower than most SLRs, but as fast or faster than most mid-sized compacts.

Startup and shut-down times are slower than those for most SLRs. Dust reduction is automatically performed at startup and can't be disabled. It can also be run manually.

Mode switching is reasonably fast, except for Record to Play, which is slower than average.

The Panasonic GF1 showed full-autofocus shutter lag in single-area AF mode (with the subject at a fixed distance) of 0.41 second with the 20mm f/1.7 kit lens. Shutter lag increased to 0.89 second with the flash enabled. Continuous AF mode (AFC) isn't supported with the 20mm f/1.7 kit lens. (Sorry, we neglected to test continuous AF with the 14-45mm lens.) The 14-45mm kit lens was slightly slower at the wide angle end, at 0.47 second, but slightly faster at the tele end, at 0.40 second. Multipoint AF slowed response slightly, resulting in a full-AF lag of 0.45 second at the telephoto setting. When manually focused, the GF1's lag time drops to only 0.104 second, competitive with consumer SLRs. Likewise, its prefocused lag time of 0.072s is very competitive, besting many SLRs in its general price range. Overall, AF timing is similar to its sibling, the Panasonic GH1, and much faster than its most direct competitor, the Olympus E-P1, though it's difficult to tell by just how much without using the same lenses on both bodies for testing.

Single-shot cycle times are similar to the Panasonic GH1, at about 0.70 second, no matter the quality. SLRs average a little faster. Continuous mode was similar to the GH1 as well, at 2.93 fps for large/fine JPEGs, 2.82 fps for RAW and 2.7 fps for RAW+JPEG. Buffer sizes were good, at 13, 6 and 4 frames respectively. A continuous low mode is also available at about 2 fps. Flash recycling time after full discharge was a bit slow considering how small and weak the flash is, at 5.8 seconds.

Compared to its main rival the Olympus E-P1, the Panasonic GF1 is much faster in single-shot cycle time (the E-P1's single-shot cycle time was closer to 2 seconds), but a bit slower in burst mode (the E-P1 managed over 3.1 fps). The E-P1 has no built-in flash to compare cycle times with flash enabled.

Download speeds were fast, quick enough that you probably won't feel the need for a separate card reader, even with large memory cards. (Note that this test was performed with a SanDisk Extreme III 30 MB/sec SD card: Slower cards would likely show slower transfer times.)

Bottom line, the Panasonic GF1 is a fairly responsive camera, well-suited to handling typical family shots, though not a good choice for really fast action. It exhibits about the same performance as the Panasonic GH1, but is faster than the Olympus E-P1 in most respects.

Battery
Good battery life, but below average compared to an SLR using an optical viewfinder.

The Panasonic GF1 uses a custom rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack for power, and comes with both a single battery and charger. The rated 380 shots per charge is below the capacity of typical SLRs, likely a consequence of the power drain for the electronic viewfinder. (When using the optical viewfinder on an SLR, there's very little power consumption except when the shutter fires or when you're in playback mode. The CIPA numbers for the Panasonic GF1 are in line with SLRs operating in Live View mode.) We do recommend getting a second battery for your GF1 if you plan any extended outings.

The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of (on a fully-charged rechargeable battery), based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))

Storage
The Panasonic GF1 accepts SD/SDHC memory cards, and does not ship with a card.

We strongly recommend buying a large capacity SD/SDHC memory card at least a 2GB card, preferably a 4 or 8GB one, to give yourself extra space for extended outings, or when shooting RAW or video files. -- If you're going to shoot much video, you'll definitely want a large, fast card; look for a card with "class 6" speed or better. (Check the shopping link above, cards are really cheap these days, so no reason to skimp.)