Panasonic CM1 Shooter’s Report: We take the smartphone with the huge sensor out into the real world

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posted Wednesday, July 1, 2015 at 5:12 PM EST

 
 

Smartphones continue to rise in popularity, much to the chagrin of camera manufacturers, as they see many of their dedicated compact cameras decline in use. While nearly every, if not all, camera manufacturer is putting Wi-Fi or other wireless technology for smart device connectivity into their cameras, Panasonic is trying something a little more bold with their CM1 smartphone: blending a smartphone with a feature-rich, dedicated compact camera with a massive (for a smartphone) 1-inch-type CMOS sensor.

After spending some time out shooting with this unique camera-meets-smartphone, I've just published my detailed Panasonic CM1 Shooter's Report. The CM1 has a lot of things going for it: a large 1-inch-type sensor, bright wide-angle lens, full PASM shooting modes with RAW capture as well as 4K video capabilties. 

 
f/2.8, 1/60s, ISO 250

While the CM1 is also a full-blown modern, Android-powered smartphone, the question -- at least for us here at Imaging Resource -- is how does it perform in its role as a camera. Is it the photographer's smartphone? It seems like a very bold, very out-going experiment from the folks over at Panasonic. So what's it like to shoot with the CM1, and does it have the performance, image quality and handling chops to takeover not only your smartphone, but also your pocketable compact camera?

Read my Panasonic CM1 Shooter's Report for all the details.

 
f/3.5, 1/1600s, ISO 125
 
 
f/2.8, 1/60s, ISO 125

Panasonic CM1 Shooter's Report

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