More questions answered

At the time of writing (Early March, just after PMA 2006 closed) it's obvious that the Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1 is still subject to design changes before it goes into production. Therefore many of the questions I am being asked about the specifications and design of the L1 will have to wait before an answer can be given.

Panasonic's Suguru Takamatsu explained to DPNow: "Regarding the questions, we have not finalized many features now. And we don't want to disclose any features except for the topics on the press release. And also we will try to improve many features based on the suggestions we got at PMA from many photo journalists."

However, there are some additional questions that we have managed to get answers for from Mr. Takamatsu and his Japanese design and marketing team colleagues that visited PMA:

DPNow.com Q. Is the 14-50 lens focus ring mechanism servo-type or mechanically linked?
Panasonic A. We are using servo-type.

DPNow.com Q. Does the lens vary in length according to the zoom setting?
Panasonic A. Yes, it varies in length.

DPNow.com Q. As the focus ring is the servo-type, will you be able to choose the focus operation direction (as you can on Olympus bodies)?
Panasonic A. Now we cannot do it. But we may modify it.

DPNow.com Q. Is the L1 and lens weather-sealed like the Olympus E-1 and more expensive Olympus Digital Zuiko lenses?
Panasonic A. No.

Questions that could not be answered at this point included whether or not the lens aperture ring had half or one third click steps, the same for the shutter speed selector knob, what the lens filter size is and what the closest focus distance for the lens is. The final dimensions and weight are not yet known either.

As usual, we will update this page if more questions come to mind and Panasonic can provide an answer.