Panasonic LUMIX DMC-CM1 Camera Smartphone, 1" 20MP Sensor, Leica DC Lens, 4.7-Inch LCD (Black)

This is a very good device from those that are serious about cameras but hesitate to always carry two gadgets.As a sometimes stringer and freelance stock photographer, I've tried to get myself to carry my camera with me everywhere I go for years. And it's not that I have heavy I equipment; I shoot mirrorless these days and usually only have to carry a 35mm focal length equivalent lens. But even so, very often the camera stays in the bag, or even in the car, because it's just too in the way to keep it around my neck all day, every day.At the same time, mobile phone photos just don't cut it. Even with a Galaxy Note 4, which was supposedly one of the better phone cameras, the small sensor means photos with too much noise and/or noise reduction, and a difficulty in controlling depth of field for subject isolation. In short, mobile phone cameras are better than they were years ago, but they're still best for personal snapshots only. When I was carrying "serious" mobile phones, I never used them to shoot, because the results were simply not up to par. Why bother?The larger 1" sensor in this camera—about half the horizontal or vertical size of a Micro 4/3 camera like the Olympus line—is juuuust big enough to give some real depth of field control. It doesn't have an optical zoom, but then neither do most smartphone cameras, and the 20mp resolution makes at least some pinch-zooming more plausible without losing too much quality. Just as importantly, detail levels are much better, particularly in daylight, where output from this camera can look just like an APS-C DSLR stopped down to f/5.6 or so—in short, like a DSLR with a kit lens.It's all in a tiny package with a very good lens in defect terms (not much distortion or chromatic aberration, reasonable bokeh quality when it's there at close range). Not to mention a burst mode that shoots at full resolution compares favorably to my X-T1 DSLR bodies for frame rate, a REAL, zero-lag, half-press shutter button (this matters more than you might think for serious photography, especially for action), very low noise even at ISO 1600, awesome white balance with grey card capability and no blue channel craziness even in low light, RAW capability, lightning-quick focus, etc., and all in a very tiny package—probably the tiniest on the market for this level of performance.So on the camera side of things I give the CM1 absolutely full marks. Excellent device for what it is, and now that I carry it, I shoot with it constantly, and after shoots often mix in the CM1 output with the Fuji XF output and nobody is the wiser at all!On the phone side of things, it's a mixed bag. The CM1 is juuust thin and light enough not to feel offensive in the hand while being used as a phone, but it definitely reminds me of carrying a Palm device years ago. It's thick and half a pound, give or take. It seems heavy and bulky for a modern phone. The bigger problems, however, are:- The screen size is now a bit small for many of us used to phablets, and it uses a software button bar rather than having bezel tap areas like many other phones (say, the Samsung line in particular) do, which eats up even more screen real estate.- The bare Android experience will entice many, but I'd have been much happier with at least some of the customizations that other phone-makers have done, including fixing Google's bizarre status panel and volume control choices in Lollipop.- The screen itself is rather washed out in color terms, and has trouble with vibrant reds and greens. I'd give the display quality a 5/10.- Battery life is shared between camera and phone and the result is that if you shoot a bit, you're going to need to charge a couple of times to get your phone through the day—yet the charging connector his hidden behind a rubber flap attached with a thin rubber line. This will no doubt break off and leave a big open gap in the side of the unit. Plus, it means fiddling multiple times per day with the flap. They should have simply mounted the USB connector flush with the exterior.BUT given that this is a great camera at with great, serious-photography capability at this price, and the phone is purely a bonus (and a very, very nice one at that, eliminating the need to carry an additional device), I can't do anything but recommend this device wholeheartedly.Two important accessories that you'll absolutely want to get if you buy this device:- The Cotta "lens cover" screws in where adapter lenses are supposed to be mounted. Most serious shooters won't bother with adapter lenses (who needs the hassle for compromised image quality?) but this "cover" is basically a metal tube that sticks out far enough to protect the lens when it is extended. This is important because the lens is small and fragile, yet extends a centimeter or more every time you turn on the camera. Plus, the switch to activate the camera is on the side of the phone—meaning that if you keep this in your pocket, you'll more than likely hit the camera on sometimes when pulling it out. If the lens tries to extend before you've got it out of your pocket, *crunch*, the mechanicals are blown and you have a dead camera—unless you have this cover in place to ensure that the lens has room to move.- A 28mm UV filter of some kind is also a good bet. It can be hard to find 28mm diameter filters, but there are some here on Amazon if you look hard. This can screw into the Cotta lens cover and basically create a "surrogate external lens" that is fixed, with all movement happening internal to the unit, and the "real" glass always protected. It's a bit bigger with cover+filter attached—more like a camera, less like a phone—but it still fits in your pocket.So—buy only if you're unwilling or unable (like I am) to always carry two gadgets. Big thumbs up if you privilege the camera functions as more important than the phone functions. Slight thumbs down if you privilege the phone functions as more important than the camera functions.Final thought—if you're going to buy one of these, buy on eBay direct from China or Taiwan. They seem to be clearing out right now and you can get them new from there at a fraction of the used price here. Keep your eyes open, they come up often.ADDENDUM: I've added two photos to demo the camera here. One original JPEG from the camera, another a 100% crop from the relative middle of the frame. Note (1) no highlights blown despite extreme lighting, (2) depth and detail in shadow areas, rather than just black, and (3) good sharpness, low noise, and strong color reproduction with good subtlety. This is the kind of shot you can't take with a smartphone camera and not end up with something looking "shapshotty."UPDATE 9/8/2016: I've now shot about 10k images with this unit, including a couple of commissioned event shoots (working alongside my DSLRs) and become very comfortable with it. It earns the highest praise you can give it, which is that there are times in such shoots when I select it over the other body as the "right tool for the shot" based on focal length and image characteristics, which I'd call a bit warm and gritty thanks to the particular characteristics of the Leica lens bokeh. A couple of times I've been asked about it and why I'm using a tiny camera for a particular shot, but nobody has been able to pick out, looking at contact sheets or prints, which images came from which camera. The images go into Lightroom right alongside images from the other gear. And there have even been a number of occasions on which I used burst mode to get some pretty good action shots. In short, I love it. I'm rather sad that Panasonic appears to have decided that this is a one-and-done format. The fact that this is also my phone and fits in my back pocket lets me carry it alongside other bodies without having to keep track of another piece of equipment or feel weighed down. It's awesome and if Panasonic were to release a CM2 (say, with an ambient light sensor this time and a faster processor) I'd buy it in a second. Great device.UPDATE 11/4/2016: I've moved this to five stars from four. The longer I own this device, the more heavily I rely on it and the more I am confident with it in just about every situation. You can pry it from my cold, dead hands. I say that as a serious shooter that does events and stock. Forget the phone part for a moment, this is an awesome CAMERA with a combination of size, performance, and image quality that is not in existence in any other product. If there were no phone in the thing, at this point I'd heartily recommend it to other photographers as the 28mm equivalent pocket option that's always at the ready. It is that good. At some things (particularly manual white balance and noise control at ISO 1600), it rivals or exceeds my working DSLRs. And with a Class 10 card, you can shoot burst mode with joy. This is just a damned good camera. Period. And the phone is a great add-on that makes life a bunch more convenient. The only caveat? I've handed it off to people a couple of times and watched them become absolutely befuddled. This behaves (and has the controls of) a serious prosumer or DSLR camera. If you don't know what "white balance," "exposure compensation," "drive mode," and "aperture" mean, this is probably not a good smartphone for you, as you may have the same experience as some people that have asked to play with it—either struggling to figure out how to take a shot, or struggling to get good results in comparison to what they're accustomed to—just starting the Camera app on their phone and tapping away. This is a camera for watching the on-screen histogram, controlling your exposure compensation and white balance, etc. If you do, the results are stunning. If that sounds like a bit much to you, you're probably after a regular smartphone.

It's a great camera and phone, but there are some disadvantages.1. There is no OIS, this is a big disadvantage, specially if you shoot a lot of video.For photos, especially in a low light it tends to raise shutter speed significantly,compared to OIS enabled cameraphones, and as a result it also raises ISO significantly and the noise level increase.2. Just a (single) LED flash. I'd prefer Xenon instead (or better in addition)3. The battery is not removable, and it's not huge capacity (just 2600 mAh).4. Jpeg quality could be better, and it's kinda softish.5. The screen is a bit too small, I'd prefer 5" or larger6. The screen is not Amoled, so not as good in bright sunlight7. The phone is a bit too slow sometimes, it's a quadcore Snapdragon 801. I used Samsung Galaxy K zoom hexacore before that, and if was noticeably faster,and the screen was better and bigger.Other than that, the build quality is superb, featuring full magnesum alloy case, and it feels luxury.There is full featured camera with all imaginable controls, including focus peaking, full aperture,shutter speed control, exposure compensation, etc.The video is only 4k@15fps or FHD@30fps, and it overheats if you shoot a lot.Before using this phone I was using Galaxy K zoom,ind it has more features, such as Xenon flash, removable battery and 24-240mm zoom. While the picture quality is not as good as CM1, I think it's a best compromise, and has a very handy long zoom in it. The camera controls are also not as good as Panasonic's. And of course Panasonic usually beats it at low light.I also want to mention that Panasonic has exceptional cellular reception. I haven't seen anything even closer to that, including multiple Samsungs and other phones.Now I'm switching to Blackberry Priv, which is more conventional phone. At first glance at the camera, it comes very close to Panasonic at low light, since f/2.2 combined with OIS helps a lot for non moving objects, and sometimes it even beats Panasonic at low light. In bright light I'd say Blackberry is sharper than CM1. And it also has physical keyboard which helps a lot. Blackberry is also significantly faster than Panasonic, and has a large Amoled screen. Of course I wouldn't pay $1000 for Panasonic, it's too much. I only paid $375. At that price I would say, it's worth it, but if it was more expensive, I wouldn't buy it.

I'm a believer in: "The best camera is the one you have with you". With an iPhone I often find it difficult to get inspired to even bother taking a shot of something I know the camera will fail to do any justice to. We don't always have our favorite camera and/or lenses with us. I was hoping that The Lumix DMC-CM1, would be a photographers compromise. I'd give up some of the fluidity of a better android or iPhone device, but in sacrifice to that, I would have a great camera always with me. I shoot the GH series m43 camera's by lumix with various lenses. I love how compact they are and easy they are to take with me when I don't want to take a full frame camera out, so I was expecting I'd love the CM1, I was even willing to pay 900+ for the compromise.The android OS runs smooth as butter. The camera has more depth of field than Galaxy notes, or iPhone 6s plus. But something just isn't right. First it feels dangerous to have such an expensive device without a proper lens cover or case. There is a lack of OEM and 3rd party protective case. The camera software is clumsy, despite the nice button locations and intuitive hardware interface, and it just kind of feels weird in the hand.But the deal breaker is that for $1000: the difference between a 24mp samsung or nexus, or even an iPhone 6, 6plus/6s, 6s plus and the CM1, in terms of photo quality— is small. Where as comparing a cellphone camera including the CM1 to even an older micro 4/3 GH2 is a far cry. It's a pocket point and shoot.