Panasonic Announces Lumix DMC-GH1: The G1 updated with HD video

With Olympus and Samsung still only showing concept models of their dSLR-lite compact cameras, Panasonic is the only vendor with a shipping interchangeable-lens compact point-and-shoot, the DMC-G1. Not one to rest on its laurels, Panasonic announced an update to the 4-month-old G1 today. The Lumix DMC-GH1 is more or less the same camera in the same body (but black, red, or gold this time rather than blue) with a different sensor and processor to allow 1080p HD video capture at 24fps, or 720p capture at 30fps.  Other changes include cool new features recently introduced in Panasonic's point-and-shoot line, such as its face-recognition technology, which one-ups previous versions by remembering faces that you’ve shot before and allowing you to register them. Registered faces can be named and given priority for focus and exposure when they are identified in a scene.

Panasonic has also announced two new lenses: an ultra wide-angle zoom (the Lumix G Vario 7-14mm F4 ASPH) and a new long-zoom kit lens (the LUMIX G Vario HD 14-140mm/F4.0-5.8 ASPH Mega OIS) that features a silent motor and continuous auto focusing for shooting video.

Panasonic did not announce pricing or availability, but does indicate that the camera should ship by the summer. DPReview has posted a brief hands-on with the GH1 here.