[shuttertalk]

Apparently the GF2 is due to be announced / revealed today - an "event" has been spotted on a billboard in France...

http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/03/panas...on-billbo/

[Toad]

Considering how wonderful the GF-1 looks, the GF-2 has been rendered quite ugly IMO by messing with the camera's proportions. Beauty is all about proportions, isn't it?

[Wedding Shooter]

I am interested to see the specs. 43 Rumors report that that this afternoon it will be released.

They have some specs from Panasonic China on their site too.

[Zig]

Likewise.

[Toad]

There is quite a lot of detail out this morning. Touch screen interface instead of dedicated external controls stands out for me as a major change to the worse. One of the beautiful things about the GF-1 was the fact that you had *real* controls - a breakthrough feature for enthusiast/semi-pro photographers. One of the worst things about the GF-1 was that the LCD became quite hard to see in bright sunlight. Moving the external controls to the LCD seems like a step in the wrong direction to me. The GF-2 has been designed to compete head to head with the Sony NEX - which is aimed at the point and shoot market as opposed to the enthusiast market. There are rumors of a third GF camera that incorporates an internal rangefinder-style viewfinder (ala the Fuji X100). IMO, that is what the GF series really needs - and not a reduction in size at the expense of usability. However, Panasonic may well decide to refocus their product strategy - providing more pro features for the GH series and dumbing down the GF series. That would be a sad thing - but understandable from a marketing perspective. If they don't provide a GF with a real internal viewfinder soon, you will see sales of the already highly appealing Fuji X100 go through the roof (provided that it has decent IQ).

Just my $.02

[shuttertalk]

Some good coverage over at photographyblog - this one has side by side images.
http://www.photographyblog.com/news/pana...omparison/

I definitely agree that the reliance on touch controls is a turn for the worst. They have gotten rid of a few buttons and dials, and now I imagine users would need to dive into menus (and fiddly touch menus at that) to access the functions.

Seems to be that Sony and maybe Panasonic might be trying to go downwards in the market (more consumer devices) whereas Olympus might be trying to push theirs upwards. Olympus recently commented that they see their M43 line as a replacement for their low end SLRs.

[matthew]

I don't know nearly enough about the new camera to have an opinion, but hey, this is the internet…

I've used the touch-screen Panasonic G2, and I have to say that I like it. I'm not a fan of touch screens, but the ability have the camera focus and take the photo with a single tap on the screen is brilliant. The touch interface also makes the AF tracking feature very easy to use, to the point where it becomes practical for video. If I had a touch screen on my GH1, I'm sure I'd enjoy using it.

I see that the GF2 retains the click-wheel, which I don't love, but it does keep the major photographic exposure controls off of the screen, unlike some other touch-screen cameras - including Panasonics - that I could mention. And with firmware updates, even the Sony NEX is turning into a decent little camera. Like I said, I don't know nearly enough about the GF2, but I'm optimistic.