There has been a deluge of camera announcements in the last week (including from Pansonic itself) and it doesn't look set to stop anytime soon...

Adding to the downpour today is Panasonic which has announced the 'Lumix DMC-ZR1' - a compact with a difference. Namely inside you will find the world's thinnest aspherical lens at just 0.3mm thick. This helps cut the bulk of the ZR1 to just 97.8 x 54.6 x 26.0 mm and weight to 131g despite also packing in a 12MP CMOS sensor, 22mm ultra wide view and 8x optical zoom.

The ZR1 is no slouch either with a 1.1 second start-up time while there's image stabilisation, facial recognition for up to six people and geo-location technology (not specifically geotagging) which enables photos to be organised and played back via by the time, date and location they were taken. Elsewhere you'll find a 2.7in LCD on the back and battery life is excellent managing approximately 330 pictures from a full charge (based on Camera & Imaging Products Association [CIPA] standards).

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1 goes on sale in September with black, blue and red finishes available. A midrange RRP of $280 (£169) should do nothing to put potential customers off...

Link:
Panasonic Lumix Digital Cameras