Michiharu Uematsu: Concerning low light function over high sensitivity. Of course a bigger sensor is better, however we have to be concerned not just [about] low light or high sensitivity. Picture quality should be considered in tandem with optical quality. Of course Sony’s APS-C sensor is bigger, but a big sensor with a small flange-back makes not such a good situation for the corners of an image. Sometimes the resolution there is much lower than at the centre of an image. But we believe our Micro Four Thirds is a very good balance between optical and also sensor performance.

Photography Blog: But you would say that, wouldn’t you? You must have had feedback from customers saying that we love the look and feel of this camera but we’d love a larger sensor with it.

Barney Sykes: The lens that we offer is fitting to the body of the camera quite well. Because the sensor size of APS-C is bigger the lens size has to be bigger, but to us that doesn’t fit with the theory of a compact system because the lenses are too heavy for the camera body. Theoretically you could use a GX1 one handed; I think if using an APS-C size of camera with the lens that would be difficult.

Michiharu Uematsu: We used an independent lab in Germany to rate our auto focus system against Barney Sykes: The feedback we’ve had is relating to the lens size. that of our competitors and we got some interesting data. They measured different cameras, not just ours but also Canon and Nikon and Olympus, with a range of different lenses – up to 17 different ones - attached to get the response times. And they tested each 10 times to make this report ordered by Panasonic.

They compared us with the [Canon] 7D and [Nikon] D7000, [Pentax] K5, [Alpha] A55 and also Olympus Pen against a test chart so they could measure resolution. The best focus point was set at 100%. Against that auto focus makes a little bit of error – we cannot get 100%, but more than 90% resolution is classified as ideal, 85% is good and 75% is acceptable, less than 70% is not acceptable.

Photography Blog: So this is a measure of how much of the image is rendered sharply, not just how many times the auto focus gets it right?

Michiharu Uematsu: This is the resolution. They set the best point of focus manually and compared the resolution at this best point with the auto focus performance. And they measured 10 times for each.

Photography Blog: It looks like from your graph that Panasonic has done very well, Pentax has done the best amongst APS-C DSLRs and Nikon and Canon have done less well.

Michiharu Uematsu: Canon and Nikon use phase differential type. In that case maybe, one third or one sixth of the pictures are unacceptable because it is a kind of open control not feedback system. But the contrast AF system is a feedback system and we can find the best point. It takes more time than phase differential type.

Photography Blog: So do you think it has been decisively proved that contrast AF is the better system?

Michiharu Uematsu: In terms of accuracy.

Photography Blog: And I suppose your improved AF speed [with the GX1] is something that, with the other new features will feed back into your future top end model, whatever that is: a GH3 perhaps?

Barney Sykes: (Laughter) You’ve only just got the GX1!

Michiharu Uematsu: Of course the GH2 is a year old, well not ‘old’, but technically with the GX1 we’re using the same system as the GH2, which means that if we looked at the figures from Germany, if we had been using the GX1, we’d see the same result. With the GH2 already focus speed is very high because we already introduced two times faster speed for sensor.

Photography Blog: And in terms of just speed we’d expect to see the G3 and GF3 performing exactly the same as the GH2. So Mr Uematsu, in Japan, was there any serious thought given to building an EVF into your flat-bodied cameras? Or like Barney, did you think that would simply make the camera too expensive?

Michiharu Uematsu: Of course in future it’s a consideration.

Barney Sykes: Like the NEX-7…

Michiharu Uematsu: Personally (pointing to the GX1) I like this type of scale. And if we can put a viewfinder in, it’s the best solution.

Photography Blog: So keep a body of this size but somehow squeeze in a viewfinder... it certainly sounds like it’s something you have under consideration.

Michiharu Uematsu: Next time.

Photography Blog: And in terms of what else users might like, how about a GF or GX model with a tilting rear LCD screen?

Barney Sykes: Ah, a hot topic.

Michiharu Uematsu: Also a very good question. It depends on what pressure we get from the sales company (laughter).

Barney Sykes: The first priority was to increase the resolution of the existing LCD screen. It’s currently 460k dots.

Michiharu Uematsu: We have so many issues to be improved. But also, resources are so limited.

Photography Blog: So something else for the future. But it sounds like you agree that a tilting screen is something enthusiasts would like? Or at least it’s something that could be provided on the consumer model.

Barney Sykes: Do you think if we have a tilting screen, a built in EVF is also needed?

Photography Blog: Probably not.

Barney Sykes: I think a tilting screen may be more appropriate for the GF series, potentially. But yeah, more and more people are being subjected to a quality touch screen on their iPhone and iPad, I think that would needs to be increased is the quality.

Photography Blog: So the resolution of the GX1’s back screen is 460k, which was the same with the GF2?

Barney Sykes: Yes, it’s been our standard for G3, GF3, GX1, and we now need to take that one up a level. Because some of our competitors have introduced OLED and higher resolution screens.

Photography Blog: Samsung and Olympus have had OLED for a while, well Olympus more recently with the E-P3, but I guess OLED technology is something you guys would consider too.

Barney Sykes: It’s currently under consideration for next year, as are all those other things. There are a lot of considerations for next year on how we take the line up forward.

Photography Blog: Sounds like you feel that you’re pretty much there in terms of speed and responsiveness but just want to tweak a few other things…

Barney Sykes: No, we’re never happy with the quality, never have been. There are always improvements to be made. We’re under pressure to grow as a company so not only do we have to expand the line up but also introduce features that consumers will want. Each region also has a different discussion and wants different things. So Asia has done phenomenally with GF – far better than anywhere else in the world. The UK and Germany are doing really well with the G3. So the different priorities pull the resources in Japan in different directions. So one of the headaches is finding a balance of engineering power and directive.

Photography Blog: So when you talk of expanding the range you still mean the G series as a whole and not just the new GX series.

Barney Sykes: Yes, the whole range. Because obviously we’ve the GF3 and G3, we need to work on GH2 improvements and need something in the G2 area to get some volume sales. And at the same time we’re expanding the lenses. We have 14 lenses and have announced the development of a further two: the 12-35mm and 35-100mm for next year, but we feel we are missing a couple of key lenses in the line up. There are discussions and video conferences on going.

Photography Blog: Thank you all for your time.

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