A little more than a year on from the announcement of the Panasonic Lumix CM1, the first digital camera to double up as a smartphone, the company has announced a second model, the Lumix CM10.
Don’t get too excited though – this new model is less a successor to the CM1 than a slightly downgraded version. In fact, almost everything about these two models is identical except for one key feature: it does not support voice calls.
Powered by Android 5.0, the CM10 supports LTE (4G) for the purpose of data transmission. Despite losing its phone capabilities, it is possible to send SMS messages. All camera-related features from the previous model have been carried over including the 1-inch 20MP sensor, 4K recording at 15fps, 28mm f/2.8 Leica DC Elmarit lens and the 4.7-inch 6.22 million dot touch panel.
The release is scheduled for February 25th 2016 in Japan at the estimated price of ¥108,000 (around $900 US). So far, there hasn’t been any talk of bringing it to the US or UK.
We tried the original CM1 at Photokina a year and a half ago and were quite impressed at how seamlessly Panasonic managed to combine camera and smartphone technology into one device. It was, and still is, the perfect option for those who don’t particularly want to carry around an extra device but appreciate high quality images. With this said, it is difficult to imagine what the target market of the CM10 might be given it cannot replace a normal smartphone. Indeed, you may as well carry around a pocketable camera like the Sony RX100 IV or Lumix GM5 and take advantage of all the extra camera-related features they provide.
