It’s 2010 and we may not have flying cars but…

Those of us who came of age during the 60’s, 70s and 80’s were promised flying cars, robot help and consumer space travel. I at least thought that I would be able to take my family on a quick camping trip in my helicopter RV with pontoons. We may not have made the strides necessary for these scifi travel options but camera technology is starting to blow my mind. A couple of years ago at Photo Plus Expo I saw a demo of “smile recognition” software on a point and shoot. It fired the shutter when a smile or group of smiles was detected. That kind of facial recognition capability on a point and shoot camera definitely seemed futuristic. The migration to DSLRs shooting video didn’t seem as radical since that capability has been available on consumer cameras for a while and a lot of the other technology developments have seemed to be standard upgrade paths from current technology.

The feature set on the new Panasonic G2 also follows a natural evolution but at an accelerated rate that seems to be ahead of what many people would expect in a pro-sumer level camera today. We’re talking Minority Report type interface for photography.

Lets start with the re-positional touch screen interface. Buried menus are definitely a pain for most photographers, especially since there are no set user interface standards even within a single camera brand. Being able to touch the screen along with some quick access buttons is a great leap forward. Doing so on a flip out screen is even better. Touch menus and scrolling iphone style image playback are natural but appreciated extensions of this modern interface.

This is where it starts to get really interesting. Using the touch screen, you can choose your target for focus control with the ability to adjust the size of the focus point for accurate focusing. No more fumbling with awkward interfaces while shooting.

Now lets add pattern/facial recognition with focus tracking. From the video at the 0:45 marker:

If you want to focus on a moving object then simply touch it and that object will remain in focus no matter where it moves on the screen.

You read that right, touch selection for object/focus tracking. I suspect that the auto tracking capability was geneses for the touch screen implementation. Imagine having to program in an objects x/y coordinates along with size and descriptive variables in a traditional drop down menu.

The intelligent Auto button helps decide the best parameters for an image with one button simplicity from any shooting mode. Not only does it pick the usual aperture, shutter speed and ISO settings but it also looks at the objects in the image and decides if it is a macro, wide shot etc.., and if there needs to be image stabilization applied.

Another dedicated hard button provides one button video recording. The Panasonic line of interchangeable lens cameras are capable of shooting autofocus during HD video capture. Add the previously mentioned tracking capability and you have one serious DSLR video camera. Check out the video at the 2:55 mark for info about the HD video capabilities of this camera including one touch focus pulls.

Panasonic has had a pretty great camera with their GH-1 and it looks like it’s becoming a technological marvel in version 2. One thing a lot of people don’t realize about the micro four thirds cameras is that the shallow mount (no mirror) allows for virtually any lens ever made to be put on these camera bodies. You can get adapters for old Cooke movie lenses or use your Leica M mount lenses.

We may not have flying cars but I suspect these cameras will be flying off the shelves when consumers realize the ease of use that a touch screen brings to a complex camera.