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More stuff about the Panasonic CM1, for those interested, to add on to my previous CM1 post.

  • They can be had cheap. I paid like a fourth the price of what it’s listed for on Amazon. Low enough to sell my Galaxy Note 4 and come out ahead.

  • Agencies are accepting the output. I have placed a decent pile of CM1 photos now with agencies. No sales yet, but some zooms and lightboxes. It’s only been three weeks or so.

  • Don’t use wifi. The wifi upload was taking like 10 minutes per photo no matter which app or method I used. I was disappointed at first to see no stock USB mass storage mode, but I eventually installed Android File Transfer on my Mac and now can download at USB 2.0 speeds.

  • Screen protectors are out there. Hit eBay. There’s a place in Utah producing them, and they run basically around a buck each. They’re not super fabulous, but they’re real, and they get the job done.

  • Protect the lens. It’s a great little lens, but it has an extending front element and is vulnerable, seeing as how it’s part of a smartphone. There is a lens tube made by a company called “Cotta” that is around on eBay. Part of the lens bezel unscrews, and you can then screw the metal tube on. You can mount a 28mm UV filter on top of that. Then, everything is protected.

  • It’s good. I did my first shoot (an event with a decent number of people) using both the CM1 and my Fuji XT-1 with XF 23mm f/1.4 lens. With careful foot placement and shooting at f/2.8, it’s not at all obvious to viewers which shots came from which camera-lens combo. That is an excellent performance for a smartphone.

It’s a real camera, folks. I’m sad that Panasonic has apparently decided to end this form factor, making it one of those delicious technology one-offs that comes and goes and someday will cost a fortune to get ahold of.