The Panasonic CM1 camera is actually a 4.7-inch Android smartphone

While most smartphone makers are trying to replace the dedicated digital camera, Panasonic is coming from the opposite direction with the Lumix Smart Camera CM1. As the Lumix naming scheme implies, the CM1 is a camera first and a smartphone second. It includes a 1-inch image sensor that shoots 20-megapixel photos, and uses a Leica lens with f/2.8 aperture. It’s not a zoom lens, but it does extend from the body while in use, and has a mechanical shutter. A switch on the top edge lets users quickly jump into camera mode, and of course there’s a dedicated shutter button.

Amongst Panasonic’s big announcements the Photokina show in Germany came a whopper of a surprise. The Panasonic CM1 is a 4.7-inch Android smartphone with a 20-megapixel 1-inch image sensor. This could be the best smartphone camera of all time. The Panasonic CM1 seems like is a trade show concept, but it will be a real camera that the company plans to actually produce for France in Germany. If the striking design sticks, we could be looking It looks like the leather-clad retro-style camera that Panasonic has been popping out in recent years. In fact, it looks more like a camera than a phone. Under the hood it’s got a lot of power. The image sensor is the same size as the RX100’s beastly chip, which could give the CM1 image quality superior to anything we’ve ever seen before. Additionally, apparently the little camera can capture 4K video, which is impressive of basically any camera these days, let alone something this small.