Panasonic debuts high-end G5, LX7 cameras

— -- Panasonic unveiled six new Lumix digital cameras Wednesday, including updates to a handful of their high-end, enthusiast-friendly models.

The biggest announcement is the G5 mirrorless compact system camera. It's an interchangeable-lens camera with an eye-level viewfinder and plenty of hands-on control, but is considerably smaller and lighter than a traditional DSLR. Replacing last year's G3, most of the updates seem pretty conservative, but there's always something to be said for refining a winning formula.

Manufacturers keep pushing high-end compacts into more impressive territory, and the Panasonic LX7 is right there in the thick of it. The body is small enough for a pants pocket, the level of control rivals any interchangeable-lens model, and the f/1.4-2.3 lens is as bright as it gets. The announcement is tempered a bit by the presence of the new Sony RX100, which crams a notably larger image sensor (for notably better image quality) into an equally compact body (give or take a few millimeters). But the LX7's spec sheet is nothing to scoff at.

Zoom ranges keep extending in the superzoom category, which is why the FZ200 feels like a bit of a curveball. Most of the vital specs are borrowed from last year's excellent FZ150, including the 24x zoom range, which seems modest by today's standards. But the lens remains at a constant f/2.8 aperture throughout the zoom range. In a nutshell, it should be much easier to take zoomed-in shots indoors with the FZ200 than with just about any other superzoom.

Two other lower-end superzooms were also announced: the FZ60, which is a stripped-down version of the FZ200; and the budget-friendly LZ20.

And Panasonic is finally jumping on the wireless bandwagon. The SZ5 is simply their SZ1 point-and-shoot with a Wi-Fi antenna. The hope is that by packaging the convenience of wireless with camera-exclusive features like long zooms or waterproof bodies, consumers will find a reason to keep buying point-and-shoots. But because Panasonic put Wi-Fi into such a boring camera, they've pretty much guaranteed that nobody will care.

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Head to DigitalCameraInfo.com for hands-on previews of some of these cameras, and in-depth reviews of many more