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Usually, releasing a camera in a selection of unlikely colours is the domain of style-conscious manufacturers like Sony but now Panasonic has joined in on the act with the release of five new finishes for its FX07 camera. Until now Panasonic has generally played it safe with either black or silver colour schemes for their cameras but now they are offering colours like “Jewel beetle” and “Old wooden dry laquer” (these names are translated from Japanese so they may not be exact) in a special lacquer finish. In keeping with the tutelage of Japanese Zen there is a point to this, with the idea being that the lacquer is “fused with the heart of harmony”, stimulating the heart of the photographer through the feel of the hand grasping the camera.
Ideological beliefs aside, it's also true that the lacquer finish makes the camera look quite special too. Applied by hand to the front of the camera - the back is silver like the others - the finishes include “fumigation silver” (the name must surely be lost in translation) which encourages the “taste” of photography, “jewel beetle” which has a nice iridescent purple to green fade courtesy of titanium powder, and my personal favourite “ancient and modern” which has blue, green and purple areas of colour sectioned by gold foil - to help the flow of photography. The other two colours are “Old wooden dry lacquer” and “Black silver dry lacquer”.
Obviously the series has a limited run, seeing how they are hand-painted and the thought that has gone into them, and there are only 100 of each available. Another sticking point might be that they are only on sale in Japan but if you really wanted one there are always ways. They are released in December 12 for 59,800 Yen (around £265) and also come in a special Paulownia wooden box - a tree native to Japan. The camera itself isn't changed at all, and is the same 7.2 MP model released earlier this year.
For more details check out Panasonic Japan's page on them, kindly translated by Google.
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