Quietly announced in Japan back in December, the lightly upgraded Panasonic Lumix G100D is coming to the United States with an estimated arrival of January 31.
When the Japanese model was announced in December, PetaPixel confirmed with Panasonic USA that the upgraded G100D would be coming to the United States, it just wasn’t clear exactly when that would happen. However, the “D” suffix was expected to carry into the U.S. — that has rung true. The camera is likely to be released in other international markets, too although timing is still indeterminate for all regions.
The switch to the G100D is what is known as a “running change,” which basically means that as stock depletes of the original model it will be replaced by the G100D. Since the new model has different hardware, it will need a unique SKU and be easily identifiable to consumers. That said, the original model is still available for a nice discount: $550.
The process is similar to what Sony did with the a7R IVa, which was largely the same camera but had a few minor upgrades, and the Pentax KF, which was a slightly upgraded K-70.
The G100D is a slight upgrade over the original G100, which came to market in 2020, and features a USB-C port and replaces the LCD viewfinder with an OLED display.
As PetaPixel reported in December, The G100 has an LCD viewfinder with approximately 3.68 million dots and 0.73x magnification (in 35mm equivalent terms). The Lumix G100D ditches LCD technology for a new OLED panel and while it has fewer dots at 2.36M, it slightly increases the magnification to 0.74x. It remains to be seen if this tradeoff is an overall upgrade or if users will feel the compromises even each other out, but OLED is typically seen as a superior display technology and should result in a net improvement.
The G100D also switches the G100’s USB 2.0 Micro-B port for a USB-C Type 2.0 port and while little will change as far as speed is concerned, it does comply with the European Union’s move to a single charging type for all electronics.
The new G100D will retail for $750 and is available to pre-order today bundled with the G Vario 12-32mm f/3.5-5.6 lens. That’s no change in price from the original model when it debuted in 2020.