Panasonic Lumix L10

I looked at a lot of similar cameras and decided on the Lumix S9 (as the upgrade from my OM System M4/3 camera) so bought one and a couple of Sigma lenses. It was a great camera but had three 'flaws' for my use case. The first a lack of a viewfinder and despite what Panasonic tell us the rear screen just wasn't good in bright sunlight. The second a leaf shutter, lovely and quiet but I missed the clunk of a mechanical shutter. Third was the lack of lenses for it, being L mount they are very pricey and the 28mm it shipped with wasn't good. Maybe launch should have been delayed until the compact zoom was ready.

So I sold it wand went with the Fujifilm X-E4 instead, with a couple of 3rd party brand lenses I spent about the same. I've since got very embedded with the Fujifilm system and have since upgraded to an X-E5.

A few moths back Panasonic announce the Lumix L10 which looked very much like an updated LX-100 so I put my name down to rent one for a week. It was delivered last Friday. They called me to ask if I wanted to collect it from the courier warehouse in Wycombe so I'd have it for an additional weekend. Brilliant, and rare, customer service.

I've been using it for 6 days now and yes it is like a slightly large LX-100; about the size of my X-E5. I've taken it out a lot and the images it creates are great but I think I've already decided that when I send it back I'll stick with Fujifilm.

Here are the reasons. The first whilst the EVF appears to have the same specs it isn't as nice to frame photos as the X-E5, or X-E4 come to that. Second it has a leaf shutter so sounds the same as the Lumix S9, and to be fair the Fujifilm X100 series which many people love.

Finally it just doesn't have the quality feel in the hand of the Fujifilm cameras, to be fair it is aimed at a different market and but in saying that the price is too close to an equivalent, and 'better' Fujifilm X100 or X-E4/5 new or used.

There's also the issue of it being fixed lens like the earlier LX-100's with a fixed zoom lens, and this makes me very nervous about dust getting into the body and onto the sensor. I had a Fujifilm X30 for a while and that sucked in dust within the first week of ownership and the LX100's are notorious for doing that.  Panasonic do say this has been addressed with better sealing but it's still a worry.