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Thoughts on the Panasonic L10?

  
 
petersm59
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p.3 #1 · Thoughts on the Panasonic L10?


I think a lot of the inconsistencies are more about how you may be using the AF. It seems the more I use it the better it becomes. Coming from mostly OM-1II cameras, my expectations are pretty high. So far it's been very good in fast moving dynamic situations. I find using Tracking CAF with Face/Eye detection on is the best way to get consistent results, which is exactly how I use my OM cameras.

Since I mostly photograph people moving, I put the tracking box over the person I want to focus on and half press the shutter, and it sticks like glue to that person wherever in the frame they might go. Larger area AF patterns seem to introduce some inconsistency as I never know where they will find focus If I do photograph something static, I turn off subject detect and just use the tracking box, and it seems to work well. I've programmed the red video button to toggle face detect on or off.

Since I can't upload here at the moment, I'll post a URL from my website with a wide variety of L10 photos in all kinds of situations. Bright light, to low light, to no light, personal work, paid work and family photos. The whole gamut.

https://www.mikepeters-photography.com/Personal-Work-sets/L10/n-jkZHR5

Most of the people were shot in situations where either I was on the move, or my subject was. Yes, I shoot much of my personal work in square format, and family and paying gigs get rectangles. I've also begun taking advantage of the leaf shutter and mixing some flash in harsh daylight situations, just for fun.

Like most new cameras, it takes time to figure them out. If you're coming from Sony to this, it's going to take a lot more time and effort to learn the details and to find out how best to use it. If you've ever used a Lumix or an OM, it should be a bit easier. There are a zillion choices to make when customizing the buttons. If you don't take the time to make some decisions along the way, you'll be frustrated. Give it time.

For me, this an excellent close quarters combat kind of camera, when you're close to your subject and right in the middle of the fray. Like the protest photos from 9/11 in NYC. It didn't skip a beat. My first day out with it was July 24, and now after about 15,000 frames and more than a few projects, I'm feeling really good about it.

This goes for any camera. When I switched from Lumix to OM a few years ago, it took me about 4 months of daily shooting to finally begin to wrap my head around what the AF could do. And again, when I switched from Canon to Lumix back in 2013, it was a steep learning curve. I never blamed the camera, I looked in the mirror and saw the weak link staring back at me, and I figured it out what I was doing wrong. I had to meet the camera where it was, not with unrealistic expectations based on past experience.




Sep 13, 2026 at 07:40 PM
BruceRH
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p.3 #2 · Thoughts on the Panasonic L10?


I am sure I am the weak spot, my issue is that the problem I had is not something I have had with other cameras through the years. Panasonic probably does do something different than I am used to, but my Olympus/OM System cameras aren’t going anywhere so I will stick to what I know. I was attracted to the L10 for the f1.7 starting point of the lens and the reach on the long end. I didn’t have any issues in good light, it was only in dim light. My return window was closing so I chose to send it back. Another factor in my decision making was Martin Belan’s recent posts concerning sensor dust. I have plenty of other options and don’t want to be frustrated when I go out to shoot.


Sep 13, 2026 at 08:34 PM
RacingManiac
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p.3 #3 · Thoughts on the Panasonic L10?


I rarely use subject recognition(in any camera, mostly because I rarely remember to enable it) but I also rarely shoot people as subject(lol), but in some of the instances I think that might help. I think when I am doing tracking pan the camera does a good job of tracking the object I have in the area, its really just me picking a point and when the camera does the AF that it doesn't always locks to what I'd expect.


Sep 14, 2026 at 08:46 AM
petersm59
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p.3 #4 · Thoughts on the Panasonic L10?


RacingManiac wrote:
I rarely use subject recognition(in any camera, mostly because I rarely remember to enable it) but I also rarely shoot people as subject(lol), but in some of the instances I think that might help. I think when I am doing tracking pan the camera does a good job of tracking the object I have in the area, its really just me picking a point and when the camera does the AF that it doesn't always locks to what I'd expect.


As always, tracking a particular thing or whatever is usually dependent on the detail and contrast that it has to lock on to. In situations where both are low, usually a different pattern or approach is the best way to get what you need.



Sep 14, 2026 at 10:06 AM
bakihanma
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p.3 #5 · Thoughts on the Panasonic L10?


i wonder if some of these focus issues can be fixed by a future firmware update?


Sep 19, 2026 at 10:21 AM
petersm59
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p.3 #6 · Thoughts on the Panasonic L10?


bakihanma wrote:
i wonder if some of these focus issues can be fixed by a future firmware update?


One would hope, or you can just use it as is and work around it. The more I use it the less of an issue it becomes.




Sep 22, 2026 at 05:28 PM
RacingManiac
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p.3 #7 · Thoughts on the Panasonic L10?


Current on a trip in Atlantic Canada, using L10 as the primary....enjoying the experience using the camera...Pics are processed through DxO..
















Sep 23, 2026 at 03:36 PM
petersm59
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p.3 #8 · Thoughts on the Panasonic L10?


On my day job, photographing for a university, I've been using he L10 quite a bit lately. Here are links to three different assignments where the L10 was the only camera I used...

https://montclairstateuniversity.smugmug.com/2026/092526-Students-at-Muth-Museum/n-FHTNCJ

https://montclairstateuniversity.smugmug.com/2026/092526-CHSS-Archeology-and-Anthropology/n-T5nj6Q

https://montclairstateuniversity.smugmug.com/Bloomfield-College/2026-Bloomfield-College/092426-Bloomfield-College-Red-Chair-Students/n-J6NJNd

It was especially useful when I wanted to synch with flash outside. With a leaf shutter I didn't have to worry about ND filters and could just use whatever shutter speed worked. Very freeing.



Sep 26, 2026 at 03:09 PM
 


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RacingManiac
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p.3 #9 · Thoughts on the Panasonic L10?


Now I got sometime looking through the photos and thinking about the trip afterward. I have some more opinion on this camera. Its a good camera, the handling is great and the user experience is exactly I think what I was looking for as an improvement over something like an RX100. Photos are great for what they are. I still don't really get LUT, but I guess they add something for SOOC shots, the pics still looks way better after properly once over on my computer.

There are weaknesses, I think a lot are kinda exactly where you expect. The lack of IBIS I noticed a lot in less ideal light. OIS works but its not as effective. AF while in most instances works quite well, in low light I find it struggles quite a bit. I think working with it at night with street lights and people is where I have the least fun, and I think thats a shame because thats probably where I'd want it to work the most. The relatively lack of shallow DOF isn't really an issue I think in the end. The 75mm is ok but I do wish for a bit more.

Overall thought this is a good camera to have on a trip like this. Having a zoom is nice for the flexibility. But I don't think I can feel 100% no FOMO on a trip where I have clear photographic goals. As a result I think I probably will go to my next Japan trip still with my normal A7IV setup.

Some more pic, maybe repeated from before with different post process....




































Sep 29, 2026 at 08:09 PM
jakelindsay
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p.3 #10 · Thoughts on the Panasonic L10?


There are some nice compositions here but something seems off with the colors. Maybe the files were pushed too hard (lots of DXO Clearview and saturation) but they also don't seem particularly crisp. If you look at the ladies cell phone screen in the last picture it's strongly tinted purple instead of white and the man's neck is martian red. A lot of the architecture (windmills, cranes, towers, buildings etc) in the background seem soft or out of focus. Perhaps that is your style or intent but I don't think it represents the camera.


Oct 01, 2026 at 12:40 PM
RacingManiac
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p.3 #11 · Thoughts on the Panasonic L10?


Color wise I won't be surprised if they might look weird, my normal workflow I tweak based on a shot I picked from the day I shoot and I end up usually just copy the correction to all the shots on the day of. More often than not I don't focus on skintone. I also end up shooting everything f4-f5.6 ish so foreground background focus is probably whatever the DOF is based on where I focus. The shot with the shipping port crane should be whatever the camera focused to. And those cranes were my focus. The pic with the windmill the focus was the lobster trap, and the martian skinned couple shot the couple was the focus and their condos in the background were just out of the DOF....


Oct 01, 2026 at 02:44 PM
RoamingScott
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p.3 #12 · Thoughts on the Panasonic L10?


Beyond the colors, they all look soft and out of focus. I've been hunting for good example shots from the L10 and this seems to be the trend...none are even close to what I'd call acceptable from an IQ perspective. I can't square if it's the camera's AF, the lens, the m4/3 sensor, slow shutter + no ibis, or user error.


Oct 31, 2026 at 12:02 PM
petersm59
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p.3 #13 · Thoughts on the Panasonic L10?


RoamingScott wrote:
Beyond the colors, they all look soft and out of focus. I've been hunting for good example shots from the L10 and this seems to be the trend...none are even close to what I'd call acceptable from an IQ perspective. I can't square if it's the camera's AF, the lens, the m4/3 sensor, slow shutter + no ibis, or user error.


Well, maybe check this set of photos: https://www.mikepeters-photography.com/Personal-Work-sets/L10/n-jkZHR5

Just as an fyi, I shoot square format for all of my personal work, rectangles are for paying work. I routinely mix the L10 with an OM-1 on which I use a longer lens, and there isn't much between them.



Oct 31, 2026 at 01:29 PM
RoamingScott
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p.3 #14 · Thoughts on the Panasonic L10?


petersm59 wrote:
Well, maybe check this set of photos: https://www.mikepeters-photography.com/Personal-Work-sets/L10/n-jkZHR5

Just as an fyi, I shoot square format for all of my personal work, rectangles are for paying work. I routinely mix the L10 with an OM-1 on which I use a longer lens, and there isn't much between them.


This is helpful, thanks. The midrange bokeh is rougher than I've seen in most examples, but most don't have foliage or stark lines 20-50 feet behind the subject.



Oct 31, 2026 at 02:50 PM
petersm59
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p.3 #15 · Thoughts on the Panasonic L10?


RoamingScott wrote:
This is helpful, thanks. The midrange bokeh is rougher than I've seen in most examples, but most don't have foliage or stark lines 20-50 feet behind the subject.


At first the bokeh bothered me, but the I went and looked at some other Leica zooms that I use, the 10-25, 12-35 and 35-100, they all exhibit that roughness here and there, especially when shot on on GH6 and G9II bodies, and even on OM-1’s.



Oct 31, 2026 at 07:43 PM
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