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Product photos: Mitchell Clark

The Leica SL3-P is a high-speed, high-resolution full-frame camera built around a 44MP BSI CMOS sensor. It's the latest in the company's SL range and perhaps the most polished and all-round capable camera in the series so far.

Key specifications

• 44MP BSI CMOS full-frame sensor with phase detection
• up to 40fps shooting with AF in 12-bit mode. Up to 15fps in 14-bit.
• Subject recognition AF
• 8K open-gate video up to 24p (7.2K open-gate up to 30p)
• Full-width 8K (UHD or ∼DCI) up to 30p
• Full-width 4K up to 30p, 4K/60 and 4K/120 with increasing crops
• Content Credentials image certification
• Battery rated to 383 shots per charge
• IP54-rated all-metal construction

The Leica SL3-P will be available immediately at a recommended price of $6695 excluding tax in the USA, or €5990, including sales tax.

Index:

• What is it?
• How it compares
• Body and handling
• Video
• Autofocus
• In use
• Initial impressions
• Specifications
• Leica press release

What is it? That 44MP BSI CMOS sensor will be familiar to anyone that's been following Panasonic's recent launches.

Thus far, Leica has produced high-resolution SL models and high-speed SL-S versions. The SL-P appears to be something of an attempt to merge the two lines, offering both high speed and high resolution.

The result is something akin to Sony's recent a7R VI or, perhaps more pertinently, the Panasonic S1RII: not an out-and-out sports camera but more a studio and landscape camera that's happy to venture further afield. That Panasonic comparison is unavoidable as the 44MP, 40fps headline spec is shared between both cameras, as are their processors, even if the branding of them differs.

However, our experience of the SL3-P and the S1RII reminded us of how different you can make two cameras, even if you start with many of the same components and have similar destinations in mind.

Leica talks a good game about building cameras that last, and that's immediately apparent in the feel and heft of the SL3-P. But what's really striking is how few control points the Leica seems to have. That minimalism, honing the camera down to its core functions and little more extends to the menus and interface, meaning it gives a very different experience to the Panasonic. Or, indeed, any other mainstream camera.

How it compares

Although it offers both high speed and high resolution, the SL3-P doesn't match the do-everything levels of capability of the Nikon Z8 and Canon EOS R5 II, with their stacked CMOS sensors. Instead it's closer in ethos to the Sony a7R VI or, perhaps unsurprisingly, the Panasonic S1RII, essentially delivering a studio and landscape camera that isn't scared of a little action, rather than a camera you might pick for sports work.

We've also compared it here to the SL3, which offers higher resolution but less speed, if absolute image quality is more important to you than the added speed.

Leica SL3-P Panasonic S1RII Sony a7R VI Leica SL3 MSRP at launch $6690 $3300 $4500 $6995 Resolution 44.2MP 44.2MP 66.5MP 60.3MP Sensor type BSI CMOS BSI CMOS Stacked CMOS BSI CMOS Max frame rate 7fps mech., 14-bit
25fps elec., 14-bit
40fps elec., 12-bit 9fps mech, 14-bit
40fps elec. 10fps mech., 14-bit
30fps elec., 14-bit* 5fps mech., 14-bit (AF-C)
15fps e-shutter, 14-bit. (AF fixed after first frame) Rolling shutter rate (14-bit still) 37.5ms 37.5ms 19.6ms 100.5ms Viewfinder res/mag/eye point 5.76M dot
0.76x
21mm 5.76M dot
0.78x
21mm 9.43M dot
0.9x
25mm 5.76M dot
0.76x
21mm Rear screen 3.2", 2.33M dot
Tilting 3.0", 1.84M dot
Tilt / Fully articulating 3.2", 2.1M dot
Tilt / Fully articulating 3.2", 2.33M dot
Tilting AF subject recognition Human
Animal
Car Human
Animal
Car
Motorcycle/Bike
Train
Airplane Auto
Human
Animal
Bird
Car/Train
Airplane
Insect Human
Animal Video resolutions

8K/24 open gate
UHD/DCI 4K/120 (up to 1.17x crop)
4K/60 (up to 1.1x crop)
4K/30 full-width

8K/24 open gate
UHD/DCI 4K/120 (up to 1.17x crop)
4K/60 (up to 1.1x crop)
4K/30 full-width

UHD 8K/30
UHD 4K/120 (1.1x crop)
UHD 4K/60 full-width UHD/DCI 8K/30 (up to 1.24x crop)
UHD/DCI 4K/60 (up to 1.24x crop) Video options ProRes 422
H.265
H.264 (All-I / L-GOP) ProRes Raw
ProRes 422
H.265
H.264 H.265
H.264 (All-I / L-GOP) ProRes
H.265
H.264 Connectivity Wi-Fi 5
1x 10Gbps USB-C
HDMI
Mic / Headphone jacks
Flash sync

Wi-Fi 5
1x 10Gbps USB-C
HDMI
Mic / Headphone jacks
2.5mm remote

Wi-Fi 6E
1x 10Gbps USB-C
1x USB-C PD
HDMI
Mic / Headphone jacks
Flash sync

Wi-Fi 5
1x 5Gbps USB-C
HDMI
Mic / Headphone jacks
Flash sync

Media Type

1x CFexpress Type B
1x UHS-II SD
External SSD

1x CFexpress Type B
1x UHS-II SD
External SSD 2x CFexpress Type A / UHS-II SD 1x CFexpress Type B
1x UHS-II SD Battery life (LCD / EVF) 383 shots 340 / 280 shots 710 / 600 shots 260 shots Weight 852g (30oz) 795g (28oz) 713g (25.1oz) 853g (30oz) Dimensions 141 x 108 x 85mm
(5.6 x 4.3 x 3.3") 134 x 102 x 92mm
(5.3 x 4.0 x 3.6") 133 x 97 x 83mm
(5.2 x 3.8 x 3.3") 141 x 108 x 85mm
(5.6 x 4.3 x 3.3") * Autofocus performance reduced when shooting at 30fps in 14-bit

It probably shouldn't come as a surprise to find that the SL3-P's specs are a very close match for those of the S1RII. The differences between the two cameras aren't something readily captured in a specs table.

The original SL3 offers a slight boost in resolution capture but at the cost of a lot of the new camera's flexibility. Sony's a7R VI offers both though: higher resolution and competitively fast shooting with excellent autofocus and slightly wider dynamic range. It's hard to imagine how two user interfaces and user experiences could be more different, for two cameras ultimately trying to do the same thing, though.

Body and handing The SL3-P's design is as simple and solid as the huge sans serif branding across its viewfinder hump. And with a vague sense that this is how it's always been.

The SL3-P uses the same body as the existing SL3 models: a solid, angular block of a thing with a few large control points and a substantial grip to wrap your hand around. The Leica branding across the viewfinder hump is so beautifully proportioned that it's easy to assume that this series (and, perhaps, a series of film cameras before it), have always looked this way. So it was a shock to see the original SL in the company's archives and see how far the design has evolved.

There are two buttons on the front of the camera, two on the top and one on the back, none of which have marked functions. Instead they can be re-programmed with a long press. In addition there are three marked buttons on the back of the camera: Play, Fn and Menu.

Then there are the three large command dials: one towards the front of the top plate, one protruding from the rear of the right shoulder and a third on the top left of the camera (which I kept forgetting about, as it's such an unorthodox place to find one).

Beyond this there's a small rubber joystick on the back of the camera, and that's about it. Relatively few control points and still fewer dedicated ones. No switches for focus mode or AF area, not even the seemingly obligatory stills/movie switch: that's controlled by swiping left or right on the rear screen.

Rather than making you dig through an incredibly long list of formats, the SL3-P makes it easy to filter down to the video modes that fit your shooting scenario.

We'll touch more on the user interface in the 'In use' section of the review, but Leica is continuing to refine the rather elegant and focused interface it introduced in the SL3. For instance, in this latest camera, the company has re-worked the way you select a video mode: letting you select the parameters that are most important to you: frame rate, resolution, codec, etc, then filtering down the available list from a seemingly unmanageable 193 down to the handful that fit your requirements. It sounds obvious once you've seen it done, but it's cleaner and simpler than most cameras we use.

Viewfinder and screen

The SL3-P has the same viewfinder as the other SL3 models: a 5.76M dot OLED panel (1600 x 1200px) with 0.76x magnification and a 21mm eyepoint. A large circular rubber cushion makes the camera comfortable to use if you wear glasses and there's a -4 to +2 diopter adjuster set behind that cushion.

The rear screen is a 2.33M dot (1080 x 720px) panel mounted on a tilt up/down mechanism.

Ports

The SL3-P has the same port arrangement as its sister models, with 3.5mm headphone and mic sockets and a full-sized HDMI socket under a large, rubber flap on the left flank of the camera. Below these is a USB-C socket that can be used for data transfer (10Gbps), tethering (including to an iPhone) or charging.

Battery As has become standard for Leica, the base of the battery includes the outer surface of the camera. There's a sprung silver lever on the base to release the battery and a stepped latch to prevent it just dropping onto the floor when you do.

The camera uses the same BP-SCL6 battery as its siblings: a 15.8Wh unit that powers the camera to a rating of 383 shots per charge, when tested to the CIPA protocol. As always, this tends to significantly under-represent the actual number of shots you can expect to get, but a rating of nearly 400 shots per charge is the sort of number that should means an enthusiast photographer rarely has to worry about topping-up on a day's shooting. It's only intensive shooting such a weddings, or anything involving a mixture of video and stills that are likely to call for you to have a spare to hand.

Autofocus

The Leica's autofocus behavior is as innovative and unconventional as the rest of the UI.

The camera has three AF area modes, but offers more than three AF areas. The first is called "Spot / Field," the second is called "Multi-Field / Zone" and the last is called Tracking.

There are three AF area options available, but two of them represent a series of different AF area modes.

The clue is in the forward slashes. Spot / Field lets you select a single AF point of various sizes, while Multi-Field / Zone lets you choose between an adjustable AF zone and all-area AF, where the camera selects a subject from anywhere within the frame. Once you've chosen an AF zone mode, you can adjust it by pressing the AF area on your rear screen or long-pressing anywhere on the live preview. This then lets you use the rear dial to adjust the focus area size.

You can't adjust the size of the tracking AF target but you can, in the menus, reconfigure it so it doesn't keep jumping back to the center of the screen.

Like Panasonic's recent cameras, the camera will track recognized subjects when you have subject recognition turned on, but won't track non-recognized subjects at all. So you'll need to turn subject recognition on and off depending on what you're trying to photograph. We'd definitely recommend configuring a button to do this.

By default, the camera's Tracking AF mode gives you a small rectangle that resets to the center of the frame at the end of each burst. However, while you can't change the size of the initial target, you can configure the tracking target to revert to wherever you last triggered it. So, for instance, if you want to track a car down through a series of curves, across your frame, then have the camera jump back to where the next car is likely to arrive, you can.

In use

One of the Leica's most compelling aspects isn't something you can see from product photos or interpret from the spec sheets: the user interface.

The SL3-P uses the latest iteration of the back-to-basics interface Leica has been refining over the past few years.

Pressing the menu button brings up this status panel, which can be customized with a long press of any of the virtual buttons. You can even customize the list of available options, to make selection faster. Pressing the menu button again takes you into the main menu, which is impressively concise for a modern camera.

At its heart, it's designed around putting the key photographic parameters at your fingertips and minimizing the extent of, and need for, menu options. For instance, holding down a customizable button or long-pressing any of the on-screen icons brings up a list of other functions you can assign to it. In fact one of the few options present in the main menu is one to filter-down which options are presented to you, when you long-press a control point to customize its function.

The result is an interface very focused on the fundamental settings of photography. It affords you the luxury of just ignoring what's going on in the interface, much of the time, and just letting you concentrate on the settings assigned to the two big dials, and what you're seeing in your viewfinder.

The Play, Fn and Menu buttons on the back of the camera are the only ones with marked functions: the rest are designed to be configured (and reconfigured) to suit your shooting style and preferences.

This minimalist approach extends to the body and its control points, too, with a smattering of custom buttons, a joystick and three large, solid-feeling command dials being your points of contact. It's remarkable how few dedicated control points there are and while, for my shooting, I found myself sometimes wishing for an AF mode selector, with a little work it's very likely that you can set the camera up in a way you find very quick and easy to work with.

Because it's such a different way of working, the interface takes a little bit of getting used to, though. It rewards you for taking the time to adjust to its design philosophy. One aspect of which is learning to save your setup as a user profile, or risk discovering that selecting the default profile erases any customization you've started applying.

It's also worth recognizing what is and isn't included in these profiles. Exposure mode is, but specific exposure settings aren't, so my attempt to build a profile for freezing the action and another one, with a slower shutter speed, for panning ended up being unsuccessful. Likewise, it's worth carefully planning your profiles before saving them: I thought it would be handy to define a custom button to switch between profiles. Which was great until I pressed the button and switched to a profile with different custom buttons settings, so couldn't get back.

Overall it works very well, though, giving a very photo-focused shooting experience where, for all the cleverness that modern cameras have brought, you end up remembering that the only things that really matter are shutter speed, aperture value, composition and where you're going to focus.

Video

Despite us saying that the SL3-P has a very photo-focused interface, it's probably better to say that it's a very exposure-focused. Swipe left on the camera's settings panel and you get a similar but now video-centric display, with yellow, rather than red accents.

The SL3 offers an incredible range of video modes: 157 in total. These range from 8K open-gate capture, that uses the full extent of the sensor, via 8K in either 1.89:1 or 16:9 aspect ratios and on to 4K capture, again with a choice of aspect ratios. But the camera also offers a selection of other resolutions for each of these capture regions, letting you strike a balance between resolution capture and speed.

Like Panasonic's S1RII, the SL3-P doesn't quite have enough pixels to capture DCI 8K (8192 x 4320px) footage so instead outputs 8132 x 4288px footage. UHD 8K is no problem, though, so you can also select the more conventional 7680 x 4320 resolution, if you prefer.

As you'd expect of a modern camera, you get the choice of 10-bit Log or HLG, or 8-bit if you don't plan to color grade, and you're targeting SDR displays.

Video options: Output dimensions Frame rates Crop MOV ProRes DR Exp 1.89:1 modes C8K 8128 x 4288 30, 25, 24 1.0 4:2:0 – Yes C6K 5760 x 4030 30, 25, 24 1.0 HQ 60, 50, 48 1.04 – – C4K 4096 x 2160 30, 25, 24 1.0 4:2:2 HQ Yes 60, 50 1.04 – 30, 25, 24 1.52 Yes 60, 50, – 120, 100 1.09 4:2:2 – – 16:9 Modes 8K 7680 x 4320 30, 25, 24 1.0 4:2:0 – Yes 6K 5888 x 3312 30, 25, 24 1.0 – Yes 60, 50, 48 1.11 – – 4K 3840 x 2160 30, 25, 24 1.0 4:2:2 – Yes 60, 50 1.11 – – 30, 25, 24 1.52 – Yes 60, 50 – – 120, 100 1.17 4:2:2 – – 3:2 Modes 8K OG 8064 x 5376 24 1.0 4:2:0 – Yes 7.2K OG 7200 x 4800 30 1.0 4:2:0 – – 25 – Yes 6.4K OG 6432 x 4288 30 1.0 4:2:0 – – 25, 24 – Yes 4:3 Modes 4.7K 4736 x 3552 30, 25, 24 1.71 4:2:0 HQ Yes 60, 50, 48 – – - MOV boxes marked green offer All-I compression options
- Red boxes have a ProRes option

As with the Panasonic S1RII, the SL3-P has a Dynamic Range Expansion mode in video, which reads each exposure in both low conversion gain mode for maximum highlight capture and in high conversion gain mode, for cleaner shadows, and combines the two, to boost DR.

This is available in any resolution mode but only at frame rates up to 30p. In each case it increases the readout rate by around 33%. So, for instance, the UHD 8K/24 mode increases from 23.9ms to 31.9ms.

Initial impressions

The Leica SL3-P is the fastest-shooting camera Leica has ever made and should, in principle, be the only SL model they need to persist with. It offers an awful lot of what the SL3 offers, in terms of resolution, and it outperforms the more speed-focused SL3-S.

The subject recognition AF performs impressively well: finding subjects very quickly and following them well (especially when it's a subject the camera has been trained to recognize). Just as the user interface as a whole takes some getting used to, it's worth digging around in the menus and familiarizing yourself with the SL3-P's AF logic before you go out shooting. Without an instruction manual it wasn't obvious that Leica had grouped its AF area modes, or how to switch between them, nor that you can override the camera's default behaviour when it comes to AF tracking.

Some issues you can't overcome, though. The sensor is fast, but it's not as quick as the best stacked CMOS sensors. So the camera will start showing a slideshow of the images you've just shot, when you're shooting at its fastest rates, making it very difficult to keep pace with the action. Similarly, we were advised to shoot Raw-only and to disengage Content Credentials, to get the best performance.

Rolling shutter can become visible if the camera or subject moves too quickly. The camera makes clear whether it's shooting in 12 or 14-bit readout mode, which significantly affects the rolling shutter rate.

Leica Vario Elmarit 24-90mm F2.8-4.0 @ 75mm | 1/320 sec | F6.3 | ISO 100
Photo: Richard Butler

And, even with that done, the camera's approximately 20ms (1/50 sec) readout rates in 12-bit mode mean that rolling shutter will be apparent if you're trying to follow really fast action.

In this respect it's a lot like the Sony a7R VI we recently reviewed: very fast for a high-res studio/landscape camera, meaning it'll handle itself very confidently in a much broader range of circumstances than that. It's not quite the high-res, high-speed all-rounder that Canon's EOS R5 II and Nikon Z8 are, but it'll still be more than enough camera for a very broad range of photographers, taking a very broad range of photos.

The challenge, as ever with Leica, is the price. It's a beautifully built object, constructed in Portugal and Germany, that wears the Leica name and is likely to sell in relatively small numbers, when compared to the volumes of the large Japanese manufacturers. As such, the price is high.

For that money you get the fruits of some very clever design work, in a body that feels like it's designed to last decades. However, parts availability and the continued march of technology (we can already see that sensors and AF will continue to get faster), will make it difficult to match the sense of longevity that a Leica film camera gave you. So, as always, part of the calculus comes down to: how important are those five letters to you?

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Product Photos: Mitchell Clark

85%Overall scoreJump to conclusion

The Panasonic DC-L10 is an enthusiast compact with a Four Thirds sensor and an optically stabilized 24-75mm equiv. F1.7-2.8 lens with motorized zoom. Like the Panasonic's LX100 and Leica's D-Lux series of cameras, the camera doesn't use its entire sensor, instead letting you preserve the same diagonal angle of view for 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9 crops of it, which use up to 81% or around 183mm² of the sensor.

Key Specifications:

• Up to 20.3MP images from a 26.5MP BSI CMOS Four Thirds sensor
• 10.9 - 34mm (24-75mm equiv.) F1.7-2.8 lens with OIS
• 2.36M dot OLED viewfinder
• 1.84M dot 3" fully articulating display
• Phase-detect autofocus with 6 subject recognition modes
• Metal body
• 5.2K open-gate video up to 30p
• 1x UHS-II SD card slot

The black and silver versions of the L10 cost $1499, and there's a special edition "Titanium Gold" version for $100 more, available from limited outlets (typically direct from Panasonic). It includes a threaded shutter button, leather strap and a color-matched automatically-opening lens cap (the latter accessory is available to buy separately for the standard editions in silver and black).

Index

• What's new
• How it compares
• Body and handling
• Autofocus
• Video
• In use
• Conclusion
• Sample gallery
• Specifications

Buy now:

Buy at Amazon.comBuy at AdoramaBuy at B&H Photo What's New? The LX100 II (left) is a fair bit smaller than the L10 (right).

Panasonic is pitching the L10 as the start of a new line of compacts, rather than a direct successor to the LX100 II from 2018, but the cameras' shared DNA and place in the market make it worth seeing what else the removal of an X and a zero has changed. The biggest difference is, of course, the design, which will be covered in the body and handling section.

Updated sensor

The L10 uses the same 26.5MP Four Thirds (225mm²) sensor that's found in the GH7 and G9 II. This results in images that have better dynamic range and are slightly higher resolution than you could get out of the LX100 II: up to 20.3MP in its 4:3 mode, rather than 17MP.

The L10 continues Panasonic's tradition of cropping in on its sensor to produce a multi-aspect ratio shooting experience, where the different crop modes it offers generally have the same diagonal angle of view.

Graphic: Richard Butler

The bigger improvement, though, is the addition of phase detect autofocus. The L10 has essentially the same autofocus we've seen in all of Panasonic's most recent cameras, with algorithms for recognizing six kinds of subjects (humans, animals, cars, motorcycles/bikes, trains and planes), as well as part priority (e.g., focusing on a rider's helmet, or the cockpit of a plane) derived from machine learning.

New processor

Panasonic has used its latest processor in the L10, the same one found in recent models like the S1RII. The camera runs Panasonic's latest-generation of firmware, so it's compatible with the company's Lumix Lab app and has features like HLG HEIF output, Live View Composite (a multi-exposure mode that shows you the image as it builds up, and lets you stop it when you choose), in-camera processing of focus stacking bursts and the Real-Time LUT system, which lets you bake custom-designed color profiles into your JPEGs and videos.

A cornucopia of colors

While the Real-Time LUT system (for which there's a dedicated button on the rear plate) lets you use custom color modes for your JPEGs, the camera includes a few new built-in color modes too, which Panasonic says are "film‑inspired." These are "L.Classic," which the company says is low-saturation and highlights greens, and "L.ClassicGold," which gives your photos a very warm, amber look.

Standard Color Profile L.Classic Neo L.Classic L.Classic Gold

The decision to include these new modes was apparently based on the popularity of the L.ClassicNeo profile that it's included in its cameras for years. For video shooters (or photographers looking for a video-like look), the camera also includes a suite of "Cinelike" modes such as Cinelike D2, which is designed to give you a pleasingly flat look that, unlike the also-included V-Log, can be used for output, while still offering some editing flexibility in post.

How it compares

One of the most exciting things about the L10 is that it's a new enthusiast compact camera aimed at photographers, which is something we haven't seen in quite a while. Companies like Canon and Sony still sell the latest entries in their G7X and RX100 lines, but both cameras were introduced in 2019, around 7 years ago.

While it can be tempting to compare the L10 to cameras with fixed prime lenses like the Ricoh GR IV and Fujifilm X100VI, the use of a zoom lens means it's targeting a different kind of photographer. Likewise, vlogging compacts like Canon's PowerShot V1 and Sony's ZV-1 II are much more focused on pleasing videographers than photographers.

Panasonic L10 Panasonic LX100 II Sony RX100 VII Canon G7X III MSRP $1499 $999 $1499 $879 Sensor 26.5MP BSI CMOS
Up to 183mm² 21.8MP BSI CMOS
Up to 183mm² 20.1MP stacked CMOS
116mm² 20.1MP stacked CMOS
116mm² Lens (equiv. focal range) 24-75mm 24-75mm

24–200mm 24-100mm Aperture range
(full-frame equiv.) F1.7-2.8
(F3.8-6.2) F1.7-2.8
(F3.8-6.2) F2.8-4.5
(F7.6-12.2) F1.8-2.8
(F4.9-7.6) Built-in filter? No No No 3EV ND Burst rate 11fps mech. (AF-S) / 9fps (AF-C)
30fps e-shutter (AF-C) 11fps mech. (AF-S)
5.5fps (AF-C) 10fps mech.
20fps e-shutter 8fps (C-AF)
20fps e-shutter (S-AF) AF Subject Recognition Human
Animal
Car
Motorcycle/Bike
Train
Airplane Face/Eye Face/Eye Face/Eye Pre-Capture? Yes No No No Display 3" 1.84M dot
Fully-articulated 3" 1.24M dot
Fixed 3" 921K dot
Tilting 3" 1.04M dot
Tilting EVF 2.36M dot OLED
0.74x
Fixed 2.76M dot equiv. field sequential
0.7x
Fixed 2.36M dot OLED
0.59x
Pop-up No Built-in flash? No (Hotshoe) No (external included) Yes (pop-up) Yes (pop-up) Battery life EVF / LCD 410 / 420 shots 270 / 340 shots 240 / 260 shots - / 235 shots Video 5.2K/30 Open Gate
4K/120 (full-width)
10-bit 4K/30 (1.34x crop) 4K/30 (1.08x crop) 4K/30 (full-width) 10-bit video Yes, HLG HDR / Log No No No Connectivity USB-C 10Gbps
Wi-Fi 5
Bluetooth 5
Mic jack Micro USB
480Mbps
Wi-Fi 3
Bluetooth 4.2
microHDMI Micro USB 480Mbps
Wi-Fi 3
Bluetooth 4.1
Mic jack USB-C
Wi-Fi 3
Bluetooth 4.2
Mic jack
microHDMI Dimensions 127 x 74 x 67mm
(5.0 x 2.9 x 2.6") 115 x 66 x 64mm
(4.5 x 2.6 x 2.5") 102 x 58 x 43mm
(4.0 x 3.3 x 1.7") 105 x 61 x 41mm
(4.1 x 2.4 x 1.6") Weight 508g (17.9oz) 392g (13.8oz) 302g (10.7oz) 304g (10.7oz)

By virtue of being the newest camera on this list by at least seven years, the L10 has the benefit of many modern features we've come to expect: subject recognition for more than just faces, fast Wi-Fi transfers to a modern app, pre-burst capture, full-width video even at ambitious resolutions and frame rates and more. And while Panasonic typically hasn't matched the autofocus performance of Sony and Canon's latest systems, the systems used by the compacts discussed here are noticeably less advanced.

Body and Handling

The L10 isn't a tiny camera by any means; it's noticeably larger and heavier than its Type-1 competitors, and even the LX100 II, though it's essentially the same size as Fujifilm's ever-popular X100-series. It feels solid, with ample grip and some breathing room for its controls. While the top plate controls aren't the most premium feeling – they're similar to the S9's – they're well-placed for one-handed use.

Controls and customization

The L10 has a wide variety of customizable dials, buttons and switches along almost every surface. While this affords a lot of flexibility to customize the camera how you want – you can easily set it up in a way that lets you largely avoid the main menus while shooting – some of the defaults aren't the most sensible in our view.

As an example, when you're in aperture priority or manual mode, the top plate command dial is set to control aperture... which it won't do unless the dedicated aperture ring is in the 'A' setting. When it's not, turning the wheel does nothing, wasting the camera's single top plate dial. In our view, it'd have made more sense to control exposure compensation by default, at least in aperture priority mode.

Most of what were dedicated controls on the LX100 cameras have become customizable. What was previously a shutter speed dial is now a mode dial, and what was once a marked exposure compensation dial is now a customizable dial with a button in the middle.

Speaking of aperture, though, we appreciate that the ring to control it is clicked, and that it handles the variable aperture in a sensible manner. For example, if you have it set to F1.7, but have the lens at 75mm equiv., it'll set the aperture to F2.8. The aperture setting will stay the same as you rotate it, until you hit F2.8, at which point it'll begin to change.

Behind the aperture ring is a smoothly-rotating, customizable control ring. By default, it's set to control the power zoom (another redundancy; the toggle rocker around the shutter button does that, too), but you can have it control things like exposure compensation, ISO, white balance, AF mode and more.

Switching between the 'A' setting on the lens and the aperture range takes a bit of force – it'd be difficult to accidentally knock it out of your preferred position. Conversely, we found the focus mode switch to be a bit too easy to knock into macro mode.

Finally, there's the four-position sliding switch on the top barrel of the lens. By default, it controls your aspect ratio, and you can customize what the 1, 2 and 3 positions do; the first position hands off control of your selected parameter to the body. If you prefer, you can remap the control to do something else, like switching between three color modes, focal lengths or subject recognition settings.

You can also set any of the physical zoom controls to work continuously, smoothly zooming in through the lens's entire range, or to jump between common preset focal lengths (24, 28, 35, 50, 70 and 75mm equiv.). If you're using the sliding switch for zoom control, you can also set it to take different levels of crop from the 75mm setting for additional reach, though they'll just take you to 75mm equiv if you're shooting Raw. You can also have the camera remember what focal length it was at when you turned it off, and return to it when you start it up again.

EVF and display

The OLED panel in the L10's view finder is bright and high-resolution for a compact. While its eye point is only 20mm, we found it was relatively easy to see, even when wearing glasses. Thankfully, the color tearing of the field-sequential displays that Panasonic used in the LX100 models is no longer an issue.

The rear monitor is fully-articulating, offering nearly unlimited flexibility in what angle you shoot from, though not the quickest deployment if you're just trying to shoot from above or below. Panasonic has created a vertical version of its on-screen UI, so if you're shooting in portrait, the details on the screen will be much easier to read, as they'll be in the correct orientation.

Fully-articulating screens aren't to everyone's taste, but this represents a big increase in flexibility over the LX100 cameras, on which we found the wide-angle lens and fixed screen were an awkward combination. And, while some photographers will inevitably have preferred a flip-up rear panel to keep things discreet, anyone traveling is likely to appreciate the ability to fold the screen in, leaving it protected from scratches when thrown in a bag.

Ports You can have audio input, but you can't monitor due to the lack of a headphone jack.

The L10 doesn't have an immense amount of input and output options. There's a USB-C port for charging and data transfer, which it can do at 10Gbps, and a 3.5mm microphone jack. The camera also has a fully functional hotshoe, which can be used to connect to a flash, digital microphones, and even Panasonic's XLR2 accessory that lets you record four-channel and 32-bit float audio, all but eliminating the risk of clipping.

Battery The SD card slot gets its own dedicated door, rather than having to share one with the battery.

The L10 uses the same 16Wh BLK22 battery found in many of Panasonic's full-frame mirrorless cameras, providing a CIPA-rated 410 shots per charge when using the EVF, and 420 shots when using the display. It's not unusual to get double those ratings in real-world use, so many users may be able to get through even relatively heavy weekends of shooting without having to recharge.

Image Quality

Our test scene is designed to simulate a variety of textures, colors, and detail types you'll encounter in the real world. It also has two illumination modes, full even light and low directional light, to see the effect of different lighting conditions.

Image ComparisonThis widget is not optimized for RSS feed readers. Click here to open it in a new browser window / tab.

Shooting in Raw at its base ISO, the L10 captures a good amount of detail, on par with the Sony and Canon, and slightly more than the LX100 II. Despite using the same amount of sensor area as the LX100 II, it provides an image that can be 1EV cleaner thanks to its ability to gather more light by shooting at ISO 100 instead of 200. Likewise, it produces slightly less noise than its Type-1 peers, thanks to its 66% additional sensor area.

This advantage continues through to higher ISOs, though if you find yourself shooting in the dark often, it's worth considering the noise advantage that APS-C compacts like the Ricoh GR IV or Fujifilm X100VI provide, at the cost of less versatility thanks to their prime lenses. The L10's JPEG engine does a decent job of retaining details while reducing noise, though the older cameras that act as its competition are decent in this regard, too.

Where Panasonic's processing has improved is when it comes to its JPEG colors. Overall, they're pleasing and more punchy, and we've enjoyed them in the pictures we've taken with it outside of the studio. And if you don't enjoy the colors in its built-in modes, it's almost infinitely customizable thanks to the L10's Real Time LUT system, which lets you download new looks from its app, or create your own.

Dynamic Range

The L10 provides plenty of latitude to shoot to preserve highlights, then brighten in post.

Panasonic L10 | 75mm equiv. | F2.8 | 1/500 sec | ISO 100 | Edited to taste in Adobe Camera Raw
Photo: Mitchell Clark

The sensor used in the L10 has been shown to have very good dynamic range in the other cameras we've tested that use it, and we're happy to say the L10 is no exception. While its deepest shadows aren't quite as clean as those of the cameras that use the sensor's entire area, you still have plenty of room to exploit them. There's perhaps not as much difference as we might expect from a camera that can combine high and low gain readout in a 16-bit space, vs the 12-bit, single-read approach from the LX100 II, but you should still find them pretty flexible.

Exposure Latitude | ISO Invariance

Likewise, the sensor has very little read noise, giving you the option to choose an exposure, then lower your ISO to preserve highlights in low light situations, without having to worry about a ton of additional noise showing up in post when you raise the shadows. Shots at ISO 100 pushed 4EV will show a little more noise than shooting at ISO 1600 in the first place, but even by ISO 200 the difference isn't particularly distinguishable.

Lens performance Image ComparisonThis widget is not optimized for RSS feed readers. Click here to open it in a new browser window / tab.

When we reviewed the LX100 II in 2018, we said that camera's 17MP sensor was showing the limits of the lens. With the L10 essentially using the same optics, paired with a higher-resolution sensor, that's even more true today, with noticeable softness in the corners even when stopped down to F4 or 5.6 (though doing so provides noticeable improvement versus faster apertures like F2.8).

The bright, complex, foldable lenses on compacts of all brands are quite susceptible to sample variation. Putting them in the studio scene also pits them against extremely high-quality primes, many of which are larger and heavier than the L10 in its entirety, and holds them to a higher standard than most would expect from their real-world shooting. In the process of shooting our sample gallery, we haven't come across many situations where the L10's lens felt inadequate for what we were trying to capture.

Autofocus

The L10's autofocus can recognize several types of subjects, not just humans.

Panasonic L10 | 30mm equiv. | F2.1 | 1/60 sec | ISO 800

The L10 has several modes for selecting your autofocus point: the fine-grained pinpoint, a resizable single area, area-plus, a customizable zone, horizontal/vertical zone, full area, and tracking.

It doesn't have an autofocus joystick, so positioning your AF point will require using the touchscreen, or setting up the four-way controller to move it around. You can also set the screen (or a portion of it) to act as a touchpad to move it when your eye is up to the viewfinder.

Besides pinpoint, all of those modes can be combined with subject detection, which can be set to recognize several different types of subjects. If there are multiple recognized subjects, the camera draws a box around each of them, highlighting which one is selected, and allowing you to switch to another one. In general, it does a good job of respecting your chosen AF point; it won't jump to a recognized subject unless it's quite close to your selected area, letting you leave it on most of the time.

The L10's tracking mode won't fall back to generic tracking if you have it in subject recognition mode and it doesn't recognize a subject

The one exception is if you're a fan of the track to recompose focus method. Like the S1II-series, the L10's tracking mode won't fall back to generic tracking if you have subject recognition on and doesn't recognize a subject. The AF point will stay in the same place in the frame, instead of trying to stick to whatever you placed it over. This means you'll have to constantly engage and disengage subject recognition mode depending on what you're shooting, which you can do with a custom button or using the lens's sliding switch.

AF performance

As we've come to expect from Panasonic's current autofocus system, the L10 is at its most accurate and snappy when you're using one of its subject recognition modes, which we've found work well in a wide range of scenarios. They occasionally need tuning for best results – choosing the right human detection mode depending on how active your subject is, or manually switching between subject types, as there's no auto mode – but for most uses it's not something you'll have to worry about.

The generic tracking mode works well in proper lighting, but can lose track of subjects in darker settings, or if they're moving erratically. We found, though, that for the types of photography we'd typically use this kind of camera for, the system worked well without requiring too much attention (beyond the mild awkwardness of controlling the selection point).

Video The L10 has a lot of video capabilities, but cuts down on at least some complexity due to its lack of advanced codecs like ProRes and ProRes Raw (which would likely be too much for an SD card to handle).

While the company mainly pitches it as a stills camera, the L10's use of the GH7's sensor means it has an extremely robust set of video features. In its H.265 mode, it can capture 5.2K 4:3 open gate at up to 30p, and full-width 4K at up to 120p. As we'd expect, there are a lot of other options too; 60 in total, with All-I recording modes, 1.89:1 'DCI' aspect ratios and >4K options.

It also incorporates Panasonic's MP4 (Lite), which is designed to produce files that are good enough quality for social media, but that are relatively small and therefore easy to transfer and upload. That codec supports 4:3 open gate at around 4K at 30p, which gives you the flexibility to take both horizontal and vertical crops for different platforms, as well as output-ready UHD 4K and FullHD, but, strangely, only in 60 and 120p.

The L10 mostly continues the tradition of offering every video assist feature

The L10 mostly continues Panasonic's tradition of including almost every video feature under the sun*. It has Log and HLG recording modes, and view assist tools for them, waveform exposure monitoring, multiple customizable frame guides, the Focus Transition tool that lets you do automated, repeatable focus pulls and more. All of its autofocus subject recognition modes are available in video, even when shooting at high frame rates, and you have a lot of control over which settings are or are not shared between your stills and video modes.

This means that it can be used as both a simple point-and-shoot video option for photographers who occasionally want to just capture something in motion without thinking too hard about it, and as a tool for someone serious about getting good video (though its form-factor comes with plenty of inherent limitations, despite its 43mm thread technically allowing you to attach an ND filter).

* There are a few omissions: unlike other Panasonic cameras, it doesn't offer a false color overlay for judging exposure, nor is there the option to use shutter angle instead of shutter speed.

In use The L10 isn't comfortably pocketable, but it's a world away from the size of most mirrorless cameras once you factor in a lens.

Where the L10 really shines is being so easy to bring along if there's any chance at encountering interesting things to photograph, without having to worry about lugging something big and heavy around for no reason. When there are photographs to be taken, it's proven capable at capturing most of what I've asked it to, without demanding I compromise on features and autofocus capabilities I've grown used to from Panasonic's interchangeable lens cameras. And having something like that with me all the time has lead to me feeling more creative in my photography than I have in a while.

There are a few annoyances. Chief among them is the lens, which is ponderous to deploy and zoom. It takes around two seconds to extend when booting the camera up (and to retract when shutting it down), and another few beats to make its way through its range. And while I have no reason to doubt its build quality, it doesn't quite feel as premium as its price tag suggests.

The L10's use of a leaf shutter means you can sync flash at any speed, which can be a lot of fun when paired with a relatively inexpensive Godox iT32.

Panasonic L10 | 24mm equiv. | F1.7 | 1/2000 | ISO 100 | Shot with external flash | Cropped and edited to taste in ACR

By default, the camera only uses its mechanical shutter, which I found frequently left me wishing for an internal ND, as it maxes out at 1/2000 sec. Switching the shutter type to Auto, and allowing it to go faster using the electronic shutter – up to 1/32000 sec – helped in most scenarios, though it introduces the risk of rolling shutter, and won't help if you're trying to shoot video with traditional amounts of motion blur. Any external ND you add will need to be pretty small to avoid putting too much force on the lens.

Conversely, it's lovely to be able to sync flash all the way up to that 1/2000 sec limit, because of its use of a leaf shutter, so there are definitely pros as well as cons.

The rear dial is extremely fiddly, to the point of it being a constant frustration when scrolling through the main menus, often deciding to jump to different pages or levels. This means the best navigation option is directly using the touchscreen; something you can, thankfully, do, but that usually requires two hands.

Where the dial is more annoying is in certain shooting modes. Panasonic has made the odd decision to move away from the dedicated shutter speed and exposure comp dials on the LX100 cameras, which closely mimicked the early Fujifilm X100 models and meant you rarely had to use the fiddly rear face dial. Instead the L10 can, particularly before customization, feel like it's running a different camera's firmware: a camera with front and rear command dials.

While there were plenty of complaints around the original LX100's propensity to gather dust, we've seen fewer about the LX100 II, after Panasonic said it worked to mitigate the issue. Realistically, it's a bit of a concern with most compacts – even more so if you put them in your pocket – and we wouldn't be more concerned about dust or weather resistance with the L10 than with, say, a GR IV or X100 VI (though the latter camera gives you the option of screwing on an adapter and filter for additional sealing if it starts to rain).

Conclusion

by Mitchell Clark

Things we liked Things to consider

• Very good image quality and DR
• Autofocus is usually accurate and easy to use
• Ambitious zoom lens is versatile
• EVF is a pleasure to use
• Extensive battery life
• Modern connectivity and app experience
• Some good color modes, and near-infinite customizability with LUTs
• Wide range of usable video modes
• Flip-out screen can be folded in to protect screen

• Controls won't match everyone's tastes
• No dedicated autofocus control
• Not particularly pocketable
• Lens can be sluggish to zoom
• Feel doesn't consistently match premium price
• Lack of a headphone jack and IBIS limits video capabilities
• Flip-out screen won't be to everyone's taste
• A fraction more reach on the zoom would significantly expand capabilities
• Possibly prone to switching on in bags

The L10 is, essentially, the camera we asked Panasonic for in our LX100 II review. If you look at our list of cons for that camera, almost all of them have been addressed. Add to that the other improvements – its battery has gone from good to great, and it has a majority of the company's latest and greatest features – and it feels like it should be an instant classic. After a string of great prime lens compacts, the people who want the versatility of a zoom finally have something to be excited about.

It gets close to that exciting potential. You can set the controls up to provide an engaging shooting experience, and its sensor and relatively ambitious lens provide image quality that's a step above what you can get from a camera with a Type 1 sensor or a phone (especially when you're comparing its telephoto performance with the latter). Its autofocus is among the most capable and responsive we've seen on a compact, and that, paired with blistering burst rates and precapture, means it can adapt to a wider range of moving subjects than the LX100 II.

I suspect the L10 produces better photos than my iPhone 15 Pro. I know it's more fun to use.

Panasonic L10 @ 33mm equiv. | F2.8 | 1/125 sec | ISO 125

Despite its clear focus on enthusiast photographers, it offers a lot to people looking for a capable and portable video camera, or beginners looking to upgrade from shooting on a phone, too. It may not be the perfect option for either camp – the lack of a headphone jack and IBIS limit its video ambitions, and the price may be a bit steep for someone looking for their first camera – but it's certainly a workable one, and it offers people just beginning their photography journey a lot of room to grow while still being approachable.

Richard's take

"There’s a lot to like about the L10, even though every change made to its controls feels like a step backward, to me. It still isn't quite the X100-with-a-zoom that it wants to be, possibly as a result of the distancing effect of the zoom lag or because the image quality doesn’t ‘Wow’ in the way the X100’s can. But the larger battery, protected screen and added responsiveness make it a cracking travel camera and I really like it." – Richard Butler

But despite all of that praise, the L10 isn't quite the unalloyed success that it seemed at first glance. While the new battery brings with it a lot of benefit, and there's not a centimeter of wasted space on or in it, the fact of the matter is that you used to be able to get this lens in a substantially smaller package (though with a slightly less impressive sensor, and much less advanced autofocus). And while the buttons now have room to breathe, that benefit is offset by its somewhat clumsy new control scheme and stuffed menus that feel grafted on from another camera, rather than custom-made to match the experience this camera wants to provide.

We appreciate the lens's fast aperture, but the actual experience is better described as sluggish. There just enough lag from when you push the zoom rocker and when it actually starts zooming to be annoying, and it's not in any hurry to make it through its range.

Despite those complaints, we've always said that a Gold isn't meant to say that camera is perfect. It indicates that if you're shopping for this kind of camera, the model in question should be at the top of your list. And the L10 should be. Not just because it's the first truly new enthusiast zoom compact we've seen in nearly a decade, but because it actually delivers the benefits of modern sensor and processing tech in a body that can provide an engaging shooting experience.

Scoring

Scoring is relative only to the other cameras in the same category. Click here to learn about what these numbers mean.

Panasonic Lumix DC-L10Category: Enthusiast Large Sensor Compact CameraBuild qualityErgonomics & handlingFeaturesMetering & focus accuracyImage quality (raw)Image quality (jpeg)Low light / high ISO performanceViewfinder / screen ratingOpticsPerformanceMovie / video modeConnectivityValuePoorExcellentConclusionThe Panasonic L10 offers an engaging shooting experience for enthusiasts, with a relatively versatile and ambitious lens.Good forEnthusiasts looking for a small everyday carry or travel camera Photographers looking to dabble in videoNot so good forThose who want lots of reach Anyone who needs the most compact option85%Overall scoreRegularScoreCompareWidget({"mainElementId":"scoringWidget","mainProduct":"panasonic_dcl10","scoringSchema":{"id":"SLRs","variables":[{"id":"BuildQuality"},{"id":"ErgonomicsAndHandling"},{"id":"Features"},{"id":"MeteringAndFocusAccuracy"},{"id":"QualityRaw"},{"id":"QualityJpeg"},{"id":"LowLightHighISO"},{"id":"ViewfinderScreenRating"},{"id":"Optics"},{"id":"Performance"},{"id":"Movie"},{"id":"Connectivity"},{"id":"Value"}],"categories":[{"id":"EntryLevel","label":"Entry Level Interchangeable Lens Camera / DSLR","shortLabel":"Entry Level"},{"id":"MidRange","label":"Mid Range Interchangeable Lens Camera / DSLR","shortLabel":"Mid Level"},{"id":"EntryLevelFullFrame","label":"Entry Level Full Frame Camera","shortLabel":"Entry Level Full Frame"},{"id":"MidRangeFullFrame","label":"Mid Range Full Frame Camera","shortLabel":"Mid Range Full Frame"},{"id":"SemiProfessional","label":"Semi-professional Interchangeable Lens Camera / DSLR","shortLabel":"Semi-professional"},{"id":"SemiProfessionalFullFrame","label":"Semi-professional Full Frame Camera","shortLabel":"Semi-professional Full Frame"},{"id":"Professional","label":" Professional Interchangeable Lens Camera / DSLR","shortLabel":"Professional"},{"id":"LargeSensorCompactEntry","label":"Entry Level Large Sensor Compact Camera","shortLabel":"Entry Level Large Sensor Compact"},{"id":"LargeSensorCompactEnthusiast","label":"Enthusiast Large Sensor Compact Camera","shortLabel":"Enthusiast Large Sensor Compact"},{"id":"VideoCamera","label":"Video Camera","shortLabel":"Video Camera"}]},"helpText":"Choose one or more cameras from the drop-down menu, then roll your mouse over the names to see how their scores compare to the camera on review."}) Compared to its peers

Compared to the Panasonic LX100 II (and its updated and more pedigreed sibling, the Leica D-Lux 8), the L10 is noticeably larger, no longer comfortably fitting in a jacket pocket. However, for the reduction in portability, you get better battery life, a much nicer viewfinder, and modern autofocus and connectivity. Its controls and interface aren't as refined as those of its predecessor or the Leica, but it's also capable of capturing a broader range of subjects and scenarios.

We find the L10 more engaging to shoot with than the Sony Cyber-Shot RX100 series, and appreciate its lens' speed (even if we wouldn't mind having at least a bit of the extra reach provided by Sony's most recent VII models). The L10's modern USB-C port and compatibility with Panasonic's most recent app are also big conveniences over the Sony as well. The cameras are relatively equally matched when it comes to autofocus performance, but the L10's inclusion of more extensive subject recognition will make it easier to capture certain kinds of subjects.

The Canon PowerShot G7X III suffers from being perpetually out of stock, but matches many of the L10's modern conveniences, while offering that bit extra reach at the cost of a bit of image quality. We find the L10 a bit more engaging to shoot with, perhaps because of its EVF, and despite the G7X III's focus on content creators, it doesn't come close to matching the L10's video capabilities.

Sample Gallery

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