My LX100 and why the new Panasonic L10 doesn’t appeal

I’m not usually interested in commenting on new camera releases, but the new Panasonic L10 has inspired some thoughts as I walked the dog in the woods this morning. I always take a camera with me, and today I took my decade-and-a-bit old LX100 with me to remind me why I don’t need to upgrade.

I’ve been waiting for Panasonic to release a new version of the LX100 pretty much since I bought it. It’s nearly the perfect compact digital camera as far as I’m concerned – it just lacks the small advantages an articulated screen brings to the table. My camera is the original LX100 released in 2014, but the LX100 MK2 doesn’t have an articulated screen either, and nor do any of the Panasonic-derived Leica branded alternatives. What the Leica alternatives – specifically the D-LUX 8 – do have is the nicer user interface – I was nearly sold on that alone whole camera when it came out – but ultimately I stuck with my old LX100.

Now the L10 has arrived and it does have an articulated screen, so surely I’m in the market…? Well, unfortunately for me (or possibly fortunately since I can’t really afford one anyway), Panasonic have changed one specific thing that means it doesn’t appeal as much as it might, even with the inclusion of a screen.

The major deal-breaker for me is the switch to a PSAM dial from a shutter speed dial. The implementation of mode selection on the LX100 – as with a lot of Fuji cameras – is perfect to me. More perfect even than on my precious Nikon Zf which is almost clunky by comparison. On the LX100, you select A on both dials for full auto. A on the shutter dial and an aperture on the lens for aperture priority. A on the lens and a shutter speed on the shutter dial for shutter priority. A shutter speed on the shutter dial and an aperture on the lens for full manual. This is, by far, the most logical and visually easy to read/understand user interface a camera can have – in my opinion, obviously. The deviation from this in the L10 unfortunately undermines the inclusion of an articulated screen for me. I’m also a little put off by a few of the extra buttons and switches – specifically the LUT button which is of zero interest to me.

I should say though, this isn’t supposed to be one of those posts where I angrily talk about how Panasonic haven’t made the camera that perfectly fits my exact needs – if you want to read from those types, the LX100 facebook group is a good place to start. It is true though, they haven’t made my perfect compact digital camera, but I’m totally sanguine about the fact. Aside from anything else, I can’t afford one anyway, so it would probably be more frustrating if they had made succeeded in my eyes. I also think it looks like it’s going to be a really bloody good camera. The extremely useful lens with its nice bright aperture and its 24-75mm range is still a feature. It still has the nice and big, but not too big 4/3rds sensor which provides an ideal balance of quality and compact size for a camera of this type. I’m sure the viewfinder and screen will both be better than those on my old LX100. It also sounds like it’s got some fancy modern AF capabilities too. And with the articulated screen, it’s going to be a very useful and very capable little camera that will definitely appeal to and make a lot of people very happy, I am absolutely certain of that.

Not me though. For how much and for what I use my old LX100, I am totally happy with it. It goes pretty much everywhere in my work bag with me – it’s really handy and perfectly good enough for when I get a little job sprung on me by a client.

I also find it perfect for my hobby for what I need it for too. To kick off, I use it to take photos of other cameras and for other content for the this website.

And above all of that, it’s also my default carry-everywhere camera when I don’t want to take something else. It’s the camera that goes in my pocket or shoulder bag when I know I’m going to want a camera, but there’s just nothing else in the cabinet that I can be bothered to take with me. That might sound like a backhanded compliment to it, but actually, in those moments when I really want to take a camera but don’t really want to think, the LX100 feels like the perfect crutch!

In all these situations, aside from when I want to shoot something from a low or high angle, it’s never let me down… and really, even that is just a minor inconvenience, I can still manage.

At least until my LX100 dies, at which point I might reconsider this position, I’m sticking to it rather than being tempted by the new Panasonic L10. The new camera just isn’t quite perfect enough for me to tempt me, however brilliant I expect it is likely to be!

What really will cause me issues though is if Leica bring out a Leica D-LUX 9 that has their incredible user interface, this new articulated screen, less additional superfluous to me buttons and a shutter speed dial… that really would be the perfect compact digital camera of for me!

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