Why I am not buying a Lumix L10 or Sony RX10-5 in 2026

 

I made this photo in dim light at ISO 12800 with a Canon EOS R10 and 18-45mm kit lens. Adobe Camera Raw cleaned up the noise with no problems. All the photos included with this post were made on the same day with the same camera and lens, all in low light at high ISO settings, and all made quickly, hand held while walking around the city.

My favourite cameras for many years have been fixed zoom lens compacts and bridge cams. I really don’t like changing lenses on the go.

So I was pleased to see camera makers return to both fixed lens types in 2026 in the shape of the new L10 compact from Pana-Lumix and the RX10-5 bridge cam from Sony.   

But I think it unlikely that I will be buying either camera. The reasons have to do with the products themselves and the competition which they face in the consumer camera market in 2026.

Let’s start with the Lumix L10. 

Just by the way, Panasonic Lumix produced a digital single lens reflex camera called L10 back in 2007. This had a four thirds type sensor but in every other respect was an entirely different type of device to the 2026 “new” L10 fixed lens compact model discussed in this post. I have no idea why Lumix  re-used the L10 name and as far as I am aware no explanation has been offered.

The original precursor of the 2026 L10 is the Pana-Lumix LX100 of 2014. This camera has a four thirds type sensor measuring 17.3 x 13mm, diagonal 21.6mm, with a nominal 16 Mpx. It uses a cropped multi aspect ratio system giving 13 effective Mpx at 4:3 aspect ratio. The angle of view remains the same at aspect ratios of 3:2 and 16:9. 

The Leica designed lens is a 10.9-34mm f1.7-2.8 giving a full frame equivalent 24-75mm focal length range.

The Leica D-Lux 7 of 2018, Pana-Lumix LX100-2 of 2018 and Leica D-Lux 8 of 2024 are all essentially the same camera which is basically the LX100 with a nominal 20 Mpx sensor giving an effective 17 Mpx at 4:3 aspect ratio.

Over the years I bought, owned and used each of these four camera models extensively for a wide range of photographic subjects. 

These little cameras promised much and received favourable early reviews but in my long term use presented several intractable problems which caused me to part company with each in turn. 

These were:

* Unreliable contrast detect autofocus especially in low light and when faced with specular highlights.

* Inconsistent and variable lens softness. Each of these cameras and also the new L10 uses the same lens. I found that each copy I had produced a different set of problems. I encountered decentering, soft corners at some focal lengths and softness in parts of the frame at some focal lengths and apertures. Some of my photos were really sharp, others inexplicably soft in some part of the frame.

* The EVF has no soft eyecup. In bright light I often found myself squinting and struggling to see the image preview clearly due to ambient light entering between my eye and the viewfinder. 

* Dust on the sensor.

* I am not a fan of the ergonomics and handling of these cameras. Some users say they are and that is fine. But I find the controls cramped and fiddly and the grip less than secure.

Initial reports about the Lumix L10 were from people who were recipients of a free L10 special edition titanium gold version. I suggest that all these are best considered part of Lumix’ marketing and product promotion strategy and can therefore be disregarded at least as to proclamations about the capability and image quality of the device.

More recently questions have emerged from actual buyers and unbiassed testers of the L10 about the sharpness and characteristics of the lens. Digital Photography Review (DPR) reported decentering and strong focal plane curvature in two copies of the camera.  

In  their review of the Leica D-Lux 8 which uses the same lens DPR said “the lens never seems especially sharp.”

Given this is the same lens used on all five iterations of the lens-sensor combination, I think we can understand that I have little confidence they can iron out the bugs this time around.

The next issue is that I regard the basic concept of the camera as obsolete.  This is the crop sensor, multi-aspect ratio system with wide aperture zoom lens. It was of debatable benefit in 2014 but now in 2026 with post capture processing able to remove noise from any image, the value of the wide aperture lens is vanishingly small. A less complicated, more productive approach would be to design a lens to cover the whole of the four thirds sensor and get the full benefit of the 25Mpx on every exposure.  The lens would be something like f2.8-4 which is absolutely fine. It would be less complex and less expensive and less difficult to make than the f1.7-2.8 optic in the present camera. As such it could be expected to have fewer problems with sample variation and focal plane curvature.

My next reservation is not so much about the L10 itself but how it compares to alternatives available in 2026 which did not exist in 2014.

The Lumix LX100/Leica D-Lux cameras were really small. The new L10 is significantly larger. This places it in more direct competition with smaller APSC models.

The rise and rise of mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras (MILC) has given us many compact, versatile, high performance alternatives to the L10 from which to choose. 

Some of these are a bit larger or more expensive than the L10 but others are less expensive and more compact.

We have the Micro Four Thirds Lumix G100D with 12-32mm kit zoom and OM 5-2 with kit zoom.

Many APSC models with kit zoom are very compact and capable. These include the Sony a6400and a6700, Canon EOS R10 and R50 and Nikon Z50 variants.

Some full frame models such as the Sony A7C series with the FE 28-60mm kit zoom are not much larger than the L10 when that is fitted with the accessory grip.

Some YouTubers have said they like the styling of the L10 and would buy it for that reason and that is fine. But for less romantic camera users who are not so concerned about appearances, there are many alternatives several of which have a proven track record of quality and reliability which makes them very appealing.

The new Sony RX10-5 finds itself in 2026 in a similar situation to the Lumix L10. I have no doubt it is a very good camera which might have sold by the boatload if it had been brought to market several years ago.

I bought an RX10-4 when it became available in 2017 and used it extensively for several years in many different photographic situations. It was at the time probably the most capable all purpose camera ever made with excellent image quality combined with remarkable continuous autofocus and overall performance.

The user experience was let down by convoluted old-style Sony menus and an idiosyncratic control layout unlike any other Sony camera. 

With the RX10-5 it appears these problems have been rectified and the camera further improved with upgraded autofocus and performance. 

So why am I not rushing out to buy one ?

The answer is an evaluation of what kinds of photos I usually make and what focal lengths are most appropriate for them. 

Here is the thing: For about 90% of my photography a zoom range of about 25-200mm (full frame equivalent) is all I need. This is covered very nicely by an APSC MILC body with a general purpose zoom. I use the Canon EOS R7 with the RF-S 18-150mm lens. This is a very capable kit which provides an agreeable user experience and delivers excellent results. It is smaller and considerably less expensive than the RX10-5 while providing a larger sensor with more pixels on the subject.

When I do want to go long,  which is mostly for birds, 600mm is usually not long enough. 

So for my requirements, the RX10-5 formula does not provide me with the image quality I want for most of my photographs which are taken at the wide and mid-zoom focal lengths and lacks the reach I want when photographing birds.

For birds I want around 800mm full frame equivalent or more. For this I use the Canon RF100-500mm L zoom on the R7, providing an effective focal length of 800mm full frame equivalent. The RF 200-800mm is a less expensive alternative with even more reach, giving 800 x 1.6 = 1280mm on the R7. 

An even more affordable and compact alternative can be found in the Lumix FZ80D or the now-discontinued Canon Powershot SX70HS or the also discontinued Lumix FZ300. Each of these models uses the tiny 7.67mm diagonal sensor and old-style contrast detect autofocus. These models are compact and affordable but offer image quality, performance, autofocus and overall capability a long way behind that delivered by either the RX10-4 or RX10-5.

So, I have little doubt that the Sony RX10-5 will prove to be the most capable bridge camera ever produced and that buyers will report themselves very pleased with its high level of capability. 

But this time around, I pass. Five or six years ago I might have been at the front of the pre-order queue, but not in 2026.