Gadgets and Gizmos

Panasonic Lumix DMC-L10 Camera

Panasonic has made a start with their first digital SLR camera. The L1 was mainly meant to gain some skill in this class and to establish a name as DSLR supplier.

No high making figures were expected and the L1 found itself in the top segment straight away. The wilful camera gained both honor and criticism at the same time and Panasonic’s serious attempt with a DSLR was obvious. Great potency showed from the start.

The 10-megapixel DMC-L10 is a great camera for someone upgrading to a DSLR from a compact camera for the first time (and for whom money is no object). As the DP Review folks put it “…the L10 has perhaps the most compact-like operation and user interface of any SLR to date (and if you were being cruel, the most compact-like JPEG image quality too).”

The user interface is much like Panasonic’s popular mega zoom model, the Lumix DMC-FZ50, which is one of my top picks for this holiday season. But the main reason it shoots like a compact camera is that unlike most DSLRs , it offers a live-view mode which means you can frame, auto focus, and shoot using the 2.5-inch LCD.

The LCD flips out and swivels for maximum framing flexibility and in live-view mode the contrast detection auto focus system has nine focusing points. The L10 also offers face detection for up to 15 faces in a scene–a first for a DSLR–but it only works in live view mode with the LCD, not when you use the optical viewfinder.

To take full advantage of the live-view mode, you have to be using the image stabilized Leica 14-50mm f/3.8-f/5.6 D Vario Elmar kit lens that comes with the camera.

Overall the Panasonic Lumix L10 processes all data through a Venus Engine III processor just like its bigger brother. The so-called film mode lets the user adjust it taste.

Just as in a film, you will get differences in contrast, color range and gradation. And the image sensor obviously carries the Supersonic Wave Filter for dust reduction. The DMC-L10 ships with a Leica D Vario-Elmar 14-50mm/F3.8-5.6/Mega O.I.S. lens.