Shadowing Practice: Fujifilm Should Be VERY Worried - Learn English Speaking with Video

This might just be the closest thing we've seen to a genuine Fujifilm X106 competitor in years, and honestly, as a self-confessed Fujifilm fan,

I did not expect that sentence to leave my mouth in 2026.

This is the brand new Lumix L10, Panasonic's new fixed-lens camera that's been released to celebrate the company's 25-year anniversary making digital cameras,

and designed to take a chunk out of Fujifilm's dominance over the premium everyday carry market.

And yes, Just before you go flooding the comments, I am aware that that makes me over a decade older than their camera division, and no, in no way did that make me spiral into an existential crisis.

In fact, I think I handled the situation pretty well.

Tom, what are you doing?

Don't be stupid, Tom.

You have the camera still in your hand.

It's a perfectly good camera.

Okay, good luck.

Anyway, after spending several days shooting with this thing around Osaka, Japan, I can confidently say

that this is not just Panasonic throwing random specs into a metal rectangle and hoping hipsters will lose their minds over it.

This is very obviously a camera built by people who understand

why photographers fell in love with cameras like the Fujifilm X106 in the first place, but the question is, have they done enough to finally tempt people away from Fuji?

Well, before we dive down that rabbit hole, I first need to make a short disclaimer, mainly because apparently some people online have decided

that being invited to a launch event these days is the same as being shipped to Guantanamo Bay

and automatically that means your free will has been confiscated at the airport.

So yes Panasonic did fly me over to Japan for this launch event and they covered the cost for things like flights, accommodation and some of my food whilst I was there.

However and this is the important bit there was and never has been any contract involved between myself and Panasonic.

I'm not being paid to make this video.

Panasonic have zero input on what I say and they certainly haven't reviewed this video before it went live.

In fact, I was explicitly told by multiple different people on the trip

that I'm absolutely not obligated to make any content about this camera if I really don't want to.

But of course, I do because it's actually really good, as you'll see once I stop ranting.

The only thing I did sign was a standard NDA, which prevents me from leaking information before the official announcement, which is completely normal for literally every major camera launch or tech event ever.

Now, the reason why I have to state all of this is

that I've already seen some people online claiming

that anyone who's invited on this trip cannot be trusted

because they aren't allowed to say anything negative about this camera

which just to be clear is complete

and utter bollocks in fact that's an outright intentional lie quite frankly

if somebody who hasn't even touched the camera with their own hands is trying to convince you

that every reviewer who has actually tried the camera out is

lying to you maybe just ask yourself why are they so desperate for you to distrust everyone else in the room.

It's almost as if they're trying to manipulate you in some way into believing

that what they say is the only thing to believe just to increase their own clout.

Weird that.

Anyway, enough of all of that.

Let's now actually talk about the camera because what exactly is the Lumix L10 anyway?

Well, simply put, it's what happens when an S9 and an LX100 meet at a bar one night, have one too many pina coladas, and then stumble home to have a round of unprotected consensual lovemaking.

Nine months later, a little L10 is born.

Ah, at least that's the footage they forced us to watch during the launch presentation.

Anyway, essentially, this is just an S9 chassis that's had two of the biggest missing features from that camera added on, namely an EVF and a working hot shoe port,

but they've also ripped out the full frame sensor

and replaced it with the same style of lens and sensor format as the LX100.

But unlike the LX100, which is actually a compact camera

that was actually well compact this thing is well a bit of a lump

because whilst Panasonic's marketing team might suggest

that this is a compact camera it's the same size as the S9

and the last time I checked the S9 wasn't exactly disappearing

into anyone's skinny jeans without them looking like they were smuggling a toaster

so this is much more of a dangle around your neck all day type of deal.

Luckily though for my trip I did remember to bring along my handy dandy PGY Tech camera strap

so I was pretty much covered.

Now just to be abundantly clear PGY Tech aren't sponsoring this video

and they haven't paid me to say anything about this product i just genuinely rate their stuff

and this strap is not only super affordable priced at around 40

but it also has this awesome strap plug design

that not only rotates around 360 degrees so

that your strap never gets twisted

but it can also clip entirely allowing you to either swap it out for a wrist strap

or just you know remove it entirely as always i'll leave

a link in the pinned comment below as to where you can buy this at the lowest price

if you are interested

but anyway size aside I do think this camera is actually a pretty big shift for Lumix

because the company's last few releases have largely been aimed at video shooters predominantly.

Well, this is where this one is different.

As I've already hinted, under the hood, this thing is built around a micro four-third sensor, which I know is guaranteed to trigger the crop factor cucks

in the comments section who measure their self-worth in millimeters of a sensor diagonal, but just try and ignore them for a second and hear me out, please.

Yes, micro four-thirds is smaller than APS-C, we all know that, But these days, a smaller sensor does not suddenly mean that image quality is bad.

10 to 15 years ago, sure, the sensor size made a lot more of a difference, but this is 2026 and technology has come on significantly since then.

And more importantly, the smaller sensor actually allows Panasonic to do something really important here.

It allows them to keep the lens relatively compact while still offering a useful zoom range.

Because unlike the X106, which locks you into a fixed focal length,

this L10 gives you a built-in zoom lens equivalent to roughly a 24 to 75mm in full frame terms.

Once you pair

that with a fast variable maximum aperture of f1.7 to f2.8

you've all of a sudden got a pretty versatile piece of glass that's ideal for things like travel and street photography.

Now that's not to say that this is a totally perfect setup.

In fact my biggest gripe about the zoom is

that it does feel incredibly slow to zoom in and out

and without any kind of manual zoom override or anything like

that you are kind of stuck waiting for it to punch in and out like a pensioner operating a handycam.

But I guess that's a compromise you have to accept in favor of versatility.

And then there's the built-in color modes.

This feature is what put Fujifilm on the radar for most travel and street photographers, as it gave them the ability to choose from,

customize, and shoot with a range of sexy-looking film-inspired JPEGs in camera.

That means instantly grammable photos without hours of editing

and a never-ending Adobe subscription that feels a bit like having a second mortgage these days.

Well, this camera can do that Two, it comes preloaded with a handful of new filmic looks, including L Classic, L Classic Neo, and my personal favourite, L Classic Gold,

which has clearly been modelled on Kodak Gold film stock.

Oh, and they even added a very nice Leica monochrome mode, which gives you a classy high contrast mono finish, which I am personally a big fan of.

Now, much like Fujifilm film simulation modes, these can all be tinkered with in camera to suit your own taste.

But honestly, if you crave the ultimate creative control, then you'll be pleased to hear that this also includes real-time LUTs,

which honestly could be one of the smartest things that Panasonic has added to a camera in years.

Now, if you haven't heard of this feature before, essentially it allows you to upload your own custom LUTs directly into the camera

and bake them into both your photos and your videos, meaning that rather than being locked into whatever presets are pre-installed onto the camera,

you now have total freedom to make your own looks that perfectly reflect your own shooting style.

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And for the type of person this camera is aimed at people who want photography to feel fast creative

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and frictionless well I think that's genuinely a massive deal.

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Now if you're sitting there thinking that this all sounds a bit too technical and complicated

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and you wouldn't have the first clue as to how you

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would go about making your own LUTs then they've kind of got you covered there too

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because alongside this camera launch Lumix also announced

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that they were updating their Lumix Lab app which is totally free to download and use.

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This app now includes a feature called Magic LUTs.

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This allows you to use AI to automatically analyze the colors, tones, and mood of any reference photo in your camera roll and instantly convert it into a custom LUT,

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which you can then use in camera.

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This completely shortcuts the somewhat laborious process of making LUTs from scratch,

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because if you already happen to own a bunch of high quality and very nice looking Lightroom presets,

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I don't know, that you perhaps purchased for just a few bucks from a website called tomcalton.com, and you even managed to save a bunch of money in

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the process by using the discount code in the in comment below.

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Well, all you need to do now is take one of your previously edited photos, let the magic LUT do its thing, and hey presto, now you're shooting with your favourite Lightroom colour grades in camera.

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But anyway, as exciting as all of that might sound, let's be honest, none of that really matters if the camera isn't very nice to shoot with.

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So what's the handling actually like?

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Well, I've been shooting with this religiously for a week straight, and honestly, it's pretty bloody good.

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As I've mentioned, it's pretty much the same layout as the S9, so if you're familiar with that camera you'll instantly feel right at home.

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There are two command dials one on the back and one on the top plate here.

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Sadly we've still only got that flimsy d-pad surround style dial on the back here

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but I will say that they have seemed to have thickened up the plastic a little more

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which definitely helps to make it feel way more durable.

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On the top there's a proper mode dial, there's a zoom rocker switch around the shutter button

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and a dedicated record button for video mode but more on the video specs in just a moment.

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Now sadly there isn't a dedicated exposure compensation dial

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which is personally something i would have liked to have seen

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but at least there is a shortcut button right next to this command dial

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which is a perfectly good compromise in my opinion on the

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back you've got a 2.36 million dot evf a 3 inch 1.84 million dot fully articulating screen the same one

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that was found on the s9

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and also a handy little switch for toggling between photo video

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and s and q modes which is something that I didn't realise I missed on my S9 until, well, now, which has kind of tainted the experience for me, but never mind.

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The autofocus situation also feels like a pretty massive leap forward for Lumix, which is honestly an area where they still come unstuck from time to time.

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Now, to be clear, this isn't some kind of Sony witchcraft where the camera can

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track a fly scrotum from 30 metres away whilst it's doing barrel rolls through the air, but compared to older Lumix autofocus systems, this is night and day better.

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It's proper phase detect autofocus with face and eye tracking that works reliably.

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It also has a selection of subject detection modes, which to be honest, I never really used, mainly because I just had this parked in single point AF mode

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and then used the touch screen on the back to move the active AF points around, and never once did I find myself fighting with the camera while shooting so why change it.

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Now one other small thing that I really appreciate is

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that the camera also uses the same kind of batteries as all of my other Lumix mirrorless cameras.

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Now I appreciate that might sound about as exciting as watching a Taylor Swift documentary

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but if you already shoot with Lumix gear then this is genuinely a massive convenience

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because it means

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that you're not suddenly buying into a whole another weird battery

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ecosystem specifically designed to drain your wallet faster than your wife and kids can.

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One other thing that was a little bit unexpected to see was the fact

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that they've now split out the SD card slot

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so it has its own little cubby hole up here rather

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than being in the battery compartment like on most other mirrorless cameras.

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Now I suspect that this has been done due to space limitations inside the camera

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or something like that rather than being a deliberate choice

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but regardless I actually prefer this layout a lot more

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because now you no longer run the risk of accidentally catapulting

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your SD card halfway across the room every time you want to replace the battery.

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And admit it, it's happened to all of us at least once.

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But that's not to say that this camera is completely faultless in execution.

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The main thing I was actually a little bit underwhelmed by when I was first handed this camera was the build quality.

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Now, just to be abundantly clear, I don't think the build quality is bad, but compared to something like the Fujifilm X106,

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which feels like it was carved from the melted down remains of a luxury Swiss wristwatch, The L10 definitely feels a bit more, well, appliance-like.

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The top plate, despite being made from metal, still somehow feels slightly plasticky, and the faux leather finish on the front is really just rubber pretending to be leather in the same way

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that gas station sushi pretends to be food.

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Weirdly though, the lens itself is on a whole different level.

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This thing feels as solid as a rock

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and has a bunch of lovely tactile controls that are clicky and super pleasing to use.

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Aside from the obligatory aperture ring, there's also a fly-by-wire zoom ring, an MF to AF switch, and this switch on top that lets you quickly toggle between a choice of aspect ratios,

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if that's your kind of thing.

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It also benefits from a fancy leaf shutter inside that can operate at speeds of up to 1 2000th of a second, which is obviously really helpful for things like high speed flash sync.

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Oh, and if you are wondering about this weird retro inspired lens cap design, well, this is an optional extra that's included in the box if you purchase this limited edition titanium gold version.

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But if this is giving you, well, gold member vibes, I love gold! then you can also purchase it in black

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or silver and black too though these options will have the lumix logo scrawled on the front

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which personally i really do wish they'd stuck to keeping it

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off the front like they've done on this limited edition version

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because i just think it looks way more clean and timeless

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but what do you think either way i'll be sure to

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pin a link below as to where you can get this gold version

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if you're interested because it's only going to be available in limited quantities

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and you won't be able to get it everywhere

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but anyway back to this lens cap design

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and you can actually remove this entirely in favor of using a standard lens cap if you prefer.

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Personally I kind of like this design in some ways but I also kind of hate it.

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I mean once it's on and the lens is on it does look pretty ugly

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but as somebody who routinely misplaces lens caps this design I can tell you is an absolute godsend.

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Anyway enough about how the camera feels because at the end of the day

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if the photos coming out of it look like they were

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taken on a Nintendo DS during a house fire then none of that really matters.

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Thankfully the image quality is actually genuinely excellent.

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Now, whilst this camera does technically use a 26.5 backside illuminated micro four-third sensor, the stillshoot capture will roughly be around 20 megapixels effective,

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depending on the aspect ratio you use because the lens image circle doesn't use the full sensor, unfortunately.

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But either way, that's still plenty of resolution to play around with.

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And when paired with the Leica glass on the front, the photos are sharp, detailed, with lovely colours and solid dynamic range.

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Across most of the zoom range, it stays impressively sharp and even when zoomed in all the way, the image quality still holds together much better than I was honestly expecting it to.

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And I think that zoom range really is one of this camera's biggest strengths.

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One minute, you're shooting a wide establishing shot of some tiny Osaka alleyway full of glowing neon lights and a suspicious smell.

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The next, you're zooming in to isolate a tiny detail without having to physically climb into somebody's personal space like an overly affectionate Labrador.

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Now, obviously, being micro four thirds, you're not gonna get the same super shallow depth of field you'd see from something like a full frame Leica

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or even the X106 at close distances.

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But honestly, for day-to-day street and travel photography, I really don't think that matters as much as the internet likes to pretend it does.

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In fact, having slightly more depth of field can actually be beneficial for this kind of shooting because it makes getting sharp, usable images way easier when shooting wide open,

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especially when you're reacting quickly to moments happening around you.

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Now, there is also a macro mode built into the lens that I should probably mention, though this is arguably an area where I found things a little less impressive.

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Not because it's unusual or anything like that but

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because you can only focus up close

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when using the wider end of the zoom range which ultimately means

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that the perspective can end up looking a little bit distorted.

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Now whilst this camera is very clearly designed as a photography

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first camera it would also be impossible not to at least briefly mention the video specs

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because honestly they're a little bit unhinged and the reason for

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that is pretty simple really this thing is is essentially using the same sensor as the GH7, which if you don't already know, is Panasonic's flagship micro four thirds hybrid video camera.

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So naturally, a lot of those video capabilities have trickled down into this thing too.

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Meaning this tiny travel camera can shoot things like 5.6k video

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and 4k 10 bit up to 120 frames per second with V-Log.

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It even offers ProRes raw capture via an external recorder which is a little bit absurd for a camera like this.

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The problem though is that I think these specs are also slightly misleading

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if you don't properly understand what this camera is actually for.

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Because despite it having all of these high-end video modes, Panasonic repeatedly stressed during the trip that this is not intended to be used as a GH7 replacement.

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There's no active cooling system here, no internal fan, and no crazy thermal management wizardry.

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And whilst admittedly, I haven't extensively tested the overheating capabilities of this camera because, you know, I'd rather pull out my own teeth using my toes than do that all day.

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It has been suggested by others on the trip that

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if your plan is to buy this thing

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and immediately start shooting hour-long 5.6k vlogs whilst running around in the middle of summer sweating like a priest in a playground,

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then there's a very good chance this thing is going to turn into a fire hazard.

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Now, bearing in mind everything that we've just discussed, we finally get to the big question that I'm sure everyone is wondering.

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Is this actually a Fujifilm x106 killer well honestly no here's

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why firstly it's just not quite on the same level as

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fujifilm not in terms of build quality not in terms of the tactile feel

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or timeless retro aesthetic and not entirely in terms of features either now don't misunderstand me here

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because there is a lot to love about this camera

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and in several areas it actually goes way beyond what fuji currently offers

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but there are also a few pretty big emissions here

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that stop this from being the slam dunk panasonic probably hoped

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it would be the first one i think is the lack of a built-in nd filter now years ago

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that might have sounded like one of those weird little enthusiast features

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that only three blokes at your local camera club actually cared about whilst arguing over shutter angles

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and touching themselves under the table what just my camera club oh it was you wasn't it

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but for streets

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and travel photography these days a built-in nd filter is quickly becoming less of a novelty

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and more of a genuinely useful tool, especially on bright days when you want to shoot wide open

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or drag the shutter slightly without whipping your camera like it's trying to win a Formula One qualifying lap or something.

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Sure, you can still screw on filters onto the front of the lens manually, but for a camera costing this much money,

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I really do think a built-in ND filter should have been included as standard.

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Also, this camera lacks any proper weather sealing, which for a camera that you'd want to take with you out

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and about on your travels could pose a pretty serious problem at some point especially

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when you consider that the x106 is weather sealed

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but honestly the bigger issue for me is the lack of any ibis

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that feels slightly criminal given what this camera is trying to compete against now yes it does have digital stabilization

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but frankly it's well not very good

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and for a camera with a zoom lens along with all

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these crazy video specs the lack of any proper in-body stabilization feels like a really strange omission especially

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because Panasonic are normally so good at IBIS.

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I genuinely struggled to understand why they left it out.

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But then again, they do have somewhat of a track record for emitting features you'd expect to see.

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Lumix S9.

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And then there's the price, because at launch, this thing is gonna sell for just under $1,500 US dollars.

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Now, granted, the Fujifilm X106 currently sells for around $1,800, you know, assuming you can actually find one of those in stock before civilization collapses entirely.

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So whilst the L10 is certainly competitively priced, it's not wildly cheaper than the cameras it's competing against either, which does take away some of its edge.

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And personally, I think if Panasonic really wanted to shake up this corner of the market, this thing needed to make titanic-sized waves,

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not just fat kid jumping in at the deep end-sized waves.

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Now, does all of that mean that this thing is probably not going to sell very well?

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Well, absolutely not.

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In fact, I'm willing to bet my left bollock that this thing is going to sell better than hotcakes filled with crack.

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God, those things are more-ish.

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That's because to people who don't already own a Fujifilm camera

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or want one but just can't get hold of one without having to sell their body on the street, well, this is a very compelling option to consider.

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You're getting great image quality, a versatile zoom range, proper hybrid shooting features, excellent autofocus, an EVF, a hot shoe port,

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endless JPEG customisation with the whole built-in LUTs thing, and a shooting experience that genuinely feels fun and effortless,

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all wrapped up in something that finally gives lumix a bit of personality again

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but for people who already own

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and love shooting with something like the fujifilm x106 well i don't think this is going to be the camera

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that pries it from their cold sweaty little fingers just yet

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how did your camera bikaki go tom i'm not going to dignify

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that with your response it went very well thank you they

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had to breed me as to what was required i feel i fulfilled

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that good no complaints anyway No. Is there ever any complaints with you, Gordon?

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Riley?

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Flawless.

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Yeah, I know, look at it.

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Oh yeah, I'm going proper dad handicap here.

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I'm gonna zoom back out.

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Zoom all the way out.

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Go on.

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Do a handstand for your granddad, go on.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

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