The Panasonic Lumix LX10 Might Be the Perfect Journal Camera

Picking a camera that's always with you is harder than it sounds, and most people get it wrong by chasing specs instead of asking what the camera is actually for. The concept of a "journal camera" reframes that question entirely, and it's one of the more useful ideas you'll encounter if you're trying to figure out which second camera actually makes sense.

Coming to you from Ted Forbes of The Art of Photography, this thoughtful video opens with a conversation that stuck with Forbes for two years: a lunch with National Geographic photographer Sam Abell, who carried a separate camera strictly for personal work. Abell shot a Leica with a fixed prime lens and black and white film, not to publish, but to record his own life. That distinction, between the camera you work with and the camera that documents who you are, is what shapes the entire review of the Panasonic Lumix LX10 that follows. Forbes tested the camera after being invited to an early preview in Osaka, and he's been shooting with it since.

The LX10 is compact without being frustratingly small, has a viewfinder that actually works, and the layout will feel immediately familiar if you've spent time with the Panasonic Lumix S9. The leaf shutter in the lens means flash sync at any mechanical shutter speed, which opens up some genuinely useful options for shooting subjects with flash in bright outdoor light. One of the more unexpected features is a four-way selector switch on top of the lens, which can be remapped from aspect ratio control to preset focal lengths on the zoom, letting you snap to 35mm, 50mm, or 75mm equivalents without waiting on the electronic zoom motor to crawl there. Build quality feels premium, and the price comes in below what you'd expect for what's on offer.

What the video gets into beyond the specs is how the camera behaves once you've configured it to your own shooting style. Panasonic cameras tend to require some upfront work remapping buttons to get the controls where you want them, and the LX10 is no different. Forbes is candid about this. But there's a point he makes about what happens after that setup is done that's worth hearing directly from him, because it gets at something most gear reviews don't bother with: what it actually feels like to use a camera when the camera stops being the thing you're thinking about. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Abell and the complete breakdown of the LX10 from Forbes.