The newly announced Panasonic Lumix L10 doesn’t start shipping for another month – but the company has already received an overwhelming number of pre-orders. Panasonic Japan has warned fans that orders have exceeded expectations, which could cause some delivery delays.
The announcement comes from Panasonic Japan – it’s unclear if orders placed in other regions could also see a delay. But, with Panasonic’s global headquarters based in Japan, the announcement comes with hints that the new compact camera is already more popular than expected.
“Regarding the LUMIX ‘DC-L10’ digital camera, scheduled for release on June 18th, we have received significantly more pre-orders than anticipated,” Panasonic Japan wrote (translated by Google). “Therefore, some customers who have already pre-ordered may not receive their product on the release date. Furthermore, customers who pre-order in the future may experience delays in delivery after the release date.”
According to the announcement, all three colors of the new Lumix L10 are affected.
Panasonic may be surprised by the number of pre-orders, but as someone who follows the camera industry closely, I’m not at all surprised. Advanced compact cameras – the pocketable cameras that still house larger sensors than those found in most smartphones – have been in high demand thanks to the resurging trends.
Cameras like the Fujifilm X100VI have been hard to find in stock despite its launch more than two years ago. Even older cameras like the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III have been difficult to find at list price since going viral on social media.
The Panasonic Lumix L10 sits somewhere between the one-inch sensor G7 X Mark III and the APS-C X100VI with its Micro Four Thirds sensor. But while the sensor isn’t quite as large as the X100VI’s, the L10 has something the APS-C sensor compact cameras don’t: optical zoom.
Zoom is a rather popular feature among compact cameras. A good zoom is harder to cram into a smartphone and also difficult to fit inside a small camera with a larger sensor. That’s why the L10 feels a bit like it sits somewhere between the G7 X Mark III, which has zoom as one of its major selling points, and the fixed-focal-length X100VI.
The L10 is a bit oversized compared to some compact cameras, but it mixes that zoom with a viewfinder as well, so I think there are a lot of photographers who won’t mind that it’s larger than options like the Ricoh GR IV – yet another compact camera that’s been in high demand lately.
Add in built-in color profiles and customizable LUTs and mechanical controls, and I’m really not surprised at all that pre-orders have exceeded expectations. And then, of course, there’s the price – it’s not a cheap camera by any means, but the L10 comes in under similar options like the Leica D-Lux 8 with a similar sensor and zoom, and also sits under the X100VI’s price.
The Lumix L10 is expected to begin shipping out to the first pre-orders in mid-June and retails for £1,299 / $1,499 / AU$2,599. A Special Edition Titanium Gold begins shipping in July for $1,599 / £1,399 / €1, 599.
Pre-orders are already open at several retailers.
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