Leica M10

The Leica M10 is a compact mirrorless camera built around the M mount and a 24-megapixel full-frame sensor. Focusing and framing happen through an optical rangefinder viewfinder, with focusing done entirely by hand.

That design suits photographers who like to work slowly and deliberately. There is no autofocus, no in-body stabilisation and no video, so the M10 rewards preparation and technique over quick reaction.

It weighs 660 g and measures 139 x 39 x 80 mm. A single SD card slot and a fixed, non-touch screen keep the rest of the hardware simple.

The 24-megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor, paired with the Maestro II processor, gives enough resolution for large prints and some room to crop. The ISO range runs from 100 to 50000, so you can keep working as the light falls without reaching for a flash.

Focusing is entirely manual: there are no autofocus points, and the optical rangefinder viewfinder puts the work on your eye and hand. Live view on the rear screen gives a way to confirm focus directly from the sensor when you want to be certain.

Our Optics score of 67 out of 100 reflects a good package that sits around the middle of cameras in our database for Optics. The missing in-body stabilisation is one constraint: the body itself does nothing to correct camera shake.

The top shutter speed of 1/4000 s can limit wide apertures in bright light, and the rated burst of up to 5 fps suits a considered pace rather than rapid sequences.

The M10 does not record video at all. Still photography is its whole brief, so anyone who needs motion capture alongside stills would have to carry a second camera.

The one motion-related feature is a built-in timelapse mode. The camera shoots the frame sequence itself, and any clip you want from those stills has to be assembled outside the camera. That suits slow changes like a sunset or passing clouds, with no video recording involved.

For anyone who needs moving footage, the complete absence of video recording is the deciding fact, and nothing else in the camera's feature list changes that.

Images are reviewed on a fixed 3-inch TFT LCD with roughly 1,036,800 dots. The screen does not tilt or fold, and there is no touch input, so you adjust everything through the camera's physical controls.

WiFi is built in, but there is no Bluetooth for a persistent low-power link and no GPS, so the camera itself records no location data.

The Features score of 44 out of 100 is modest, and three absences cost it points: no weather sealing, no touch screen and no Bluetooth. External flash is supported, and live view lets you compose at arm's length or on a tripod when the rangefinder is not the right tool.

The M10 takes a single SD, SDHC or SDXC card. With no second slot, there is no way to record to two cards at once, and a spare card only adds capacity rather than backup.

The BP-SCL5 battery is rated at 210 shots per charge. That figure is a guideline rather than a promise of real-world endurance, so carrying a spare makes sense for longer shoots.

There is no USB charging, so the battery has to come out for its own charger. Together with the single slot and the 210-shot rating, that keeps the Storage & Battery score at 13 out of 100, which our assessment calls limited. Starting each shoot with a charged spare and an empty card is the practical habit.