Having recently bought a new camera, I am still riding the excitement wave and I continue to spend a lot of time thinking about photos I want to take and reading online about photography (equipment, tips and looking at great photos by others). As part of this excitement, here is another post about photography - on equipment which I believe hasn't been getting as much attention as it deserves.
If you want to take seriously good pictures, you'll be most likely be recommended a DSLR, most probably a Nikon or a Canon. Which is not wrong at all as both companies make excellent cameras at all price ranges. The sales figures reflect this - entry level Canon and Nikon DSLRs are among the largest selling cameras in the world.
But I've seen many people complain that these cameras are bigger than they would like to carry everywhere. These people not professional photographers, so its not like they lose money by not carrying their cameras. What they lose is a number of interesting opportunities to get a good photograph. And even for pros sometimes smaller size helps.
Thus, I've compiled a list of some great recent cameras that can replace your DSLRs giving your similar image quality and many other features at similar price, but are much more smaller. All these cameras are 'mirrorless' which means that they don't have a mirror to reflect the image formed by the lens into the optical viewfinder of an SLR (this is the definition of an Single Lens Reflex cameras), and this is what makes them small. To compose the image, only electronic finder is made available - which is either just the LCD on the back or sometimes an EVF (Electronic View Finder) which is useful in bright light. The reason they offer image quality at similar level to modern DSLRs is because of their large sensors (read more about sensor sizes here: http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/digital-camera-sensor-size.htm).
Here is a comparison of the camera I bought, the Olympus E-M5, with the Canon Rebel DSLR, for size. The cameras listed below are similar in size to the E-M5 or even smaller.
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| Photo credit - dpreview.com |
The camera names in headings below are linked to the dpreview.com review page of that camera.
Panasonic G3
Belonging to the Micro Four Thirds standard (for which Olympus also makes cameras), this is one of the best value cameras that exist in the market. It is a traditional DSLR styled camera which has an integrated EVF. It has a 16 MP sensor which has really image quality - almost as good as DSLRs like Nikon D5100. One of the best things about Micro Four Thirds standard is that the lenses for this system are also very small. One of the most highly recommended lenses is the Panasonic 20mm f/1.7, which is so small, its called a 'pancake' lens!
Sony NEX-5N
This the mid range model in the Sony's relatively new NEX range. It has a 16MP APS-C size sensor (same as Nikon DX size) and its image quality is thus just as good as the Nikon or Canon DSLRs and slightly better than the Panasonic G3 above. But the downsides include no inbuilt EVF and that the lenses are not quite as small as the cameras itself. The lens range is also a bit small right now. Overall, though, this has some of the best image quality for the money and size, and its no wonder it got a Gold award from dpreview.com.
Nikon J1
This is the Nikon's entry in the mirrorless market and has its own pros and cons. It uses a 1" sensor which is smaller than both Micro Four Thirds and APS-C sensors. It makes do with 10MP whereas most of its competitors have 12 or 16 MP (but I believe 10MP is enough for most), and its low light image quality is not as good either. Though, it's still a big step up from the compact cameras which have much smaller sensors and is good enough for indoor photography. Its biggest plus point is its picture taking speed and its Auto Focus system - its blazing fast and gets you accurately focused pictures even when your subject is moving fast or erratically.
Sony RX100
This is the latest camera from Sony and isn't even available for purchase yet. It features a 1" sensor like the Nikon J1, and packs 20MP instead of 10 in the Nikon. But unlike other cameras mentioned here, it has a fixed lens. Early reports suggest that its image quality is very good. Among other things Sony emphasizes is its control system (the ring around the lens rotates to change settings like shutter speed or aperture) and its fast Auto Focus speeds. Of course, the real reason to consider this camera is that it packs all that in a really small size - its in the same league as compact cameras like Canon S100, Panasonic LX5 or Olympus XZ-1. If you didn't think you'd ever buy other lenses with DSLRs or want a second camera to take carry everywhere, this looks like the best option currently available.
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