Best mirrorless cameras (mini DSLRs)?

[PaulST]

Hi all, I wasn't sure where to post this question so figured I'd take a punt and post it here. I've currently got a Canon 70D which is good, but waaaay to big and the video recording isn't brilliant.
I'm keen to downsize into a mirrorless camera before an upcoming trip to the USA in August.
Does anyone have any suggestions? The guy at JB Hifi today was keen on the Sony A6000 which seemed reasonable.

Important info:
Good video recording is a priority - 1080 is a must, 4K is a bonus.
Happy to spend up to $1500ish.
Prefer something as small as possible (A6000 is perfectly sized)
Zoom is less important -I'm happy with a lense zoom <100mm.


Many thanks!

 

[burmans]

Check out the Olympus OMZ E10, I looked at this and the Sony but considerably preferred this.

 

[Renato1]

Best Entry level
Entry-Level Mirrorless Camera Roundup (2014): Digital Photography Review

Best Mid range
Mid-range Mirrorless camera roundup (2014): Digital Photography Review

Best Enthusiast
Enthusiast mirrorless camera roundup (2014): Digital Photography Review

Cheers,
Renato

 

[RooFlyer]

This is a size #/price level down from what you are looking at, but I idolise my Sony HX50V, but the current model is HX60V. If zoom isn't that important, then the A6000 may be over-kill?

Brilliant HD video 1080; 30x optical zoom (and 100x optical); 20.4mp, GPS, wi-fi link etc etc. Fits in my pants pocket if needs be, which is very handy when avoiding the tourist look or you don't want to put it down (snatch risk). Its done great for me on many o/s trips; I've never been disappointed.

On a trip trough eastern Europe with some friends, one of them used a DSLR camera; we swapped images and I swear when we took the same photo, mine were usually better (IMHO )

# Edit - I think the body of the A6000 is about the same as the HX60V; ditch the interchangeable lens option to save $1000?

 

[Renato1]

# Edit - I think the body of the A6000 is about the same as the HX60V; ditch the interchangeable lens option to save $1000?

It's not really comparing apples with apples. The A6000 has the much larger APS sensor. In normal daylight shots you may well not see much difference between the HX60V and a DSLR or an A6000, but when taking shots at dusk, at night or inside a building, they will outperform what the tiny sensor in the HX60V can do in photos, and especially in video.

That said, when travelling overseas I leave my DSLRs at home, as I can't be bothered carrying one around.
Regards,
Renato

 

[PaulST]

Thanks for the replies.
I'm probably keen to have the option of an interchangeable lens as I've been attempting to do a bit of aviation photography recently and a decent zoom there would be needed.
I've recently trekked through South Africa, Japan, Korea and China and the 70D just became a dead weight and I'm sure that the image quality over something like an A6000 wouldn't have been worth the effort/cost. I can't say I felt too safe walking around Capetown with a massive black and red-striped DSLR.

 

[moa999]

The bigger the sensor, the bigger the lens needed for a decent zoom.

The sensor in he Sony mentioned is not that much better than your phone, just comes with a great zoom.

Too get a similar zoom with a DSLR sensor you are looking at a serious lens.

It's all tradeoffs. I have a nikon s9100, a few generations before the Sony mentioned but still a great camera

 

[Jeffrey O'Neill]

A couple of years back I bought the sony nex 3 as it was about hte smallest camera with APS-C sensor

I mostly regret not paying a bit more and getting the Sony RX100-II. Smaller sensor but still large at 1"

Even when I take the camera with me, quite often I use my phone as I can get the shot quicker. The best camera is the one you can use, and the RX100 is tiny but has the largest sensor for it's size IIRC.

 

[wattch]

Good thread. Im looking to buy a mirrorless camera in the next couple of months also and like you am moving from a Canon dslr. Ive been reading up in the Canon M3. One selling point that i did like was the ability to use my current L series lenses with an adapter.

Ive taken a backpack full of camera gear around the world a couple of times now and end up using 1 lense 90% of the time. Recently I came to the conclusion that i only need a decent wide angle lense for my travel pics so why carry 15kg on my back for no reason.

 

[Renato1]

Even when I take the camera with me, quite often I use my phone as I can get the shot quicker. The best camera is the one you can use, and the RX100 is tiny but has the largest sensor for it's size IIRC.

Unless one has a seriously very expensive phone, most results I've seen from phone shots - from Iphones and Galaxy 4 - look like junk to me compared to those from a $100 compact camera.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Jeffrey O'Neill]

Unless one has a seriously very expensive phone, most results I've seen from phone shots - from Iphones and Galaxy 4 - look like junk to me compared to those from a $100 compact camera.
Regards,
Renato

True. But when it's jst a pic to send to friend on whatsapp I'm not bothered.

If I want something to keep then I'll use my good camera, but it's a pain to carry around.

 

[burmans]

Unless one has a seriously very expensive phone, most results I've seen from phone shots - from Iphones and Galaxy 4 - look like junk to me compared to those from a $100 compact camera.
Regards,
Renato

Yes, I agree!

 

[Renato1]

Thanks for the replies.
I'm probably keen to have the option of an interchangeable lens as I've been attempting to do a bit of aviation photography recently and a decent zoom there would be needed.

The other problem with interchangeable lenses is dust on the sensor. I know cameras have features that are supposed to shake it off - but it doesn't work so well on my ones. Which means I'd have to take a big blower with me, and something else better to clean the sensor, if the blower doesn't work (which it doesn't in about one in ten cases).

The other alternative to get around this issue is a bridge camera. I was reading reviews earlier this year before picking up a cheap one on Ebay for my next trip. I recollect that Sony had put out a very expensive bridge camera that was dearer than all of its competitors, and which had a bigger sensor for better quality, and with lots of zoom. The main complaint in the review was that it was dearer than an actual DSLR (though obviously lighter and more compact than a DSLR with a 500mm lens).
Regards,
Renato

 

[Renato1]

True. But when it's jst a pic to send to friend on whatsapp I'm not bothered.

If I want something to keep then I'll use my good camera, but it's a pain to carry around.

Hi Jeffrey,
Yes, for very casual usage or Facebook shots it won't matter much (though plenty of shots I've seen from friends on Facebook, I would never have posted). But it is surprising to see how many people just use their phones and Ipads on overseas trips - an utter wste of a trip. Members of my family did this recently despite my advice not to. Two thirds of the shots with those phones were not properly focused.

I'm now onto my fifth smart phone, which comes with a 13 Mpixel camera - and I haven't even taken a shot with it, as i expect total disappointment.

You are right though, if you have a camera with you, you will use it. I keep a couple of cameras in the boot of my car. They were very expensive 13 years ago, and are only 5 Mpixels - but they are infinitely superior to those in most mobile phones.

I haven't been keeping up with the latest in mobile phone camera quality, but last year Dpreview had an article comparing the Nokia Phone with a 50Mpixel camera to a standard compact camera to assess the claim by Nokia that their phone was good for zooming. The compact camera won the shootout in the zoom stakes, but they judged the Nokia phone as superior to the compact camera at low power. So - some phones are around which are better than inexpensive compact cameras.
Regards,
Renato

 

[bPeteb]

I know this will offend the brand snobs but have you thought about a Samsung NX500? We have a NX300 and LOVE IT. Big sensor and some very nice lenses. If you could find an NX300 in stock and can do without the 4K it's a terrific camera.

We also have a NX100 that's biggest issue was no IS. We now have an ISed lens from the 300 that we can use on the 100 so it's out of the drawer. The 500 is a little down-specced from the 300 (especially the articulated screen) except for it offering 4K videos.

I have a three year old Olympus EPL-3 and it has taken some beautiful pictures but it will be left behind for our upcoming trip to Iceland and Greenland. It'll be NX100, NX300, Pentax K-x and Panasonic TZ70.

 

[Mrmaxwell]

Having been a Canon user for years I purchased the Sony a6000 6 months ago.

Great little camera and I have enjoyed using it while on several trips overseas. Certainly the small form factor is a big plus (especially with the pancake lens) as is the ease of use and burst rate.

In Summary;

Pros;
Light and small - almost pocketable with pancake lenses
Machine gun-like burst rate - great for sports/aviation/wildlife
Awesome AF speed with 179 focus points (tracking focus is great)
EVF - my first camera with an EVF - comes in very handy

Cons;
Video is average - like jpegs the video needs post work to make it look really good. More stabilisation would be nice.
Battery performance is average - half a day with heavy use so spare battery is a must
Lense selection no where near that of Canikon. The better lenses are $1000+ so gets very expensive very quickly
JPEGs out of the camera are bland - post work needed to give that pop that Canon users are used to

Not sure what your budget is but I picked it up with two free lenses (Xmas promo) for $600 so was happy with the value. If however it was $799 with the kit lens alone I would be more inclined to look around a bit more as the market has changed a lot even in just six months. Happily recommend but as always think about what your use case is and look at the lenses you would want to purchase so you can factor in those costs.

Attached is a shot using the Sigma 2.8 19mm prime at ISO1600 - it was pitch black but the camera lit up the landscape...

 

[PaulST]

Thanks for the comments all. I've taken the plunge and purchased a Sony A6000 with both a 16-55 and 50-210 lens for $960 from DWI. It should arrive some time next week. I'll keep you all posted how it goes. I've got quite a few flights coming up so you'll be sure to see some flight report videos over the next few months.

Now I need to stop researching cameras incase I find something better.

 

[Kaiser]

I have a m43 system comprised of the Olympus EM-1 and a Panasonic GX7. I previous travelled with a D700 and 3-4 lenses and have used the Fuji X100S on a hiking trip to NZ. The size and weight advantage of the m43 lenses has to be the biggest advantage of the m43 system. I was able to carry 2 bodies an 8mm Fisheye, 9-18 wide zoom, 25 1.4 and 75mm 1.8 primes all in a bag that would struggle to fit more that a DSLR with a small prime attached. Both are 16mp which is more than enough for the sizes I print at.

EM-1: Great JPEG engine, weatherproof with certain lenses, highly customizable, stabilized video with 5-axis, brilliant EVF, C-AF pretty good but tracking AF still behind a DSLR.
GX7 : Slightly smaller, better video performance, poorer EVF implentation, built in flash which can be bounced off ceiling (handy for indoor portrait fill).
X100S: Better low light performance (at the expense of increased high ISO noise reduction/ detail loss), Fantastic colours from JPEG engine, relatively compact, great fill flash and flash x-sync with leaf shutter. Fixed 35mm FOV.

I really don't think I'll travel with a DSLR again as the quality from the cropped sensors gets the job done with less weight. I always travel carry-on only so weight is a factor for me. I might even try a fixed lens compact like the Sony RX100 Mk3 on my next trip and see how that goes!

Good luck in your search

A couple of M43 shots from last trip:

öxi Pass, Iceland

Jokulsarlon, Iceland

Copenhagen

Helsinki

The Fuji X100s in New Zealand

 

[PaulST]

Great photos! I was there in March and loved it. May be back in Sept although unfortunately I'll be stuck inside all day at a conference (although will be able to claim the EK F flights on tax.... haha).

 

[RooFlyer]

That's funny. I got a cookie request when I returned to this page. (I set IE to make cookies request acceptance or not.) I instinctively said to block the cookie but didn't note what it was except it was some image or photo related thing.

Can embedded pics ask for cookies? I've never had a cookie request on an AFF page since I initially subscribed, a while ago.

O/T, sorry, but very surprising to me.