wpacetti

Hi, Bill here new to this forum. I,m interested in mirrorless, but do not know much about them. Could anyone please advise.
Thanks in advance.

Huey Driver Loc: Texas

I am also interested. Hope some of you that have one post some information to help a new purchaser of a mirrorless.

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

Welcome to the forum. What kind of images do you want to take? What is your budget?

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

What would you like to know? Your question is pretty broad, but with a bit more information, such as, what kind of photography are you interested in, what is your budget, will you be photographing your kids/grandkids playing sports, etc.? Do you have a particular brand in mind? And, what is your background experience. Give us a few more details and then we can attempt to give you advice.

And most of all, welcome to UHH.

RichardTaylor Loc: Sydney, Australia

Wecome to the forums.
From personal experience mirrrorless are very good for general purpose photography and not so good where fast, accurate autofocus for fast moving subjects is required.

jsenear Loc: Hopkins, MN.

I shoot with a Nikon 1 V1 camera. Auto-focus is blazing fast. 90 % of my Photography is with the Mirrorless camera. The image quality is amazing considering it has a smaller sensor.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Ahh, where to start...

I would probably go to review sites such as http://www.dpreview.com and read reviews of mirrorless cameras from Fujifilm, Olympus, Panasonic, and Sony. They are the four leading manufacturers of mirrorless camera gear. Canon and Nikon are way behind in mirrorless. And Pentax? They took the high (priced) road to medium format. They make a great one.

These companies all make excellent gear, both bodies and lenses. They each favor a different set of strengths and weaknesses. There is likely one that meets your needs better than others would, so read reviews carefully. RENT to try, before you buy. LensRentals.com and BorrowLenses.com are two excellent rental sites. Be sure you handle your final couple of choices and try navigating all the menus and buttons. Some cameras make more sense to some people than others do. So you want to be sure the body fits your hands, and your way of understanding the interfaces.

Mirrorless cameras have no reflex viewing mirror, because they use an electronic viewfinder system. Camera bodies tend to be a little smaller and lighter than dSLRs. But ONLY Micro Four Thirds mirrorless camera *systems* from Olympus and Panasonic are substantially lighter than full frame or APS-C dSLRs. That's because the Micro 4/3 lenses are smaller and lighter (as much as 80% lighter for equivalent field of view!). Some mirrorless lenses are actually heavier than some dSLR lenses, so you have to be careful in your shopping if weight reduction is a priority.

If your priority is high level sports photography, or wildlife action such as birds in flight, you may prefer a dSLR. There is still a slight viewfinder lag with electronic viewfinders. HOWEVER, that is compensated by the ability of some mirrorless cameras to record at unusually high frame rates... 30, 60, 96, or 180 fps! And that lag is shorter with every new generation of camera released.

There is probably more innovation happening in the engineering labs of the mirrorless camera companies than at Canon and Nikon. But rumors of serious Canon and Nikon mirrorless gear have been circulating since 2010. We just haven't seen serious market evidence of it yet. Canon makes an M-series (M5, M6 are current) and Nikon makes the '1' series. They are generally regarded as capable, but at the rear of the mirrorless race. Canon and Nikon are both in a precarious position in the market... They don't want to endanger their cash cows (dSLRs and lenses). They're in much the same position as Kodak in 2003, or BlackBerry (RIM) in 2007... Too scared and conservative to commit to a paradigm change. So they keep doing what they do best. For now, it suits them.

What did I do? I abandoned Canon and Nikon in 2012, after using some of both of their equipment personally and professionally since 1968. I now use Panasonic — a Lumix GH4 and three Panasonic lenses. The GHx series is best for me, because I record equal measures of still images and video. One small kit does it all.

I produce training content, do product photography, and event photography. Previously, I had a dSLR and separate pro video camera, about eight times the total bulk and weight. It was always a pain to go from one mind set to the other, and drag that stuff through airports. Now, I can record video and extract stills from it that work perfectly in PDF manuals and printed manuals and eLearning modules. I can work completely noiselessly in a theater, using the electronic shutter. I can WiFi my images to my iPhone and email them immediately. I can remotely trip my electronic camera shutter, using the iPhone app, to avoid vibration in macro photography...

You probably have a completely different set of needs, so you may wind up with a Fuji, or a Sony, or an Olympus, or a dSLR... Just DO YOUR RESEARCH. It's worth it.

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

Welcome to the forum. Mirrorless cameras are becoming more popular nowadays. You can get them in full frame and crop sensors models. The general manufacturers are Sony, Panasonic, Fuji and Olympus. All of them make quality mirrorless cameras. One of the most mentioned crop sensor camera on the forum is the Sony a6000. A friend owns this camera, along with two kit lenses, the 16-50mm and the 55-210mm. This is your best bargain crop sensor mirrorless camera. Or you could go buy Sony's most expensive full frame mirrorless camera. The Sony a9, for a mere $4500. Don't forget to buy expensive native lenses to accommodate it too. Of course there are a lot in between. You could also consider one of Sony's Translucent Mirror cameras, that come in crop and full frame. However, these aren't mirrorless cameras. Good luck.

bugguy Loc: midwest

Sony's A99 and A99II translucent mirror cameras are full frame!

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

You are correct. I forgot about those two. I edited my thread.

repleo Loc: Boston

As you read all of the other responses here, bear in mind that mirrorless technology is developing rapidly whereas DSLR (prism and mirror) technology has progressed very little in the last decade. Criticisms of mirrorless that may have been valid a couple of years ago, like lag time or availability of lenses may not longer be relevant. Looking at the trajectory of development of the two systems, mirrorless is the future and may also be the 'now'.

DavidM Loc: New Orleans, LA

Depends on what you plan to shoot? See DPreviews buying guides below. Each group has suggested purposes and cameras which are recommended. There are mirrorless cameras in almost every group. You can also compare cameras from this site! Feel free to ask more about specific cameras your interested in here. Good Luck!

https://www.dpreview.com/buying-guides

n3eg Loc: West coast USA

Mirrorless cameras have electronic viewfinders. As a viewfinder hater overall, I found a mirrorless camera that has a viewfinder that I can actually stand to use once in a while.

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

Pick from Olympus Panasonic Fuji or Sony. Do not consider other manufacturers.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

National Geographic's two top compact travel cameras were the Fuji X-T2 and Olympus E-M1 mrII. Both are mirrorless. Both top of the line and probably a little too expensive for you. But you could start with the low end of each and build your system up. Also look at Panasonic. All mirrorless tend to be smaller, lighter, and less costly. The Fuji X-T2 will be slightly bigger, heavier, and costlier tha either Olympus or Panasonic 4/3rds cameras.