Mid-range Mirrorless camera roundup (2013)

The only reason the EOS-M isn't going to be included in these roundups is because we think it's on end-of-life sale and won't necessarily be available for the full lifetime of these roundups.

However, other than the slow autofocus, there's an awful lot to like about the EOS-M. I share Jeff's experience with the interface and suspect that a camera based around the 70D's dual pixel AF system could be very good (so long as the focus speed isn't inhibited by the design of the lenses).

It took me a while to get use to the touchscreen menu, and I actually prefer the it over than the buttons and dials on my EOS DSLRs!!! (I have been using EOS gears since year 2000 and I owned 5 EOS, both film and digital)
Apart from the slightly slower than average focusing speed (though still acceptable), the battery life is another thing I dislike. I tried disabling features such as IS, flash control, etc, but seemed that didn't help much.
I endorse EOS-M to be mirrorless that value for money most in the year!

is the EOS M2 under review now?

in Japan there is an all-in-one kit including 18-55 and 22/2 lenses, EX-90 flash, and mount adapter for 430 US. a good price even without the camera.

I bought one for $299 not that long ago. Is it perfect? No, but it is an awfully good camera for that price, and the image quality is excellent.

Thats exactly what I thought before spending some time with EOS M.

Pardon my ignorance but I was referring to size of typical M4/3 sensor which is about 65% smaller than APS-c sensor.

Sensor in EOS M might be larger than M43, but it still lags behind current gen M43 sensors in performance. So if you are willing to trade a bit of image quality (not to mention other things) for a bit of more bokeh, than yeah, the sensor in EOS M might be considered an advantage.

And like Juhaz wrote, EOS M can't really be considered anything other than an entry-level camera, so no wonder it didn't make it into this list.

A friend of mine bought an M cheap and has taken some phenomenal shots with it. I don't understand how this little gem has been overlooked!

I own a EOS-M and I like it very much. If EOS-M is to be included in the "entry level mirrorless", it will be miles ahead of the runner-up. :)

I think it's right that the EOS-M has been left out. Canon seem to be treating it as an expensive mistake they'd rather forget. The point that it can use EF/EF-S lenses is moot, the NEX cameras can use Alpha lenses, the m43 cameras can use Oly E-System Zuiko lenses, yes, all with adapters. Not that you'd really want to - all these DSLR lenses are badly unbalanced on the various mirrorless systems.

So the EOS-M has just 3 native lenses with no sign of any more (less than m43, or NEX, or NX, or XMount, or Nik1), and even after the firmware update, still focuses slowest of all of them. Oh, and is between Nik1 and m43 for noise and DR.

Yeah, what an absolute bargain!

E-P5 has absolutely no serious advantages over E-M5, while costing more today. Integrated EVF and weather-sealing are so much more important than 1/8000 shutter and WiFi.

Agreed. I'm a big Oly and Panny fan, but have recently been using some of the Samsung cameras and am now very enthusiastic about their line. The Nx1000/1100 is one of the best values around. The NX300 did not, indeed, get much love here. The APS-C sensor is very good, the iFN control is awesome, I love it. The lenses are very good (and they have a decent line at modest prices that really deliver quality and value). The NX300 has been tweaked and including Lightroom 4 is a big plus if you want to shoot raw. Personally, I have not had any complaints about the JPEGs, but I shoot mostly landscapes, not as much indoors at high ISO's. Still, more of a quiblle, I think. For me, it's the sensor, lens, handling and value combo that make this line a winner. The fact that it also makes for a fairly compact kit is another plus.

Have you ever shot with an E-M5?

I don't own one (I shoot Nikon), but I've used it, and it's fantastic. The hump is necessary -- the viewfinder electronics and IBIS-related accelerometers live in there. Who cares what it looks like, anyway? I want pretty prints, not a pretty camera. The "shutter shock" issue is blown out of proportion. There's a flash included which does basically the same as a built-in flash, or you can use a real flash. The video is fine -- if you want absolutely top end video get a GHx, but the E-M5 video is still very high quality. Holding the thing is fine.

And the lenses -- especially the sort that make sense on a camera of this size -- are great.

'All' the cameras here have a list of weak points. Not just the EM5. They picked it as a winner because they wanted to tell people what a great shooter it is.
And the hump is very necessary. But all cameras from all brands with a big usable EVF have a hump, or bulk up the whole body like the Fujifilm. There is no need to pretend it is not there. Personally I'd prefer a body without the hump for size reasons. But that EVF is too good to miss.Nobody criticises DSLRs for having a hump. Get over the hump!

Video is totally adequate (20 mbps is not poor at all, and having MORE is just a processing and storage problem).
Image stabilization is absolutely the best in business (including for video).
There is flash supplied with the camera - clip it on and call it "in built" if you want - but it is still removable when you want bigger flash, unlike those unremovable ones.
Grip is perfect for compact camera hold (when you cradle it in the base of the palm instead of gripping with your fingers like DSLR - it is NOT a DSLR).
The design was popular and causes plenty of smiles and thumbs-ups on the streets (no wonder Sony and Nikon copied it in A7, A7r and Df).
"Non-connectivity" can easily be fixed by an EyeFi card. Not that you really going to use WiFi control from a phone in one hand while holding the camera in another. And picture transfer through SD card and ESB3 reader is much faster.

Lots of EM5 apologists predictably leap to its defence. Get real boys, it already won the recommendation, no need to pretend it's perfect!

@ianp5a, LOTS of people criticize the hump of a DSLR, and HEAPS criticized the EM5 form factor when it was released, for unnecessarily copying it when there is no longer any prism! That's Retro Mania gone mad!

@Entropius, the hump is NOT necessary: the EVF electronics can go anywhere, and the E-P5 has IBIS without a hump. You haven't thought this through.

@peevee1, calling the video 'totally adequate' puts you at odds with dpreview and reviewers all round the world, best summarized as 'usable but second rate'. Your defence of the clip-on flash is like defending the E-P5 clip-on EVF as better than the EM5's in-built one! As for an eye-fi card fixing connectivity... OMG! You are seriously trying too hard, it shows! :)

Apologists not accepted! :)

Compare the Olympus Four Thirds lenses with their Micro Four Thirds lenses. (They are same sensor size).

They are not completely like with like, but just try assembling a kit with each format. You will soon notice that the mirrorless kit, lenses plus body, is much, much lighter and smaller.

The lesson is that your chart does not represent reality, because in reality the manufacturers are treating m43 as a lightweight format and designing lenses (and choosing what models to produce) so that the consumer DOES have a significant reward in small and light. The lenses are deliberately not identical equivalents of the DSLR range.

So I think your claim is wrong. You get a significant size and weight advantage by going mirrorless. Like a smart pro, you need to buy kit to suit the concept, not get stuck in rigid thinking by trying to 'mirror' a DSLR kit to your own disadvantage.

Both of you are talking about M4/3. There is absolutely no doubt M4/3 is smaller than full frame or APSC. Obviously, the sensor is smaller, so everything are lighter.

Take the Sony NEX mirrorless camera with the larger APSC sensor, and your kit is not going to be that much lighter.

yes Jeff .. but since when Program and auto modes are so important in serious cams. I never used them in last 10 years of photography including last 4 years with GH1 alone. Aperture priority and set Auto ISO or intelli-ISO. I won't call this issue a consideration if am buying GX7.

There are plenty of people (read: people other than the core DPR audience) who will shoot in Program or Auto mode. Also, since this is an unusual issue, it's worth pointing out.

So you wrote it for your non-readers? :)

Although I admit, it is not what the user would expect, so worth a mention.

I own a Rollei 35 and think it is the fiddliest, most unergonomic camera I have ever used.

The E-PL5 may well be the winner of Entry-Level Mirrorless Camers, especially that it is now selling at $449 (e.g. Canada Henry's).

I believe the E-PL5 is in one of the future articles.

The NX300 also has a control focus-like ring on the lens for additional assignable control during shooting. Unless you compare to a $1000+ camera with dual thumb wheels, all these cameras have roughly the same level of control. And if you're going to say NEX and Samsung 'hardly qualify' as lens systems, then how about all the redundancies and super high prices in the m43 realm?

As for size, how small do you want? The NX300 is quite diminutive, but at some point you get diminishing returns in an ILC. You need room for a mount and a lens big enough to deal with APS-C. If you want smaller, get an RX100. Pretty much your only alternative.

And the NX300 has some touch-control options as well.

...From DPR OMD-EM1 Review Conclusion:

"Not So Good For: Sports and fast action demanding very fast burst rates."

But the reviewer also concludes that the OMD-EM1 has "blazingly fast autofocus with native lenses."

So maybe the OMD-M1 is the best for single-shot action shots?

They say mirrorless cameras aren't very good at tracking autofocus, but this great parkour video was apparently shot with the GH2's autofocus: http://www.newsshooter.com/2011/06/20/free-running-with-the-panasonic-gh2-frank-sauer-shoots-the-fast-moving-sport-using-autofocus/

Yeah, because the EM-5 is SOOOO big.

The biggest camera won the small and serious class.

It's certainly entry-level price right now. However, in image quality, it's the best you can get under full frame. For $300, the M with 22mm F2 pancake lens gives far higher quality than combinations more than twice the price.

I do not see how NEX-5 is higher class than E-PL...they are jsut about the same....tyhe review is super subjective.

They like E-M5 and this had to be the winner bar any other cameras even from Olympus.

I'm also surprised they didn't include the E-PL5 on the list. It's got the same sensor as their top rated camera and is much smaller, lighter, and cheaper.

@Stephen Scharf - We tried (and published) Capture One's conversion of X-Trans when it was launched. It was a fraction better than ACR at the time but a subsequent ACR update has significantly reduced the difference.

We use a standard converter for our test scene and have settled on what's currently by far the most widely used. We could throw away the idea of consistency and had the time to cherry-pick a different converter for every camera, someone would still decide they prefer a different converter, and accuse us of bias, one way or the other.

That's why we provide the Raw files so that you can run them through your preferred converter and draw your own conclusions.

I have added a little more detail to the sentence about Raw converters.

Iridient and Photo Ninja seem to be tops of the X-Trans converters. I use Iridient on landscape photos and I'm blown away by the detail. It's a shame that Adobe's substandard conversions are hurting Fujifilm.

Unfortunately, Samsung doesn't give us much in the line of specs when a product is initially entered into our database. That said, I've trudged through the manual and attempted to fill in the blanks.

We = travellers and photo enthusiast, hobbiest, street photographers etc.. who like to carry lightweight capable and serious cameras (with controls)!

market share is something we least care .. and WE are not in buying or selling business ...

When we say "small, but serious", this is what we mean by "small':

http://camerasize.com/compare/#289,440

Too small bodies are not really good. Don't count only body size, you can't really use ILC without lenses, right?
Small in this article doesn't really mean the smallest mirrorless camera. GM1 then would be one of top.

@Jeff Keller

Okay fair enough, it all comes down to relative size. I'm used to lugging around a Nikon D700 + 24-70/2.8 so these are all certainly small compared to that... but in isolation I would still be hesitant to call these two cameras small when they weigh close to twice (400g vs. 280g) as much as some of the other ones in the same group test.

@impulses I'll give you fast G6 review :) :
Imagine gh2 with less dials (but more fn buttons) than ad focus peaking, great WIFI control, loads (more) of menu customisasations, silent electronic shutter. One thing I do not like is the EVF eyecup rubber- its very hard ( I have gh2 and my brother G6)