Capturing life’s important moments is one job photographers are happy to do because of the fulfillment it feels when they see people beam with happiness when they see their photographs. Mirrorless cameras are the latest and greatest in interchangeable lens technology that can accomplish this job. With the image quality of bulky DSLRs and the portability of point-and-shoots, they offer the best of both worlds. They’re less exhausting to carry, less cumbersome to store, and in many cases more intuitive to use than their old-school competition.
You may be ready to join the bandwagon, and that’s not surprising at all. Many photographers have ditched their DSLR cameras for the mirrorless counterpart. Here are some of the best mirrorless digital cameras this year, 2016. One is sure to catch your eyes.
Best Rated Mirrorless Digital Camera
The Sony Alpha A6300 is the successor of the well-receiced A6000. Although it comes rather simple and minimalistic, its ergonomic design is on-point. The top plates is home to just a mode dial and a single command dial as well as the shutter release, power switch, and custom button canted forward atop the grip. And the rear layout is a standard array with a command dial and a few dedicated buttons for trash, playback, and menus. The A6300 is a little more rugged than the A6000 since Sony ditched the glossy finish and went with the matte look. The body is also made entirely out of magnesium, unlike the A6000, which had more plastic in the frame. These changes make it feel sturdier, though Sony was clear that they don’t consider the body weather-sealed.
You might say, it does rather look too simple to come head-to-head with the competition, but Sony did a great job leveraging its ability to make impressive displays by giving the A6300 a 2.4 million-dot OLED EVF. You also now have the option to up the refresh rate to a whopping 120 fps–ensuring you won’t miss any of the action. That higher refresh rate is thanks to a faster imaging readout from the sensor. To put it simply, performance must always be your deciding factor.
The A6300 boasts Sony’s 24-megapixel CMOS image sensor and BIONZ X image processor. The sensor now has faster readout performance and a better signal-to-noise ratio thanks to a switch to copper wiring compared to its predecessor. Another area that the A6300 really shines is video. The 4K video produced by this camera is absolutely stellar. While it tops out at 4K/30p, you can also capture HD footage at 120 fps, making it great for turning action sequences into slow-mo.
Bottom line: This camera is number 1 in almost all lists for a reason: it is worth more than its price.
Mirrorless Camera for Pros
The Fujifilm X-Pro2 is tagged as the ultimate photographer’s camera, and it is not surprising to know why. For one, it is aeathetically pleasing to the eyes, as always with Fujifilm cameras. It is a gorgeous blend of retro sensibilities and modern tastes. The controls are all there on the body, so users never need to search though menus to change anything. If you’re a fan of rangefinder cameras, you’re going have a hard time finding faults in the design of the X-Pro2. It has the classic look and feel of an old-school film body, but with a few new tricks.
The Pro2 has new 24-megapixel X-Trans CMOS III sensor, 273 on-sensor autofocus points, an expanded ISO range, 1080/60p video, and improved AF tracking. These new additions have turned it into one of the most powerful rangefinders on the market today. The new sensor also extends the ISO range out a bit, with a native range of 200-12,800. You can expand that to 100-51,200 as well, though ISO 100 is only available when shooting JPEG. The new processor, on the other hand, delivers a much snappier experience than previous Fujifilm cameras, from startup to continuous shooting.
In conclusion, this camera is a photographer’s camera through and through that does an excellent job.
Mirrorless Digital Cameras for Youtube Videos
The Panasonic Lumix GH4 is ahead of the curve, and it’s way, way up there in terms of video shooting. In fact, when it was first released up to now, it has set the bar quite high. It has the ability to record True 4K (4096×2160) 24p cinematic video. Being able to take vivid still images as well as dazzling 4K video offers a valuable hybrid shooting option for those who do not only take photos but record videos as well, especially for Youtubers. The camera is powered by a 4/3 inch Live MOS Sensor and the Venus Engine IX, which together capture a very sharp picture that handles color grading well. There is also a Micro Four Thirds mount at your disposal to attach lenses that further refine your shots. Moreover, the battery life is impressive, which is very unlikely for a DSLR camera built primarily for great video recording.
The body itself is built with sturdy magnesium alloy, and shows many ergonomic improvements from its predecessor, the GH3. It is weather-sealed against water and dust and has high-speed dual OLED displays. In terms of ports, you have one headphone and microphone jack, MicroHDMI out, AV outputs, a flash sync terminal, and a 2.5mm jack for a remote control. The microphone jack supports XLR input for full level adjustment and monitoring, sealing the deal on this great video camera.
Can’t decide whether or not to get a mirrorless or a DSLR camera? This article will try to convince you that the former could be a better choice for your Youtube channel. One of the major differences of these two types of cameras is the size. Basically, since the DSLR cameras do have ‘mirrors’ inside them, they tend to be heavier. If you do a lot of walking and traveling for your Youtube, you definitely want a lighter load. This makes a mirrorless digital camera a better choice.
Additionally, mirrorless and DSLR cameras record video with varying levels of compression. It can be hard to get past all the technical descriptions and figure out what specs you need to shoot your videos in. Simply put, the more compression used on a video file then the smaller it is, and the more likely you are to see a loss in image quality. Compression not only affects the image quality of your video, it also affects the changes you can make to it such as color correction. If all you need to do is shoot videos and upload them to the web with no color correction or effects, then a mirrorless camera that records highly compressed video might be a good option for you. If you need to do mild color correction and effects to your footage or you want a better picture quality, then a DSLR or a mirrorless camera that records in higher bitrates (larger files with less compression) would be a better choice.
With all these technicalities to consider, it can get overwhelming to choose for the right one. So we have compiled here four of the best mirrorless digital cameras for shooting videos.
Best Rated Entry-Level Mirrorless Camera
The Canon EOS M10 has no surprises or whatsoever that can blow your mind away, but it has enough features to make you actually buy it for your vlogging activities. Inside it is an 18MP sensor and a a Digic 6 processing engine. Autofocus is in the hands of Canon’s Hybrid CMOS AF II system, which is good enough for shooting still videos. Additionally, this camera has both Wi-Fi and NFC connectivity. The Wi-Fi in particular can be used to enable a phone to control the camera remotely and transfer files to a smartphone or a cloud service.
The m10 doesn’t have a viewfinder built in so images and videos must be composed on the 3-inch 1,040,000-dot touchscreen. It comes with a kit lens, the EF-M 15-45mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM. This is a collapsible lens which means it takes up less space and is easier to transport. It’s also an STM optic, which is good news for anyone interested in using the M10’s Full HD recording capability as it makes for smoother, quieter focusing. Overall, pick up this camera if you’re new to vlogging and in unsing more advanced camera than the one on your smartphone.
Camera for 4K Videos
Sony is at it again: a high-quality performing mirrorless camera that is sought after by almost everyone, even the pros. The Sony Alpha a7s is a full-frame camera that is powered by a 12-megapixel sensor designed to enhance video recording and low-light performance. But what is really worth mentioning is its mind-boggling low light performance of the A7s puts it in a class by itself. To have these features in a compact mirrorless camera is mind-blowing on its own.
Let’s not underestimate the importance of low light capability. It’s one of the most useful qualities of a camera to many videographers. It provides flexibility, and allows you to shoot in places you may not have been able to with a lesser piece of equipment. Out of the box, you can record video at 1080p in 24, 30, or 60 fps, with 120 fps topping out at 720p. It’s a bit pricey, though, but if you have the budget to get it, by all means get it.
Premium Mirrorless Camera for Vlogging
The Panasonic Lumix GH4 is ahead of the curve, and it’s way, way up there in terms of video shooting. In fact, when it was first released up to now, it has set the bar quite high. It has the ability to record True 4K (4096×2160) 24p cinematic video. Being able to take vivid still images as well as dazzling 4K video offers a valuable hybrid shooting option for those who do not only take photos but record videos as well, especially for Youtubers. The camera is powered by a 4/3 inch Live MOS Sensor and the Venus Engine IX, which together capture a very sharp picture that handles color grading well. There is also a Micro Four Thirds mount at your disposal to attach lenses that further refine your shots. Moreover, the battery life is impressive, which is very unlikely for a DSLR camera built primarily for great video recording.
The body itself is built with sturdy magnesium alloy, and shows many ergonomic improvements from its predecessor, the GH3. It is weather-sealed against water and dust and has high-speed dual OLED displays. In terms of ports, you have one headphone and microphone jack, MicroHDMI out, AV outputs, a flash sync terminal, and a 2.5mm jack for a remote control. The microphone jack supports XLR input for full level adjustment and monitoring, sealing the deal on this great video camera.
Camera Under $1000
The Panasonic LUMIX DMC-G7 sits beneath the Panasonic GH4 in the company’s line-up of mirrorless digital cameras. It features a 16-megapixel sensor coupled with the Venus Engine 9 processing engine. This combination produces the best image quality of any Panasonic camera. It also enables a native sensitivity range of ISO 200-25,600, with a low expansion setting of ISO 100. Additionally, the processor has a quad-core CPU for faster processing, enabling full-resolution continuous shooting at an impressive 8 frames per second in Single-AF mode or 6fps in Continuous AF mode.
In addition to shooting photos, the G7 is regarded as one of the best when it comes to shooting videos. It can record 4K MP4 movies at 100mb/s at up to 30fps in NTSC or 25fps in PAL. Full HD footage can be recorded in MP4 or AVCHD format at a range of frames rates. This makes it an ideal camera for those who also do vlogging on Youtube. A vari-angle touchscreen and Wi-Fi connectivity are yet another nice additions. Overall, this is a reasonably priced camera that offers a lot of useful features.
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