Mirrorless Camera Reviews

The Samsung NX30 is a mirrorless, Compact System Camera (CSC) with a classic SLR design. It offers an electronic viewfinder with 2.36 million RGB dots instead of an optical SLR viewfinder. The viewfinder offers an exceptionally brilliant, sharp, and detail-rich image, which easily allows the photographer to shoot in manual focusing mode.

I didn’t realize how much I could appreciate a mirrorless CSC (Compact System Camera) till, after working with the Samsung NX500 for several days, I picked up my Nikon D610 DSLR and realized I was carrying a brick in my hands. Don’t get me wrong, though. I still love my D610 and wouldn’t trade it in for anything (not just yet), but the new NX500 felt like a feather around my neck and in my hands. Even when I added the relatively heavy 50-150mm S-series lens, the combo still left me feeling as if I were working with a lyre, not a harp. Admittedly, like the lyre, it’s not as full-bodied an instrument, but the NX500 still plays a sweet tune.

Canon just announced the much-hyped new Canon EOS R5 and Canon EOS R6 mirrorless cameras along with a raft of new photo products including several professional lenses and a printer. We talked to seven photographers who have actually tested this exciting new Canon camera gear to get their impressions of what these products are like to shoot and print with.

Now that 2016 is done and dusted, we’ve had a chance to look back at all the cameras and lenses we reviewed this past year and have chosen ten of our absolute favorites. 

Yes, we’re posting our annual favorite cameras and lenses awards of 2018 with only a day left in January 2019, but that just means determining the best photo gear for last year was harder than usual. And it was, especially with the raft of exciting new full frame mirrorless cameras that hit the market in the second half of last year.

The sd Quattro H is Sigma’s second mirrorless camera based on a Foveon sensor that uses lenses with an SA mount. Compared to the first sd Quattro, which was introduced in summer 2016, the new camera offers a larger sensor, a more rugged yet still compact DSLR-style camera build, and a host of new features.

The Sony A6500 is the flagship model for Sony’s APS-C sensor-based mirrorless camera line and features an E-lens mount. The Sony A6500 was brought out only 8 months after the forerunner A6300 was shipped, which begs the question as to what changes and differences would justify a new model so soon. Indeed, there are some changes.