Best Compact Mirrorless

The mirrorless or “interchangeable lens compact” class is coming into its own as a worthy alternative to traditional entry-level and mid-range dSLRs. Brands have developed identities and the camera-buying public is finally showing some interest in these compact dSLR alternatives. Sony’s NEX series seems to get the most attention thanks to an aggressive advertising campaign and prominent in-store placement. But the Micro Four Thirds (MFT) system is still the genre leader, and the Olympus PEN E-PL2 is our favorite compact mirrorless camera. It’s a close call between the E-PL2 and Panasonic GF2 and both are very good cameras, but we’re siding with the PEN because it handles the dynamic range better, is more affordable, and has in-body image stabilization, which will save money on lenses down the line. The GF2 is more compact -- pocketable, almost, with a 14mm pancake lens -- and has a more solid build quality, so if you’re looking for more of a street-shooter type camera, it’s possibly a better option. One of the great aspects of MFT is that they can accept pretty much any lens every made with the help of an adapter, so if your lenses from the film era can’t fit on any of the current crop of dSLRs, they can find new life with these cool new compacts (in manual focus mode, of course). Users stepping up from point-and-shoots will feel more immediately comfortable behind one of these cameras than behind even a basic dSLR, so they make for excellent “step-up” shooters.

We’d also be remiss if we didn’t mention the Panasonic GH2 in this writeup. It’s a Micro Four Thirds camera, but significantly more advanced than the GF2 and pretty much in a class of its own. It’s the best MFT stills shooter on the market, yet it’s a truly excellent video camera as well.