Mirrorless Camera Market is Heating up

They're small, capable, stylish and evil (as in Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens). They're mirrorless digital cameras based upon the four thirds system that have interchangeable lenses.

The Four thirds system pioneered by Panasonic and Olympus now includes models from Samsung and Sony (rumors of a Nikon offering this spring fizzled and Canon remains on the sidelines). Recent product announcements from all of these makers indicate manufacturers are continuing to expand this market beyond the advanced entry level category into a viable competitor of sorts for the traditional DSLR. While EVIL cameras are not there yet in terms of quality and features, the capabilities of these camera is growing rapidly.

Panasonic announced the DMC-GF3 camera that has a 12mp CMOS sensor, shoots at 3.8fps and takes HD quality video. Last year Sony entered the fray with its NEX-3 and NEX-5 cameras. Each has a large 16mp APC sensor in an incredibly small package (at least until you attach a large lens). Also, Sony just announced the NEX-C3 with a sleeker style and new features.

Samsung updated its NX system that included the NX100 and NX10 with the new NX11 camera. It has a large 14mp APC sensor and shoots HD video at 720p. It also announced five new lenses for its NX system that includes a 60mm 2.8 macro and a 18-200 zoom.

Carl Zeiss AG, maker of high quality lenses, also joined the micro four-thirds system in February. Its Zeiss HD video lenses will now be available for four thirds cameras greatly expanding the product line of these cameras.

Projections indicate the market for these types of cameras will continue to expand well into 2015 and beyond.

For a complete explanation of the Four Thirds standard go to: MFT (Micro) and 4/3.