What will a mirror less camera offer

[tomsop]

I know nothing about mirror less other than the name implies.

I was wondering what they will offer in terms of picture quality or video quality.

Will they be better than the Rebel T4i or fall in between a point and shoot and a Rebel.  Or do we need the specs first?  I was just wondering what people expect that they may deliver and will a mirror less offer some advantages over the current technology? 

[briansquibb]

Utopia for some will be a mirrorless, 24mp APS-C, EF-S mount, evf about the size of a Nikon 1

[Albi86]

I know nothing about mirror less other than the name implies.

I was wondering what they will offer in terms of picture quality or video quality.

Will they be better than the Rebel T4i or fall in between a point and shoot and a Rebel.  Or do we need the specs first?  I was just wondering what people expect that they may deliver and will a mirror less offer some advantages over the current technology?

By itself a mirrorless design doesn't offer the kind of advantages you've mentioned.

The difference is the possibility to overcome the limitations of mechanical components such as mirror, shutter, etc. Right now this kind of technology is at the beginning though, and I think we will have to wait another 5-10 years before it becomes the industry standard (thing that will eventually happen imho).

[ramon123]

not much at all...

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Basically they allow a thiner camera for a given sensor size with a interchangable lens.  If you make a smaller sensor, you can also reduce the diameter of the lens, and make the overall size of the camera smaller.
You also lose some features that professional photographers value, like a optical view finder.  Other pro features like phase detect AF are finding their way into a limited number of mirrorless bodies.
They are a quickly evolving product, and there is a lot of competition.  Generally, new lenses are needed, but there are converters that let you use your old lenses if necessary. 
One thing to consider, is that, like any new technology, there will be a fallout.  Some models will not sell or be overtaken by other better ones, and go out of production.  This could leave consumers with unusable high priced lenses.  Manufacturers will not hesitate to drop a product line if it flops.  Something to consider when buying one, I'd suspect that Nikon, and micro 4/3 are safe, Sony has dropped so many products in the past, that I avoid them, even though they seem to have some winning products ... for now.

[Danielle]

Go and look up the new olympus om-d em-5 camera. Its a tiny four thirds sensor, but it sounds like a decent camera.

Now think that canon will likely put a much larger sensor in theirs, like the G1X. Hopefully it has interchangeable lenses and makes a stand against those like those I just mentioned and the nikon 1.

Who would it appeal to? Those traveling for starters. *points to those who believe DSLR's are too big/heavy*. Other than that, I don't know...

Am I interested in one? Doubt it.

[Bennymiata]

To me, mirrorless means a lot of money for a small camera that is not as comfortable to use nor as fast as a DSLR to focus, and when you want to change something you have to delve into the on-screen menus because the body is too small to have a dedicated button to do so.
It also means paying a lot of money for a lousy choice of lenses and every time you change the lens, that dirt will fall onto the sensor as there is no mirror in front of it to protect it.
I think they are a fad, and they aren't selling anywhere near as many of them in Australia or the US as the importers would like them too, as they just don't offer good value for money.
I see the Nikon V1's and J1's gathering dust on the retailers' shelves along with other similar brands, and while the salesmen push them hard, most thinking people walk out with a decent DSLR instead.

I reckon a good quality P&S like a Canon G1X is a much better proposition IMHO.

[elflord]

I know nothing about mirror less other than the name implies.

I was wondering what they will offer in terms of picture quality or video quality.

There are already several mirrorless interchangeable cameras on the market (Samsung NX, Sony NEX, Micro 4/3, Nikon 1), just none from Canon yet.

In terms of picture quality, it should be in line with what you'd expect given sensor size (APS-C).

Video depends more on how much effort they put into video performance. I've found that mirrorless cameras are quite good at AFing in video mode, probably because the lenses are designed to be used with contrast AF.

Because it's a new system, there will be a very small range of accessories available to begin with.

Will they be better than the Rebel T4i or fall in between a point and shoot and a Rebel.  Or do we need the specs first?  I was just wondering what people expect that they may deliver and will a mirror less offer some advantages over the current technology?

The main advantages are smaller size, and the ability to adapt old manual focus lenses. They are really all about getting SLR level performance into a compact package. When you don't mind lugging a larger camera around a DSLR is a better choice but the mirrorless cameras offer similar performance in a much lighter (and sometimes, smaller) package.

[elflord]

To me, mirrorless means a lot of money for a small camera that is not as comfortable to use nor as fast as a DSLR to focus, and when you want to change something you have to delve into the on-screen menus because the body is too small to have a dedicated button to do so.
It also means paying a lot of money for a lousy choice of lenses and every time you change the lens, that dirt will fall onto the sensor as there is no mirror in front of it to protect it.

There are so many falsehoods here that I don't know where to begin. "Expensive" is relative, but micro 4/3 are in their third generation, so older bodies are available at very modest prices (comparable to P&S prices). The same is true of old Sony NEX bodies. So it's incorrect that the camera is expensive.

"Comfortable" is in the eye of the beholder, but there is a large variety of mirrorless cameras on the market with varying levels of external controls. Panasonic GH2 and Olympus OMD won't require much digging through menus. Even cameras with fewer external controls like the GF2 don't require you to "delve into menus" because the touch screen/Q-Menu system provides very quick access. In practice, changing drive mode (for example) is no harder on a GF2 than it is on a 5D Mark II.

As for the "lousy choice of lenses", that's probably true for some systems (Sony NEX, Nikon 1, and the as yet unreleased Canon system) but less true for micro 4/3.

I reckon a good quality P&S like a Canon G1X is a much better proposition IMHO.

Doesn't that have most of the disadvantages of the interchangeable lens cameras ? Expensive, limited selection of lenses, less egonomic than a DSLR, slower AF ? It's also about the same size as a DSLR. But it's a Canon.

As for "fad" -- mirrorless has been around for a long time (P&S) as has interchangeable lens. So having the two together is almost inevitable. It's probably true however that not all systems will survive. We have Samsung, Fuji, Sony NEX, Samsung, Nikon 1, Canon (if they release it), and Micro 4/3. Not all of them can win.

[RLPhoto]

High speed, low drag. 

[moreorless]

I know nothing about mirror less other than the name implies.

I was wondering what they will offer in terms of picture quality or video quality.

Will they be better than the Rebel T4i or fall in between a point and shoot and a Rebel.  Or do we need the specs first?  I was just wondering what people expect that they may deliver and will a mirror less offer some advantages over the current technology?

The strongest rumours we've had is that the lower end model will use a similar sized sensor to the G1X which means image quality very similar to the 650D in a 4/3 aspect.

Theres also been talk of a second higher end model(with EVF?) that will use the same sensor as the new 70D, perhaps 22 megapixels.

The obvious advanatge over the current tech will be size and an EVF if you preffer them to OVF's, if thats not an issue for you I wouldnt personally worry too much about holding out for a mirrorless.

[Dylan777]

As of 2012, the only advantage mirrorless has to offer is the size and weight over DSLR.

Can't speak for future..