GROUP TEST: MIRRORLESS

Fancy dipping your toes in the mirrorless pool before taking the plunge? These budget-friendly system cameras give you a chance to test the waters first

Four budget-friendly system cameras to help you test out the mirrorless format

Which is better, a fork or a spoon? Naturally, it depends on what you’re eating and how you like to eat it. The same applies to cameras. You can’t really say that mirrorless system cameras are better than DSLRs, or visa versa – they both have their strengths and weaknesses. The hype is all about mirrorless these days, especially now that Canon, Nikon and Panasonic have released full-frame rivals to Sony’s A7 and A9 series cameras.

But where does that leave experienced photographers with a premium DSLR and a companion set of prized lenses? If you’re in the Canon or Nikon camp, one solution is to buy an R-series or Z-series full-frame body, with perhaps a kit lens and a mount adaptor, so you can carry on using your treasured glass. But when buying cameras, the ‘try it, you might like it’ game can be an expensive one to play.

A lot boils down to the difference in the way that DSLR and mirrorless cameras handle. If you’re used to an optical viewfinder, an electronic alternative can serve up a real Marmite moment – you might love it or hate it. There are often more subtle differences in the style of interface, as well as in the size and weight and the overall feel.

For this group test, we’ve chosen four cropsensor mirrorless system cameras that aim for good all-round performance and versatility but are relatively inexpensive to buy. Indeed, each of them comes as a complete kit with a standard zoom lens, but costs less than many a ‘decent’ lens on its own. This gives you the opportunity to try out mirrorless shooting and see how it suits you, without having to make a big investment up front. At worst, you’ll end up with a perfectly good spare camera that’s ideal for when you want to travel lightly.