Like it or hate it, mirrorless cameras are here to stay. I’ve been in the photography industry for over 10 years, and I’ve seen companies transition to dedicating all their resources to this new camera technology, resulting in truly impressive and advanced cameras.
Mirrorless camera models are available for all levels, from casual beginners to serious professionals. They offer a smaller form factor, impressive autofocus and fast, burst shooting, making them excellent tools for any photographer. No matter what you like to shoot, or your experience level, the best mirrorless cameras will help you get the most out of your images.
Best budget mirrorless camera
The Canon EOS R100 is the cheapest mirrorless camera available right now, which is why it earns our budget pick. At the time of writing, it was under $500. The R100 features a 24.1-megapixel sensor, which delivers attractive colors and good dynamic range. Its low-light performance is quite good for a camera of this price. Of course, extensive features are lacking, but that’s to be expected. The paired-down controls make it ideal for beginners.
The R100 is the cheapest mirrorless camera available, making it a great choice for the budget-conscious beginner photographer.
Get it here: Canon EOS R100
Best mirrorless camera for professionals
Professionals are demanding, but the Z9 lives up to their expectations, which is why it’s my pick for the best professional camera available. I know photographers who’ve shot with the Z9, and they say it’s the best camera they’ve ever shot with. It has an accurate autofocus feature, fast burst shooting, high ISO performance and noise handling. Action, wildlife and low-light photographers will all benefit from this beastly camera. Plus, it’s capable of up to 8K video, making it a worthwhile option for pro filmmakers as well.
For serious professionals, the Nikon Z9 has a well-rounded set of pro-grade features for excellent results on any subject.
Get it here: Nikon Z9
Best mirrorless camera for vlogging
Sony built the ZV-E1 specifically for vlogging, and as a result, it’s rich with features for vloggers. It offers a robust list of video quality settings, including up to 4K 120p and 4K 60p 10-bit video with effective stabilization. Additionally, there’s a widescreen cinematic vlog mode, S-Cinetone and S-Log 3 picture profiles for more polished results straight out of the camera. It’s also small and easy to hold, and the screen flips around when you need to record yourself.
The Sony ZV-E1 offers a robust list of vlogger-specific features to make recording your content easier.
Get it here: Sony ZV-E1
Best filmmaking mirrorless camera
Filmmaking requires specific video specs and the Panasonic S5 IIX offers a robust set of options for serious filmmakers. That includes up to 6K 30p 4:2:0 10-bit external recording (or 4K 60p 4:2:2 10-bit internal recording). It also offers the best stabilization of any camera in its class, allowing you to hand-hold your shots. The camera build is excellent and makes it comfortable to hold the camera without a cage.
The Panasonic S5 IIX offers pro-grade video features and class-leading stabilization for serious filmmakers.
Get it here: Panasonic S5 IIX
Best Canon mirrorless camera
While the Canon EOS R6 Mark II isn’t the company’s top-of-the-line model, it is the best option for most people. I had the chance to use this camera on a press trip and was thoroughly impressed by the balance of photo and video features (as well as its autofocus). It can easily lock on to subjects, even if they are far away, and will track them as they move across the frame. The image stabilization is also excellent, and the overall picture quality is — in typical Canon fashion — very good, with a wide dynamic range so you can get great images right out of the camera.
The Canon R6 Mark II is a very well-rounded camera, ideal for those who do a little bit of everything.
Get it here: Canon EOS R6 Mark II
Best mirrorless camera for beginners
Learning to use a camera with most of the controls located in menus can add confusion and frustration. I love Fujifilm cameras for beginners because they have so many controls on dials, as opposed to buried in in-camera menus. Another plus to this ecosystem for beginners is the built-in film simulations; you can get a more polished look straight out of the camera without any editing. The X-T30 II is Fujifilm’s mid-range camera, giving you some room to grow into it. It’s built with a 26.1-megapixel sensor and offers up to 30 FPS JPEG burst shooting and 4K 30p video, making it useful for stills and video alike.
The Fujifilm X-T30 II offers many dial-based controls to make learning easy, as well as built-in film simulations for excellent photos straight out of the camera.
Get it here: Fujifilm X-T30 II
Best mirrorless camera for sports and wildlife
Sony’s A9 III is a groundbreaking camera for sports and wildlife photographers, thanks to its innovative global shutter design, the first for full-frame cameras. This design means the entire sensor is exposed to light at the same time, which results in zero distortion from a rolling shutter, a plus for action photographers. It also allows for a maximum shutter speed of 1/80,000 (not a typo!) and flash sync up to the maximum shutter speed. You’ll be able to freeze even the fastest movements. Plus, it offers up to 120 FPS, 14-bit raw burst shooting, with pre-capture and exceptional subject recognition autofocus.
Sony’s A9 III is class-leading for sports and wildlife photography. Its unique global shutter allows for a 1/80,000 max shutter speed, 120 fps burst shooting and outstanding autofocus abilities.
Get it here: Sony A9 III
Best Nikon mirrorless camera
What makes the Nikon Z8 so impressive is you get so many of the Z9’s features but at a much more reasonable price. Many photographers named this the best camera of 2023, the year it came out, for good reason. It offers a high-resolution sensor with superb dynamic range, which makes it possible to create large prints for a gallery or a picky client’s walls. You also get up to 20 FPS burst shooting with excellent autofocus. Plus, it’s capable of up to 8K 30p internal video recording, making it a superb video tool, too.
Nikon’s Z8 offers most of the Z9’s features in a smaller, more affordable body, making it the best option for most professionals.
Get it here: Nikon Z8
Best crop-sensor mirrorless camera
The Canon EOS R7 is a highly capable device that offers a lot of value for the price — more so than any other APS-C camera on the market right now. It offers up to 30 FPS of burst shooting, with truly excellent autofocus, making it a worthwhile tool for action and wildlife. It’s also capable of up to 4K 60p video — oversampled from 7K footage — resulting in really high-quality video, especially for such a mid-range camera. There’s even built-in image stabilization, which can help with sharp images in low-light conditions.
The Canon EOS R7 offers the best bang for your buck in an APS-C format and has a well-rounded feature set.
Get it here: Canon EOS R7
Best retro mirrorless camera
The Nikon Zf is a blast from the past, styled after Nikon’s famous FM/FE film camera. Like a film camera, it offers many dials for controls, including a manual shutter speed and aperture dial. There’s a switch for quickly changing between black and white and color, as well, along with an old-school shutter button. However, the inside is far from retro, with excellent image quality, advanced IBIS and up to 4K 30p video.
The Nikon Zf offers beautiful, old-school styling and controls, with lots of advanced, modern tech inside.
Get it here: Nikon Zf
Choosing the right camera can be overwhelming — in much the same way as choosing the best drones can be — because there are so many options. Plus, it can be hard to see through the marketing hype to what actually matters when choosing a new camera. While everyone’s needs are slightly different, below, you’ll find some of the most important things to look out for when selecting a mirrorless camera.
Sensor size is the first factor to consider when selecting a camera. There are three main options for sensor size: full-frame, APS-C and micro four thirds (MFT). Full-frame cameras feature a sensor the same size as 35mm film. The larger sensor allows for a larger field of view, which makes them ideal for landscape, architecture and astrophotography. They are also capable of producing a narrower depth of field than the other two, which is ideal for still life and portrait photography, or any genre where you want to isolate the subject from the rest of the scene. Finally, full-frame cameras handle low-light situations better, producing less noise at higher ISOs. The downside to full-frame cameras is that they’re more expensive and larger than the other two formats.
Both APS-C and MFT cameras are quite compact and lightweight, making them the ideal choice for travel. The narrower field of view (a result of the smaller sensor) also allows you to get more reach out of lenses. For example, a 70-300mm lens on an APS-C camera will offer an effective range of 112-480mm, which would otherwise be a much more expensive and bulkier lens. The impact of crop factor on APS-C and MFT cameras makes those cameras great for wildlife and sports photography, or other situations where a long telephoto is needed.
The sensor size you choose comes down to goals and preferences. Full-frame cameras have the reputation of being the only option for professional photographers, but APS-C and MFT cameras are advantageous in certain situations and they still offer plenty of image quality. If you’re looking for a budget compact camera, an APS-C or MFT camera would be the way to go. But if you want sweeping views, impressive low-light performance and larger file sizes, opt for full-frame.
If you know you’ll be shooting in dimly lit scenarios frequently, such as wedding receptions, indoor portraits or nighttime landscapes, low-light performance will be critical for you. As mentioned above, full-frame cameras are typically better in low-light situations, but not all full-frame cameras are created equally. Some provide better noise handling than others and allow you to use higher ISOs while still getting usable images. Be sure to look closely at ISO information when selecting a camera if you need to use high ISOs regularly, and if possible, search for sample images to see how the camera performs.
Not everyone needs a camera for video purposes, but video use is more common now. If you plan on creating videos, be sure to evaluate video specs. Most will want a camera with 4K (or higher) video resolution, although this could be overkill if you’re just producing short videos for social media. On the other hand, a higher resolution is a must for professional-grade content.
You’ll also want a camera with superb autofocus abilities, especially if you shoot outside a studio setting. Then, it’s also important to consider image stabilization, frame rate and file format options to ensure you’re getting the most out of a camera for video use.
For those who like shooting action, whether human or animal, burst shooting rates are important to pay attention to. For wildlife, sports and action photography, you’ll want a fast frame per second (FPS) number; this will ensure you won’t miss key moments of the action. Additional features, such as pre-shooting, may also help nail the shot when dealing with fast-moving subjects.
If you aren’t as concerned about action, you can potentially save money by opting for a camera that doesn’t provide the fastest burst shooting rates.
I’ve been in the photography industry for over 10 years. During that time I’ve taught photography at the college level while earning my MFA in the medium, and I’ve been writing about photography gear for the past three years. Since there are mirrorless camera options for just about anything you can imagine, I selected a range of devices suitable for many different needs. That includes beginner-friendly to pro-level models and specific options for sports and video uses. I’ve used most of these cameras myself and I prioritized ones that offer a good balance of features, quality and price.
The only difference between a mirrorless camera and a digital, single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) is the lack of a mirror system. In a DSLR camera, light enters the camera through the lens and reflects off a mirror in the camera body. The light then bounces up to a pentamirror, which bounces the light to the viewfinder so that the photographer can view the scene and frame the shot. Viewfinders on DSLRs are optical viewfinders (OVF), meaning you are seeing the actual scene, not a screen displaying the scene.
Mirrorless cameras do away with these mirrors. Instead, light enters the lens and heads straight to the camera sensor. Instead of an optical viewfinder, mirrorless cameras rely on an electronic viewfinder (EVF) — a display that translates the sensor’s data into the viewfinder.
DSLRs are a dying breed because camera manufacturers are focusing their energy and resources on mirrorless cameras. Mirrorless cameras have the latest and greatest technology: faster shooting speeds, better image stabilization, better video specs and better autofocus abilities.
Beyond advanced technology, the primary benefit of mirrorless cameras is actually the absence of all those mirrors: They are typically smaller and lighter than DSLR cameras. That’s ideal for just about every situation, although anyone who travels or hikes with a camera will especially benefit from the more compact form.
Of course, there are still some downsides to mirrorless technology. They don’t offer the same battery life as DSLRs because they’re fully reliant on EVFs for the display. Also, while EVFs have improved, some still prefer the OVF. Finally, since DSLRs have been around for decades, there’s a much broader availability of lenses for them. Companies are constantly releasing new lenses for mirrorless cameras, and you can use an adapter, but the options for mirrorless lenses are still not as extensive as those of DSLRs.
Mirrorless cameras are good for beginners. Like DSLR cameras, they’re available in all sorts of configurations and are suitable for every level of photographer, including beginners. Some models even offer beginner-focused features and can help you learn how to use the camera, then grow into more advanced settings.
It is still worth it to buy a mirrorless camera! Mirrorless cameras include the latest camera technology and companies are focusing their resources entirely on this newer format. As a result, mirrorless cameras offer more advanced features than DSLR cameras.
Yes, professional photographers use mirrorless cameras. There are high-end models with high resolutions, fast burst shooting and advanced autofocus, ideal for even the most serious professionals.
The popular brands for mirrorless cameras are the same as those for DSLR cameras. Sony, Canon and Nikon are all popular brands. Fujifilm and OM System are slightly less popular, but they are still excellent options.
