Searching for the best mirrorless camera

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Shawn Blanc is searching for a new camera. I’m still satisfied with my iPhone — it’s always with me and takes great photos.



  • http://www.BarnesFamily.com/ davebarnes
  • tyr

    Now that phone cameras are about on par with point-and-shoots, high end cameras have become a status symbol people obsess over.

    • ckoerner

      Such as DSLRs? I don’t understand the ‘status symbol’ remark.

      • tyr

        Suddenly a bunch of my friends are “serious photographers” who take pictures of their kids (or cats for the childless) with their >1000$ cameras. You can’t go to any gathering without half a dozen douchebags running around making a nuisance of themselves poking their expensive substitute fallus in everyone’s face talking about how much money they dropped on the latest “must have” lens. Hence, it’s a fad and a status symbol.

        • adrianoconnor

          “Suddenly a bunch of my friends are ‘serious photographers’ … blah … You can’t go to any gathering without half a dozen douchebags running around [without poking their cameras in peoples' faces]“.

          Wait, you have friends?

          Of course, I jest. You come across as a perfectly charming individual ;-)

    • adrianoconnor

      This is such bullshit. Point and shoots, especially the new breed of well made, slightly pricer models, take far better photos than the best phones. The cheapest DSLRs take much better photos than the best point and shoots.

      It’s about trade-offs. Your phone might take good enough photos for you, but that does mean that somebody else feels that way. It especially doesn’t mean that somebody who wants to take better photos is merely treating it as a status symbol. That’s such an arrogant statement. They just prioritise things differently.

      • tyr

        Be honest, you’re the guy who brings his DSLR to other people’s weddings aren’t you ?

        • adrianoconnor

          Definitely not. That’s what wedding photographers are for. However, if I was a wedding photographer, then yes, I would be that guy.

  • gjgustav

    Would have liked to seen some info about Nikon’s J1 and V1 cameras.

  • http://twitter.com/greg42 Greg

    This question has been haunting me on and off for at least a year. Now that I’m reading this I’d guess it will haunt me again for a bit. And yet I haven’t bought a camera yet. When I upgraded to my iPhone 4 from a 3GS, it was specifically because of the camera. Now I don’t feel like I need a separate basic point and shoot, and the only camera we have in the household is an old enough small Canon that is effectively equalled by the iPhone 4 except for a modest amount of optical zoom (3x). But I would still like to have photographic capability better than the phone, so I am looking for something that does things the phone won’t do, within a reasonable price range. This is at least another bit of info I might use in my search. Meanwhile, the intervening time has maybe brought some of the models closer to ideal for me.