See the future in a mirrorless camera

Sony attributes the improvement in mirrorless sales to new, young photographers going into the camera shops without the DSLR prejudice of their elders. Photo: iStock

IMAGING

At the launch of Panasonic's Lumix G7 (reviewed today) last month, the company was pleased to tell us that sales of mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras are on the up and up. This time last year the mirrorless share of the interchangeable lens market, which includes digital single-lens reflex cameras, was 25 per cent; this year it is 35 per cent.

From the US, Sony reports that mirrorless sales are up 16.5 per cent, and the company's revenue from this camera type increased by 66 per cent over the past year. This is still way short of the global market share of 25 per cent for mirrorless, but it is a big turnaround in "bigger-is-better" America. Sony attributes the improvement in US sales to new, young photographers going into the camera shops without the DSLR prejudice of their elders.

Panasonic Lumix G7.

Panasonic is now out of the DSLR business altogether and it looks as though Olympus is putting all its eggs in the mirrorless basket. There is no longer a DSLR advertised on the Olympus Australia website and the recent release of its magnificent m.Zuiko Pro range of lenses suggests that micro four-thirds is their future.

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Samsung and Fujifilm also appear to have abandoned the DSLR form with the Fujifilm XT-1 and the Samsung NX-1, both mirrorless, now their flagship cameras.

Canon and Nikon continue to dominate the market for interchangeable lens cameras, but they each have mirrorless models in their catalogues; although in the case of Canon, it has just one model – the excellent M3 – that it doesn't sell in the US.

Sony has launched an advertising blitz for its alpha range of mirrorless cameras that you may have seen on TV. For reasons best known to the advertising agency, a huge mirror was set up in the Namibian desert (we don't have deserts here?) and was filmed being broken. The message may be too subtle for the uninformed and uninterested TV watcher, but hey! This is advertising. You can see the ad here.

Olympus US has produced a mockumentary warning against the misery of DSL-ARM – the embarrassing phenomenon of the elongated arm caused by lugging a heavy DSLR around. Watch poor, stupid Paul trying to adjust to life with a right hand that drags on the ground.

So, the figures suggest Australia is the place to be if you want to be taken seriously with a small, mirrorless camera. We may congratulate ourselves on our good sense.

REVIEW

PANASONIC LUMIX G7Price: $880 w 14-42mm kit lens (street price)

The best of both

THE LOW-DOWN This 16-megapixel micro four-thirds mirrorless interchangeable lens camera brings many of the features of the $2500 GH4 to a more affordable form. The G7 incorporates the 4K ultra-high-definition video mode of the more expensive camera. There is a 4K stills mode that takes a sort of stop motion video of individual 8-megapixel frames to capture action. And the camera can anticipate the decisive moment – it has a "PreBurst" short buffer that begins recording before the shutter is released. You need to see it to understand it. The viewfinder is very high resolution and the LCD is touch sensitive. Panasonic's Wi-Fi control from phone or tablet is the best in the business. The camera is light and small.

LIKE The 4K video output is stunning. We were able to edit and display the UHD video on the new 5K iMac, even displaying the 4K picture at the iMac's full-screen mode, and the results are amazing. There is a microphone socket so that the audio quality can match the video.

DISLIKE Such a refined camera should not have the memory card slot in the battery compartment where it cannot be accessed when the camera is on a tripod.

VERDICT Some years ago we reviewed one of the first hybrid stills/video cameras – also from Panasonic – and confidently predicted that it was a fiasco that would never fly. It was impossible, we said, to combine the two functions in a single camera without compromising both. OK. We were wrong. It is possible. And it has been done. With the Panasonic G7 you get the best of both at a remarkably reasonable price. And the Australian price is the same as in the US – buy locally!

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