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A mirrorless camera is a
photo camera
A camera is an optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), with a ...
featuring a single, removable
lens
A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements''), ...
and a
digital display
A display device is an output device for presentation of information in visual or tactile form (the latter used for example in tactile electronic displays for blind people). When the input information that is supplied has an electrical signal t ...
.
The camera does not have a
reflex mirror or
optical viewfinder like a
digital single-lens reflex
A digital single-lens reflex camera (digital SLR or DSLR) is a digital camera that combines the optics and the mechanisms of a single-lens reflex camera with a digital imaging sensor.
The reflex design scheme is the primary difference between a ...
(DSLR) camera, but may have an
electronic viewfinder
An electronic viewfinder (EVF) is a camera viewfinder where the image captured by the lens is displayed on a small screen (usually LCD or OLED) which the photographer can look through when composing their shot. It differs from a live preview ...
.
Many mirrorless cameras retain a mechanical shutter. Like a DSLR, a mirrorless camera accepts any of a series of interchangeable lenses compatible with its
lens mount
A lens mount is an interface – mechanical and often also electrical – between a photographic camera body and a lens. It is a feature of camera systems where the body allows interchangeable lenses, most usually the rangefinder camera, singl ...
.
Terminology
Mirrorless cameras are sometimes referred to as mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras (MILC), or digital single-lens mirrorless (DSLM) cameras. This latter name highlights their connection to DSLRs. Other terms include electronic viewfinder interchangeable lens (EVIL) cameras and compact system cameras (CSCs).
Overview
Mirrorless cameras are mechanically simpler than
DSLR
A digital single-lens reflex camera (digital SLR or DSLR) is a digital camera that combines the optics and the mechanisms of a single-lens reflex camera with a digital imaging sensor.
The reflex design scheme is the primary difference between ...
cameras, and are smaller, lighter, and quieter due to the elimination of the moving mirror. While nearly all mirrorless cameras have a mechanical shutter, many also have an electronic shutter, allowing completely silent operation.
Until the mid 2010s mirrorless cameras were somewhat challenged to provide an electronic viewfinder with the clarity and low-lag responsiveness of the optical viewfinders used on DSLRs, especially under strong sunlight or when photographing the sky at night.
As the image from the lens is always projected onto the image sensor, features can be available only possible in DSLRs when the mirror is locked up into "live view" mode. This includes the ability to show a
focus-peaking
Focus peaking is a focusing aid in live preview or electronic viewfinder
An electronic viewfinder (EVF) is a camera viewfinder where the image captured by the lens is displayed on a small screen (usually LCD or OLED) which the photographer c ...
display,
zebra patterning
Zebra patterning (or zebra stripes) is a feature found on some wikt:prosumer#Etymology_2, prosumer and most professional video cameras to aid in correct exposure. When enabled, areas of the image over a certain threshold are filled with a strip ...
, and
face or eye tracking. The electronic viewfinder can provide live
depth of field
The depth of field (DOF) is the distance between the nearest and the furthest objects that are in acceptably sharp focus in an image captured with a camera.
Factors affecting depth of field
For cameras that can only focus on one object dist ...
preview, can show a poorly-illuminated subject how it would look with correct exposure in real time, and makes it easier to view the results of an exposure in bright sunlight.
With the latest phase-detect autofocus available on some mirrorless cameras, the autofocus speed and accuracy of some models has been shown to be as good as DSLRs. But mirrorless cameras have shorter battery life than DSLRs due to prolonged use of LCD and/or OLED viewfinder displays, and often smaller buffers (to save battery). On-sensor autofocus is free of the adjustment requirements of the indirect focusing system of the DSLR (which relies on a separate autofocus sensor located below the reflex mirror), and as of 2018 mirrorless cameras could shoot with phase-detect autofocus at up to 20 frames per second using up to 693 focus points—a number far exceeding what was available on any DSLR. However, on-sensor phase detection autofocus (except for
Canon's Dual Pixel Autofocus
Dual or Duals may refer to:
Paired/two things
* Dual (mathematics), a notion of paired concepts that mirror one another
** Dual (category theory), a formalization of mathematical duality
*** see more cases in :Duality theories
* Dual (grammatica ...
) repurposes pixel sites for autofocus acquisition, so that image data is partially or entirely missing for the autofocus "pixels", which can cause
banding artifacts in the final image.
Sensor size
A full-frame camera is a digital camera with a digital sensor the same size as
35 mm format
135 film, more popularly referred to as 35 mm film or 35 mm, is a format of photographic film used for still photography. It is a film with a film gauge of loaded into a standardized type of magazine – also referred to as a casse ...
() film. Cameras that have a smaller sensor than full-frame (such as
APS-C
Advanced Photo System type-C (APS-C) is an image sensor format approximately equivalent in size to the Advanced Photo System film negative in its C ("Classic") format, of 25.1×16.7 mm, an aspect ratio of 3:2 and Ø 31.15 mm field d ...
and
Micro Four Thirds) differ in having a
crop factor
In digital photography, the crop factor, format factor, or focal length multiplier of an image sensor format is the ratio of the dimensions of a camera's imaging area compared to a reference format; most often, this term is applied to digital ca ...
. Digital cameras with a larger sensor than full-frame are called medium format, after
medium format film cameras that use the
120 and 220 film formats.
Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
was the first to introduce a full-frame mirrorless camera, the
α7, in 2013.
It was followed by the
Leica SL (Typ 601)
The Leica SL (Typ 601) is a full-frame mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera announced by Leica Camera AG on 20 October 2015. The SL is promoted as a camera system for professional applications. Beside the Leica S-System, the Leica SL-System ...
in 2015.
Nikon
(, ; ), also known just as Nikon, is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in optics and imaging products. The companies held by Nikon form the Nikon Group.
Nikon's products include cameras, camera ...
and
Canon
Canon or Canons may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base
* Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture
** Western ca ...
each launched full-frame mirrorless cameras in September 2018. Panasonic and Sigma, under the
L-Mount Alliance
The L-Mount Alliance is an alliance between Leica Camera AG, Panasonic and Sigma, launched on 25 September 2018, whereby Panasonic and Sigma will make use of the L-Mount standard initially developed by Leica and will offer cameras and lenses uti ...
, announced that they will be using the
Leica L-Mount
The Leica L-Mount is a bayonet mount developed by Leica Camera AG for interchangeable-lens autofocus digital cameras.
The L-Mount has an inner diameter of 51.6 mm and a flange depth of 20.0 mm.
The L-mount exists in two versions, an APS-C versio ...
for their own full-frame mirrorless cameras. Panasonic announced its S1R and S1 cameras, and Sigma announced a then-unnamed camera, later called the fp, all to be launched in 2019 along with lenses from Panasonic and Sigma.
History
In 2013, mirrorless system cameras constituted about five percent of total camera shipments. In 2015, they accounted for 26 percent of system camera sales outside of the Americas, and 16 percent within the United States.
2004–2006. The first
digital rangefinder camera commercially marketed was the
Epson R-D1
The original R-D1, announced by Epson in March 2004 and discontinued in 2007, was the first digital rangefinder camera. Subsequently, three modifications of the original ''R-D1'' were produced - ''R-D1s'', ''R-D1x'', and ''R-D1xG''.
R-D1
''R-D1 ...
(released in 2004), followed by the
Leica M8
The Leica M8 is the first digital camera in the rangefinder M series introduced by Leica Camera AG on 14 September 2006. It uses an APS-H 10.3-megapixel Kodak KAF-10500 CCD image sensor.
As of 15 November 2014, the most recent firmware version ...
. They were some of the first digital lens-interchangeable cameras without a reflex mirror, but they are not mirrorless cameras because they did not use a digital display system for live preview. Compact cameras with large sensors, technically akin to the current mirrorless cameras, were also marketed in this period. Cameras like
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-R1
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-R1 is a bridge digital camera announced by Sony in 2005. It featured a 10.3 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor (21.5 × 14.4 mm), a size typically used in digital single-lens reflex camera, DSLRs and rarely used in bridge cam ...
and
Sigma DP1 The Sigma DP1 was a high-end compact digital camera introduced by the Sigma Corporation. It featured a 14-megapixel Foveon X3 sensor (2652 × 1768 × 3 layers), a fixed 16.6 mm F4.0 lens (28mm equivalent), a LCD and a pop-up flash. It was the first ...
proved that
live preview
Live preview is a feature that allows a digital camera's display screen to be used as a viewfinder. This provides a means of previewing framing and other exposure before taking the photograph. In most such cameras, the preview is generated by m ...
operation is possible, and useful with APS-C sized sensors.
2008. The first mirrorless camera commercially marketed was the
Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1 was the first digital mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera (MILC) adhering to the Micro Four Thirds system design standard. The G1 camera is similar to the larger Four Thirds system format DSLR cameras, but replaces ...
, released in Japan in October 2008. It was also the first camera of
Micro Four Thirds system, developed exclusively for the mirrorless ILC system.
2009–2010. The
Ricoh GXR
The Ricoh GXR is a compact digital camera first announced by Ricoh Company, Ltd, Tokyo on November 10, 2009. Unlike conventional cameras which either have a fixed lens and sensor or interchangeable lens and a fixed sensor, the GXR takes interchan ...
(November 2009) had a radically different design. The mirrorless camera featured interchangeable lens ''units'' – a sealed unit of a lens and sensor, instead of the lens only being interchangeable. This design was different from other mirrorless cameras, and received mixed reviews, primarily due to its higher cost.
Following the introduction of the Micro Four Thirds system, several other cameras were released by Panasonic and Olympus, with the
Olympus PEN E-P1
The Olympus Pen E-P1 announced on 16 June 2009 is Olympus Corporation's first camera that adheres to the Micro Four Thirds (MFT) system design standard. The first camera to use the Micro Four Thirds mount was Panasonic's G-1 camera.
Features
...
(announced June 2009) being the first mirrorless camera in a compact size (pocketable with a small lens). The
Samsung NX10
The Samsung NX10 is a 14.0 effective megapixel APS-C crop CMOS mirrorless interchangeable lens digital camera made by Samsung. It was announced on January 4, 2010 and is one of the first mirrorless cameras with an APS-C sized sensor. Samsung NX ...
(announced January 2010) was the first camera in this class not using the Micro Four Thirds system, instead utilizing a new, proprietary lens mount (
Samsung NX-mount
The Samsung NX-mount is the lens mount used on NX series mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras by Samsung. The mount was first implemented in the Samsung NX10, and Samsung initially referred to the NX line as 'hybrid digital cameras', citing the ...
). The Sony Alpha
NEX-3
The Sony α NEX-5 is a digital camera launched on 11 May 2010. It is a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera with the body size of a larger model fairly compact point-and-shoot camera with a larger sensor size (APS-C) comparable to that of some di ...
and
NEX-5 (announced May 14, 2010, and released in July 2010) saw Sony enter the market with a new, proprietary lens mount (the
Sony E-mount
The E-mount is a lens mount designed by Sony for their NEX ("New E-mount eXperience") and ILCE series of camcorders and mirrorless cameras. The E-mount supplements Sony's α mount, allowing the company to develop more compact imaging devices whi ...
), though the camera included LA-EA1 and LA-EA2 adapters for the legacy
Minolta A-mount
was a Japanese manufacturer of cameras, camera accessories, photocopiers, fax machines, and laser printers. Minolta Co., Ltd., which is also known simply as Minolta, was founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1928 as . It made the first integrated autofocu ...
.
2011. In June 2011, Pentax announced the 'Q' mirrorless interchangeable lens camera and the 'Q-mount' lens system. The original Q series featured a smaller 1/2.3 inch 12.4 megapixel CMOS sensor. The Q7, introduced in 2013, has a slightly larger 1/1.7 inch CMOS sensor with the same megapixel count.
In September 2011, Nikon announced their
Nikon 1
The Nikon 1 series is a discontinued camera line from Nikon, originally announced on 21 September 2011. The cameras utilized Nikon 1-mount lenses, and featured 1" CX format sensors.
The series included the Nikon 1 V1, J1, J2, and S1 with a ...
system which consists of the
Nikon 1 J1 and
Nikon 1 V1
The Nikon 1 V1 is a Nikon 1 series high-speed mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera launched by Nikon on 21 September 2011.
The successor is the Nikon 1 V2 announced on October 24, 2012.
The CMOS sensor from Aptina is used, it has 10.1 MP, CX ...
cameras and lenses. The V1 features an
electronic viewfinder
An electronic viewfinder (EVF) is a camera viewfinder where the image captured by the lens is displayed on a small screen (usually LCD or OLED) which the photographer can look through when composing their shot. It differs from a live preview ...
.
The series includes high-speed mirrorless cameras which, according to Nikon, had the fastest
autofocus
An autofocus (or AF) optical system uses a sensor, a control system and a motor to focus on an automatically or manually selected point or area. An electronic rangefinder has a display instead of the motor; the adjustment of the optical system ...
and the fastest continuous shooting speed (60 fps) of any camera with interchangeable lenses, including
DSLR
A digital single-lens reflex camera (digital SLR or DSLR) is a digital camera that combines the optics and the mechanisms of a single-lens reflex camera with a digital imaging sensor.
The reflex design scheme is the primary difference between ...
s.
2012. The
Fujifilm X-Pro1
The Fujifilm X-Pro1 is a Mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera, mirrorless interchangeable-lens digital camera announced in January 2012 and launched in March 2012. It is part of Fujifilm, Fujifilm's Fujifilm X-series, X-Series of cameras. In Oc ...
, announced in January 2012, was the first non-rangefinder mirrorless with a built-in optical viewfinder. Its hybrid viewfinder overlaid electronic information, including shifting frame-lines, to compensate for the parallax effect. Its 2016 successor, the
X-Pro2, had an updated version of this viewfinder.
Beyond just consumer interest, mirrorless lens systems created significant interest from camera manufacturers as a possible alternative to high-end camera manufacturing. Mirrorless cameras have fewer moving parts than DSLRs, and are more electronic, which is an advantage to electronic manufacturers (such as Panasonic, and Samsung), while reducing the advantage that dedicated camera manufacturers have in precision
mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...
. Sony's entry level full frame mirrorless α7 II camera has a 24-
megapixel
In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a raster image, or the smallest point in an all points addressable display device.
In most digital display devices, pixels are the smal ...
5-axis stabilised sensor, but is more compact and less expensive than any full-frame sensor DSLR.
Canon
Canon or Canons may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base
* Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture
** Western ca ...
was the last of the major manufacturer of DSLRs to announce their own mirrorless camera, announcing the
Canon EOS M
Canon EOS M is the first mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera produced by Canon.
DPReview noted that the EOS M is effectively a miniature version of the Canon EOS 650D, which was introduced in June 2012, with a simpler physical interface. The ...
in 2012 with APS-C sensor and 18 mm
registration distance similar to the one used by NEX.
In the longer term Olympus decided that mirrorless may replace DSLRs entirely in some categories; Olympus America's DSLR
product manager
A product manager (PM) is a professional role that is responsible for the development of products for an organization, known as the practice of product management. Product managers own the product strategy behind a product (physical or digital), ...
speculated that by 2012 Olympus DSLRs (the Olympus E system) might be mirrorless, though still using the Four Thirds System (not ''Micro'' Four Thirds).
Panasonic UK's Lumix G product manager John Mitchell, speaking to the Press at the 2011 "Focus on Imaging" show in Birmingham, reported that Panasonic "G" camera market share was almost doubling each year, and that the UK Panasonic "G" captured over 11% of all interchangeable camera sales in the UK in 2010, and that the UK "CSC" sales made up 23% of the interchangeable lens market in the UK, and 40% in Japan.
In May 2010 the prices of interchangeable-lens camera ranged from US$550 to $800, a little higher than entry-level DSLRs and significantly more than high-end compact cameras.
Sony announced their 2011 sales statistics in September 2012, which showed that mirrorless lenses had 50% of the interchangeable lens market in Japan, 18% in Europe, and 23% worldwide. Since then, Nikon and others entered the mirrorless market.
2013. Due to the downward trend of the world camera market, mirrorless camera sales suffered, but not as drastically and was compensated with increase by about 12 percent in the Japanese mirrorless camera market. However, mirrorless cameras took longer to catch on in Europe and North America. According to Japanese photo industry sources, mirrorless made up only 11.2% of interchangeable-lens cameras shipped to Europe in the first nine months of 2013, and 10.5% of those shipped to the U.S. in the same period.
An industry researcher found that mirrorless camera sales in the U.S. fell by about 20% in the three weeks leading up to December 14, 2013—which included the key
Black Friday shopping week; in the same period, DSLR sales went up 1%.
2015. 2015 sales statistics showed that overall camera sales have fallen to one third of those of 2010, due to compact cameras being substituted by camera-capable mobile phones. Within camera sales, ILCs have seen their market share increasing, with ILCs being 30% of overall camera sales, of which DSLRs were 77% and mirrorless cameras were 23%. In the Americas in 2015, DSLR annual sales fell by 16% per annum, while mirrorless sales over the same 12-month period have increased by 17%. In Japan, mirrorless cameras outsold DSLRs during some parts of the year. In 2015, mirrorless-cameras accounted for 26 percent of interchangeable-lens camera sales outside the Americas, although a lesser share of 26 percent was in the U.S.
2016. In late 2016, Olympus announced their OM-D E-M1 Mark II camera, a successor to the earlier and successful Mark I. The Mark II model retains a Micro Four Thirds image sensor of 17.3x13 mm and features a 20.4 megapixel resolution lens, representing a new generation of mirrorless cameras competitive with and in many respects superior to DSLR cameras.
2017. In early 2017, Sony announces the Alpha-9 mirrorless camera, offering 693 autofocus points, and 20 frame-per-second shooting. In October Sony announces the
A7RIII, offering 10FPS shooting at 42 megapixels.
2018. In early 2018, Sony announced the A7III mirrorless camera, bringing the 693 autofocus points of the A9 at a much lower cost. In August, Nikon announced its new full-frame mirrorless
Z 6 and
Z 7 cameras, both using
a new lens mount. Canon announced its first full-frame mirrorless model, the
EOS R
The Canon EOS R is a 30.3 megapixel full-frame mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera launched by Canon in October 2018.
The "R" in EOS R comes from the first letter of "Reimagine optical excellence", Canon's development concept for both th ...
, and its own
new lens mount the next month.
At the NAB Show in April 2018,
Blackmagic Design
Blackmagic Design Pty Ltd. is an Australian digital cinema company and hardware manufacturer based in Port Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It designs and manufactures broadcast and cinema hardware, most notably high-end digital-movie cameras, ...
announced and demonstrated the Pocket Cinema Camera 4K at a price of $1295 USD.
File:Pentax Q 02n3000.jpg, Pentax Q
File:Ricoh GXR IMG 5351.JPG, Ricoh GXR
The Ricoh GXR is a compact digital camera first announced by Ricoh Company, Ltd, Tokyo on November 10, 2009. Unlike conventional cameras which either have a fixed lens and sensor or interchangeable lens and a fixed sensor, the GXR takes interchan ...
File:Samsung NX10.jpg, Samsung NX10
The Samsung NX10 is a 14.0 effective megapixel APS-C crop CMOS mirrorless interchangeable lens digital camera made by Samsung. It was announced on January 4, 2010 and is one of the first mirrorless cameras with an APS-C sized sensor. Samsung NX ...
File:Lumix G1-IMG 2436.jpg, Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1 was the first digital mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera (MILC) adhering to the Micro Four Thirds system design standard. The G1 camera is similar to the larger Four Thirds system format DSLR cameras, but replaces ...
File:Canon EOS R5.jpg, Canon EOS R5
The Canon EOS R5 is a full-frame mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera officially announced by Canon on July 9, 2020 alongside the lower-resolution EOS R6 and various new RF mount lenses. While it is not a direct successor to any of Canon's p ...
Systems comparison
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera
Japanese inventions
de:Systemkamera#Digitale Systemkameras