A viewfinder is the soul of the camera. Therefore, a built-in viewfinder is a must-have feature in a camera. Those mirror-less cameras are really evil. If I have to spend $200-300 for a add-on EVF, their prices are not competitive. Fujifilm understands this and makes non-evil cameras; even their cheap cameras such 2950 has built-in EVF. I bought recently x10 and very happy with it. It’s not perfect (small sensor), but is much better than those evil cameras such NEX, Oly EP, Pana, etc.

I asked him what he thought about this new kind of camera and his response surprised me. Not because of what he said but rather how similar it was to what I was thinking even though I had up until that point never touched one before.

Before I began pursuing photography as a serious venture, I owned a Canon A620 Powershot. It was a great little camera for casual picture taking but after my first son was born I began hitting the limitations all point and shoots come with.

That’s when I made the decision to buy my first DSLR. I’m glad I did because the Nikon D90 I bought is what really amped up my interest in photography.

Had I bought a mirrorless camera instead (if they were available three years ago) I’m not sure my interest would have been as intense as it is now.

The owner of the Sony mirrorless camera told me he liked it a lot but would not give up his Canon DSLR. I asked him why and he told me that even though there were definit advantages (light weight, compact, dslr sized sensor, interchangable lenses) it was more like a cross between a point and shoot and a dslr.

He showed me how he had to cycle through the on screen menus to set up the camera where as with a dslr you had near instant access with their control knobs, buttons & wheels.

I asked about what it was like to focus and for the most part he said it was pretty good except for the fact he didn’t like using the screen to do it. Even though the screen is fairly high resolution it still isn’t as good as your eye through the viewfinder.

All in all he said it was a great camera to use for those times he wanted something that could take great pictures but didn’t want to pack around a full size dslr all day.

After trying out his camera I understood what he meant, and like I said, I was surprised how his assessment was close to what I thought it would be like.

Would I get one one now? I’m not sure because it wouldn’t fit my needs (at this point anyhow). But I think it’s a great choice for people who could use something that is a great cross between a point and shoot and a DSLR.