I'd love to see Nikon or Canon make a DSLR clones sans mirror, with either a Micro 4/3 or APSC sensor, that'll make use of either line's DSLR lenses.
That's a lot of nice glass, but one of the big draws for mirrorless for me was the smaller hardware footprint. The Sony MILC cameras have APSC sensors and equivalent lenses and are too big (with lens, the bodies are tiny). I have three lenses for my Panasonic G3, a 9mm F8 fixed aperture fisheye lens for WA and fun stuff, a 20mm f1.7 for most things, and a 45-150mm zoom for distance shots or isolating nearby subjects. I have a Peak Design strap and a Peak Design Capture (quick release) Camera Clip that allows me to attach the camera to a backpack strap. I don't need a bag, but can carry nearly all of that in the pockets of a pair of cargo shorts. That means I'm more likely to have the camera with me when I need it.
I know there are adapters, but they kill either the autofocus or metering, and those are things I'd much rather have.
You lose AF for AF lenses, but metering still works. On my Panasonic G3, I set it to Aperture-Priority mode, and manage the aperture from the lens while the camera controls the shutter speed (or I go full manual and do it all). I still get meter functionality. I've only used adapters with manual lenses, so the lack of AF was a given. :)
My G3 provides viewfinder magnification for manual focusing, but it's a bit awkward. Newer G-series cameras and others do Focus Peaking, which changes the color of the in-focus area (Sony did it with their mirrorless compacts years ago). That would make manual operation simple IMO.
Olympus is doing a bang-up job with their mirrorless OM-D Micro 4/3 series. I've played with one at the National Camera Exchange store in Maple Grove, Minnesota. Very nice!
Yup. Panasonic has some nice cameras and lenses as well. I would be torn between an OM-D and the new Panasonic GX-7.
There are some really nice M4/3 lenses out there now and more nice ones on the way. If you're ok with manual focus, there are some fantastic manual lenses from Leica (via adapter) or Voigtlander (native mount), but they're spendy.
Interchangeable lenses is a feature that pleases camera geeks but is highly overrated for non-specialized photography. Are you going to carry around a case of lenses and change every photo? Some people actually do.
Define "non-specialized photography". I frequently run into situations where the lens of a fixed lens camera was not the right tool for the job. Either too slow in terms of F-stop or the wrong focal length or both. While my 20mm 1.7 lens (equiv to 50mm "normal" lens in 35mm film terms) pretty much lives on my G3, I do swap it out fairly often. The nice thing about M4/3 is that you can toss an extra lens in your pockets for added flexibility and leave the big bag in the car.
Chris
