The 6 Best Mirrorless Cameras - Spring 2021 Reviews

The best mirrorless camera for travel photography that we've tested is the Sony α6400. This crop-sensor camera is fairly compact, making it easy to bring with you for a full day of use. Despite its relatively compact size, it's comfortable to use, and its battery life should be sufficient for long shooting sessions, depending on your usage habits and choice of settings.

The camera's out-of-the-box image quality is impressive, with a wide dynamic range and a minimal loss of sharpness at moderate to high ISO levels, which is good if you plan on snapping photos at night or dimly-lit environments. You can also use the camera's HDR shooting mode to preserve more detail in your shots when shooting in areas of high contrast, though we don't currently test this function. Its autofocus system also does a fantastic job of tracking moving subjects too.

Unfortunately, you can't use its touchscreen interface to navigate its menu system, which is also somewhat confusing in terms of layout. Still, its wide feature set, relatively small size, and impressive image quality make it a great choice if you're looking for a camera to take with you while traveling.

The best mirrorless camera for landscape photography that we've tested is the Sony α7 III. This full-frame camera delivers exceptional image quality out-of-the-box, with a broad dynamic range, good noise handling capability, and minimal loss of image sharpness at higher ISO levels, which is good if you plan on shooting in darker environments frequently. Its autofocus system also has little trouble tracking moving subjects.

It feels exceptionally well-built, with a sturdy magnesium alloy and plastic construction. It's also very comfortable to use for extended shooting sessions, courtesy of its well-spaced controls that provide good physical feedback. Its tilting screen is also large, reasonably sharp, and bright enough to be seen clearly under direct sunlight. Depending on your usage habits and choice of settings, it should also provide enough charge for a full day of use.

Unfortunately, its menu system is slightly confusing in terms of layout and can't be navigated by tapping on the touchscreen. The camera itself is also quite heavy and somewhat bulky, though it's smaller than most other full-frame mirrorless cameras. Otherwise, its superb image quality, fantastic build quality, and comfortable ergonomics help make it one of the best mirrorless cameras for travel that we've tested.

The best mirrorless camera for sports and wildlife photography that we've tested is the Nikon Z 6. This full-frame mirrorless camera has an amazingly fast maximum shutter speed of 1/8000s and can shoot in continuous bursts at 12 fps, allowing you to capture clear still images of fast-moving subjects, like race cars on a track. Better still, it can clear its buffer exceptionally quickly, so you don't have to wait too long between firing off a couple of bursts.

Its autofocus system delivers exceptional performance in photography, as it's capable of focusing on subjects quickly and consistently. Image quality is also excellent, with a fairly high dynamic range as well as good noise handling capability, so you can shoot in fairly dark environments without having to worry about excess noise caused by a high ISO level. It's also fantastically comfortable to use and feels amazingly well-built, with tight, responsive controls and a magnesium-alloy and high-grade plastic construction that's rated as being weather-sealed, though we don't currently test for that.

Unfortunately, despite its exceptionally comfortable ergonomics, you may experience some fatigue while using this camera during longer shooting sessions due to its heavy weight. Depending on your usage habits and the settings you use, its battery life is also somewhat short. Still, it delivers impressive overall performance when it comes to sports and wildlife photography.

The best mirrorless camera for vlogging that we've tested is the Fujifilm X-T4. This premium crop-sensor camera features an in-body image stabilization feature as well as a kit lens with an optical stabilization function, which helps smooth out camera shake and generate amazingly stable footage while recording handheld video. Its screen is also clear, bright, and fully articulated, allowing you to see what's being recorded even when the camera is pointed at you.

Its video autofocus system is remarkably effective, as it can track subjects' faces quickly, smoothly, and consistently even as they move around within the frame. Video quality is impressively sharp and low in noise whether you're recording in FHD or 4k, and this camera is capable of shooting 4k video at up to 60 fps with only a relatively minor 1.16x crop, so the corresponding reduction in the field of view isn't too noticeable. Its twin UHS-II SD card slots are useful if you're worried about running out of space while recording video or want a backup of your footage. There are ports and adapters for attaching an external recorder, an auxiliary mic, as well as headphones.

Unfortunately, it's a little on the heavy side, which can cause a bit of fatigue if you carry it around on a gimbal for long periods of time. Still, its remarkably effective autofocus system, great video quality, and excellent stabilization performance make it an amazing choice for vlogging.

The best mirrorless camera for studio video that we've tested is the Panasonic Lumix DC-S5. This full-frame mirrorless camera delivers impressive overall video quality whether you're recording in 4k or FHD, with sharp, well-rendered object contours and surfaces and very little visual noise when recording in poorly-lit settings. Its autofocus system also does a great job of tracking subjects, with quick, consistent, and smooth focus transitions.

There are a couple of functions that should please both novice and enthusiast videographers, including its V-Log shooting mode, which expands the camera's dynamic range and allows for in-depth color grading in the editing stage, though we don't currently test this feature. It also features two SD card slots, a clean HDMI output for fitting an external recorder, and microphone and headphone jacks to improve the audio quality of your recording and monitor sound levels with greater precision. Its long battery life is great for extended recording sessions, and its menu system is easy to navigate and intuitively laid out.

Unfortunately, it's worth noting that while the camera can record in 4k at 60 fps, doing so incurs a severe 1.5x crop, leading to an overall reduction in field of view. Thankfully, you can record at 30 or 24 fps in this resolution without any crop. Unlike the Sony α7 III, it isn't capable of recording at high frame rates in FHD for generating smooth slow-motion video. Still, its great video quality, reliable autofocus system, and dense feature set make it an excellent choice for studio video.