Which ILC? Interchangeable-lens cameras compared

Lori Grunin
Senior editor May 19, 2010 (updated on: June 24, 2011)

As befits a youngish product category like interchangeable-lens cameras (ILC), there's enough dissimilarity among them that you really have to think about where your priorities lie before making a choice; there isn't yet the relatively broad commoditization of features, designs, and photo quality that we've come to see in point-and-shoots or entry-level dSLRs, for example. Some are small, some large, some fast, and some slow, and trade-offs abound when it comes to features and photo quality.

That's partly because these cameras try to appeal to two pretty disparate groups of photographers: people dissatisfied with the image quality and performance of point-and-shoot models looking for more, and advanced shooters who want the speed and photo quality of a dSLR without the bulk.

For the best photo quality, the answer depends upon whether you want it good from the get-go or are willing to put in a little work. The Olympus PEN E-PL2 generates the best photos without tweaking, with the most-accurate colors. Image quality is improved over the E-PL1 (sorry, no room in chart), which remains a good--and cheaper, as long as it's available--option. But though they both have a very good noise profile, the Sony Alpha NEX-5 is better for shooting in low light, with excellent high-ISO sensitivity results. The downside is that its white balance needs some work and finding the right settings to deliver neutral colors will take some trial and error.

Of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, which makes choosing the camera with the best design a bit daunting. I think it needs to hew to the spirit of the ILC, which is delivering a camera comparable to a dSLR in a relatively compact body, and be both stylish and usable. Panasonic's Lumix DMC-GF2 seems like the best all-around compromise: it's relatively compact and stylish, with a good hybrid traditional and touch-screen interface for both beginners and advanced shooters, and has the built-in flash and an add-on EVF option. It has one big drawback, though, if you shoot with center- or multi-area autofocus modes: it's too easy to accidentally hit the screen and change the areas.

I also consider two cameras very close runners-up, and if you don't care about their specific compromises, they may be more what you're looking for. Sony's Alpha NEX-5 is the most compact and quite attractive, but I find the user interface frustrating for a more advanced user and there's no option for an EVF. The Olympus PEN E-P2 is the most stylish, with an enthusiast-friendly interface, and I like the idea of the bundled-but-add-on EVF, but it lacks a built-in flash (or ultracompact bundled one, like the NEX models).

With the discontinuation of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-G10, the best value now goes to the Olympus E-PL1. It's one of the cheapest interchangeable-lens models available, but also offers a robust feature set and access to the growing selection of Micro Four Thirds lenses. But if you need an inexpensive model with better performance, the older Panasonic DMC-G2 (sorry, no room in the chart) has a robust feature set, if not the compact silhouette.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2 and Sony's Alpha SLT-A55V tie for the best performance, with dSLR-like speeds--the A55 especially for burst shooting, thanks to its translucent-mirror-enabled hybrid design. They're big and relatively expensive, though, so they're not necessarily the ILC solution many people are looking for.

The GH2 also ranks highest for best video features and quality. Because it has decent, quiet autofocus (with the right lenses), it can be a great alternative to a dSLR for interchangeable-lens video.

This isn't to say that the rest of the ILC crowd doesn't measure up; though some have weak aspects, such as slow performance or overly large bodies, there doesn't seem to be any real losers among the entire field. You can find them on our list of best interchangeable-lens cameras. Still to come: Samsung's less-expensive NX100, Sony's latest NEX-C3 and SLT-A35, and Panasonic's compact GF3 and Pentax's tiny Q.