Best Digital Cameras of 2019 | Neocamera - The first knowledge sharing application in Vietnam

Mirrorless Digital Cameras are the only growing market segment in the industry. In fact, 2019 has seen more new Mirrorless cameras than any other year with 23 models launched. Only 2013 had a comparable number with the introduction of 20 such cameras. This is expected given that mirrorless digital cameras combine high-image quality, often using the same sensors used by DSLRs, and unprecedented speed in a comparatively small form-factor.

New Mirrorless Cameras span all levels of photographers from casual ones to professionals. With prices between a few hundred dollars to several thousands, this makes recognizing a single best mirrorless pointless. Therefore, the most capable mirrorless will be rewarding in each of the following categories:

Beginner: Cameras that produce good quality images with minimal effort in the most compact size possible.
Advanced: Digital cameras delivering good image quality with more control in a very compact size.
Prosumer: Mirrorless cameras that output high quality images with efficient controls in a compact form-factor.
Professional Travel Photographer: Mirrorless cameras that maximize image-quality relative to their size while providing efficient ergonomics and the ability to handle any environment.
Professional Onsite Photographer: The absolute top image quality possible for any type of photography where size is no object, wether onsite for architecture or urban photography or in a studio.
Professional Action Photographer: Cameras that excel at capturing fast action with the best image quality.

Best Beginner Mirrorless 2019

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Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9

While everyone wants high image-quality, beginners are highly concerned by the total size of their gear which is the primary reason for many buying DSLRs only to leave it at home most of the time. Without a doubt, Micro Four-Thirds is designed to solve this issue and, although there are APS-C mirrorless cameras of similar size, they require larger and heavier lenses.

The Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9
Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9 packs a 20 megapixels Four-Thirds CMOS sensor mounted on a 5-axis image-stabilization system that delivers a 4-stop advantage over hand-holding. It is the smallest and second lightest mirrorless to include an EVF since 2018. Although beginners do not always use a viewfinder, having one is essential to frame in bright light while adding stability and making it easier to keep the camera level. This camera can produce high-quality images down to relatively low light thanks to its built-in image-stabilization.

Although very compact, the GX9 offers an impressive feature-set. This includes full manual-controls with an ultra-fast 1/16000s maximum shutter-speed to freeze action and Bulb exposures of up to 30 minutes to capture light trails. Its fast processor can sustain 9 FPS at full-resolution and record 4K Ultra-HD video at 30 FPS. This mirrorless supports 7-shot Auto Exposure Bracketing, built-in HDR, an Interval-Timer, Time-Lapse video and Multiple Exposure.

The rectangular body of this mirrorless includes a tiltable 0.39″ EVF with a sharp 2.8 megapixels, a good 0.7X magnification, 100% coverage and an essential Eye-Start Sensor. There is also a 3″ Touchscreen LCD with 1.2 MP on the back. Beginners keen on sharing images quickly will appreciate its WiFi and Bluetooth 4.2 LE connectivity. Paired with a correspondingly compact Micro Four-Thirds lens, the Panasonic Lumix GX9 is truly delivers image-quality that exceeds its size.

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Best Advanced Mirrorless 2019

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III

People buying a digital camera are often interested in having advanced features to push their creativity. Even though Olympus launched their OM-D series as a premium range of mirrorless, they managed to squeeze an incredible number of features in the extremely compact Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III
Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III. This is the lightest mirrorless of 2018-2019 while being weatherproof and freezeproof to -10C.

The E-M5 Mark III truly punches above its weight. Based around a 20 megapixels Four-Thirds CMOS sensor with a built-in 121-Point Phase-Detect AF system, this mirrorless includes a state-of-the-art 5-axis sensor-shift mechanism with 5½-stops efficiency, Its hybrid shutter covers a 1/8000-60s range while allowing Bulb exposures of up to 3 hours which are helped by Live-Bulb and Live-Time modes that show an exposure as it develops. Continuous shooting at 10 FPS is possible at full-resolution, plus Cinema 4K video at 24 FPS.

This digital camera packs dual control-dials, a traditional mode-dial and a viewfinder in a tiny body. The 0.39″ EVF has a respectable 2.4 MP of resolution and nice 0.68X magnification while showing 100% coverage and having an Eye-Start Sensor. The number of features in this tiny camera body necessarily comes at the cost of high complexity, particularly when dealing with the menu system and various control-panels. With the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III, amateur photographers actively using this camera are bound to learn it and will surely produce great images.

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Best Prosumer Mirrorless 2019

Fujifilm X-T30

The Fujifilm X-T30
Fujifilm X-T30 is a technological wonder. This highly compact mirrorless features a 26 megapixels 4th-Generation X-Trans APS-C CMOS sensor with 2.1 million Phase-Detection pixels! This sensor has nearly twice the surface area of a Four-Thirds one and still manages to fit in a similarly-sized body. The trick to pull this off is that the X-T30 smaller optics for its EVF and excludes image-stabilization, instead relying on the less effective systems built into specific lenses.

Given its relatively large APS-C sensor with unique X-Trans Color-Filter-Array to omit the need for an Anti-Alias Filter, the Fujifilm X-T30 produces very high-quality images with excellent rendition of details and quite low image-noise, although falling slightly short of class-leading due it a high pixel-density. Dynamic-range though is vastly superior to what Micro Four-Thirds cameras can capture. Of course, this sensor requires lenses with APS-C coverage which are considerably larger and heavier than equivalent Micro Four-Thirds ones. There is no free lunch as they say.

Fujifilm made their 4th-Generation sensor extremely fast. Its hybrid 425-Point AF system combines both Phase-Detect and Contrast-Detect to lock focus at blazing speed while the hybrid shutter allows for 20 FPS continuous shooting at full-resolution or 30 FPS with a 16 MP 1.25X crop. In this mode, shooting is black-out free and the viewfinder optionally shows 125% coverage to frame fast-moving subjects.

This mirrorless has a highly mechanical interface which makes it particularly efficient to use thanks to dual control-dials plus an aperture-ring on most compatible Fujinon lenses. There are direct dials for Shutter-Speed, Exposure-Compensation and Drive Modes too, plus an 8-way joystick. Its feature-set is comprehensive while not including so many functions to make it complex. Still, this camera supports 9-frame AEB, Focus-Bracketing, Motion Panorama, an Interval Timer and Multiple-Exposure.

All this counts to make the Fujifilm X-T30 the Best Prosumer Mirrorless of 2019. Its combination of high image-quality and speed is unmatched by a digital camera this compact.

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Best Travel Photography Mirrorless

Sony Alpha A6600

Sony are undeniably the masters of miniaturization and the clearly demonstrate it with the Sony Alpha A6600
Sony Alpha A6600 This compact mirrorless is built around a 24 megapixels APS-C CMOS sensor with 425-Point Phase-Detect AF built-in and it manages to incorporate a 5-axis image-stabilization system while being roughly the same size as the Fujifilm X-T30 above. This makes it superior for low-light photography but what makes it even more suitable for Travel Photography is its weatherproof construction. As a bonis, it manages a battery-life of 720 shots-per-charge, almost double what the X-T30 is can do.

Image quality of the Sony A6600 is excellent with very low image-noise and above 13½-stops of dynamic-range. This gives it best-in-class image-quality among APS-C mirrorless cameras, falling slightly below the very best APS-C DSLRs which can manage to capture an extra stop of dynamic-range. Using its sensor-shift mechanism with 5-stops of efficiency though, this mirrorless is more capable than those DSLRs under most conditions.

While not so feature-rich, the A6600 provides all essential photographic functions, including 5 metering patterns, 9-frame AEB, WB Fine-tuning and an Interval Timer. Notably absent are built-in HDR, Time Lapse Video and Focus Bracketing. While these can be performed by computer, Focus Bracketing cannot be done repeatedly without the camera offering it. This camera offers fast 11 FPS continuous drive and 4K Ultra-HD video at 30 FPS.

The best ergonomic feature of the Sony A6600 is its large high-resolution 2.4 MP 0.5″ EVF which shows 100% coverage at 0.7X magnification and has an Eye-Start Sensor. While this camera offers dual control-dials, the rear one is poorly placed. The Sony menu system is convoluted and together with limited external controls makes the A6600 somewhat inefficient to use. Despite these usability issues, the Sony Alpha A6600 offers fantastic image-quality in an exceptionally compact form-factor given that it includes 5-axis image-stabilization and a large EVF in a weatherproof body.

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Best Onsite Photography Mirrorless

Fujifilm GFX 100

The Fujifilm GFX 100
Fujifilm GFX 100 truly the most superlative digital camera yet. Its predecessor, the GFX-50R reviewed here
Fujifilm GFX 50R already produced the best image-quality of all and Fujifilm impressively doubled resolution to an unprecedented 102 megapixels while adding state-of-the-art 5-axis image-stabilization system with 5½-stops efficiency! These 102 MP Medium-Format sensor in the GFX-100 is capable of capturing 16-stops of dynamic-range which makes its images extremely detailed spatially and tonally.

When it comes to image-quality, nothing comes close to the GFX 100. Crucially, Fujifilm designed all their G-mount lenses to resolve 100 MP of details to transmit the maximum amount of details that can be captured by its Medium Format sensors. The ultra-high resolution sensor in this mirrorless includes a hybrid autofocus system that combines 3.8 million Phase-Detection pixels with Contrast-Detection info to create a virtual 425-Point AF system. This sensor can capture 100 MP images at 5 FPS and record Cinema 4K video. There is a hybrid shutter that covers shutter-speeds of 1/16000 to 1 hour exposures, either timed or in Bulb mode.

This mirrorless features a highest-resolution EVF on the market, a 0.5″ EVF with 5.8 MP that gives an extremely large 0.86X magnification to its 100% coverage view. It is paired with an Eye-Start Sensor and there is also a 3.2″ LCD with 2.4 MP on the back plus two status LCDs. The GFX 100 is positively enormous with dual grips, each having dual control-dials and an 8-way joystick, in a tough weatherproof and freezeproof construction. The camera body alone weighs 1.4kg and needs a lens which can easily add another 1kg.

For the utmost image quality, the Fujifilm GFX 100 clearly delivers. This clearly comes at a high cost for this unique digital camera. Given its weight, this GFX 100 is destined to be mostly used on a tripod, even though its dual-grips make it possible to hand-hold, yet not over long periods.

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Best Action Photography Mirrorless

Sony Alpha A9 II

Mirrorless cameras started by adopting large sensors to match the image-quality of DSLRs yet mostly trailed behind in two areas: speed and viewfinder. While these gaps were diminishing, Sony tackled both with the launch of their original high-speed A9
Sony Alpha A9 which showed the first blackout-free EVF and fast 20 FPS continuous shooting in a Full-Frame camera.

The Sony Alpha A9 II
Sony Alpha A9 II extends this just a little further. Using the same ultra-high speed 24 megapixels Full-Frame CMOS sensor with 693-Point Phase-Detect AF built-in, this new version can also capture full-resolution images at 20 FPS for up to 361 JPEG images or 239 RAW files. This is faster and longer than any DSLR. Having large pixels allows the A9 II to be extremely sensitive to light and offer a ISO 50-2,048,00 sensitivity range. Image quality from this mirrorless is superp, particularly in low-light where it can take advantage of an improved 5-axis image-stabilization system which is effective to 5½-stops over hand-holding.

With a 3.6 MP 0.5″ EVF showing 100% coverage at 0.78X magnification, the Sony A9 II offers an expansive view of incredible precision. This high-contrast EVF is truly life-like and much more capable than an OVF with its numerous overlay, excellent Exposure-Priority preview and HUD. When using the electronic shutter, continuous shooting through this EVF is completely blackout-free, allowing for an unprecedented ability to track fast-moving subjects.

Based on a similar design to their other Full-Frame mirrorless digital cameras, the Sony A9 II features triple control-dials, a traditional mode-dial, an Exposure-Compensation dial plus a Drive Mode dial, not present on the A7 series. Controls are highly customizable to tune the behavior. Overall, this mirrorless is quite efficient with good ergonomics. As a professional model, the A9 II is weatherproof and includes Dual SDXC UHS-II memory-card slots. All this makes the Sony Alpha A9 II one of the best digital cameras for action photography.

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