4 Reasons To Consider An EVIL Camera

Horray! I got your attention with the catchy acronym. There's a new camera in town, folks, and its acronym is EVIL which stands for Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens. Here's one now.

These may very well start replacing DSLRs as we know them on people's wish lists because of 4 key factors: 

1. size

2. performance

3. the aforementioned interchangeable lenses

4. speed

These cameras lately include the Olympus E-P1 (above) the Panasonic GF1 (below) and the Samsung NX10.

They take very good pictures since they've achieved their small size by reducing the camera and not so much the sensor. The Olympus and Panasonic cameras use a "four thirds" sensor that's smaller than one in a DSLR but bigger than one in my pocket sized Canon SD780. The Samsung uses a sensor the same size as a DSLR. The cameras are smaller in part because the flip up mirror and prism that feed the DSLR viewfinder have been replaced by the LCD and/or the electronic viewfinder, the EV in EVIL.

The EVIL cameras are faster than the pocket sized compacts in the basic functions of starting up, processing pictures and changing adjustments. In those ways they compare to your DSLR.

There are two key factors that may delay their addition to your wish lists:

1. Price

I'm seeing prices from $600 to $1000 for the camera with a 14-45mm kit lens. Considering that you'll want to add a lens or two to your collection (why else by an interchangeable lens camera?) you won't be spending less money than if you bought a DSLR.

2. Size

Yes, they're smaller than the DSLRs and the lenses are smaller, too, but they're still not really small enough to hide in your pants pocket; a larger jacket pocket maybe but in warm weather (do we have that here?) you'll find the EVIL camera difficult to hide.

 

                  Compare my Canon SD780, on the left, with the Olympus E-P1. 

The E-P1 is a pocket camera the way the old Kodaks were pocket cameras.

EVIL cameras are probably going to catch on with pros who must be very mobile and want to travel light. One thing several writers have said is that the EVIL camera hanging at your side doesn't look like an expensive pro's camera.

Many people are willing to spend some money to enjoy photography so I may be selling the cameras short. I've made too much of an investment in my full size DSLRs and my one little pocket camera to venture in to EVIL territory. Some time down the road Canon and Nikon may get in to the EVIL business and that may bring renewed pricing and even more features.