These Mirrorless cameras are perfect for capturing memories of the best days of your life.
Are you a student heading into their final year of high school? Perhaps you’re about to embark on the next stage of your journey and you’re heading off to college, or maybe you’re in the final year of your four-year school. Either way, these are all monumental moments, and you should cherish them. Having a camera with you will help you capture the memories that will stay with you for the rest of your life. Whether it’s memories made with friends, your personal achievements, or even wild parties you want to remember, these Mirrorless cameras will help you. Here are seven easy to use Mirrorless cameras that won’t break the bank.
So, what did we look for in these cameras that would be great for students? We picked cameras that are pretty small in size, great performers in many types of photography, easy to use, and some have built-in lenses while others are interchangeable, These cameras offer great performance, and they’ll survive being tossed into a school bag. They all have wireless connectivity, so it will be easy to share images with your school pals and on social media. Carry one of these cameras around with you and you’ll be able to take all the pictures you could ever want while on or off-campus.
Fujifilm XF10
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- We printed a photo shot at ISO 6400 at 17×22 and were shocked at how clean the print was
- Beautiful colors
- Three control dials for exposure parameters
- Touchscreen
- Big screen
- Surprisingly good battery life
- Wifi
- Small and pocketable
- Comes with a very handsome wrist strap
- Comfortable
Cons
- Slow autofocus; like the slowest of any Fujifilm camera that we’ve ever tested.
- No Acros mode–which would have put this over the top
Buy now ($449): Amazon
Olympus OMD EM10 Mk II
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Beautiful wink and a nod to the retro ergonomics
- Feels great in the hand
- Good image quality, but the Micro Four Thirds sensors currently used by Olympus are starting to show their age
- Fast AF
- AF selection pad using the LCD screen is freakin’ brilliant!
- S-OVF’s effects were simulated easily with some tweaks to previous cameras, but it’s nice that they made it more simplistic and put into one setting.
- Not a single misfocus during our testing even in very low light conditions
- Olympus by far leads the way when it comes to ergonomics in the mirrorless camera world. This camera is evidence of that fact.
Cons
- Image quality is still great, but it’s starting to show its age vs APS-C sensors
- We wish the dials would have been created with a higher quality metal
Buy now ($499): Amazon
Pro Tip: Being able to carry around whatever camera you have along with the accessories and items needed for school in one bag would be awesome. Fortunately, there are bags on the market that can double as both camera and school/lifestyle bags. One of the best on the market that would make a great bag to carry around on campus would be the Tenba DNA 15 backpack. This bag can be as compact or as large as needed thanks to its rolltop design. The bag is weather-sealed, comfortable to carry, and has solid all-around build quality. The DNA 15 can do it all, so it’s surprising that it has an affordable price too.
Canon EOS M50
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Nice feeling in the hand.
- Absolutely fantastic battery life
- Canon’s colors are really nice, and I’ve come to think of this sensor sort of like shooting with Slide film
- Autofocus is pretty good, but we wouldn’t use it for street photography
- We finally got 4K video
- There’s a silent shutter mode, finally
- Big LCD screen
- Canon’s menus continue to be the easiest to go through
- Canon’s monochrome images are really nice
Cons
- This camera deserves to be bundled with a nice wrist strap
- Image quality breaks up basically as soon as you edit
- Who the hell thought of putting the silent shutter mode in its own dedicated camera mode and robbing the photographer of all traditional exposure control?
- Silent shutter mode should be a drive mode option
- High ISO is barely usable above ISO 3200
Buy now ($649): Amazon
Sony a6400
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Compact & lightweight
- Fast & accurate autofocus
- Excellent image quality
- 11 FPS continuous shooting with AF & AE tracking (mechanical shutter only)
- Improved Real-time Eye AF
- Real-time Tracking
- Real-time Animal Eye AF
- 4K video recording without 30-minute limit
- Competitively priced
Cons
- Lacks in-body image stabilization
- External battery charger not included
- Single SD card slot with support for only up to UHS-I speed cards
- The rear screen flips up into where the hot shoe is located and becomes essentially useless if you’ve got any attachments mounted onto the camera
Buy now ($898): Amazon
Pro Tip: If any of these Mirrorless cameras will be your first camera, and you aren’t entirely sure how to get the most out of it, don’t panic: there are some amazing tutorials out there that will help guide you through the basics of cameras and photography in general. This beginner’s guide to photography will help you learn about the fundamentals of the art. Before you know it, you’ll be making incredible images that will preserve the best days of your life.
Fujifilm X-T30
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Solid construction that we’ve come to expect and love about Fujifilm cameras
- Compact
- Lightweight
- Almost everything that made the X-T3 such a hit
Cons
- Lacks in-body image stabilization & weather sealing
- The rear touchscreen tilts up and down only, unlike the X-T3 which also tilts to the right as well
- Perhaps a tad too compact, particularly for photographers with larger hands
- The new joystick is awkwardly placed on the rear of the camera body, making single-handed operation challenging and increases the risk of accidentally dropping the camera due to its diminutive size
- Unremarkable battery life
Buy now ($899): Amazon
Sony RX100 V
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- fantastic image quality (some of the best I’ve seen from a point and shoot camera with a 1-inch sensor)
- fast autofocus
- slim, compact size
- nice EVF
Cons
- Just because the autofocus is fast doesn’t mean it’s always accurate
- We’d actually love a hot shoe
- Ring around the lens could use a clicking mechanism
Buy now ($998): Amazon
Pro Tip: Mirrorless Cameras can be quite a big investment. One thing you’re going to want to do is to invest in a cheap, but complete camera and lens cleaning kit. Chances are your camera will see the hands of many, will find itself in the deepest, darkest corners of your bag, and will be out and about getting all kinds of dirt and debris on it. By spending just a few short minutes cleaning the lens and the body of the camera you will be able to keep your camera not only looking like new but also working like new for many years.
Canon EOS RP
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- This isn’t Canon innovating on the inside, but instead on the outside
- This is the smallest and lightest ILC full-frame camera on the market
- Goes well with a wrist strap and a light prime lens
- Weather sealing
- The autofocus isn’t bad, and it’s quite usable in a number of working conditions
- Pretty good image quality
Cons
- This camera is begging to be paired with a nice 50mm f1.8 lens
- Could have done better with a joystick
- The competition from Sony charges around 1/3rd more of the price and offers more
Buy now ($1,299): Amazon
