small stills camera with best video

[M. Gilden]

The nikon D5100 and the GH2 seem like good options but are just a bit big to carry around at all times.

The GH2 is the slightest bit bigger than the other ones you have mentioned, but no where near the size of the Nikon D5100 IMO- if that's what is stopping you, you may want to try actually holding one. With a pancake prime attached, it totally fits in my coat pocket which is more than I can say for any mirrored DSLR. Here's my GH2 with the 17mm pancake next to a T2i with the popular Tamron 17-50mm zoom. The Nikon D5100 is about the same size as the Rebel series, so this will give you an idea of the difference in size. I also threw a Pentax point and shoot in the background for scale reference.


While I was at it, I quickly threw my Olympus E-PL3 with its kit lens (since the prime I usually keep on it is currently still on the GH2) for reference. And the E-PL series is about as compact an interchangeable lens camera as you'll find these days. It is smaller than the GH2, but the GH2 packs more controls as well as an EVF and flash bulb.



Will the GH2 fit in a jeans pocket? No, only the point-and-shoots with a retractable lens will. But these mirrorless with thin primes will easily fit in my coat pockets to carry around if I wanted. Not the same class as the Nikon or Canon options at all!

What really caught my attention is the Canon M tho - actually I'm surprised it didn't come up before. Any thoughts on that one?

I think it has failed to attract the attention of the majority of people looking to shoot movies. Could be because the mount is yet another "standard" which will require adapters to use most glass, could be because the video quality and resolution is still "canon-esque", and for the same amount of money (or less) you can get something like the GH or NEX series, which packs more image quality into roughly the sane size body, and has more options in native glass as well as a plethora of cheap mass-produced adapters.

That doesn't mean the EOS M isn't good for video- it may be. It just isn't as popular a choice as one would think.

 

[torero21]

I was actually holding all of th cameras in hand yesterday and as you said the GH2 is small but just doesn't fit in my pocket.
The Eos M has the same sensor as the 7D and is basically a T4i in a tiny body plus Magic Lantern already hacked so I believe that shooting timelapse should be possible with that
Plus I own a 7D so it would fit in perfectly as a B camera also there are cheap ($25) adapters for my manual Nikkors.
also a big thing is a lot of these small cameras are unintuitive in terms of their menu but with the M i already know all the buttons.
With the GH2 I would just buy into a completly new eco system and Sony just doesn't have the right camera for me.

The only thing that mkaes me hesitate to get the M right now is the fact that there might be announcement of a new version soon - which could be better and/or could drop the price of the current model...

 

[joe1946]

The Pentax K-01 main advantage is if you already have a bunch of K-mount lenses it's a great deal since it has been selling for as low as $299 body or $315 with 40mm XS pancake lens compared to $899 last spring when it came out.

 

[elkhornsun]

Suggest the 12MP Olympus Pen E-PL3 camera. With its zoom lens it weighs about 17 oz. and with an adapter it can use any Olympus 4/3 lens and have all the electronics enabled. Large tiltable LCD screen is perfect for video and all you need to do is touch the LCD where the subject is you want the camera to focus on. One button start and stop of the video. It does require a special $55 Olympus adapter (SEMA-1) that fits into the hot shoe to plug in a mic cable but it is not expensive. Camera with zoom lens sells for $400. The E-PL5 is the 16MP version with a larger LCD screen that sells with the zoom lens for $650. Shoots 1080i at 60fps. These cameras provide very good image quality at ISO 1600 - a big step up from a P&S camera.