The proliferation of EVILs

This is not a “The world is about to end" commentary, but a description of a type of camera like my NEX – Electronic Viewfinder, Interchangable Lens, or EVIL for short.

The growth of this category started with the Micro Four Thirds format with the Olympus PEN EP-1 and the Panasonic G1.  Then the NEX came out, and recently Pentax and Nikon added their own versions.  

Weirdly, both Pentax and Nikon chose to use compact camera sensors, the Pentax being the same size as the $99 point and shoots; while the Nikon sensor is the larger sensor found in the P100.  Still the Nikon sensor is still very small and has a 2.7x crop factor if you used a Full Frame lens.  That wide angle 28mm turns into a tele 75mm.  

The cameras do have a couple interesting features, like eye point viewfinder, but this is nothing new.

To me it looks like the Sony NEX 7 is going to be by far the best EVIL out there; with 24 megapixels, electronic viewfinder, easy access menus and that large APS-C size sensor.   Price point is meant to be around $1,200, so I better start saving!

These photos were all shot with the NEX around the College and University area, and shows how good quick snaps on this camera can be.  All were shot using the Voigtlander 35mm f1.4 Nokton.