MIRRORLESS CAMERA RUNDOWN

I decided to step up form the Ixus 220 for my hexacopter. I was looking for something with about 24mm wide angle and the quality of the Canon 5D Mark II, but with the weight and price tag kept down. These are my candidates, and even it it´s just a small selection, it reflects what the diffirent brands are up to in general. I have personally used and tested all cameras except the GF3.

Sorted after total weight and price as well.

Olympus EPM2

Weight: 424 grams with 9-18mm (269 grams without lens)

Price: Total: $1198 ($499: body, $699: lens)

Uses the same lenses as the Panasonic, eg. wide angle lenses are expensive. There are wide and cheap CCTV lenses up to 2/3" but they don´t cover the whole sensor.

Pros: Digital image stabilizer
Cons: Expensive lenses wider than 14mm (28mm), no analog video out.

Panasonic GF3

Weight: 419 grams total (body, battery, card, 9-18mm lens) 264 grams without lens.

Price: $1048 ($349: body, $699: lens)

The micro four thirds cameras are small, under 300 grams, and give great video. The Panasonic can even be hacked to increase video bit rate and iso sensitivity. 

Lenses: 12mm (equals 24mm) is $799. The 9-18mm wide angle zoom (18-36mm) is $699. The $299 Rokinon 7.5mm is heavy and fish-eye. The Kowa 12mm is heavy as well with 270 grams.

Pros: Analog video output, great video quality and compression
Cons: Expensive wide angle lens.

Nikon J1

Weight: 402 grams with 6.7-13mm (277 grams without lens)

Price: Camera and lens: $898 ($399 - camera, $499 - lens)

Nikon´s new hybrid cameras comes with a smaller 1 inch sensor (compared to Panasonic 1 1/3 inch). This opens for less rolling shutter (Jelly-effect) and ability to use smaller lenses. I did some hard research to find a wide lens of 8 or 9mm. I wrote to CCTV manufacturer Sunex, VD-shop and avsupply. The latter gave me one interesting option: the Kowa 8mm f1.4 and other options from Kowa. You can get them from about $300 and up, but they are still pretty long and heavy.

Pros: 

• Less rolling shutter,
• Wide angle lens only 125 grams

Cons: 

• Wide angle lens a bit expensive (Nikon 6.7-13mm $496, equals 18-35mm), no analog video out

Sony Nex 5N

Weight: 357 grams with 16mm lens (287 grams body, battery and card)

Price: $819 ($571 - body, $248 - 16mm lens)

The Sony Nex series sets itself out from the bunch in a couple of matters. The first thing you notice is the slim body and the incredible screen with almost 1 million pixels. According to dpreview.com review, the camera is pretty close to the  Canon Mk II for dynamic range and iso sensitivity. But the most brilliant detail in my view is the small 16mm f2.8 lens. It gives that perfect wide angle of 24mm and is light weight - only 70 grams. It has a large APS-C sized sensor with a crop factor of 1.5. Despite it has little rolling shutter.

Pros: 

• Only 337 grams total weight,
• Probably the best all over image quality, AVCHD editable video format,
• Super detailed screen for focus and review

Cons: 

• No analog video out.

Pentax Q

Weight: about 270 grams with lens (241 grams body battery and card)

Price: About $320 ( $234: camera,  $79: lens, adaptors)

The smallest interchangeable camera available. With adapters you can use CCTV lenses in the same format as for the Go Pro, eg Sunex DSL355A-650-F2.8 4.16mm (24mm equal). It comes with stabilizer and lots of nice looking filters you can add to the video. The problem is the video compression and resolution, which is not up to par.

Pros: 

• Small, affordable, Analog video output, little rolling shutter, battery and memory card can be changed from the side, (no need to unmount the camera from the gimbal), sensor shift image stabilizer

Cons: 

• Not great resolution in full HD, low bitrate (12 mbit), small battery equals short battery life

And the winner is:

Sony Nex 5n. Best video quality, low weight, acceptable price tag. If you want something cheaper, try the Go Pro hero 2 or 3 black edition with the Sunex 4.16mm modification.