What Are the Best Mirrorless Cameras Out There in 2021?

If you're in the market for a new mirrorless camera, there are a plethora of options, and most of those options are broken down right here in this handy video from Engadget.

One of the things that struck me about this video is the fact that the "mirrorless" part is largely not talked about. Perhaps it's a mindset change in the camera industry, but "mirrorless" is synonymous with "camera" these days. It's a point that's rammed home when even my students don't really see the difference between an optical viewfinder and a good electronic one, one of the previous selling points for DSLRs over mirrorless cameras.

The video is broken down into budgets of $750, $1000, $2500, and beyond and spans almost every brand out there (without Pentax, a company that's chosen to sit out the mirrorless wars entirely). One of the things that Engadget Associate Editor Steve Dent does well in the video is to break out the standout performers in video separate from photo, because it's hard to find a jack-of-all-trades in the budget categories. There's even a shoutout to several Micro Four Thirds models in there, so there's life yet in the system even though at times (Like when Panasonic launches a full frame model in an alliance with other companies).

Dent doesn't, however, touch upon some very relevant topics that may be of import to shooters, namely lens selection and flash system. While there's a lot of choices for bodies amongst most brands, there isn't always a lot of lens selection (a point that Dent only mentions in relation to the EOS M line). Having fewer lenses to choose from means higher prices for first-party lenses. As a Micro Four Thirds system user, one of the huge benefits of that system is the smaller sensor that allows for adapting almost anything onto it. That said, while Dent picks on the EOS M200's lack of available native lenses, it is pretty easy to adapt existing Canon EF lenses with the Canon EF-M lens adapter kit for Canon EF/EF-S lenses. Or just get an EOS RP and be ready for the future.

The other major consideration of flashes is a dealbreaker for some. For my money, Canon and Nikon have the most fleshed-out flash systems, encompassing radio and infra-red triggers in a variety of useful ways. I've struggled to get equivalent flash performance out of what's available for Micro Four Thirds and our own Jason Vinson reported some oddities in the Sony flash system in his look at the A1.

All that said, we're spoiled for choice when it comes to new cameras in 2021. What's your pick from the list? Did Engadget leave out a camera that should be considered?