SLR without the mirror

[Andrew Taylor <>]

On Sat, Feb 04, 2012 at 01:26:52PM +1100, Chris Ross wrote:
> Regarding the issue of shutter lag in compacts, a lot of that has to
> do with AF acquisition time, all compacts and mirrorless cameras use
> a contrast detection AF system utilising data from the sensor, that
> up until now that has been quite slow.

The new Nikon 1s are mirrorless but have  phase detection sensors
integrated into the main imaging sensor.  I don't know if this is the
future, but DSLR mirrors are looking like dinosaurs.

I've decided to upgrade the old shirt pocket compact I take bushwalking,
kayaking etc when an SLR isn't convenient/safe - and I'm impressed by
what you can get now, e.g. Nikon AW100, Pentax WG-1,  Panasonic's FT3/4.
The Nikon is 180g, waterproof to 10m, gps+compass, VR, 1080p 
FPS - $250 grey market on Ebay  or ~$400 in Australia. Unfortunately
maximum focal length isn't great for birds - maybe next year.

Andrew