Tired of the sub-standard quality of your point and shoot? Hesitating to shift to a big DSLR just for quality? Well you can have your cake and eat it too. Here’s a look at keeping the quality almost as good as a DSLR while maintaining the compactness of a point and shoot. Impossible? Read on to find out!

Why Mirrorless cameras?
Mirrorless cameras essentially take out the bulky optical mirror system from cameras, thus making the camera…
- Smaller and compact
- Lighter, hence easier to carry
- Lenses are smaller and compact
- Perfect as a secondary camera, as you get lens mounts for your favourite DSLR Lens

Olympus PEN Lite E-PL3
Rs 19,000 approx
http://www.olympus-imaging.co.in/products/dslr/epl3/
If you are looking for the best camera under Rs 20,000, you just cannot go wrong with Olympus’s E-PL3. It uses a bigger sensor (Micro four thirds) than all cameras except the APS-C sized DLSR’s, a great balance between quality and size. The 12MP camera comes with a fast Auto-Focus, a 3 inch Tilt Function LCD Display, Full HD video recording, and can shoot high-speed sequential shots at 5.5 fps.

Sony Alpha NEX-3N
Rs 29,000 approx
http://www.sony.co.in/product/nex-3k
Don’t want to compromise on quality by going for a smaller sensor? Sony NEX 3 is really up your ally. It is a small compact camera with a proper DSLR APS-C sized sensor, a perfect combo between quality and size. Sony may have discontinued it for reasons best known to them, but it is still readily available in the market. Also, it has a 14MP sensor that can do HD recording (720p), has a tilt-able 3 inch screen with interchangeable-lenses.

Sony RX-100 II
Rs 43,000
http://www.sony.co.in/product/dsc-rx100+ii
Read Techtree review of  Sony RX-100 II
Moving from a Sony point and shoot? You’ll feel right at home with RX-100 II. This one includes a 20MP, 1 inch sensor coupled with Sony's home-brewed BIONZ image processing engine, Exmor R (CMOS+BSI) sensor, which delivers well in low-light shots. You also have a fantastic F1.8 Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T 3.6x optical zoom lens, which works great in low light and also adds a lot of depth of field to photos. If you think this is a little too high priced for you, the previous gen Sony RX-100 for Rs 31,000 should also do the trick.

Nikon Coolpix A
Rs 50,000 approx
http://www.nikonusa.com/en/Nikon-Products/Product/Compact-Digital-Cameras/26423/COOLPIX-A.html
Are you looking for a good secondary camera for your big DSLR which is equally good at image quality, but pocketable? Well, Nikon Coolpix A is an excellent camera with a DSLR APS-C sized sensor, plus if you are moving directly from Nikon DSLR’s to this, you’ll feel extremely comfortable. This compact body with a 16MP sensor uses a fixed wide angle 18.5mm lens with F2.8 for good low light photography. You have Full HD video recording capabilities and a 3 inch non-tiltable screen.

Panasonic Lumix G6
Rs 60,000 approx
http://www.panasonic.com/uk/consumer/cameras-camcorders/lumix-g-compact-system-cameras-dslm/dmc-g6heb.html
Read Techtree review of Panasonc Lumix G6
Bigger than a point and shoot but much smaller than DSLR, this is a really good Micro four thirds camera that is not only great at shooting photos, but also has a fantastic touchscreen with intuitive controls. The 16MP camera can shoot really fast, has arguably the best EVF in a camera, and comes pre-loaded with Wi-Fi and NFC connectivity options.

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