Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Cameras (MILC) also known as Compact System Cameras (CSC) or Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Cameras (EVIL) are a new type of digital system cameras that started to be developed in the 21st century.
This type of system camera is equipped with a interchangeable lens mount as the Single Lens Reflex (SLR) system cameras but contrary to those they do not feature a mirror displaying rendering instead a digital live viewfinder.
At this stage (as of 2012) there are eight different types of Compact System Cameras being them:
- The Leica M system
- Micro Four Thirds System
- NX mount for Samsung
- Sony E-Mount also knows as Sony Nex Mount
- Nikon 1 Mount
- Pentax Q mount
- Pentax K mount
- Fuji X mount
Compared to SLR system cameras the Compact System Cameras have usually a smaller sensor and a smaller size of camera body due to their physical construction (no required space for a mirror and or prism).
However the compact system cameras do keep comparable image quality and versatility with a usage of an interchangeable lens system.
Many of those are actually backwards compatible with the SLR lens systems though in majority of cases via usage of manual adapters that do not provide automatic focus options and in most situations absence of EXIF data.
Some examples of compact system cameras:
Leica M9
compact system camera m mount leica-m9-titanium
Olympus Micro Four Thirds Camera E-P3
compact system camera olympus micro four thirds EP3
Sony Nex 5N
compact system camera sony e-mount nex 5n
Fuji X-PRO 1
compact system camera fuji X Pro 1
