Poll: Are these EVIL cameras?

Is this camera EVIL?

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

Words have always been considered powerful, mystical things--the story of the Golem is merely one example that pops into mind--but they take on more prosaic power when it comes to search engine optimization.

While there are lots of reasons why SEO is important from a content provider standpoint, as a writer/editor I really only care about one thing: will people be able to find a particular product review when they search for it?

There are just some categories that defy consensus; I still don't know what to call all those camcorders that compete with the pioneering Flip, ending up with unsatisfactory choices like "mini camcorders" or "budget camcorders" simply because they'll turn up the right models when people search.

So I'm taking a different approach for cameras like the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1, Olympus E-P1 and their ilk.

CNET News Poll

Naming a camera type
What should we call non-dSLRs with interchangeable lenses?

EVIL (Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lenses)
ILC (Interchangeable-lens cameras)
Hybrid cameras
MILC (Mirrorless-Interchangeable Lens cameras)
System cameras

View results

Frankly, I hate all the possible category descriptions. While "EVIL" (Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens) is the catchiest, it seems to have some Sony-related roots (pause here to appreciate that a search on "Sony" and "evil" brings up rootkit memories), not all of these cameras have or will have EVFs.

They started their lives referred to as "hybrid" cameras, but they're not really hybrids--they don't really mix different species of products. And at this point "hybrid" has really become associated with cars.

I kind of like Mirrorless Interchangeable-Lens Camera, and think it most accurately reflects the category, but "MILC" is too precious for me. Interchangeable-lens camera seems to be the most popular, and I've tentatively settled on that. But is it too hard to search on?

Some simply refer to them as Micro Four Thirds (MFT) cameras, which works for now since all of the current models adhere to the MFT standard. But that won't be true forever--or even for the near future, unless Samsung surprises us. And while "system cameras" may accurately reflect what they are, it doesn't really distinguish them from SLRs, which are the original system cameras

So I ask you: please vote on what we should call them. And if you have any better ideas, leave 'em in the comments.

[j_dor]

Why not "LIVE camera", as in "Lens: Interchangeable, Viewfinder: Electronic"?

Okay, it's not as much fun as "EVIL" - and the acronym may be a grammatical stretch. But since the "Live View" found on many dSLRs operates in essentially the same way, it seems a good fit for a camera that's alway in "Live View"...

[NLips]

"EVIL" falls down as many only have optional viewfinders. "System Camera" and "ILC" both would also cover SLRs, so are not specific enough. "Hybrid" doesn't tell you anything.

From the options given, I'd suggest the variation "MIL" - mirrorless interchangeable lens. "dSLR" and "EVIL" don't have the word "camera" included in the acronym, so for conformity, neither should this.

[rich_trenholm]

I still like 'ersatzLR', as proposed at CNET UK:

Are Micro Four Thirds cameras EVIL?

http://crave.cnet.co.uk/digitalcameras/0,39029429,49302673,00.htm

[NowHearThis1]

The GF1 and EP1 made "EVIL" an inaccurate term. One that will work is "MILF";
Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Format.

[lgrunin]

I did think about MILF, but that has other meanings that pose some potential problems, especially from a search-engine perspective :)

[ed_hawco]

I was just going to recommend "MILF" but I think that's already taken. ;-)

How about CILF (hard "c") for Compact Interchangeable Lens Format?

But seriously, one of the problems when seeking a new name is that we're always looking for a cute acronym instead of just an abbreviation. But look at SLR and dSLR; they're abbreviations and nobody stumbles over them. Nobody says "dizzler" they say D-S-L-R.

From that point of view, what is the essence of these new cameras? They're small (compact), they're mirrorless, and they use interchangeable lenses.

So how about CMI (compact, mirrorless, interchangeable)?

[Frank_C_F]

Lori- the GH1, the GF1 and the Olympus cameras are all DSLR cameras. The GH1 is a true HYBRID, because it merges HD BROADCAST and BLU-RAY standard recording formats in a DSLR profile camera- the FIRST to do this.

Reflex has nothing to do with a mirror. It is viewing through the lens being used to capture images. The GH1 is a (D)igital (S)INGLE (L)ENS REFLEX CAMERA. The designation DSLR has nothing to do with a mirror or pentaprism. Those are only components used before the advent of an electronic 100% view viewfinder.

[ed_hawco]

Frank_C_F, I respectfully disagree. "Reflex" has everything to do with the mirror. You're correct that the main advantage is viewing through the lens, but an SLR achieves that via the reflex mirror. If it uses another technology, then it has the same advantage, but it's not a "reflex."

Think of the difference between a TLR (Twin-lens Reflex) and a rangefinder. Neither allows the user to view "through the lens" yet the TLR is a "reflex" because the viewing is done by way of a reflex mirror (but in that case the mirror doesn't move). A rangefinder does not use a mirror, so it is not a "reflex."

Ergo, a camera that reads from the sensor via an EVF does not have a reflex mirror, so it is not a reflex.

[mclai96]

I agree with the above reply that It is reflex, by DEFINITION, has to do with a mirror. that's why it's called a "reflex mirror" technically. Thus dSLR for these are not accurate.
MILF obviously has too many social implications, there is no way it'll be accepted by the serious photography community, so let's not even talk about that anymore.
CILF is a nice thought because that may be the way they eventually head, smaller and smaller with interchangeable lens. as the writer of the article comments, micro 4/3 may not last forever, maybe not even more than a few years if someone comes up with something new and much better.
I agree MIL is very good, it is accurate and encompasses both those with and wo optional optical viewfinders. they can have a subcategory of hybrid MIL's for those, but they may die out anyway due to size and weight.
I agree ILC is too broad, it would include all the cameras with mirrors. both ILC and MILC don't need the C.
Hybrid I agree is nondescriptive.
EVIL sounds almost TOO catchy but could work. I like LIVE suggestion better
Why is the electronic viewfinder inaccurate? are there interchangeable lens cameras without a mirror that use only an optical viewfinder that you want to include? I'm assuming the discussion is about digital cameras, not to include the old nondigital rangefinders. If you are trying to include those, then I guess MIL is still the best.

[lgrunin]

Re the EVF: think of the E-P1, which lacks an EVF and only has an optional optical viewfinder with the 17mm lens. Just an LCD, like a point and shoot.

[jaladhi--2008]

I have a feeling that we will be stuck with Micro 4/3rds or MFT for the current breed of the EVIL cameras. I don't have any problem with M43 since once you know about that standard, you can immediately figure out what kind of camera that is. Also, we already have 1.7x APSC compact cameras from Sigma, and a 1.5x APSC compact from Leica. Pretty soon, we'll see a 2.5x compact from Nikon and may be a 1.5x compact from Ricoh. I think knowing the sensor size and whether the camera is a compact or an slr are the two most important things to mentally slot different cameras.

[robert_ee]

I suggested on another blog that they be called "Sensor-based Live Rendering" cameras, or "SLR's" for short.

Seriously, though, the salient fact of this genre is the combination of large sensor and compact size, which none of your suggested acronyms address. Try LSC for "large sensor compact". If you insist on specifying the interchangeable lens apect, it makes more sense to specify the system: "micro 4/3", "M mount", "Acme mini", etc., or more generically: "LSC system". I don't see the point in negatively specifying the view mechanism as non-reflex; it won't take very long for reflex cameras to become uncommon specializations or objects of nostalgia.

[aj37]

Historically, camera types have been designated by the system used to aim and focus. This gave us single-lens reflex and twin-lens reflex cameras, in which a reflex mirror allowed aiming and focusing through a lens.Then there were viewfinder cameras, aimed through a separate optical viewfinder, and rangefinder cameras, which also included an optical rangefinder for focusing. And of course there were view cameras, in which you'd simply view the actual image on a ground glass behind the lens.

This convention skipped over a few odd ducks such as the Koni-Omegaflex M, a twin-lens NON-reflex, and the original Kodak, which had no aiming system at all other that a couple of lines marked on the top! But on the whole this system has worked well for more than a century.

If we follow the same logic, what's new about this camera category is that you view and focus via a feed straight off the sensor: everyone calls this Live View, so "Live View" will have to be part of the name.

And what distinguishes these cameras from all the live-view compacts with permanently-attached lenses is that the lens is interchangeable.

Meanwhile, usage of "SLR", "TLR", "VF", "RF", etc. suggests that three letters is the upper bound for camera-type acronyms.

So: "LVI", for "live-view interchangeable"? Sorry it's not very catchy, but it's logical.

I've been using "SLD" for Single Lens Direct. No mirror, no bouncing the light around, hence "Direct." Also dovetails nicely with SLR, which isn't going away.

[aratatv]

above SLD is very good idea !
But cannot tell it from Compact digital camera, so I prefer ISLD: Interchangeable SLD.

[jdrs]

What about "SILC" - Small Interchangeable Lens Camera.
Sounds kinda nice, a bit friendlier than the catchy-but-inaccurate EVIL.
:)

[Catastrophile]

Digital rangefinders are mirrorless digital cameras with interchangeable lenses so ILC and MILC do not fit as exclusive or specific to the new camera category in question. Hybrid camera could mean many things or nothing, system cameras applies to DSLR's, digital rangefinders and the new category in question. So EVIL is better than all of these.

The problem stems from the lack of a specific name for "general" digital cameras (compacts), these should have a type name in addition to being digital, like DSLR's are digitals of the type SLR. digital rangefinders are digitals of the type..... but no such type is defined for compacts (compact itself is not a type and they are often not so compacts, eg the R1, S100, FZ50, SX1IS...etc), if we had a name XXXX for this type, then there would be no confusion in naming EVIL cameras as interchangeable lens XXXX cameras. Looking at names like SLR or rangefiner, they were derived from the viewfinding system of their type, so compacts should be named LCD or live-view cameras and EVILS are interchangeable lens live-view or LCD cameras. EVF is more often absent than present in "compacts" and EVIL's, not worth it to name after it.

[SX10 IS]

NFLC = Non-Fixed Lens Compact
IDVS = Interchangeable [lens] Digital-View System.