What are the cheap alternatives to DSLRs to get “large sensor image quality”?

Question

In a review of an entry level DSLR, I found this:

[this] is an excellent DSLR but make clear that a DSLR is no longer the only way to gain large sensor image quality at this price [around $500]

What are the alternatives the reviewer is alluding to? Would they still have interchangeable lens?

To be clear, I'm not after specific models, I'm just interested in understanding the kind of camera the reviewer had in mind.

Asked by UncleZeiv

Answer

Apart from DSLRs which have normally the largest sensors (full frame or APS-sized) there are some other types of cameras that have at least larger sensors than the typical compact.

For example there is the Micro-Four-Thirds-Standard (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_Four_Thirds_system), which has a relative large sensor (18 mm × 13.5 mm), but I don't think there are cameras in the price range about $500. If I recall correctly these cameras are rather in the $1k-area.

The best compromise between sensor size and price below $500 would be a compact with a larger-than typical sensor like a Canon s95 or Olympus XZ-1.

Answered by sarnu

Check more discussion of this question.