The Buyers guide to...Best cameras with a flip screen

The Canon EOS R5 leaves little doubt that Canon is now serious about the mirrorless camera market. It has phenomenal specification with features like a 45Mp full-frame sensor, phase detection autofocusing that covers the whole frame, eye AF for humans and animals that works in video and stills mode and a class-leading viewfinder paired with a vari-angle touchscreen.

The Canon EOS R5 is built to a similar standard to the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV and has a magnesium alloy construction along with weatherproof seals. Its handling is also similar, but the control arrangement has changed to accommodate the vari-angle screen.

Consequently, the back of the Canon R5 looks like a blend of the EOS R and the 5D Mark IV.

It’s great to have a vari-angle screen on the EOS R5. It makes it much easier to shoot video from above or below head-height while keeping the kit size and weight down. Also, as the screen is touch-sensitive you can control the camera with a few taps.

Canon has been quick to see the benefit of touch control and it implements it well in its cameras with no detriment to the physical controls.

Read our Canon EOS R5 Review

While the R6’s viewfinder is the same size as the R5’s (it’s a 0.5-inch type), its resolution is lower at 3.69million dots instead of 5.76million. That’s the same as in the EOS R and on par with the electronic viewfinders in the Sony A9 and Nikon Z7. It’s a great EVF specification for a camera of this level.

If the display performance is set to ‘Power saving’ in the Shoot8 section of the menu, fast-moving subjects look a bit jerky when you shoot them. Switching to the ‘Smooth’ setting makes the movement look more natural.

There’s also a 3-inch vari-angle touchscreen with 1.62million dots. We’re a fan of vari-angle screens because they make shooting portrait or landscape format images from above or below head-height much easier than a fixed screen. And a tilting screen is only of help with landscape format images.

Both the viewfinder and the screen provide an accurate preview of the image as it will be captured. Overall, Canon’s control arrangement on the R6 and use of touch control is excellent and the vari-angle screen is a real asset.

Read our Canon EOS R6 Review

After we reviewed the Sony A7 III, a flip-out touchscreen was at the top of our wishlist for improvements we’d like to see on the next iteration of Sony’s full-frame all-rounder. Sure enough, Sony has given the A7 IV a vari-angle screen that can be flipped face forward or be angled to help compose low- or high-level shots in either landscape of portrait orientation.

What’s more, the A7 IV’s 3-inch 1,036,800-dot screen is touch-sensitive and users can now navigate the menus and settings with a tap. In previous Sony touchscreen LCDs, you were limited to setting the AF point via touch.

Sony has also carefully thought through the design, as well, placing the A7 IV’s mic port just above the screen on the side of the camera so it can still move freely when an external mic is plugged in.

Read our Sony A7 IV Review

OM System has given the OM-1 a very bright 1.62-million dot vari-angle touchscreen. It’s a 3-inch screen and like on the OM-D E-M1 III and OM-D E-M1X and it’s mounted on a vari-angle hinge. This vari-angle hinge means the screen can be angled for clear visibility whether you’re shooting in landscape or portrait orientation.

Like the screens on existing Olympus Micro Four Thirds cameras, the OM-1’s screen is touch sensitive. It responds quickly to a tap and it’s a shame that OM System’s hasn’t extended the touch control to the new main menu.

In overcast conditions and indoors, the OM-1’s screen gives an excellent view it also performs well in brighter conditions. my toughest test for this was when skiing on a bright sunny day trying to video my companions ahead of me. Keeping them framed as we all moved over the piste was challenging, but thankfully, I was able to see them on the screen.

Read our OM System OM-1 Review

Although Panasonic Lumix S5 is smaller than the GH5, it has a well-proportioned and ergonomically shaped grip. A rubber-like coating also ensures that the camera feels secure in your hand. It’s also weather-sealed so you don’t need to worry if the weather changes when you’re out on a shoot.

Despite the shrinkage in size and weight, the Panasonic Lumix s5 has both a 3-inch 1,840,000-dot vari-angle touchscreen and a 2,360,000-dot OLED electronic viewfinder built-in.

The Panasonic GH5 has a vari-angle screen and it was high on the request list for the S-series camera when their development announcement was made. However, the S1 and S1R have 3-way tilting screens. These are useful if you’re shooting in landscape and portrait format images, but they’re not as intuitive or flexible to use as a vari-angle screen and they can’t be seen from in front of the camera.

Happily, the Lumix S5’s screen delivers what many were hoping for and it can be flipped around to face forwards. It means that the S5 could also be a good full-frame vlogging camera.

Further good news is that, like the viewfinder, the S5’s screen provides an excellent preview of the image. If you’re shooting outdoors in bright conditions it’s worth activating the Live View Boost to brighten screen to make the scene easier to see. The screen is also very responsive to touch.

Read our Panasonic Lumix S5 Review

The Panasonic GH6 has a 3.0-inch 1,840K-dot tilt and free-angle touchscreen with an aspect ratio of 3:2 on its rear. The tilting aspect of the screen isn’t immediately obvious, but pressing the button underneath the monitor’s bottom left corner releases the mechanism so the screen can be tilted up from the bottom.

It’s also possible to lever the screen up without pressing the button, but it’s easier to do it the intended way.

There are two stop points in the screen’s tilt movement. The first one is at the right point to enable the screen to be flipped out to the side of the camera without catching on the viewfinder while the second one at about 45° gives a more comfortable viewing able when shooting at waist-height.

To the uninitiated, the tilt and free-angle combination may seem a bit over the top but it means that the screen can be flipped out and twisted to face forwards, up or down, without fouling on any of the cables that may be connected to the ports on the left side of the camera (mic, USB-C and full-size HDMI).

With 1.84-million dots, the 3-inch screen gives a good view of the scene and doesn’t suffer to badly from reflections even in sunny conditions (at least not in March in the UK). However, even when shooting video, there are times when it’s preferable to use the 3,680k-dot 0.76x OLED viewfinder. This has a contrast ratio of 10,000:1 and gives a sharp, accurate preview of the scene.

Read our Panasonic Lumix GH6 Review

The GH5 is Panasonic’s flagship compact system or mirrorless camera and it has a mini-DSLR design, featuring a high-quality electronic viewfinder and vari-angle touch-screen. As a Micro Four Thirds camera it’s compatible with an extensive collection of Micro Four Thirds mount lenses from Panasonic and Olympus as well as third-party manufacturers.

While its viewfinder is still a 21mm OLED device, its resolution has been bumped up from 2,360,000 dots to 3,680,000 dots from the GH4 and the magnification is 0.76x rather than 0.67x. It provides a very clear and detailed view of the scene.

Panasonic has also upgraded the rear screen and it now measures 3.2-inches across the diagonal and has 1,620,000 dots. It’s still a vari-angle unit but instead of an OLED screen it’s an RGBW LCD. It provides a nice sharp view and the revised menu, which has fewer pages but more lines, is clear. The screen also responds quickly to tap of your finger.

The GH5 is a complex camera and it will take some getting to know, but all the main controls that you want on a shot-by-shot basis, for example to adjust exposure and white balance or to set the AF point are within easy reach. There are also plenty of customisable buttons to help you get it working as you want.

Read our Panasonic GH5 review

Like previous A7S models, the Sony A7S III has a full-frame sensor with 12.1 million effective pixels. Keeping the resolution down benefits its low-light capability by keeping noise levels down.

As well as a host of improvements to its video specification, the Sony A7S III introduces the highest-resolution electronic viewfinder we’ve seen to date and it’s the first Sony A7-series camera to feature a vari-angle screen.

According to Sony, the 3-inch vari-angle screen wasn’t a request for the A7S III, it was a demand. It’s certainly something I’ve mentioned on many occasions.

In the past, the argument against one has been that a vari-angle hinge is less robust than a fixed screen and that ‘most dedicated videographers use an external monitor’. Those two points may still be true, but one of the key benefits of using a camera like the A7S III is its small size. If you start having to add an external monitor it makes it bigger and heavier.

Sony is also at pains to point out that the A7S III is for new videographers as well as experienced shooters and many of those people are unlikely to want to also lash out on a monitor.

It’s good to see that there’s an option to show a red outline around the on-screen image when the camera is recording. There are times when this is more useful than the usual flashing red dot.

After the 8K-capabilities of the Canon EOS R5, the Sony A7S III might seem a bit of an anti-climax. We’re sure some videographers were hoping for a big jump in resolution from the 12mp A7S II. However, Sony already has the 61Mp A7R IV and the 24Mp A7 III, so sticking with 12Mp means that the A7S III has even better low-light capability than its predecessor but with a much better autofocus system, a vari-angle screen and the highest-resolution viewfinder around.

Read our Sony A7S III Review

As with Canon’s full-frame mirrorless cameras, including the flagship Canon EOS R3, the R7 has a vari-angle touchscreen. This is great for composing low- and high-level shots in landscape or portrait orientation. Because Canon has embraced full-touch control, it’s also useful for changing camera settings with a tap.

Naturally, there are a couple of new options, such as the horizon correction in the menu, but in other respects it’s very familiar.

Overall, Canon’s new flagship APS-C mirrorless camera has a layout and design all of its own, yet it retains some of those signature Canon design marks that will help people quickly adapt to using it.

Read our Canon EOS R7 Review

Although the 0.39-inch 2.36million-dot electric viewfinder on the Canon EOS RP doesn’t match those in recent high-end mirrorless cameras for resolution, it still provides a decent preview of images. And let’s not forget, the RP is much more affordable than other new full-frame mirrorless cameras.

With Exposure Simulation activated, you get an accurate view of the final image’s brightness as well as the colour. However, if you want to see the depth of field, you’ll need to customise one of the camera’s buttons to that purpose. Or of course, you can take a quick shot. That could be avoided, however, if Canon showed the preview with the selected aperture applied.

Like the EVF, the 3-inch screen’s 1.04-million-dot resolution doesn’t really wow these days, but the fact that it’s mounted on a vari-angle hinge is great. That means you can twist it around to give you a clear view whichever angle you’re shooting from. And unlike a tilting screen, it’s useful if you’re shooting in portrait or landscape orientation.

The screen is also bright enough to be useful outdoors on a sunny day. In addition, it’s very responsive to touch.

We love that Canon has enabled the RP’s touchscreen to be used for browsing the Quick and main menu, selecting settings and browsing through images as well as setting the AF point. It really speeds using the camera and makes it more intuitive. It’s also good that this isn’t at the expense of physical buttons and dials.

Read our Canon EOS RP Review

Among the many improvements Fujifilm put into the X-H2S over the X-H1 is an upgrade of the LCD screen. Instead of the 3-way tilting screen of the X-H1, the X-H2S has a vari-angle screen that can be flipped out and rotated to face forward for vlogging. This means it’s useful when the camera is above or below head-height in landscape or portrait orientation.

The new 1.62-million-dot vari-angle touchscreen is also bright and responsive.

There are a number of handling changes in the X-H2S in comparison with the X-H1, and anyone looking at the camera with fresh eyes cannot fail to be impressed by its build and capability.

Read our Fujifilm X-H2S Review