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Cameras with interchangeable lenses are becoming all the rage.

They are targeted towards photographers who want a more compact, lightweight alternative to a digital SLR that's easy to use, without sacrificing flexibility and image quality.

But there's still a lot of confusion. Even manufacturers themselves can't quite decide what to call these SLR-like cameras, and some photographers even refer to them as EVIL (Electronic Viewfinder, Interchangeable Lens) cameras.

In short, interchangeable lens cameras don't have a mirror and pentaprism arrangement found in SLRs. Removing this makes the camera smaller and lighter. At present, there are two main systems vying for your attention:

• Micro Four Thirds: cameras from Olympus and Panasonic, which use the same lens mount. Lenses are interchangeable between these two brands.
• Proprietary lens mount: cameras from Sony and Samsung, rather confusingly called NEX and NX respectively. These cameras use a different lens mount and cannot be interchanged.

All these cameras still have some way to go before they are fully fledged SLR replacements, at least in terms of performance and shooting speed.