For years, compact digital cameras fit into a comfortable niche in photography’s food chain, producing really good pictures from a device that fit in your pocket. Other products couldn’t match that combination.

Then came smartphones.

These days, most people walk around with a gadget that takes high-quality photos and videos — and can actually place phone calls as well. To survive in a suddenly crowded market, small cameras had to upgrade.

The past few years have seen a revolution in compact digital cameras with interchangeable lenses. The ability to change lenses offers higher quality and greater “speed” — enabling the user to shoot in lower light — than conventional compact cameras. These so-called “mirrorless” cameras tend to cost more than a typical point-and-shoot and are also somewhat larger.

Virtually all digital cameras offer a screen on the back of the camera for reviewing photos. And for most mirrorless cameras, this is also how you shoot the picture: looking at arm’s length at the back of the camera.

I’m showing my prejudice as a professional photographer, but I hate operating a camera as if I’m reading a newspaper. So in addition to the standard screen on the back, we’ll look at cameras that allow the user to shoot with the camera held next to the face. When you shoot that way, the quality of the viewfinder is paramount.

Giving special attention to the viewfinder experience, here are three good choices in this market space, at three different cost levels.*

Nikon 1 V1

(US$497; 10-30mm lens)

Courtesy of Nikon

Nikon entered late into the mirrorless market, but the Nikon 1 is a good option. The V1 is the smallest of the three models, and its eye-level viewfinder is better than most on the market. Nikon is also one of the most respected lens manufacturers out there, making this a very good choice for the price.

Sony Alpha NEX-7

(US$1,348; 18-55mm lens)

Courtesy of Sony

The NEX-7 sits near the higher end of Sony’s broad “Alpha” line of cameras. Its electronic viewfinder uses OLED technology, which offers a spectacularly crisp image. (The next generation of TVs will likely be OLED-based, but it’s currently too expensive for television screens.) The viewfinder has to be seen to be believed.

Fujifilm X-Pro1

(US$2,298; 35mm f/1.4 lens)

Courtesy of Fujifilm

The X-Pro1 calls to mind a classic Leica rangefinder, with large analog controls and ultra-sharp lenses for the serious photographer. The electronic viewfinder is good but not great. The real advantage is an optical viewfinder, available with the touch of a button through the same small lens. (With an optical viewfinder, there’s no electronic screen; you look straight through glass at the subject.) Offering both through a single viewfinder is a technical tour-de-force.

This is more than a hypothetical comparison. After years of carrying heavy digital single-lens reflex cameras around, I recently added a mirrorless to my collection. For me? I bought the Fujifilm.

*Prices listed are from a major online photo retailer.