Hive Mind: Camera talk

I shoot mirrorless μ4/3 (Olympus E-M5 and Panasonic GX-1 modded for IR/UV photography), because I wanted portable for travel/scuba.

I'd suggest the cheapest Canon DSLR, something in the EOS REBEL series. Canon is the standard for DSLR videography, is extremely well supported with third party lenses, and isn't nosebleed expensive. They offer education discounts.

I'd add:

μ4/3 isn't any cheaper than APS-C format DSLRs, once you add in lenses. This is largely because the only third party lenses are large aperture manuals. μ4/3 is all about halving volume/weight.

For dusk/nighttime flashless photography, its hard to beat the recent Sony sensors (also in high end Nikon and Olympus cameras).

Nikon arguably also has the best high end lens lineup, but doesn't support videography as well as Canon. So for student use, I'd start with something like a Canon T3i, with 3rd party portrait/macro/sports zooms.

Leica made the Q with a 28mm lens because a 35 or 50 would completely cannibalize M sales, right?