Best mirrorless around $500
May I suggest that you make a short list of what's important and what's less important, also considering what exactly you want to use the camera for ... and then start short-listing cameras to suit your needs
As well as above - do you have any lenses to consider? - in fact, what sort of lenses will you need? - are they available at an economical price? - what are your images going to be used for? - do you need a 'large' or 'small' sensor? - could you make use of someone else's trade-in?
I use a Panny G2 mirrorless - fabulous camera but later models have become a bit faster to process the image; offer a few extra menu options etc. Would I part with it - 'no' it suits my needs AND my hands/fingers perfectly, so I'm keeping it.
Depending upon your image needs - have you considered a fixed-lens superzoom ... after all these lovely beasties are all mirrorless jobs, with a very surprising set of options, menu choices, Fn buttons all over the place and very definitely fit into your budget. Have a sqwiz at the Panny FZ-300 for example - you may be quite surprised
Hope this helps
Phil from the great land Downunder
www.flickr.com/photos/ozzie_traveller/sets/
paoloko wrote: You should definitely take a look at Fujifilm . Excellent bodies made for photographers with all the buttons and switches placed exactly where they must be, a terrific lineup of lenses and not to mention the JPEG's you get straight out of the camera.
Fujifilm has some cameras and impressive lineup of glass. I actually see this company as one of those industry 'sleepers' that Nikon, Canon and Sony need to keep a good eye on. 
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