DSLR to Mirrorless?

[Ed Rooney]

 

Have you made this move? Or do you plan to? And if so why?

[FocusUno]

> DSLR to Mirrorless?

I don't know what DSLR stands for

but yes I've removed all mirrors from my residence

[Michael Ventura]

Hi Edo, I still mostly use my Nikon D850 for my assignments but use my Sony mirrorless cameras for walk about stock or personal travel pics.  I have a RX100 IV and a RX10 IV.  I have been toying with idea of getting a Nikon Z series mirrorless for magazine work but just not ready to pull the trigger.  I know quite a few full time pros who are using mirrorless now.

[Phil Robinson]

I've got a Sony RX10III that I use for video work, mostly slow motion. The video quality is great but the stills just don't compare to Nikon FX images.
I used it in London for the first time on Friday and though MUCH lighter than the equivalent Nikon stuff, I won't be ditching my D600s until I can afford the Z series, if ever.

[Allan Bell]

I'm with mirrorless and have been for some time. Last DSLR was the Nikon D750 which went when I switched.

 

Allan

 

[Mr Standfast]

9 hours ago, FocusUno said:

> DSLR to Mirrorless?

I don't know what DSLR stands for

but yes I've removed all mirrors from my residence

I miss garlic as well....

[Simon]

Hi Ed

i switched to Fuji x series last year. Great lenses and cheaper than Nikon’s. whole setup much lighter. Another driving factor was video capability which on the whole is better than dslr.  On a whim I got a discounted open box Sony RX 10 III last week with the huge zoom range. I’ve sold 5 news pictures off it already with 2 in print yesterday, auto focus not brilliant but it beats carrying around the huge Sigma I had before and is a lot less conspicuous. In my shoulder camera bag I can now carry Fuji with 2 lenses, Sony rx10 and my DJI mini  with a tripod. 

[MDM]

12 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

Have you made this move? Or do you plan to? And if so why?

 

A foot in each Nikon camp at the moment.

Reasons for going mirrorless:

1. Weight (although when you stick big lenses on a mirrorless body, the weight advantage is minimal or non-existent)

2. Video - Nikon's Z mirrorless cameras have much more advanced video features than DSLRs. The simplest advantage is that you can use the viewfinder when shooting video but there are others such as the ability to shoot raw video. 

3. Nikon has reached a plateau with its DSLRs. The D850 is the best DSLR ever made and would be very hard to surpass so all the new development now is with the Z series mirrorless. They are producing some amazing lenses, enabled by the new mount design. I think the DSLR will be around for quite some time to come but the new technology is all Z now so if one wants to keep up with that then there will be no choice. 

Edited August 29, 2021 by MDM

[BobD]

I have just ordered a Z7 ll with the 28 -70 f4 mainly because I want to do more video but also size and weight is a consideration. I sold my 600mm f4 lens that contributed a large chunk towards the cost and was hardly ever used, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to justify the cost.

Having said that I love my D850 and still intend to use it a great deal.

 

Only problem now is there is no stock of the Z7ll so will have to wait a few weeks for it to arrive.

[Jill Morgan]

I am like Michael and use my Sony RX100ii for walking about as it fits in the purse easily.  In the past 6 months I upgraded my DSLR to the Canon 90D with the 100-400 L original.  Great for my bird photos, and when using the tripod I shoot using the LCD and remote shutter so when I do that, I am technically shooting mirrorless.

 

Jill

[Phil Robinson]

My Sony RX10 has become my shopping camera - the one I take everywhere when I'm not really expecting to shoot anything, just in case. It has a ridiculous 24-600mm (equivalent) Zeiss lens and can do everything I might need, even if not to the same standard as my 17kg of Nikon stuff

 

[MDM]

5 hours ago, BobD said:

I have just ordered a Z7 ll with the 28 -70 f4 mainly because I want to do more video but also size and weight is a consideration. I sold my 600mm f4 lens that contributed a large chunk towards the cost and was hardly ever used, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to justify the cost.

Having said that I love my D850 and still intend to use it a great deal.

 

Only problem now is there is no stock of the Z7ll so will have to wait a few weeks for it to arrive.

If video is the main thing, then you could think of the Z6 II instead and save quite a lot of money. For technical reasons beyond my present understanding, the smaller sensors on the 6 cameras are deemed better for video. Still image quality is effectively indistinguishable from the 7s. Good win today 😀

Edited August 29, 2021 by MDM

[Malcolm Park]

I shoot Nikon Z7 around 60% of the time now (street, arts, many landscapes). 2 bodies, the wonderful 24-70mm f4 S lens & the equally great 14-24 f4 S lens. Occasionally add the 70-200mm VR II lens with Ftz mount. Z cameras also used attached to telescopes for astro work. I use them for significant weight reduction. Nikon D5 only used for fast work now and my D850 has the 500mm PF lens permanently attached for big telephoto and wildlife work. Look forward to finished reviews of the Z9.

[Chuck Nacke]

I've been tied to NIKON F mount bodies for too many years.  Not a fan of EVF. 

 

Chuck

Edited August 30, 2021 by Chuck Nacke
deletion

[Michael Ventura]

9 minutes ago, Chuck Nacke said:

We all have our way of working and all that matters is the “image”

I totally agree but always fun knowing what others are working with.  

[Chuck Nacke]

2 hours ago, Michael Ventura said:

I totally agree but always fun knowing what others are working with.  

Totally agree with you,  That is what I have been saying for years.  The "Special place in Hell" post

was too general and I should have been more specific.

 

Chuck

[Bryan]

Converted to mirrorless some  years ago. Part of the motivation was the ability to use my collection of film era lenses without fear of aperture levers fouling the mirror, and of course compactness.

 

Since that time the electronic viewfinders EVF have greatly improved to the point where they are now far superior for manual focus than the screen of a DSLR. Indeed I would say that the EVF on my Sony A6500 is better for manual focus than the optical viewfinders of my old film cameras, including the superb Olympus OM10 and Pentax MX.

 

My only regret is that I've yet to find a modern Sony zoom that comes close to my older lenses for wall to wall sharpness and image clarity.

Edited August 30, 2021 by Bryan

[BobD]

16 hours ago, MDM said:

If video is the main thing, then you could think of the Z6 II instead and save quite a lot of money. For technical reasons beyond my present understanding, the smaller sensors on the 6 cameras are deemed better for video. Still image quality is effectively indistinguishable from the 7s. Good win today 😀

 

As with everything else, its a trade off. The Z6ll with a lower pixel count and larger pixels supposedly gives better video quality. On the other hand the larger pixel count of the Z7 allows faux movement for time lapse video. 

Then again I don't intend to use it purely for video, so major consideration is also given to stills. This will probably be the last camera I buy ( I said the same when I bought the D850 🙂 )so everything had to be considered. I am a great fan of the D850 45mp.

 

Yes a good result in the match. Generally when all other results go Tottenham's way they find a way to conspire to lose. 

Edited August 30, 2021 by BobD

[Ed Rooney]

Sometimes, before my retirement, I would do an assignment where I wanted to look like a pro photographer. If the client came along or if the subject had to feel I was a pro, for instance. A large DSLR and a big zoom looked very serious. It was PR. Now days, I prefer to be invisible. Very few people see this old dude with his pocket mirrorless as anything more than a tourist gathering snapshots. 

 

My last DSLR was a Nikon D700. Too heavy for me. I preferred using my lighter D90. But light weight and an amateur look are not the only pluses I've found changing to the Sony RX100 series. I feel a kinship with HCB, thinking how liberating it must have been for him to move from the large, cumbersome cameras of the day to those first tiny Leica rangefinders. 

 

Thanks for your thoughts, people.

[Phil]

3 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

I prefer to be invisible. Very few people see this old dude with his pocket mirrorless as anything more than a tourist gathering snapshots. 

 

 

Another advantage to mirrorless is ability to select a virtually soundless electronic shutter.

Choose electronic shutter and use the camera's back LCD to compose/focus and you'll blend in even better with the tourists snapping away with their pocket and phone cameras.

 

[MDM]

1 minute ago, Phil said:

 

Another advantage to mirrorless is ability to select a virtually soundless electronic shutter.

Choose electronic shutter and use the camera's back LCD to compose/focus and you'll blend in even better with the tourists snapping away with their pocket and phone cameras.

 

 

The D850 (Nikon DSLR) has an electronic shutter option. 

[Betty LaRue]

Of course, Edo, you know I’ve been mirrorless since the Fuji X-T1 came out.  Image quality was better than my previous Nikons, and everything was lighter weight and as mentioned, wonderful lenses.  I never once felt a twinge of regret leaving Nikon. A bit of nostalgia, maybe, for the time Nikon was King.

Yesterday my daughter came up from Oklahoma to collect the Fuji T-2 with the 18-55 lens of mine, since I have the T-4 now. She’s been shooting Nikon. 
I gave her a crash course. When she reviewed the images she took, her first remark (eyes wide) was, “Mom! Everything is so sharp!”

Love my RX100-3 also for it’s tiny size.

[Steve F]

Hi Ed,

I was shooting with a SLT A77 from Sony (APS-C) and starting to get annoyed with the lack of dust and weather sealing on my lenses as well as build quality being not amazing. I was looking at going full frame when Sony brought out the A7iii to much fanfare. The lens quality is great (3 out of my 4 lenses are native Sony). They're not that much smaller though as I thought they would be for mirrorless, size is still mainly dictated by the focal length and glass diameter rather than the distance to the camera body flange. But the new mirrorless full frame cameras are tiny compared to even APS-C DSLRs and much smaller than an equivalent full frame traditional DSLR. EVFs might have had some problems with ghosting a few years back and they still have some problems in very low light, but they have many advantages over an optical viewfinder, principally that you can see what an image will look like with all the settings applied before you take the picture. Removing the mirror also increases the theoretical fps shooting. And all the research and growing lens ranges are going into mirrorless now. I expect all other systems will become obsolete within 10 years.

 

That said, I wouldn't recommend anyone changing if they already have a decent system that works for them, the returns from stock are steadily diminishing as we know....

 

Curious to try a Sony RX series camera some day, but very much still enjoying my A7iii for now.

Steve

[John Mitchell]

Better hurry up and switch to mirrorless. Apparently, there's now a special place in heaven for those who have. ☁️

 

P.S. However, there are probably plusher accommodations for Nikon mirrorless users. Sony owners automatically get the lower bunks.

 

 

 

Edited August 30, 2021 by John Mitchell

[MDM]

10 minutes ago, John Mitchell said:

Better hurry up and switch to mirrorless. Apparently, there's now a special place in heaven for those who have. ☁️

 

P.S. However, there are probably plusher accommodations for Nikon mirrorless users. Sony owners automatically get the lower bunks.

 

 

 

 

I'm hedging my bets.