I was out making pictures with three other photographers, yesterday–just a random assortment of friends–and all of us were using mirrorless cameras and that’s the first time I’ve been out with a group and no one had a DSLR. We took a short hike to a waterfall and as we walked everyone remarked once that they loved how much lighter their mirrorless systems are, which is always a big selling point. But I think getting into mirrorless because it’s lighter would be a mistake.
It’s Not About Weight
We’re photographers, not adventure racers trying to reduce our equipment weight. We don’t cut the handles off our tripod heads to make them weigh less like backpackers do with their toothbrushes. We make pictures, and we all want to make the best picture possible. William Henry Jackson made pictures with large format cameras and wet processes that required an entire animal to carry his equipment to the top of mountains, but his efforts helped shape the world’s impressions of the American West at a time when one couldn’t even ride a train to go see it. We make pictures because we love doing it, and we use the right equipment to get it done.
Fortunately, mirrorless cameras are lighter and often cheaper than their DSLR counterparts. But there’s a whole lot of other features that make them worth buying–they’re at the cutting edge of imaging technology and they’re making it easier than ever to learn to make great photographs. I just got the new Lumix GH5, and it’s much bigger and heavier than my other GX8, but its new features make the greater mass absolutely worth it. Here are a few of the features I’ve heard other photographers remark that they love about their mirrorless cameras and I’d love to hear more from you in the comments.
- What You See Is What You Get: you see the actual exposure in the viewfinder before making the picture
- Seeing the picture in black and white or other picture styles in the viewfinder
- Excellent lens quality, often better than is available for DSLR’s
- Seeing a long exposure get brighter and brighter and stopping it when it’s done
- Incredible low light performance
- Sharper pictures in low light using both lens stabilization and in-body image stabilization (IBIS)
- Marvelous film reproduction settings for picture styles
- Form-follows-function designs that are easier to use and hold
- Classic styling and really cool looks
- Built-in Wifi communication for wireless tethering and instant picture sharing
- Built-in GPS so you can record where your pictures were made
- Fully articulating screens and viewfinders for shooting at any angle
- Focus peaking for precise manual focus
- 60-second shutter speeds and wireless bulb mode
- Best video cameras in the world
- Incredible autofocus
- In-camera focus stacking
- Shooting toward the sun without damaging eyes
- Terrific time lapse controls
- In-camera panoramas
- Truly silent operation
- Highest frames per second shooting
- Face tracking autofocus
- Terrific flash controls
- Did I mention that they are lightweight? ;)
There are so many good reasons to explore mirrorless cameras, and this Maniac would love to hear what your favorites are, too. Please weigh in with a comment and go out and make some pictures!
Not about weight? Oh to be young again.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the light weight, but if that was all it had going for it, I’d have to stay with my old camera; I don’t think that would be worthwhile on its own.
Just got a Sony a6500 as a birthday present. It’s so I have a camera with me all the time as the Canon 5D M3 just doesn’t seem to fit in the purse ;) So far so good with it other than still learning all it can do and getting used to the eyepiece not being in the center.
I know what you mean about learning a new tool. But I bet once you get used to it, you’ll not pick up your 5D III! Oh, and I’m right eyed, so I appreciate the corner mounted viewfinder so my nose doesn’t mash against the screen.
? Got confused by your title. I was looking for the wrong reason only to get to the end without seeing that side. I’m sure there is a downside. Cost for pro features? $6000 for Sony A9 in Canada!
$6K for an a9??? Ouch! No, I mean that weight alone is the wrong reason, and here are so many more reasons. Come down to Portland, you can buy one here without sales tax ;) Of course, they may get their due at the border…
Well, I’ll ask the hard question that some potential mirrorless camera buyers might want to know. I’ve not done ANY research into them and don’t expect to migrate away from Nikon DSLR anytime soon. But your comment “Seeing a long exposure get brighter and brighter” got me rather intrigued. I do astrophotography with the Nikon DSLR and frequently do 5 minute (or longer) ISO 6400 exposures with the DSLR attached to the telescope (making for a really long focal length lens). How would a mirrorless camera do with such a long exposure high ISO exposure? And which models would be… Read more »
Mike, I think you’d be impressed with the Olympus cameras’ ability to show the exposure as it gets brighter. In fact, it has Live Composition, a way of not over exposing anything and watching it build before your eyes. Check out this short interview Vanelli did with Jamie MacDonald all about it: http://bit.ly/2uRAHIu
Thanks Levi. The Olympus Live Composite mode does look interesting. I do similar astrophotography with my iPhone 6s Plus using the iOS app NightCap Camera. It stacks images in the phone and you can see the image build up during long exposures. Great for star trails, light trails, bright satellite passes, and even imaging brighter galaxies and nebulae through a telescope. It would be fun to try an Olympus camera with Live Composite on my 12″ telescope.
Hi Mike, i’m a lucky owner of an Oly EM-1 mirrorless camera. The “live composite” works really awesome! You can actually see the image develop on the LCD screen of the cam, or on your smartphone when made a WiFi connection. If you look at my portfolio ( http://www.jorngijzen.com/landschap ) to the picture “Thunder and Lightning”… i made it HANDHELD! Try this on a DSLR ;-)
Because of the weight and size, I can is a camera with all of the features you described. I have arthritis. I am also small, so a big camera is quite obvious when on the street. A smaller camera with the angles of the LCD is less obvious when I am shooting street. :)
Hi Levi, nice articles on Mirrorless cams you have! Since half a year now, I bought an Olympus EM-1 mirrorless cam and I replaced it for a Nikon D3200. I must say, the features, pictures are really awesome! You can do stuff that you can NEVER do with a DSLR, because you can actually see if your settings are right. Dial the shutterspeed/diaphragm dial and you actually see the image getting darker/lighter. Also the autofocus works superb, I have more sharp portraits with the EM-1 than I ever had with my Nikon in 4 years! I must admit… these cams… Read more »
So I bought a Pentax KP (which is not a mirror-less camera) for a recent trip to Europe and returned it to the store immediately after I got home. The problem was in shooting video. To shoot video you could NOT use the camera’s optical viewfinder; you had to use the LCD screen because the mirror blocks the optical viewfinder while you shoot! Here’s the rub: To use the LCD screen for shooting video requires taking my eyeglasses off — because I’m nearsighted. With my glasses on I simply can’t focus on anything that is closer than about a foot… Read more »
? Got confused by your title. I was looking for the wrong reason only to get to the end without seeing that side. I’m sure there is a downside. Cost for pro features? $6000 for Sony A9 in Canada!
$6K for an a9??? Ouch! No, I mean that weight alone is the wrong reason, and here are so many more reasons. Come down to Portland, you can buy one here without sales tax ;) Of course, they may get their due at the border…
Just got a Sony a6500 as a birthday present. It’s so I have a camera with me all the time as the Canon 5D M3 just doesn’t seem to fit in the purse ;) So far so good with it other than still learning all it can do and getting used to the eyepiece not being in the center.
I know what you mean about learning a new tool. But I bet once you get used to it, you’ll not pick up your 5D III! Oh, and I’m right eyed, so I appreciate the corner mounted viewfinder so my nose doesn’t mash against the screen.
Well, I’ll ask the hard question that some potential mirrorless camera buyers might want to know. I’ve not done ANY research into them and don’t expect to migrate away from Nikon DSLR anytime soon. But your comment “Seeing a long exposure get brighter and brighter” got me rather intrigued. I do astrophotography with the Nikon DSLR and frequently do 5 minute (or longer) ISO 6400 exposures with the DSLR attached to the telescope (making for a really long focal length lens). How would a mirrorless camera do with such a long exposure high ISO exposure? And which models would be… Read more »
Mike, I think you’d be impressed with the Olympus cameras’ ability to show the exposure as it gets brighter. In fact, it has Live Composition, a way of not over exposing anything and watching it build before your eyes. Check out this short interview Vanelli did with Jamie MacDonald all about it: http://bit.ly/2uRAHIu
Thanks Levi. The Olympus Live Composite mode does look interesting. I do similar astrophotography with my iPhone 6s Plus using the iOS app NightCap Camera. It stacks images in the phone and you can see the image build up during long exposures. Great for star trails, light trails, bright satellite passes, and even imaging brighter galaxies and nebulae through a telescope. It would be fun to try an Olympus camera with Live Composite on my 12″ telescope.
Hi Mike, i’m a lucky owner of an Oly EM-1 mirrorless camera. The “live composite” works really awesome! You can actually see the image develop on the LCD screen of the cam, or on your smartphone when made a WiFi connection. If you look at my portfolio ( http://www.jorngijzen.com/landschap ) to the picture “Thunder and Lightning”… i made it HANDHELD! Try this on a DSLR ;-)
Because of the weight and size, I can is a camera with all of the features you described. I have arthritis. I am also small, so a big camera is quite obvious when on the street. A smaller camera with the angles of the LCD is less obvious when I am shooting street. :)
Not about weight? Oh to be young again.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the light weight, but if that was all it had going for it, I’d have to stay with my old camera; I don’t think that would be worthwhile on its own.
Hi Levi, nice articles on Mirrorless cams you have! Since half a year now, I bought an Olympus EM-1 mirrorless cam and I replaced it for a Nikon D3200. I must say, the features, pictures are really awesome! You can do stuff that you can NEVER do with a DSLR, because you can actually see if your settings are right. Dial the shutterspeed/diaphragm dial and you actually see the image getting darker/lighter. Also the autofocus works superb, I have more sharp portraits with the EM-1 than I ever had with my Nikon in 4 years! I must admit… these cams… Read more »
So I bought a Pentax KP (which is not a mirror-less camera) for a recent trip to Europe and returned it to the store immediately after I got home. The problem was in shooting video. To shoot video you could NOT use the camera’s optical viewfinder; you had to use the LCD screen because the mirror blocks the optical viewfinder while you shoot! Here’s the rub: To use the LCD screen for shooting video requires taking my eyeglasses off — because I’m nearsighted. With my glasses on I simply can’t focus on anything that is closer than about a foot… Read more »