24 5 October 2019 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I subscribe 0330 333 1113

USING DSLRS

faith

With all the buzz about full-frame

mirrorless, it’s easy to forget that

many pros are sticking with the

DSLR. Ailsa McWhinnie finds

out why from five top shooters

W

hen, in 2008, Panasonic launched the Lumix

G1 – the first Micro-Four-Thirds-mount

mirrorless camera – few could have predicted

how it would go on to revolutionise the camera

market. Now, 11 years on, all the major manufacturers have

mirrorless ranges, with new additions and upgrades being

added at a rate of knots.

However, for many photographers, especially professionals,

the headline benefits of the mirrorless system actually work

against them, not for them. Compact size? For those with

bigger hands, that can service to make a camera more fiddly

to use. Light in weight? For photographers loyal to their DSLR

workhorses – be that a Nikon D850 or a Canon EOS 5D Mark

IV – knowledge that their camera will do exactly what they

want it to, when they want it to, outweighs a few hundred

grams saved here and there. (And as it is, the requirement to

carry additional batteries often cancels out any benefit.)

Accusations of being a dinosaur tend to roll off a

professional photographer who is devoted to his or her DSLR.

Most of them have stuck with a single brand for decades, and

this means they know their camera inside out. The ability

to alter settings with barely a moment’s thought can be the

difference between capturing the money-making shot or

going home empty-handed. Learning the ins, outs and foibles

of a new system can take time that many professionals simply

don’t have.

Loyalty to the classic DSLR body isn’t blind, however. Nearly

all the professional photographers featured in this article

admitted that once a few key issues with the mirrorless system

are ironed out, in all likelihood they’ll be powerless to resist its

force. Despite everything, it would appear the future is most

definitely mirrorless.

Keep the

Guy’s DSLR’s optical

viewfinder was

sufficiently light to

allow him to make

small adjustments to

composition in the

dark without the use

of artificial light

© GUY EDWARDES