Practical Photography - UK (2020-02)

I’vebeenusinga DSLRfor

manyyearsbutamtempted

tochangeto mirrorless.

Inyouropinion,is thisa goodidea?

ClaireBaxter,Durham

Kirksays:Mirrorlesscameras,orCSCs,

di fferfromDSLRsin thattheydon’thave

a mirrorto reflectlightup throughthe

vi ewfinderto theeye.Instead,a direct

vi deofeedof thelightstrikingthe

sensorappearson a tinyviewfinder

LCD.So whenlookingthroughthe

opticalviewfinderof a DSLRyou’re

seeingdirectlythroughthelens,but

witha mirrorlesscamerayou’reseeing

a di gitalscreen,usuallydescribedas

anelectronicviewfinderor EVF.

Jointlydevelopedin 2008by Panasonic

and Olympus,themirrorlessconcept

wasn’timmediatelyembracedby the

widerindustry,withthe

two bigplayers,Nikon

and Canon,notreleasing

mirrorlessmodels

until 2011 and 2012

respectively.Butwe’re

nowatthepointwhere

everymajorcamera

manufactureris taking

mirrorlessseriously,and

accordingto researchby CIPA

(Camera&ImagingProducts

Association),mirrorlesssalesaccount

fo r fourof everyteninterchangeablelens

camerassold.As thingsstand,it appears

thatthemirrorlesssystemis likelyto be

the onethateventuallywinsout.

ButDSLRsaren’tdeadyet.Theystill

outsellmirrorlesscamerasworldwide,

and theystilloffersomekeyadvantages.

Beforeyoubuy,thinkcarefullyabout

whatyouwantfromyour

camerain termsof size

and weight,handling,

batterylife,viewfindertype

and lensrange.Truthbe told,

thereareperfectlygoodarguments

fo r buyingintoeithersystem,andmany

ofthedifferencesarerelativelyminor

concernsin thegrandschemeof things.

For themostpartyou’regettingmoreor

le ssthesamebangforyourbuckwhenit

comesto sensortechnologyandimage

quality,whichis whatmattersmostat

the endof theday.Checkoutourtopfive

reasonsto buyintoeachsystem.

PRACTICALPHOTOGRAPHY.COM 77

Is now the

ri ghttime

to switch to

a mirrorless

camera?

Mirror

Mirror

Sensor

Optical

viewfinder

Light

Sensor

Light

Know Your Stuff

AboveOna DSLR,lightis reflected up to the

viewfinder.On a CSC,a livefeed of light hitting

thesensorshowson an LCDin the eyepiece.

Mirrorless v DSLR Fi vereasons to buy...

TIP

CONSIDER

THECOST

Althoughthegapis

narrowing,an entry-level

DSLRwill giveyou more

featuresthantheCSC

equivalent.

MIRRORLESSCAMERA

1

Usuallysmallerandlighter

th anDSLRs,so better

su itedto photographerson the

go,or whoneedto travellight.

2

Electronicviewfinder

al lowsyouto see

ex posureanddepth-of-field

pr iorto takingtheshot,unlike

th e opticalviewfinderof a DSLR.

3

Shootingspeed(frames

per second)tendsto

behigher,so it’swell-suited

tofast-actionsubjects.

4

Silentshootingis possible

in somemodelsas

th ere’sno mirrorto createthe

distinctivedouble-clickheard

whenusinga DSLR.

5

Tends to be better for

video recording, and is

us ually the first to adopt cutting

edge features.

DSLRCAMERA

1

Optical viewfinder shows

the scene directly through

the lens. This can be preferred as

it can help photographers feel

connected to the subject, andis

betterin lowlight.

2

Tends to be more ergonomic,

usually with more space

between the buttons and a deeper

handgripforcomfort.

3

The lens range for Canonand

Ni kon DSLRs is currentlyfar

gr eater than for their mirrorless

cameras, and the same is trueof

cameraaccessories.

4

Usually has around twice

the battery life of mirrorless,

owing to the optical, rather than

electronic,viewfinder.

5

Autofocus is generally

more efficient for tracking

fa st-moving subjects.

EVF

DIGITAL SLR

MIRRORLESS