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A
recentarticlebyImaging
Resource(www.imaging-
resource.com/news/
2019/05/14/ricoh-interview-
sub-frame-medium-format-dslr-coming-
mirrorless-will-return)quotedRicoh
executivesassayingtheybelievedthat,
in thenextfewyears,photographers
wouldswitchfrommirrorlessbackto
DSLRcameras.I’mnotsurehowto break
it to them,butI hopeforthesakeof
Pentaxtheyaren’tbankingonit.
Theinadequaciesof earlymirrorless
camerashavenowbeenpushedcasually
aside.In factI struggletothinkof a single
wayin whicha DSLRcamerahasthe
edgeoveritsmirrorlesscounterpart.
‘But,buttheautofocus!’Welcometo
2019,whereon-sensorphasedetection
enablesyoutohavecontinuousautofocus
trackingwithpointsfromthecornerto
cornerof theframe.Eye-AFalsoenables
photographerstoshootwithan85mm
f/1.4lensandnotworryaboutgetting
theeyein focuseverytime.Nomore
eyelashesornosespinsharpwithslightly
softeyes.Withouttheconstraintsof a
flappysilveredbitof glassshiftingupand
down,camerasaresuddenlyfreetoshoot
at 30framespersecond.
Imagesarepreviewedlivein the
viewfinder,andmagnificationis usedto
checkthefinestof detailsbeforethe
shutteris pressed– there’snoneedany
moretochecktheshotontherearscreen
afteryou’vetakenit. ‘ButI canshootlive
viewonmyDSLRanddothosethings!’
True,butyouarebuyinganSLRsystem
andthenmakinga deliberatechoicenot
touseit! ‘I likea largercamera!’Letme
introduceyoutothePanasonicS1or
S1R,ora littlethingcalleda grip.‘Ahhh,
buttheopticalviewfinder!’Whataboutit?
Thesearen’ttheb&w,low-resolution
viewfindersfrommid-nineties
camcorders.Issueswithlatencyhave
goneandresolutionsareinsaneforthe
sizeof thedisplay.
Therearetworeasonsphotographers
maypreferanopticalfinder– a medical
condition or simply that they prefer it.
I understandthatit is expensivetoswap
anentireDSLRcameraandlensline-up
toa mirrorlessequivalent,andformany
thatis a stickingpoint.However,I’dargue
thatmanyphotographersaresimplystuck
in theirwaysanddon’twanttochange,
justasmanysworetheywouldalways
shootfilm.Somearguethatusinga DSLR
is abouttheprocess,andwhilethatholds
trueforlarge-format,wet-plateorfilm
photography,it justdoesn’tringtruein
thesamewayforshootingwitha DSLR.
Ofcourseit is theimagethatultimately
mattersandnotalwayshowyougot
there,butI thinkthatRicohPentaxis in
fora shock.If theytrulybelievethatthe
DSLRmarketwillswitchtogrowthin the
nextcoupleof years,thePentaxbrandis
sadlysettogothesamewayasKodak.
Anyway,I’vepontificatedenough.It’s
timetowipetheinkfromthequilland
stokeupthefiretoboil some water for my
morningcoffee.
RichardSibleywasformerlyDeputyEditorof
AmateurPhotographer. Henowwritesaboutcameras
andphotographyaswellasrunsthePhotoGearNews
YouTubechannel.Find him on Instagram at
@richsibley.
WillphotographersbeswitchingbacktoDSLR
systemsfrommirrorlessinthenextfew years,
or is this Ricoh’s wishful thinking?
‘Itistheimagethat
ultimatelymatters
andnotalwayshow
you got there’
View point
Richard Sibley
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