Are DSLR Cameras Going Extinct?
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I was thinking about when digital cameras arrived on the scene. My first was a Sony Mavica that recorded on 3.5" floppies. So many said "I'll stick with my film cameras, they will be here forever" I think in some small way that is what is happening now to large DSLR/Mirrorless rigs. People who own very high end camera systems will say no way, but the revolution away from high end has already happened.. mirrorless will stave off the inevitable a little while, but people en-mass just do not value or have the need for high end SLR/Mirrorless rigs. I know studio/Professionals is a different thing.. but I thought we are discussing people and a market in general not a niece market. I do love my rig, but I may never upgrade again myself, the market share and demand will grow smaller and smaller and prices on these units will climb higher to recoup losses of selling less units.. It is already at a point where I just cannot justify a new Canon Mirrorless at the prices they are at now. I think the writing is on the wall and that is just what it is. I did like the analogy of music mentioned. I remember being a dyed in the wool audiophile, everything had to b perfect and my listening area set up perfectly.. fast forward to now. I just play compressed MP3's sent over to my BT headsets or home system.. not even caring about overall quality.. never thought I would be at that point.. times change..
#85
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Mirrorless is the way to go. Sony messed up by not making a larger mount. The corners of the sensor is blocked. Canon did better but Nikon did the best. I'm glad Nikon didn't jump right in and instead worked on hardware that allows a lot of future improvements. I know of one DSLR that a lot of Pros still like and don't want to give up, the Nikon D850. I took this one with a D750 and a Sigma 150-600 Sports. 1st one is cropped from the 2nd one. I have done no editing because I don't have a clue how to other than cropping.
#86
I openly admit I was completely resistant to change to Mirrorless...but when Canon came out with their R5 Pro Body and outstanding RF Glass I made the change as I could sense everything was going to be trending towards mirrorless. Now I could NEVER go back to a DSLR as there are way too many advantages to mirrorless and very few drawbacks. The only real drawback is on the R5 you will get a little bit of shutter "blackout" which can make tracking a little more tricky that with a DSLR but even that you get used to...and (apparently) they even fixed that with R3 so it is seamless.
One of the massive advantages that I never even though of when purchasing and almost no one even talks about is the ability to focus and see the image in live view when using ND Filters. This is huge for landscape photographers that are photographing water or cloud movement. The shot below was using a "Big Stopper" aka: a 10 Stop ND Filter. This allowed me to shoot at f9 and get a 20 second exposure in full daylight. On a normal DSLR your viewfinder would look completely black and impossible to focus with the filter on and then you have to calculate the exposure. That would normally be a lot of trial and error. I shot that using the live view and nailed both focus and exposure in the first shot.
One of the massive advantages that I never even though of when purchasing and almost no one even talks about is the ability to focus and see the image in live view when using ND Filters. This is huge for landscape photographers that are photographing water or cloud movement. The shot below was using a "Big Stopper" aka: a 10 Stop ND Filter. This allowed me to shoot at f9 and get a 20 second exposure in full daylight. On a normal DSLR your viewfinder would look completely black and impossible to focus with the filter on and then you have to calculate the exposure. That would normally be a lot of trial and error. I shot that using the live view and nailed both focus and exposure in the first shot.
I started moving to mirrorless about a year ago and went all in. It was pretty clear to me that Nikon was leaving DSLRs behind and I didn't want to be stuck with a set of equipment that would become increasing unsellable. I sold all of my DSLR and F mount lenses except for 3 lenses. Everything sold was replaced with Z cameras and glass by this past summer. Timing was pretty good - resale value was much better than I thought it would be.
Now that I'm on mirrorless I haven't regretted it even for a moment. The thing I like most is silent shooting during events and performances. The biggest surprise was just how good the Z glass is. The biggest shortcoming compared to DSLRs is the battery life. However it has been manageable - the cameras wake up from standby quickly and it's not a big deal to carry an extra battery, which I did with the DLSRs anyway.
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St. Jude Donor '08-'12, '14-'15
I too was resistant to mirrorless. I shoot Nikon and their first foray into mirrorless back in 2011 was a big disappointment. This was mostly due their imposing artificial constraints on the Nikon 1 to avoid competing with their flagship DSLRs. When the Nikon Z came out I said, "Here we go again." So I waited. I waited a long time. I waited until I was convinced that Nikon was in it for real and that the mirrorless cameras would offer something that would actually contribute to taking better pictures. When the cameras were in their second generation and the flagship Nikon Z9 was announced, I was convinced that Nikon was serious this time. It was also clear by this time that the new Z mount was a game changer over the F mount - every new lens was getting surprisingly positive reviews.
I started moving to mirrorless about a year ago and went all in. It was pretty clear to me that Nikon was leaving DSLRs behind and I didn't want to be stuck with a set of equipment that would become increasing unsellable. I sold all of my DSLR and F mount lenses except for 3 lenses. Everything sold was replaced with Z cameras and glass by this past summer. Timing was pretty good - resale value was much better than I thought it would be.
Now that I'm on mirrorless I haven't regretted it even for a moment. The thing I like most is silent shooting during events and performances. The biggest surprise was just how good the Z glass is. The biggest shortcoming compared to DSLRs is the battery life. However it has been manageable - the cameras wake up from standby quickly and it's not a big deal to carry an extra battery, which I did with the DLSRs anyway.
I started moving to mirrorless about a year ago and went all in. It was pretty clear to me that Nikon was leaving DSLRs behind and I didn't want to be stuck with a set of equipment that would become increasing unsellable. I sold all of my DSLR and F mount lenses except for 3 lenses. Everything sold was replaced with Z cameras and glass by this past summer. Timing was pretty good - resale value was much better than I thought it would be.
Now that I'm on mirrorless I haven't regretted it even for a moment. The thing I like most is silent shooting during events and performances. The biggest surprise was just how good the Z glass is. The biggest shortcoming compared to DSLRs is the battery life. However it has been manageable - the cameras wake up from standby quickly and it's not a big deal to carry an extra battery, which I did with the DLSRs anyway.
Thank you sharing your experience and brining the conversation back to DLSR vs. Mirrorless. If I had to hear one more person tell me that their iPhone can replace all camera equipment I was going to lose my mind.
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#89
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I can't wait to get a new Nikon mirrorless.
I'll quit trucking and become a professional photographer right away since taking great pics will be sooooooooooo easy.
I'll quit trucking and become a professional photographer right away since taking great pics will be sooooooooooo easy.
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Gixxerman (12-20-2022)
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St. Jude Donor '08-'12, '14-'15
Just put it on a Tripod and turn the dial to "A" Mode....that stands for "Awesome" Mode then walk away for a few hours. When you come back all of your photos will look like Ansel, Geddes and McNally took them and this will ensure professional quality shots! Solid business plan!
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wmstumme (12-21-2022)
#92
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Just put it on a Tripod and turn the dial to "A" Mode....that stands for "Awesome" Mode then walk away for a few hours. When you come back all of your photos will look like Ansel, Geddes and McNally took them and this will ensure professional quality shots! Solid business plan!
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Nitro-C5 (12-19-2022)
#93
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Just put it on a Tripod and turn the dial to "A" Mode....that stands for "Awesome" Mode then walk away for a few hours. When you come back all of your photos will look like Ansel, Geddes and McNally took them and this will ensure professional quality shots! Solid business plan!
Take your C8 for example.
A mode only. Cant even get M mode even if you wanted a manual.
Eventually all mirrorless cameras will only have A mode as only option. Why build a camera with all those stupid button options if A mode is better.?
Just like new sports cars. A mode is better than M mode according to manufacturers. Doesn't matter what the customer wants.
So what's the advantage of a mirrorless camera if you're shooting in M mode?
Isn't M mode the same on a dslr as it is on mirrorless?
If you are manually making camera settings on both types of cameras then I don't really see the point in switching to mirrorless.
Unless of course you just want the new tech that manufacturers convince you is better.
Could you actually see a difference in photos between 2 professional photographers? One using dslr and the other using mirrorless.
Mirrorless is a scam.
I still like my Minolta 102 35mm.
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shenango (12-20-2022)
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I still love my Canon 5D MK III.. wouldn't mind the new Canon Mirrorless.. but that price tag WOOF!.. just cannot justify it for my needs right now..
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St. Jude Donor '08-'12, '14-'15
A Mode is the future.
Take your C8 for example.
A mode only. Cant even get M mode even if you wanted a manual.
Eventually all mirrorless cameras will only have A mode as only option. Why build a camera with all those stupid button options if A mode is better.?
Just like new sports cars. A mode is better than M mode according to manufacturers. Doesn't matter what the customer wants.
So what's the advantage of a mirrorless camera if you're shooting in M mode?
Isn't M mode the same on a dslr as it is on mirrorless?
If you are manually making camera settings on both types of cameras then I don't really see the point in switching to mirrorless.
Unless of course you just want the new tech that manufacturers convince you is better.
Could you actually see a difference in photos between 2 professional photographers? One using dslr and the other using mirrorless.
Mirrorless is a scam.
I still like my Minolta 102 35mm.
Take your C8 for example.
A mode only. Cant even get M mode even if you wanted a manual.
Eventually all mirrorless cameras will only have A mode as only option. Why build a camera with all those stupid button options if A mode is better.?
Just like new sports cars. A mode is better than M mode according to manufacturers. Doesn't matter what the customer wants.
So what's the advantage of a mirrorless camera if you're shooting in M mode?
Isn't M mode the same on a dslr as it is on mirrorless?
If you are manually making camera settings on both types of cameras then I don't really see the point in switching to mirrorless.
Unless of course you just want the new tech that manufacturers convince you is better.
Could you actually see a difference in photos between 2 professional photographers? One using dslr and the other using mirrorless.
Mirrorless is a scam.
I still like my Minolta 102 35mm.
#96
If the Nikon D850 is their last DSLR then I will die with it. I'm not switching to Z mount after a lifetime of collecting F mount lenses. The D850 is just about perfect anyway, not sure what more I could want or need.
#97
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I have been shooting a Canon R6 mirrorless for about 1 1/2 years now. My likes and dislikes are mine and purely mine. First off, I feel my images are slightly better than I was getting with my Canon 5Dmklll. The reason for the better images are 2 fold. My R6 uses a newer and better sensor, I have heard it is the same sensor as the 1DX mklll. It stands to reason that a better sensor would render better pictures. The second reason would be the IBIS system, this stabilization has been in development by all of the major manufacturers for many years now. IBIS plus in lens supposedly offers 8 stops of shake correction. Some would say the focus tracking is much better in the R series cameras but most of my shots are of stationary objects so that is a moot point for me.
Even though I get better images from the R6 I don't really see that being "mirrorless" has anything, whatsoever, to do with the better pictures. All of the mirrorless improvements seen in the "R" lineup could have been incorporated in a 5Dmkiv and we could have saved a boat load of money on a new equipment line.
The things I don't like about the R6 are few and may only be bothersome to me. The battery life is terrible. Where I could shoot an 8 hr outing with 1 battery in my mklll I burn through 2 and start on a third with the R6. Another is the inability to see the scene I am trying to capture without the camera turned on and burning that precious battery. With the mklll it was not uncommon for me to spend a half hour or so setting the composition and angles of what I was trying to shoot before turning the camera on. The third is a quirk I read about on DP Review but thought it was another way for the person to complain about the battery life. On the 13th of December was the peak of the 2022 Geminid meteor shower. The weather dude said clear and cold and " clear" is pretty rare being this close to Lake Erie at this time of year. While setting up my tripod and heater I saw 2 meteors blast through and thought it would be a great outing. For the next 3 hours I saw 6 planes come blinking through my setup but not another meteor. The problem I was referring to came at about 2 hours into the session. My LED told me to charge or replace battery. I felt 2 hours on a fresh battery was pretty short even at 30*. I know I've shot for 5 continue hours in similar circumstances with my mklll and still had plenty of battery left to review my pics and then download them to my computer. Anyway I pulled the battery out of the R6 and went inside to get another. While in my camera room I put the spent battery on the charger and was totally surprised to see it at 50% still. This was exactly what the poster on DP Review was describing with his R5. I know I've run my battery to zilch on many occasions but never tried it at 30* for an extended period of time.
None of these problems will send me out to get a new camera system but it does make me sorry I sold the mklll.
Thanks for reading, Jerry
Even though I get better images from the R6 I don't really see that being "mirrorless" has anything, whatsoever, to do with the better pictures. All of the mirrorless improvements seen in the "R" lineup could have been incorporated in a 5Dmkiv and we could have saved a boat load of money on a new equipment line.
The things I don't like about the R6 are few and may only be bothersome to me. The battery life is terrible. Where I could shoot an 8 hr outing with 1 battery in my mklll I burn through 2 and start on a third with the R6. Another is the inability to see the scene I am trying to capture without the camera turned on and burning that precious battery. With the mklll it was not uncommon for me to spend a half hour or so setting the composition and angles of what I was trying to shoot before turning the camera on. The third is a quirk I read about on DP Review but thought it was another way for the person to complain about the battery life. On the 13th of December was the peak of the 2022 Geminid meteor shower. The weather dude said clear and cold and " clear" is pretty rare being this close to Lake Erie at this time of year. While setting up my tripod and heater I saw 2 meteors blast through and thought it would be a great outing. For the next 3 hours I saw 6 planes come blinking through my setup but not another meteor. The problem I was referring to came at about 2 hours into the session. My LED told me to charge or replace battery. I felt 2 hours on a fresh battery was pretty short even at 30*. I know I've shot for 5 continue hours in similar circumstances with my mklll and still had plenty of battery left to review my pics and then download them to my computer. Anyway I pulled the battery out of the R6 and went inside to get another. While in my camera room I put the spent battery on the charger and was totally surprised to see it at 50% still. This was exactly what the poster on DP Review was describing with his R5. I know I've run my battery to zilch on many occasions but never tried it at 30* for an extended period of time.
None of these problems will send me out to get a new camera system but it does make me sorry I sold the mklll.
Thanks for reading, Jerry
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wmstumme (12-22-2022)
#98
The iPhone dialog should be music to your ears. I've seen your work and this is pure job security for you.
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St. Jude Donor '08-'12, '14-'15
I have been shooting a Canon R6 mirrorless for about 1 1/2 years now. My likes and dislikes are mine and purely mine. First off, I feel my images are slightly better than I was getting with my Canon 5Dmklll. The reason for the better images are 2 fold. My R6 uses a newer and better sensor, I have heard it is the same sensor as the 1DX mklll. It stands to reason that a better sensor would render better pictures. The second reason would be the IBIS system, this stabilization has been in development by all of the major manufacturers for many years now. IBIS plus in lens supposedly offers 8 stops of shake correction. Some would say the focus tracking is much better in the R series cameras but most of my shots are of stationary objects so that is a moot point for me.
Even though I get better images from the R6 I don't really see that being "mirrorless" has anything, whatsoever, to do with the better pictures. All of the mirrorless improvements seen in the "R" lineup could have been incorporated in a 5Dmkiv and we could have saved a boat load of money on a new equipment line.
The things I don't like about the R6 are few and may only be bothersome to me. The battery life is terrible. Where I could shoot an 8 hr outing with 1 battery in my mklll I burn through 2 and start on a third with the R6. Another is the inability to see the scene I am trying to capture without the camera turned on and burning that precious battery. With the mklll it was not uncommon for me to spend a half hour or so setting the composition and angles of what I was trying to shoot before turning the camera on. The third is a quirk I read about on DP Review but thought it was another way for the person to complain about the battery life. On the 13th of December was the peak of the 2022 Geminid meteor shower. The weather dude said clear and cold and " clear" is pretty rare being this close to Lake Erie at this time of year. While setting up my tripod and heater I saw 2 meteors blast through and thought it would be a great outing. For the next 3 hours I saw 6 planes come blinking through my setup but not another meteor. The problem I was referring to came at about 2 hours into the session. My LED told me to charge or replace battery. I felt 2 hours on a fresh battery was pretty short even at 30*. I know I've shot for 5 continue hours in similar circumstances with my mklll and still had plenty of battery left to review my pics and then download them to my computer. Anyway I pulled the battery out of the R6 and went inside to get another. While in my camera room I put the spent battery on the charger and was totally surprised to see it at 50% still. This was exactly what the poster on DP Review was describing with his R5. I know I've run my battery to zilch on many occasions but never tried it at 30* for an extended period of time.
None of these problems will send me out to get a new camera system but it does make me sorry I sold the mklll.
Thanks for reading, Jerry
Even though I get better images from the R6 I don't really see that being "mirrorless" has anything, whatsoever, to do with the better pictures. All of the mirrorless improvements seen in the "R" lineup could have been incorporated in a 5Dmkiv and we could have saved a boat load of money on a new equipment line.
The things I don't like about the R6 are few and may only be bothersome to me. The battery life is terrible. Where I could shoot an 8 hr outing with 1 battery in my mklll I burn through 2 and start on a third with the R6. Another is the inability to see the scene I am trying to capture without the camera turned on and burning that precious battery. With the mklll it was not uncommon for me to spend a half hour or so setting the composition and angles of what I was trying to shoot before turning the camera on. The third is a quirk I read about on DP Review but thought it was another way for the person to complain about the battery life. On the 13th of December was the peak of the 2022 Geminid meteor shower. The weather dude said clear and cold and " clear" is pretty rare being this close to Lake Erie at this time of year. While setting up my tripod and heater I saw 2 meteors blast through and thought it would be a great outing. For the next 3 hours I saw 6 planes come blinking through my setup but not another meteor. The problem I was referring to came at about 2 hours into the session. My LED told me to charge or replace battery. I felt 2 hours on a fresh battery was pretty short even at 30*. I know I've shot for 5 continue hours in similar circumstances with my mklll and still had plenty of battery left to review my pics and then download them to my computer. Anyway I pulled the battery out of the R6 and went inside to get another. While in my camera room I put the spent battery on the charger and was totally surprised to see it at 50% still. This was exactly what the poster on DP Review was describing with his R5. I know I've run my battery to zilch on many occasions but never tried it at 30* for an extended period of time.
None of these problems will send me out to get a new camera system but it does make me sorry I sold the mklll.
Thanks for reading, Jerry
Thanks Jerry for sharing your experience. Mine are very similar. Coming from a 5D4 and 1DX2 I find the R5 mirrorless to be superior in every case....Except...as you mentioned Battery Life and the slight screen blackout during high speed shooting. For the Battery Life issue I use a Battery Grip with the new Canon Batteries which are ~20% longer life so that helps abit. With that set up at the track I can shoot the entire day ~2,500 photos with the (2) batteries in the grip without really much worry. For the screen blackouts they released firmware which helps but really addressed it with the new R3 (made specifically for action photography).
As others have commented/mentioned to be honest changing from a DSLR to Mirrorless does not make a lot of sense for the vast majority of users. That said there are definitely advantages and you will notice when pushing your gear. The area that I have noticed the most by far is the massive advantage of getting a live view when using massive ND filters (like the Lee "Big Stopper" a 10 stop ND) which would yield the eye piece of a normal DSLR to be completely black but with mirrorless you can actually maintain focus controls with a 10 stop filter is absolutely crazy!
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wmstumme (12-21-2022)
#100
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Last night I watched several hours of YouTube DSLR vs Mirrorless videos.
Now I know a lot more about what I didn't know.
A lot of plusses and minus to both platforms. I'm not anywhere talented enough to actually know how the advantages of one platform over the other would be beneficial to the types of photos i would be taking.
Looks like AF is the biggest advantage to mirrorless. I don't even know why that's so important. Lol
After last night I think I'll be looking for a used nikon d850 for a steal. And be happy.
If money was no object I would jump into the leica q2 for 6 grand. Plus the leica sl2 for 9 grand . Then for movies i would get the Red V Raptor for 32 grand.
That should hold me over for awhile.
Now I know a lot more about what I didn't know.
A lot of plusses and minus to both platforms. I'm not anywhere talented enough to actually know how the advantages of one platform over the other would be beneficial to the types of photos i would be taking.
Looks like AF is the biggest advantage to mirrorless. I don't even know why that's so important. Lol
After last night I think I'll be looking for a used nikon d850 for a steal. And be happy.
If money was no object I would jump into the leica q2 for 6 grand. Plus the leica sl2 for 9 grand . Then for movies i would get the Red V Raptor for 32 grand.
That should hold me over for awhile.
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wmstumme (12-22-2022)