Today, it is common to see professional photographers eager to receive new equipment offerings from manufacturers. I recall a time when things were different and professionals were satisfied with using equipment that suited their current needs.
During my college days, I bought a Minolta Maxxum 7000, which was one of the first mainstream cameras to implement a usable autofocus system. Professional photographers I know are skeptical of this new technology and aren’t even interested in trying it out. In their minds, amateurs are people who need the camera to do the heavy lifting to ensure the image is in focus.
Years later, I switched to Nikon when the F4 was released and I love the way this camera looks, feels and works. This was the first professional Nikon body to offer autofocus, but the F3 continued to be produced because many professionals were not excited about a camera that offered new features because of the camera they were using. use works fine. It should be noted that the F3 was still produced even after the introduction of the F5.
Even today you will find that there are professional photographers who are in no hurry to replace their equipment just because some camera or camera manufacturer promises their new product is so great that all of them We need to remove the previous version immediately. One such person is my event photographer friend who hasn’t changed his gear in 8-10 years. We had a few brief conversations while we waited for an event to start about why I think he should go mirrorless but he was unconvinced. He regularly signs up for gigs around the country and is well-paid for his craft. He sees no reason to switch. I wrote this article with him in mind.
I was hesitant to switch at first because my Nikon D3s and D810 are doing well for all my projects. It’s worth noting that although my mirrorless cameras are not considered professional Nikon products and both have been superseded by updated versions, these still outperform the cameras. My DSLR in every way. Here are some specific reasons why I prefer a mirrorless camera over my DSLR.
Silent/silent shutter
The only feature that inspired my switch from DSLR to mirrorless was my need for a quieter shutter than on my Nikon D3s. I’ve always felt the D3s’ shutter was large, but at the time I bought the camera, almost every camera was loud. Over the years, more and more photographers have switched to mirrorless cameras, which are quieter than their DSLRs. Whenever I’m around a mirrorless photographer, I’m aware that my shutter is significantly larger than that of the person’s camera. Over time as mirrorless cameras became more popular, customers got used to the camera not making a lot of noise.
I was once hosting an album release party for rapper Lil Peep, who died of a drug overdose the previous year. The music has been turned off and young fans are giving intimate testimonies of the influence Peep’s music has had on their lives. Many people have talked about how Peep’s songs help them deal with suicidal thoughts. It was a personal moment that I didn’t want to photograph, but since I was hired by his record label to record the event, I felt obligated to take pictures while the fans were talking. . I was aware that my shutter sound could be heard through sobbing fans. I pressed the shutter button sparingly, but it wasn’t long before someone from the record label walked up to me and said, “We’re good at pictures.”
In other cases when photographing corporate meetings, I’ll wait until the person I’m talking to says something funny and the audience laughs before I press the shutter button. Since I tend to shoot more frames than other photographers I’ve worked with, this approach has gone against my shooting style. Switch to Nikon Z6 and Z7 with their much quieter shutters, allowing me to take as many frames as I wanted without drawing attention to myself.
Eliminate the need to review photos when shooting
My goal is to expose as accurately as possible at the time I take the photo. I shoot in manual mode about 90% of the time, and any time the light changes in my scene, I need to visually check that the exposure is correct. Because the viewfinder on my Z6 can be set to preview the actual exposure before I take the picture, there’s no need to review the photo after the fact. If the scene looks correct before I hit the shutter button, I can rest assured that the actual photo will look good too.
The process of a DSLR camera to ensure correct exposure is tedious compared to the process used by a mirrorless camera. A DSLR photographer must raise the camera to eye level, press the button, lower the camera to press the play button, and repeat the process as many times as necessary until the correct exposure is determined. Even when I’m using the strobe lights in the studio, the image playback works on the Z6 and Z7 (I use them interchangeably). I turned on auto-replay and I was able to review each image after it was taken without taking the camera out of my eyes.
Ability to instantly switch from photo mode to video mode
Video is becoming more popular than ever, and customers often expect a photographer to be able to capture both formats. Before owning the Z6, my video camera was BMPCC 4k. The camera is hard to use and has many flaws although it does produce a beautiful, movie-like file. For most of my paid photo work, I don’t really carry this camera, its specialized lenses, and the dozens of batteries that the camera requires. Even if I did carry a BMPCC, it is unlikely that I would have brought my camera with me when I was walking around taking pictures.
With the Z6, I was able to flip the switch and change from photo mode to video mode. This ability to change modes exists on DSLRs but is poorly implemented. If I were using the D3s to take a picture of someone speaking on a podium and my settings were at 250/4 at ISO 2000, I would find it necessary to change the shutter and ISO when switching to video mode because of these settings. wouldn’t be ideal for a moving image. After recording a clip, these settings will have to be changed again when I switch from video recording to still photography. However, the Z6 stores different settings for video and stills. When I switch between modes, the image in my viewfinder looks exactly the same in exposure for both modes, but my video can be set to a more sensible combination, such as 50 /4 at ISO 400. This allows me to instantly create stills and video without having to constantly manipulate my camera settings.
The Z6’s IBIS also serves well for video recording. For short clips of people talking, I can hold the camera and create a shot that looks as if it was shot on a tripod.
Better colors and overall exposure
It always bothers me when someone says their newer camera has better files. Not all of us want the same things from our files; the term “better” is subjective. Every digital camera I’ve ever used creates its own files for that camera, and I’ve never sent a file without making some sort of adjustment to the image. When I first started importing Z7 files into Lightroom, I realized I couldn’t find anything that needed tweaking. I’ve made small adjustments to shadows or highlights that barely matter. I wouldn’t say that Z7 files are better because the term is very subjective. Camera files directly from the Z7 are comparable to processed files from my Nikon DSLR. Note, I’m referring to event photography used by a client for a short period of time before that client shifts focus to their next event.
Better autofocus performance
Over the years of using a Nikon DSLR, I’ve gotten used to the compensating focus for any shot I’m taking in wide-open mode. I know these agencies offer focus correction, but I’ve never bothered to find out how it works. Whenever I shoot with the 85mm 1.4G extended lens, I shoot out a lot of the frame and move my body a little closer or further away from my subject while I’m shooting. I will also aim the focus point on different parts of the eye itself in the hope of getting some sharp images. This process only takes a few seconds, but it’s not necessary.
When I bought the Z6, the only original lens I had was 24-70mm F/4 kit lens, so I used FTZ adapter to use my old lenses on newer bodies. The adapter is larger than I wanted and adds a noticeable bulk to the system. It doesn’t feel right. However, the adapter performance is excellent, and my older lenses focus more accurately on the Z6 than they used to on a DSLR body. Although I want to replace all old lenses with newer versions, there is at least one lens that I cannot replace. The 70-200mm is one of the core lenses that many photographers use regularly, and I can’t imagine not owning this focal length. However, it is a necessary evil for me. I don’t like shooting anything far away and my preference is to shoot at 35mm or 85mm. Since I don’t often use the 70-200mm focal length range and the lens I currently own with extended precision focus on my Z6, it’s unlikely I would spend the money to replace the old lens with the latest version. .
The differences between mirrorless and DSLR cameras that I have detailed here are not necessarily the most important differences between the two systems. Instead, they are the distinctions that have had the most impact on my photography, and they are the aspects that I think will have the most impact on my friend if he decides to switch one day. . If you had switched from a DSLR to a mirrorless system, what would be the single biggest impact this change had on your photography?
