It happened again. My DSLR is failing on setup. While getting used to it and calling in for an immediate repair, I wondered if it was time to buy a mirrorless camera. Here are some of the points that I made while having this debate with myself.
I’m probably a bit famous for being an antiquated when it comes to new technology. Don’t think I reject technology, I love it! The new Mac Studio is already on my wish list. But I use one simple rule for my purchases: if it’s not broken, don’t fix/buy it. The purchase for me fixes the problem, whatever it may be. This applies to camera purchases. When I write about camera bodies, I often say that I will only buy a mirrorless camera if my DSLR breaks down. Well, perhaps more critical readers would like, my DSLR is now officially broken.
What happened?
It all happened so fast: I was on set, doing two test shoots for a company, and was there for the last shoot of the day. With so many great pictures taken and six cups of coffee, I was ready to order it one day after a few more. Not much different from any other test shoot, I was ready, focused and started shooting. After a few clicks, the mirror locks and the camera says “err20”. Turn on and off? Is not. Replace batteries? Neither. Google for a quick fix? Also, and again, no. So upset about this, I asked for a minute of silence for the Canon 5D Mark IV, the camera that has served me like a king for two years. Perhaps a bit annoyed, I took a backup and continued shooting as before. The lesson here is that you should always have a spare body, hard drive, and possibly a lens similar to what you have. The lens also fails, but you can take a slightly wider or slightly telephoto shot if your 24-70mm fails. As for the card, the memory, the camera, and the rest of it, having a backup is crucial to the overall success of the shoot. Sure, planes don’t crash like that very often, but when they do, it’s nice to have a medical kit, an emergency slide, and maybe even a vest. As my Ukrainian grandmother would say, it is better to be careful than careless.
What’s next?
After calling it a wrap, I started thinking about whether it would eventually become appropriate and reasonable to switch to a mirrorless system. After all, that’s the future, and camera technology is heading in that direction. Who knows, maybe after a few years my camera will be unusable and I’ll be stuck with a useless kit. However, some reservation requirements are keeping me from upgrading: cost and demand. So, if you’re reading to find out if I’d upgrade to a mirrorless camera, the answer is no. But you’re halfway done, so please read on before commenting. 
Value
As a money-conscious photographer, I live and adhere to the principle that a penny saved is a penny earned. I find it better to have a thousand more in the bank than to buy another thousand in camera gear. Gears go down a lot faster than money, at least if you’re making money in a stable currency.
The cost of upgrading to a mirrorless camera, even if I decide to buy used and get an insanely good deal (30% less than original price), I would still look north of $5,400 for camera body. Even if I decided to just buy an R5 and keep my DSLR as a backup, it would still be around $2,700. At that point, I’ll have a hard time using the adapter with the lens, which would increase the size and weight, and somewhat defeat the reason I chose the R5 in the first place.
To really upgrade, I also needed to replace my aging lens fleet. With birds from the early 2000s, you’ll wonder why I didn’t buy the newer version. I may be blind, but honestly I don’t see what the difference in images with lenses from 2016 and 2005 looks like. For me, the main difference is in autofocus, size, weight and feel. Sure, if you put a chart in front of it, there will be a difference, but for my work I like to take the average format and call it a date. If anything, the lighting I use has more of an effect on image quality. I’m off topic. Getting even one RF lens will bring the overall upgrade cost closer to $7,000, and adding an additional lens is already $9,000. At that point, if I wanted to replace everything I had with mirrorless equivalents, I would invest $10,000. Buying everything new is even more expensive, at $15,395 from B&H at the time of writing.
My DSLR repair would cost $300 and take a week. Then my camera will be good for another 150,000 shots, and maybe a few more years until this happens again and I’m out of the cycle. I’m fixing it because it costs a lot less. I didn’t fix my Profoto B1, because it cost $700, at which point I could buy a used B1X for $900, which I also needed.
Need
Assuming I have that money and absolutely don’t want to buy more lights or dimmers, or a car, or anything else, would I need the equipment? It’s sad no.
When I started taking pictures, not too long ago, I upgraded because the camera I had couldn’t do the things I needed to do. For example, when I shoot events, I always need a higher ISO capability, as the 5D Mark II gives very dirty images at ISO 6,400. Luckily, the 5D Mark IV solved that problem and even allowed me to crop the image comfortably. Now, however, things have changed, and I never complain that my camera can’t do this or that. Now, I complain that I don’t have the adjustment tools or lighting that I really need (but really just want). So with this said, I certainly wouldn’t profit from any of the improvements the mirrorless system brings. Fashion photography is first about styling, then lighting, then everything else, and then the camera. If phones are good enough to replace my DSLR in the studio, I’ll use them.
Stop thinking
The upgrade is very individual and sometimes, if you want to do it, you don’t really think about the need and cost. Of course, this is not the way to run a business, as most of your decisions need to be cold. That’s also why airlines are run not by pilots but by highly skilled managers. So if something is broken, fixing it is a better option, at least in my case, and possibly yours too.
