Why are mirrorless cameras good

I mentioned already what a benefit it is to see the image preview in the viewfinder for judging exposure, but for night photography, this has an additional benefit. It's already dim with the naked eye looking outside, and now you're looking through a tiny hole where the light has been passed through a prism and mirror and such. You can't judge your composition without taking a series of LONG exposures and waiting to see the resulting image and moving the ball head slightly until you get your composition.

It's a pain. With a mirrorless camera, you get the advantage of the ISO of the camera to boost the light output of the scene right in the viewfinder. With a mirrorless camera doing night photography, I can easily see and set up the composition in seconds rather than a series of trial and error shots with a DSLR.

I'm sure there are exceptions to this one and people who will disagree with me based on a specific camera circumstance. However, in my experience of traveling around the world many times shooting night photography with readers of this blog, I've seen that those with mirrorless cameras are often able to focus for night photography MUCH easier than the DSLR crowd.

I was in Glacier National Park last year and spotted a patch of old dead trees on a mountainside. I scouted the area with Bart. I expected when I switched from a large DSLR to a mirrorless camera that I would bring the smaller mirrorless camera with me more often. However, remember that if you switch to mirrorless but still use a mirrorless with a large full-frame sensor, your size savings will be very minimal.

The real difference is if you take advantage of the system switch to choose a smaller sensor camera APS-C is the perfect sensor size for my style of photography. I've listed some examples below which are impressive, especially considering that these cameras are far less expensive than the DSLRs that could shoot a similar frame rate.

Another benefit of shooting a burst on a mirrorless camera is that generally, the autofocus does better between frames than on a DSLR because the mirror isn't required to find focus. Since the mirror needs to be flipped up for DSLRs to record video, the primary autofocus method is blocked. However, some DSLRs are getting focus pixels in addition to the traditional focus methods but these have fewer points. So in general, I have to give a point to mirrorless for autofocus during video, but it depends on the specific camera.

Because mirrorless cameras don't look huge and professional to the untrained eye, I'm able to get shots in some situations where I wouldn't be able to otherwise. For example:. Again, this benefit is mostly negated if you shoot a full-frame mirrorless and are using a long lens. Most serious photographers are still manually choosing focus points, but the promise of what facial recognition could do is really encouraging.

Another benefit of facial recognition is that it can be helpful for auto white balance. Generally, auto white balance is a pretty dumb technology. It recognizes colors and seeks to balance them out, but it doesn't really know WHAT the scene is. However, if the camera can recognize a face, it knows approximately the color balance a face should be and is able to more accurately determine the white balance.

Most mirrorless cameras offer a high number of focus points, and the focus points are far more spread across the entire frame than on an average DSLR. DSLRs are starting to catch up to what mirrorless cameras are delivering in terms of autofocus points but still fall far behind because of the inherent problems of having the mirror in the way.

Mirrorless cameras are not silent, but they are significantly quieter than a DSLR most of the time. This is a really nice benefit for photographing events such as a wedding ceremony, a black-tie event, etc. This is a nice little benefit when shooting night photography. On many mirrorless cameras like the Fuji cameras, you can show how far your lens is focused from you, right in the viewfinder.

This is helpful when doing night photography to know when you're focused out to infinity, and it's much more accurate than the focus distance scale on most DSLR lenses. The native lens systems for mirrorless cameras are behind that of most DSLR systems in terms of the total quantity. However, the lenses being released for most mirrorless cameras are exceptional since they are using the latest technology and newest lens designs.

For example, many Sony a7r ii users who are unhappy with the Sony are using Canon wide-angle lenses on an adapter instead. Also, as I said before, power grips are available for many high end mirrorless cameras. These allow you to use two batteries at the same time. Even without using the power grip. That may be true, at least for MFT mirrorless cameras.

Third party lenses are scarcer than in the DSLR world. Lens adaptors are usually available to adapt lenses with a different lens mount. There may also be fewer models of flashes and remote shutters than those available for DSLR.

Once again, though, this is something of a false problem. Makers of camera accessories follow the market. And the mirrorless market is growing by the minute. They will start building dedicated accessories and lenses soon. This is the most common argument against mirrorless cameras. Professional photographers are still using DSLR.

There are many world-renowned photographers who have switched to mirrorless. One of the first to do so was travel photographer Trey Ratcliff. Other notable photographers include Andy Mumford and Phil Norton. Image quality, today, is all about the lens and sensor and electronics combination. The mirror has no role in that.

There are many pro graded lenses out there for mirrorless cameras, so image quality is not an issue. There are two very practical, reasons why most pros are still using DSLR cameras:. If you are in the market for a new camera and you are interested to go mirrorless, here is what you should know:.

For more great information, check out our great guide to the different types of digital cameras. Leaving your camera on its default settings will produce blurry results.

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These are often used in landscape photography. But they…. They create lenses for their own mirrorless and digital camera systems. Like any other…. How to Choose and Use! Hard light and soft light are two different terms used to…. See all articles in Beginner Photography. Here are 3 of the 7 steps we uncover in this 21 minute video:. Focus Selection Points Leaving your camera on its default settings will produce blurry results.

Where should we send the video? Your privacy is safe! Its autofocusing system is second to none, with tracking across AF points, as well as eyeball tracking for perfect portraits.

Find out more here. Its Read more here and order yours here. Top that with a point hybrid AF system and you can see why Fujifilm is pushing this as an ideal contender for street photography. With 4K, 60fps, bit video, you can achieve quality results and satisfy your creative urges without breaking the bank. Read more here and buy yours here.

Its 3-inch vari-angle touchscreen makes those low-angle shots a dream, while videographers are going to be impressed with 4K video up to 60fps. Show Products. First Name. Last Name. Email Address. Sign Up. What's so great about mirrorless?

What's so Good about Mirrorless.