4 ms·

I used to upgrade with every Nikon cycle (prosumer fx bodies). But I stopped with the d750–I still, to this day, don’t understand/appreciate the advantage of mi

I used to upgrade with every Nikon cycle (prosumer fx bodies). But I stopped with the d750–I still, to this day, don’t understand/appreciate the advantage of mirrorless… can someone knowledgeable kindly inform me? Fwiw I use a prime 50mm and a 70-200 2.8

poooogles 5y ago
>don’t understand/appreciate the advantage of mirrorless No mirror means easier and smaller packaging due to not having to make space for the mirrorbox and prism.
- CrazyCatDog 5y ago
  But it doesn’t fit in a pocket; i.e. still fuzzy on the benefits… guess I’ll have to rent one to find out :)
Toutouxc 5y ago
You can totally not appreciate the advantages of mirrorless, but don't say you can't understand them. There is no mirror! You know, the fragile, fast-moving, complicated part that upsets the camera at the very moment it needs to stay still.
- foldr 5y ago
  Modern DSLRs do have excellent mirror damping, though. On my D3300 the shutter causes more vibration than the mirror.
mnw21cam 5y ago
It's a completely different arrangement for the camera. Here are some points: 1. There's supposedly a space/weight saving by not having to have a mirror and pentaprism to give you a viewfinder. Unfortunately, this space/weight saving seems to mostly have been negated by the tendency to make the lenses bigger and heavier. 2. The viewfinder is electronic, not real. This may take some getting used to. It may also be less practical in some situations and more practical in others. Consider when there's loads of light around (you're wearing sunglasses and the electronic viewfinder is too dim) or when it's really dark (the DSLR viewfinder is too dark). I'm told that the electronic viewfinders these days are really good, but I'm sure it's a matter of preference. 3. There's no mirror that flips up, which can reduce camera shake. You can even get most of the mirrorless cameras to use a fully-electronic shutter, so taking a picture can shake-less and silent. 4. The lens mount is closer to the sensor, which can make it easier to make some lenses (mostly ultra-wide angle lenses). 5. The focusing system is usually way better. DSLRs depend on a translucent part of the mirror to direct some light onto a focusing sensor. Mirrorless cameras have a load of split pixels scattered across the main sensor, that allow them to do phase-shift focusing. But because they're using the main sensor, they can do things like work out where people's faces (or even eyes) are, and focus on that. 6. The battery usually doesn't last as long as with a DSLR. For example, I went out one night and took 1758 photos on a single battery on my DSLR. You'd need more than one battery on a mirrorless camera to do that.
- ValentineC 5y ago
  > 5. The focusing system is usually way better. DSLRs depend on a translucent part of the mirror to direct some light onto a focusing sensor. Mirrorless cameras have a load of split pixels scattered across the main sensor, that allow them to do phase-shift focusing. But because they're using the main sensor, they can do things like work out where people's faces (or even eyes) are, and focus on that. I might be wrong, but I thought most DSLRs use phase detection, while mirrorless cameras use contrast detection. Phase detection tends to be much faster, but contrast detection is more accurate.
  - foldr 5y ago
    No, all the major mirrorless lines use phase detection now (though they may well make use of contrast information too).
  - makomk 5y ago
    Once upon a time that may have been true, but even the better smartphones use phase detection for their autofocus these days.
psychomugs 5y ago
What-you-see-is-what-you-get through the electronic viewfinder is pretty gamechanging. For personal work I enjoy the experience of using the optical viewfinders on my Fujis, but switch to the electronic viewfinder for assignments or jobs.
sjburt 5y ago
It frees up the optical design, you can have the rear element closer to the sensor.
CalRobert 5y ago
It's quiet. Long ago I photographed weddings and _HATED_ mirror slap. The Nikon D300 was horrendous.
- matwood 5y ago
  I recently got a z5, and the silence when taking pictures is uncanny.
micro_cam 5y ago
For me a big advantage of mirrorless is that it works really well with a variety of vintage glass including rangefinder lenses and you essentially always get WYSIWYG image composition like depth of field preview on a dslr but without dimming the finder and also allowing you to adjust exposure in camera. Shooting portraits with a z6 and a 60 year old 90mm leica lens on a megadap autofocus adapter (it just moves the whole lens in and own) yields some really cool images.
maratc 5y ago
For new customers, the advantage is that they can get the same kit (say body + prime + open telephoto zoom) that weights a lot less, so it's more likely that they will take their kit out. For existing customers (like you), the disadvantage is that they may have to throw their kit away and start over, for some advantage in weight and in body technology, but need to pay a lot of money too.
bsurmanski 5y ago
I'd say it depends on what you're shooting. I have a d5600 and Z5. The Z5 is better for baby pictures. The d5600 is still better for hiking and travel pictures. The Z5 is better under low-light and dynamic subject conditions. Particularly because the digital viewfinder is clearer in the dark, the eye/face autofocus and low light autofocus performance is much better (much fewer missed shots), the Z5 has sensor-shift stabilization, and there is no mirror slap affecting lower shutter speeds. For landscapes where there is lots of light, a lightweight and battery conservative d5600 still does the job excellently.

poooogles 5y ago

>don’t understand/appreciate the advantage of mirrorless No mirror means easier and smaller packaging due to not having to make space for the mirrorbox and prism.

CrazyCatDog 5y ago
But it doesn’t fit in a pocket; i.e. still fuzzy on the benefits… guess I’ll have to rent one to find out :)

Toutouxc 5y ago

You can totally not appreciate the advantages of mirrorless, but don't say you can't understand them. There is no mirror! You know, the fragile, fast-moving, complicated part that upsets the camera at the very moment it needs to stay still.

foldr 5y ago
Modern DSLRs do have excellent mirror damping, though. On my D3300 the shutter causes more vibration than the mirror.

mnw21cam 5y ago

It's a completely different arrangement for the camera. Here are some points: 1. There's supposedly a space/weight saving by not having to have a mirror and pentaprism to give you a viewfinder. Unfortunately, this space/weight saving seems to mostly have been negated by the tendency to make the lenses bigger and heavier. 2. The viewfinder is electronic, not real. This may take some getting used to. It may also be less practical in some situations and more practical in others. Consider when there's loads of light around (you're wearing sunglasses and the electronic viewfinder is too dim) or when it's really dark (the DSLR viewfinder is too dark). I'm told that the electronic viewfinders these days are really good, but I'm sure it's a matter of preference. 3. There's no mirror that flips up, which can reduce camera shake. You can even get most of the mirrorless cameras to use a fully-electronic shutter, so taking a picture can shake-less and silent. 4. The lens mount is closer to the sensor, which can make it easier to make some lenses (mostly ultra-wide angle lenses). 5. The focusing system is usually way better. DSLRs depend on a translucent part of the mirror to direct some light onto a focusing sensor. Mirrorless cameras have a load of split pixels scattered across the main sensor, that allow them to do phase-shift focusing. But because they're using the main sensor, they can do things like work out where people's faces (or even eyes) are, and focus on that. 6. The battery usually doesn't last as long as with a DSLR. For example, I went out one night and took 1758 photos on a single battery on my DSLR. You'd need more than one battery on a mirrorless camera to do that.

ValentineC 5y ago
> 5. The focusing system is usually way better. DSLRs depend on a translucent part of the mirror to direct some light onto a focusing sensor. Mirrorless cameras have a load of split pixels scattered across the main sensor, that allow them to do phase-shift focusing. But because they're using the main sensor, they can do things like work out where people's faces (or even eyes) are, and focus on that. I might be wrong, but I thought most DSLRs use phase detection, while mirrorless cameras use contrast detection. Phase detection tends to be much faster, but contrast detection is more accurate.
- foldr 5y ago
  No, all the major mirrorless lines use phase detection now (though they may well make use of contrast information too).
- makomk 5y ago
  Once upon a time that may have been true, but even the better smartphones use phase detection for their autofocus these days.

psychomugs 5y ago

What-you-see-is-what-you-get through the electronic viewfinder is pretty gamechanging. For personal work I enjoy the experience of using the optical viewfinders on my Fujis, but switch to the electronic viewfinder for assignments or jobs.

sjburt 5y ago

It frees up the optical design, you can have the rear element closer to the sensor.

CalRobert 5y ago

It's quiet. Long ago I photographed weddings and _HATED_ mirror slap. The Nikon D300 was horrendous.

matwood 5y ago
I recently got a z5, and the silence when taking pictures is uncanny.

micro_cam 5y ago

For me a big advantage of mirrorless is that it works really well with a variety of vintage glass including rangefinder lenses and you essentially always get WYSIWYG image composition like depth of field preview on a dslr but without dimming the finder and also allowing you to adjust exposure in camera. Shooting portraits with a z6 and a 60 year old 90mm leica lens on a megadap autofocus adapter (it just moves the whole lens in and own) yields some really cool images.

maratc 5y ago

For new customers, the advantage is that they can get the same kit (say body + prime + open telephoto zoom) that weights a lot less, so it's more likely that they will take their kit out. For existing customers (like you), the disadvantage is that they may have to throw their kit away and start over, for some advantage in weight and in body technology, but need to pay a lot of money too.

bsurmanski 5y ago

I'd say it depends on what you're shooting. I have a d5600 and Z5. The Z5 is better for baby pictures. The d5600 is still better for hiking and travel pictures. The Z5 is better under low-light and dynamic subject conditions. Particularly because the digital viewfinder is clearer in the dark, the eye/face autofocus and low light autofocus performance is much better (much fewer missed shots), the Z5 has sensor-shift stabilization, and there is no mirror slap affecting lower shutter speeds. For landscapes where there is lots of light, a lightweight and battery conservative d5600 still does the job excellently.