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It is a great moment for people that want to get into photography, because the market is moving to mirrorless but there's plenty of old high end DSLR gear that

It is a great moment for people that want to get into photography, because the market is moving to mirrorless but there's plenty of old high end DSLR gear that people are getting rid of but that can produce excellent pictures. The important part of the gear is the lenses, and those can be had used for a fraction of the cost of new ones. For the bodies, the sensor quality has consistently improved over the years, but the quality of 35mm at ISO 100 has been matched and surpassed a long time ago. As a first approximation, you can say that about 10 Megapixels are enough to match film[1]. Subjectively you could say that digital matches and exceeds film since around the mid-2000s.[2] Anything newer than the D2 will be more than enough for any hobbyist. The subsets of photography that benefit from the improvements of the past two decades are low light photography (birding), sports (if you can shoot 9fps and the pal next to you can shoot 11fps, they are the ones more likely to get paid for the picture) and videography (both due to quality of the recorded video as well as ease of use, like better auto-focus). [1]: https://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/30745/what-is-the-equivalent-resolution-of-a-35mm-film https://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/30745/what-is-the-... [2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThpQWhOfKO4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThpQWhOfKO4

gmiller123456 3y ago
Why do you think the market is moving to mirrorless? I remember there was a craze when they first came out, but died out in a couple years. There still are a lot of good and "good for the price" mirrorless cameras available, but they certainly don't seem to be taking over the market. As an active photographer, I still see most people using DSLRs or their phone. Actually, everyone I know who bought into mirrorless actually gave it up. Back when they were popular I did look into getting one. But there were too many competing lens mounts, and not enough good lenses. So you could buy in to one mount only to have a different mount take over the market, or have yours go away.
- anotherhue 3y ago
  Nikon for example is clearly repositioning towards mirrorless first.
- estebank 3y ago
  https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/07/nikon-will-reportedly-join-canon-in-ending-development-on-high-end-dslr-cameras/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/07/nikon-will-reportedl... https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/07/13/business/corporate-business/nikon-slr-production-stopped/ https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/07/13/business/corpor...
- Auracle 3y ago
  I’m sitting in a hotel room before a wedding I’m going to photograph and I just laughed at this. Back when they were popular? (Practically?) Every new camera coming out is mirrorless. Every pro is moving to mirrorless. It won’t be all that long before you can’t even buy a new DSLR. Canon, Sony, and Nikon all have their own mount just as they always have. Canon and Nikon took the opportunity to make theirs larger/better/shorter distance, but you can use adapters to use old glass. As a matter of fact, I don’t even have any Z lenses for my mirrorless body. Mirrorless is better, full stop. The only real disadvantage is battery life. Some people prefer an OVF, but personally I have a much easier time seeing through an EVF. The jump in focus accuracy is an absolute game changer, and it’s worth switching for that reason alone. I have a Z8 on the way and then I’ll be fully mirrorless myself, and I can’t wait to ditch what’s largely considered the best DSLR ever made - the D850.
  - copperx 3y ago
    Why is mirrorless so popular? I haven't used one lately, but ten years ago the delay between seeing the image and capturing it was so great that it made them useless for people photography (unless people are posing, but I like to capture real emotions as they are happening). Are they better now? In my experience, the shutter lag must be close to 0 to be able to capture the right facial expression. Lag ruins pictures.
    - acomjean 3y ago
      They are much better now. The pro I know went from a canon 5D mkiii to mirrorless R5? (Classical performance photos). It’s quiet fast and the new lenses are better/smaller. The lack of A mirror means it’s faster as it doesn’t have to physically flip it up to take the picture. They’ve embeded the focus sensors on the image sensor so it’s much faster focusing than previous mirrorless[1] [1]https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4703538 https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4703538 The downsides are price and battery life, and if you have existing lenses you’ll need an adapter..
    - jononor 3y ago
      I think many shoot on burst mode for timing sensitive things? Don't need to time the one picture when one can take 5+ per second at full quality.

gmiller123456 3y ago

Why do you think the market is moving to mirrorless? I remember there was a craze when they first came out, but died out in a couple years. There still are a lot of good and "good for the price" mirrorless cameras available, but they certainly don't seem to be taking over the market. As an active photographer, I still see most people using DSLRs or their phone. Actually, everyone I know who bought into mirrorless actually gave it up. Back when they were popular I did look into getting one. But there were too many competing lens mounts, and not enough good lenses. So you could buy in to one mount only to have a different mount take over the market, or have yours go away.

anotherhue 3y ago
Nikon for example is clearly repositioning towards mirrorless first.
estebank 3y ago
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/07/nikon-will-reportedly-join-canon-in-ending-development-on-high-end-dslr-cameras/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/07/nikon-will-reportedl... https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/07/13/business/corporate-business/nikon-slr-production-stopped/ https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/07/13/business/corpor...
Auracle 3y ago
I’m sitting in a hotel room before a wedding I’m going to photograph and I just laughed at this. Back when they were popular? (Practically?) Every new camera coming out is mirrorless. Every pro is moving to mirrorless. It won’t be all that long before you can’t even buy a new DSLR. Canon, Sony, and Nikon all have their own mount just as they always have. Canon and Nikon took the opportunity to make theirs larger/better/shorter distance, but you can use adapters to use old glass. As a matter of fact, I don’t even have any Z lenses for my mirrorless body. Mirrorless is better, full stop. The only real disadvantage is battery life. Some people prefer an OVF, but personally I have a much easier time seeing through an EVF. The jump in focus accuracy is an absolute game changer, and it’s worth switching for that reason alone. I have a Z8 on the way and then I’ll be fully mirrorless myself, and I can’t wait to ditch what’s largely considered the best DSLR ever made - the D850.
- copperx 3y ago
  Why is mirrorless so popular? I haven't used one lately, but ten years ago the delay between seeing the image and capturing it was so great that it made them useless for people photography (unless people are posing, but I like to capture real emotions as they are happening). Are they better now? In my experience, the shutter lag must be close to 0 to be able to capture the right facial expression. Lag ruins pictures.
  - acomjean 3y ago
    They are much better now. The pro I know went from a canon 5D mkiii to mirrorless R5? (Classical performance photos). It’s quiet fast and the new lenses are better/smaller. The lack of A mirror means it’s faster as it doesn’t have to physically flip it up to take the picture. They’ve embeded the focus sensors on the image sensor so it’s much faster focusing than previous mirrorless[1] [1]https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4703538 https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4703538 The downsides are price and battery life, and if you have existing lenses you’ll need an adapter..
  - jononor 3y ago
    I think many shoot on burst mode for timing sensitive things? Don't need to time the one picture when one can take 5+ per second at full quality.