Is It Time To Ditch Your DSLR?

[Music] hey everyone steve from backcountry gallery here i'm actually coming to you from the blue ridge parkway where a nice little overlook near the smoky mountains and i thought this would make a nice backdrop for a discussion about the dslr to mirrorless transition for wildlife photography that i know many people are considering now in my last video i happen to have my sony gear with me and it generated more than a few comments asking if i was switching to sony and more to the point if the questioner should switch to sony or another mirrorless system from their dslrs in fact that's a question i've been getting like multiple times a day every day lately there seems to be like a lot of pent up anxiety out there about going from dslr to mirrorless and which mirrorless system to move to and when so in this video let's just chat about that first keep in mind that just because mirrorless is getting all the attention at the moment that doesn't mean your dslr has stopped working dslrs are still just as capable of getting great shots today as they were before mirrorless cameras like the canon r5 and the sony a1 were introduced and i think that's the root of the anxiety i sense out there about this people are worried they're somehow getting left behind if they don't run out and buy a mirrorless body right now and that's simply not the case as i like to say i believe in the 84 rule eighty percent of a great image comes from four inches behind the viewfinder in short well a mirrorless camera may help you get better images and overcome some dslr limitations for more experienced shooters you're really not looking at a night and day difference here in final output sure in some cases it'll help there's no question that the technology gives us options we didn't have with dslrs but don't kid yourself great images are still going to come from you not the gear in fact i highly recommend you check out my article does gear matter the three pillars of a great image i think it covers a lot of this kind of ground and puts gear technique and artistic intent into perspective also throughout the rest of this video i'm going to drop images in from dslrs and mirrorless cameras see if you can guess which is which or if you can even tell a difference now still depending on what you shoot a mirrorless body can help you get a shot in ways a dslr can't things like af all over the frame better tracking animal and bird iaf crazy fast frame rates no af fine tuning live exposure information silent shutter and on some cameras even blackout free shooting can make a difference there's really no question about that at all in fact if applying summer all of the advantages mirrorless adds to the equation can help you achieve a higher keeper rate and possibly better images than a switch is incredibly compelling especially when you combine it with all the hype out there it's kind of irresistible in addition there's no question that all the best technology is going to be for mirrorless cameras now and it's highly unlikely we're going to see any dslr breakthroughs in our future however we're still in a very transitional place we're just getting to the point where the best mirrorless cameras are overtaking the best dslrs for performance and flexibility however no mirrorless system is really complete yet in fact when it comes to mirrorless cameras from the big three that can take on the best action dslrs we have out there the pickings are actually pretty slim sony has the a9 series as well as the a1 canon has the r5 and 6 and the upcoming r3 and while the nikon z series is really great for some things they're still kind of stuck at the starting line compared to nikon's higher end dslrs at least probably until the z9 comes out we also have a native lens problem with all three companies as of this video nikon doesn't have any native lenses over 200 millimeter canon has the 100 to 500 although at 500 millimeter you're facing a tiny f 7.1 aperture canon also has the new 428 and 600 f4 that seem like permanently adapted versions of their ef lenses i think sony is treating wildlife photographers a little better with their 100 to 400 200 to 600 400 to 8 and 600 f4 however even sony is still missing major optics like a 302 8 or 300 f4 500 f4 856 and a fast f4 zoom in the 200 to 400 range at least with nikon and canon though we have access to those lenses with our adapters now sure there are lens road maps from some companies but those seem heavy on promises but kind of light on actual availability dates so nothing is perfect and nothing is complete and that's really the issue and why so many are struggling with this decision right now we have no way to know exactly which system will work out best for wildlife photography it's like playing russian roulette with your photographic finances so we have two choices wait and see or roll the dice for me it was kind of a force dice roll since i upload so much nikon material in the form of books videos and educational materials i couldn't afford to ignore the z cameras so i invested in the z's and have been using them i quickly discovered that i really like the idea of mirrorless just not how nikon was implementing it in the z cameras for action work so i tried to use dslrs whenever i was facing faster action but once you get used to things like having af all over the viewfinder it becomes a bit infuriating when you're limited to just a central aerial full-frame dslr and of course there's more to it than that but it wasn't long before i was looking at the sony a9 series they brought everything i liked about mirrorless into a high performance camera that met my needs so now i shoot both systems and very happily i might add and you know what even now i can't tell you if switching to sony is a good idea for a nikon shooter the thing is it's entirely possible a firmware update or a new camera like the z9 will catapult nikon into the lead position i think they may have another d3 moment in their future and of course you can't forget about canon the new r3 looks great and there's little doubt it's going to break a lot of new ground however which company is going to come out on top for wildlife photographers is still up for grabs we simply can't see the future of course in a few years cooler heads may conclude that any of the big three brands are just fine for wildlife photography and in fact i have a feeling that's exactly where all of this is going to land i think any company that still wants to be around in three years has little choice but to keep up with the others with all the uncertainty out there i think the best advice right now is to really take a hard look at just how much mirrorless will help your photography are you looking at it because it's new and shiny or because there are real benefits you can leverage right now today if you can't easily list real concrete reasons why mirrorless will help you with your photography it's best to hold off a good question to ask is what problem does this solve for me if you have answers to those questions switching now may make sense at the same time i also think the people who wait are the ones risking the least not to mention they're avoiding some of the bleeding edge technology headaches that come up too so if mirrorless would bring real tangible benefits to your photography and you don't want to wait i think the best approach is to buy into the system that's as close as possible to what you ultimately want well i appreciate that good stuff is coming soon i'd rather have a real camera and lens in hand than one that's vaporware at the moment with no set release date if you need it now go with a system that will work right now that's why i'm shooting sony most days at least at the time of this recording for me nikon is offering gear that's coming soon while sony is offering gear i can use right now today and again in six months this may radically change and i do understand that and i hope you do as well also keep in mind that if you're using nikon or canon at the moment switching to another system may seem like a harder choice after all you can adapt your current lenses to the new mirrorless camera and if that brand seems like it's going to work for you in the future that's a valid pathway and i hope you pursue it however also just consider this little food for thought as i've shot my nikon z cameras i found myself replacing my f-mount glass with native z-mount glass not only is it a step up optically thanks apart to the new lens mount but those lenses are better designed to be used with mirrorless native glass includes features like function rings and buttons that aren't necessarily found on the legacy dslr glass so while i think most people going to mirrorless may start with adapted glass i'll bet most end up with native glass in the end this means you're going to replace all your lenses anyway if that's the case going to a new system is an easier decision if you have to start over you should look at all your options and pick the one that's best for you now not necessarily the one you you're locked into because you purchased a dslr 10 years ago in a specific lens mount now is a rare opportunity to start over of course if you have really pricey optics adapted glass for a few years may make a lot of sense as you transition but you know what i just wanted to give you some food for thought there again though the bottom line is that no one knows for sure how all this will shake out and i think the patient will see rewards in the form of more complete mature systems with a wide variety of optics at their disposal plus if you're patient you can see which of the big three systems evolves into what suits your needs the best rather than investing heavily in one system and then having to switch to another because your early choice was wrong in short it may be cheaper to hold off if you don't have a pressing need for mirrorless right this second finally remember if you shoot nikon either dslr or mirrorless to check out my ebooks secrets to the nikon autofocus system and secrets to exposure and metering for nikon both books include hundreds of pages of information but more importantly they are also jam packed with advice for leveraging everything you're learning in the field and of course it's all written in a fun easy to understand non-technical way you spent thousands on your gear it's time to get the most out of it also make sure you stop by the site and sign up for my free email newsletter so you never miss a video article workshop opportunity or announcement also if you have a photography question drop by the bcg forums friendliest photography forums on the internet tons of helpful people and great advice finally remember to like subscribe and get notified thanks so much for watching have a great day you

Channel: Steve Perry

Views: 70,600

Rating: 4.9073014 out of 5

Keywords: photography tips, photography help, Backcountry Gallery, Steve Perry, nature photography, DSLR or mirrorless, should I go mirrorless, mirrorless or DSLR, is mirrorless better than a dslr, mirrorless vs dslr, dslr vs mirrorless, dslr mirrorless comparison

Id: TPap7hDq4EE

Length: 10min 34sec (634 seconds)

Published: Sat May 22 2021