Brian500au
27-08-2023, 4:11am
I realise this subject has been done to death, but I thought I would share some of my observations whilst travelling with fellow photographers.
In 2020 of the 7 people on my trip, only two of us had mirrorless bodies. If I remember correctly the other gentlemen was using the latest model Sony. I personally had a Canon EOS R as a back up camera which only saw the light of day when I needed a shorter lens (which was only a few shots a day). The others were using Canon and Nikon DSLRs.
Move forward to 2023 and of the group of 10 people - 2 are using the latest Luminex mirrorless, 3 are using Sony A7R5 mirrorless (2 with Sony lens and one with a Sigma 150-600), 3 are using Canon R5 mirrorless, myself and another elderly gentleman are using 10 year old DSLRs (I am canon and he is Nikon).
So what have I noticed about the mirrorless shooters. In no particular order:
1. The whole gear set up is more compact and lighter. I need a tripod to set up my camera and lens - all the mirrorless users are shooting handheld. Add, in body stabilization and animal eye tracking and we have a clear winner here.
2. The age of the group I am with could be classed as getting on in years. I dare say the elderly amongst this group would struggle to trek with the weight of the gear I carry - mirrorless now opens up the opportunity to carry a light weight body and lens (either the Canon 100-500 or the Sony 200-600) and trek to places maybe not as accessible with a heavier DSLR equipment.
3. I have noticed my shots are all basically the same perspective, as my gear is mounted on a tripod. The mirrorless shooters can vary the height of their gear by using the articulated rear screen to see the shot they are taking. I have seen the results and there are some amazing angles to the same scene. I know I can unmount my gear and lay on my belly - but at my age it would take me half the day to stand back up and remount my gear.
4. Most mirrorless bodies recently released are 25+ MP and with the Sony up to 57MP. This gives unbelievable room to crop and edit with post processing. The high ISO performance from these latest bodies is also astounding, meaning we no longer need the wider aperture values we once needed to use high shutter speeds. Now people set a high shutter speed with a f8 aperture, and let the ISO take care of itself by setting it to automatic. if the back ground needs to be blurred, this can now be done in post processing with any of the latest software.
5. I notice there is some lens envy when I pull out my 200 - 400 F4 lens (especially when I hook up the extender and shoot at 784mm), but this is short lived once they asked to feel the weight of it. Admittedly I am still strong enough to shoot hand held for a short amount of time from a moving skiff, but I do tire whereas the mirrorless shooters are constantly scanning the environment through the viewfinder as weight is not an issue for them.
In 2020 of the 7 people on my trip, only two of us had mirrorless bodies. If I remember correctly the other gentlemen was using the latest model Sony. I personally had a Canon EOS R as a back up camera which only saw the light of day when I needed a shorter lens (which was only a few shots a day). The others were using Canon and Nikon DSLRs.
Move forward to 2023 and of the group of 10 people - 2 are using the latest Luminex mirrorless, 3 are using Sony A7R5 mirrorless (2 with Sony lens and one with a Sigma 150-600), 3 are using Canon R5 mirrorless, myself and another elderly gentleman are using 10 year old DSLRs (I am canon and he is Nikon).
So what have I noticed about the mirrorless shooters. In no particular order:
1. The whole gear set up is more compact and lighter. I need a tripod to set up my camera and lens - all the mirrorless users are shooting handheld. Add, in body stabilization and animal eye tracking and we have a clear winner here.
2. The age of the group I am with could be classed as getting on in years. I dare say the elderly amongst this group would struggle to trek with the weight of the gear I carry - mirrorless now opens up the opportunity to carry a light weight body and lens (either the Canon 100-500 or the Sony 200-600) and trek to places maybe not as accessible with a heavier DSLR equipment.
3. I have noticed my shots are all basically the same perspective, as my gear is mounted on a tripod. The mirrorless shooters can vary the height of their gear by using the articulated rear screen to see the shot they are taking. I have seen the results and there are some amazing angles to the same scene. I know I can unmount my gear and lay on my belly - but at my age it would take me half the day to stand back up and remount my gear.
4. Most mirrorless bodies recently released are 25+ MP and with the Sony up to 57MP. This gives unbelievable room to crop and edit with post processing. The high ISO performance from these latest bodies is also astounding, meaning we no longer need the wider aperture values we once needed to use high shutter speeds. Now people set a high shutter speed with a f8 aperture, and let the ISO take care of itself by setting it to automatic. if the back ground needs to be blurred, this can now be done in post processing with any of the latest software.
5. I notice there is some lens envy when I pull out my 200 - 400 F4 lens (especially when I hook up the extender and shoot at 784mm), but this is short lived once they asked to feel the weight of it. Admittedly I am still strong enough to shoot hand held for a short amount of time from a moving skiff, but I do tire whereas the mirrorless shooters are constantly scanning the environment through the viewfinder as weight is not an issue for them.