DSLR or mirrorless?
Which one is better?
Why would you use it?
I'll tell you after the intro.
Hey welcome back of course you know
who I am David Bergman here
answering your photography questions.
Today I've got one from Bernie L. and
he asks "what are the pros and cons
between mirrorless systems vs. DSLRs.
Oh boy this is a good debate right so in
the world we live in right now, in late
2019, mirrorless is the newest, latest and
greatest thing right?
So it must be better right?
Well let's go through some
of the pros and cons of each.
First of all, what are we talking about when you
talk about a mirrorless camera well...
this is a DSLR - this is the Canon 1DX Mark II,
and is a single lens reflex camera, with
a digital sensors, So DSLR,
and what that means is there's a mirror inside of this
and when you're looking through the
viewfinder in the back, see it's not
lined up with where the lens goes, so
what happens is that mirror, there is a mirror
in there, at a 45 degree angle, and you're
actually seeing through the lens, because
the light bounces up in the mirror, and
then bounces around and into your eyes.
So you're actually looking through the
lens directly, even though it's not lined up.
Now that means that when the pictures
being taken, the sensor is actually lined
up with the lens.
So that mirror has to flip out of the way,
the shutter opens
and exposes that sensor.
So that's kind of a big system that's in
these DSLRs,
this systems been around a long time.
SLRs have been around since I don't know
the 60s, or something, don't correct me on
that, so they've been around a long time,
but um, but because of that it's a very
mature system, and it works really, really well.
Now the newest thing our mirrorless
cameras, this is the EOS R, i've got the
grip on here, so that's why it looks a
little bigger than maybe you'd expect,
but with new technologies in screens,
in video screens now, what we've
eliminated that mirror system that
mirror box, it's gone from this camera,
and basically the light comes in through
the lens, hits the sensor directly, that's
in the back behind the shutter, and then
projects a video image onto the back of
this, back of the camera, and also inside
the viewfinder, so when you're looking in
the viewfinder you're not actually
looking at the scene with your naked eye,
you're looking at a video monitor that's
right there, so because that technology
has gotten so much better in the last
number of years,
it's the screens, are high enough
quality high enough resolution and high
enough quality, that it's good enough now
to be able to use as a daily camera.
So why would use one or the other.
I'm going to go through some of the some
of the advantages,
and disadvantages of each.
Let's start with with with mirrorless.
First of all mirrorless cameras in general
potentially can be smaller and lighter.
Many of them are again, this one I have
the grip on it, so it's almost the size
of a DSLR, but the camera by itself is
much smaller and there are mirrorless
cameras that are very, very small, because
you've eliminated that whole mechanism
in there.
They can make them a lot
smaller and lighter, so that certainly
can be an advantage.
Also when you are looking, since you're
looking at a video screen,
you're basically looking at the
picture before you shoot it, so all of
the things like exposure, and your depth
of field, and the color, and all those
things you're actually seeing.
What you see is what you get, you're seeing the
image in your viewfinder before you take
the picture, so if you're a beginning
photographer, if you're just learning
photography, or even a more advanced
photographer, and you just don't want to
have to worry about your exposure, or
anything like that, you know you'll see
immediately if your pictures
underexposed, you'll see it before you
take the picture.
So that's really, really nice to be able to
see that in the viewfinder.
Also with the new system,
comes new lenses, the newest lenses the
RF lenses for this EOS R are insanely good.
Right, there's new technology in the
lenses, and in the body that really gives
you, gives the engineers amazing
abilities to do things they couldn't do before.
There's a new lens for this
system called the it's the 28-70 f/2
you've probably seen me used in other
videos, I love that lens, nothing like
that exists for a DSLR, they do not make
a 28-70mm zoom in that range,
that's f/2 aperture,
that has an f/2 aperture, so it has to do
with, because the back of the lens is
closer to the sensor, the flange distance
is shorter, the engineers can do all
kinds of amazing things.
I can't pretend to understand all of it,
but I know that those lenses are
incredibly sharp edge
to edge, sharper than I've ever really
seen before.
As a general rule also...
mirrorless cameras because they have an
electronic shutter, you can shoot
completely silently.
Some DSLRs will allow you to do it,
somebody's DSLR's have a quiet mode,
and a few have a silent mode, but for the
most part all mirrorless cameras will
allow you to shoot silent, that could be
an advantage.
I was doing a photo shoot
with Sarah McLaughlin, and I was on stage
with her in a small theatre, actually it was a
big theatre, but I was near her on stage,
and it would have been really disruptive
if I had to take, if it made the sound
every time I took a picture - especially
if I shoot a burts bop bop bop...
that would be really obnoxious.
She was alone on the stage,
playing piano, the entire crowd would
have heard me, she would have heard me!
So I was able to shoot silently all night
long, without anybody hearing it.
if you're a documentary photographer, like
if you, if you're on a film set, or your
photographing in a courtroom or something
like that, where you really need complete
silence, this is a huge advantage of
being able to shoot mirrorless silently.
Also a little thing, but a lot of them,
most of them, because it's a viewfinder
based system, they all have flipped
screens for the most part.
Many of them have flip screen,
so you can flip the screen out.
You can shoot up high, you can
shoot down low, it's a little bit easier.
Some DSLRs have it, but not, you're not
using the optical sensor, where you're
really, where you're looking through the
lens optically at that point.
So those are some of the big advantages with
mirrorless cameras.
DSLRs look, I talked about size,
some people actually prefer
bigger bodies right?
So these things are the high-end ones,
are very big that this camera,
this Canon 1DX Mark II is built
like a tank.
You could... you know shoot all day with
this thing, the shutter is gonna last a
really, really long time, so some people
actually prefer the ergonomics of this,
of how it feels in your hand.
Also if you're shooting with a long lens
and you put a long lens on a tiny little
mirrorless body, that the weight could be
weird, and so having a big honkin' camera...
sometimes it's better for stability.
It's a little easier to hold still.
There are some advantages to having a bigger
camera, if that's the way you want to go,
battery life, these big big cameras have
big batteries, some of them have smaller
batteries of course, depending on the
camera model, but for the most part
because mirrorless cameras are...
they want to make them smaller and
lighter, they have to use smaller and
lighter batteries, and that's going to give you
fewer time to shoot.
You're going to get fewer shots per battery.
So of course you can carry extra batteries ,
but as far as single battery DSLRs as a
general rule, are gonna give you more time.
The optical viewfinder,
looking through the actual lens,
instead of looking at a video screen.
Some people prefer that they'd
rather actually look at something with
their naked eye instead of looking
through a screen.
There could be issues,
where if you're shooting in an extremely
backlit situation and with a flash for
example, it might be actually hard to see
your subjects on a screen if you can't
adjust that.
Whereas if you're looking
through with the naked eye, you have
really a much better dynamic range with
your eye than you do with a video
screen, so some people actually prefer
seeing through the lens, instead of
looking at a screen.
A couple more things,
there are right now, way more lenses for a
DSLR system, because it's a mature system,
it's been around many, many years, there
are hundreds of lens options, that are
just not available yet for the
mirrorless cameras.
Now the new mirrorless,
this Canon for example, they do make an
adapter so you can use the old EF lenses
on this EOS R body, without any loss in
quality or speed.
So that's not so much
an issue per se, but native lenses
they're certainly more at this point for DSLRs.
Mirrorless cameras have a bit of a rolling
shutter, which means because the
way the light comes off the sensor, it's
collected off the sensor, in fast-moving
situations you might have an issue with
some warping going on, that you're not
gonna have with a DSLR.
So that's an advantage for the DSLR, the
autofocus system used, I used to say it
was much better on a DSLR,
the mirrorless has kind
of caught up now.
So in with the high-end bodies,
I think the autofocus system is
is pretty much on par now,
these high-end DSLRs are still pretty
awesome with autofocus,
and lastly with DSLRs because
there's so many more bodies to choose from.
You can probably get lesser
expensive ones as a general rule, if you
go full-frame mirrorless compared to
full-frame DSLR, you can probably get
cheaper ones, less expensive ones, there's
just more options to choose from.
There are a lot more bodies in the DSLR
system so those are just some of the
pros and cons.
Now what do I like, why would you choose
one or the other, well you know you could
really go, either way they're both really
really good.
You can't really go wrong
with whatever you choose.
There might be one or two functions that
tip the scales for you,
for example if you need silence
shooting, mirrorless is absolutely the
way to go.
If you if you want a really
small body, Chase Jarvis used to say the
best camera is the one you have with you.
If you're going on vacation, you don't
want to carry a giant body like this,
because you're never gonna actually
bring it outside, maybe you're gonna get
a small mirrorless camera that you can
carry in your pocket, or your purse, or
something like that that.
Might be an advantage for the mirrorless,
if you just prefer optical shooting,
you like seeing with your naked eye,
instead of looking at a viewfinder.
You're gonna want to go DSLR,
if you need bigger batteries.
If you want the speed, you know the
frames per second,
or the autofocus system of a DSLR,
you're gonna go that way, so it really
depends on which one of those, one or two
functions, works in your, works to your advantage.
So that's really the pros and
cons, that's what mirrorless are, you know
this technology is changing constantly,
and it's the end of 2019 right now,
probably in 2, 3, 4, 5 years, it's gonna be
a completely different conversation, as
the technology changes in both DSLRs and
Mirrorless, but I don't think DSLR is dead,
I think I think they're still gonna be around.
Canon has already announced the
development of the 1DX Mark III, so they're
still committed to it and I'm sure there
will be new mirrorless cos are type
bodies in the future as well so it's
kind of nice to see the camera companies
developing in both systems and giving us
the consumers plenty of choices so I
hope that answers your question thanks
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