DSLR vs mirrorless
DSLR. Mirrorless, two terms you may have heard, but possibly you're unsure.
Dylan, the intro is too much. Oh, really? Yeah. Okay. I'll dial it down.
DSLR and mirrorless. Two terms you may have heard, but possibly you're unsure of the difference
between the two. Today I'll be talking about how and why these two camera systems are different,
and I will explain the pros and cons of each. First, though, if you are interested in learning
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DSLR stands for digital single lens reflex. The key word here is Reflex, which is referring
to the reflective nature of the mirror used in DSLRs. This is the main difference between
DSLRs and mirrorless cameras. Mirrorless cameras do not have that mirror system. So how do
DSLR cameras work is this. Light passes through the lens. It hits that mirror and reflects
up into the camera's viewfinder as well as the autofocus sensor on the auto exposure
sensor. Once you're ready to take the picture that mirrors swings out of the way, making
that beautiful sound and it exposes the imaging sensor, thus creating the image seen by the
sensor. At that moment with mirrorless cameras, once light passes through the lens, it directly
hits the camera's imaging sensor, which instantly displays what it sees on the LCD monitor and
the electronic viewfinder on top. So mirror? No mirror? Who cares? This does not play much
of a role in the specs of the different types of cameras, right? Actually, it really does.
Mirrorless cameras are generally lighter and less bulky than DSLR, our cameras because
they don't have that complex mirror system. So if you travel a lot or you just don't want
to carry around a big heavy camera, then mirrorless is the option to go with this reduction in
body size doesn't always mean smaller lenses, though. A lot of mirrorless lenses are just
as big as DSLR lenses because mirrorless camera sensor sizes can match DSLR sensor sizes.
However, if your mirrorless camera uses a smaller sensor format like mine does, which
is micro four thirds, then your lenses will be smaller and lighter. Difference number
2 between these two cameras are their viewfinder. The viewfinder is what you look through to
compose and focus your shot. With DSLR cameras, what you see in that viewfinder is exactly
what you see in front of you. The light from what you're taking a picture of goes through
the lens, bounces off the mirror and up into that viewfinder. So it is natural and it is
a lag free view since there are no mirrors in mirrorless cameras. They use something
called an electronic viewfinder or an EVF. The viewfinder electronically displays what
the imaging sensor sees. Sometimes this causes a slight delay or lag from what is seen by
the sensor and what is displayed in the viewfinder. Although I have never seen this with my GH5.
The reason I am a fan of EVFs is because of all the information that is displayed on them.
I can have a histogram on there.
I can see what my white balance is set to. I can check if my camera's even level. This
is something a DSLR viewfinder does not have the capability to show. I also like that I
can see exactly how my photo will look based on my set exposure, white balance, etc. before
I take the shot. Some DSLR shooters, however, prefer to see what their eyes would see in
the viewfinder, compose their shot and then check the results on their LCD screen. Difference
number three is the battery time and DSLRs are the big winner here. They have significantly
longer battery time, mainly because they don't use EVFs, which do draw a lot of power and
they don't use LCD screens as much. DSLRs can take around six hundred eight hundred
shots on average with some pro cameras even reaching up to two thousand shots plus per
charge. Mirrorless cameras shoot only 300 to 400 on average per charge with the higher
end camera shooting only six hundred seven hundred shots. The fourth big difference between
the two are their video capabilities. Mirrorless cameras are the clear winner here, and if
shooting video is important to you, then stick with the mirrorless system. Shooting video
requires light on the camera's imaging sensor at all times. So says DSLRs have that mirror
that cover their camera sensor shooting video requires that mirror to flip out of the way,
which has serious drawbacks. For one, the viewfinder is now rendered useless. If you
remember, the viewfinder needs the mirror to function.
So if it doesn't have that, it doesn't work. If you remember from the beginning of the
video, once light bounces off of the mirror in DSLRs, it hits a couple of places, one
of which being the autofocus sensor. This module is the main way DSLRs use autofocus.
So with the mirror out of the way and the autofocus sensor not receiving any input,
DSLRs have to resort to a slower autofocus system for video. Unlike mirrorless systems,
which use a sensor based autofocus all the time. However, the invention of dual pixel
autofocus, which is built into the camera sensor, has helped improved DSLRs autofocus
in video, but I don't think it stacks up to mirrorless systems autofocus. If you're more
to photography, both systems are great. There is no image quality advantage since both systems
have sensor sizes of equal value, so they both are capable of high quality images. As
far as price, the ranges are about the same. Some DSLRs can be slightly cheaper, but overall
they're about even. Going into this new decade I'd say you should hands down go with the
mirrorless systems. They are newer, they are lighter, they are more advanced and they are
the way forward. If you disagree, shoot me a comment below, I am always down to hear
others opinions. If you found this video useful, do me a solid and hit that thumbs up button.
I put a lot of time into these videos, so feedback is always great. I look forward to
seeing you guys next video. Enjoy your day.