Not so far ago, when someone start with photography, main question was 'which DSLR should I start with?' Now days things start to be more complicated. Why? Cause Mirrorless cameras are now more professional than it was few years back. So, which one is better for beginners? Let's check.
Mirrorless - what does it mean?
Making long story short, it's very similar thing to what you've got in your smartphone. How can it be as good as DSLR then? Cause the sensor in camera is much bigger then the one in smartphones (you can read more about it here). And compared to DSLR, they're missing mirror, which allow manufactures to make them smaller.
5 Top Mirrorless pros and cons
So, what the benefits of having mirrors camera instead of DSLR. There a few, but I'll focus on 5 most important to person who want to be photographer.
1. Digital Viewfinder
Let's start with basic. When you look through viewfinder in DSLR, the image you see is exactly what is 'on the mirror'. What will you see than in no mirror camera?
Pros: Digital image of how your picture will looks like after you'd take it. We can say it's miniature version of Live View. So you can adjust exposure or shutter and see the effects without taking a picture or looking on big LCD screen. After shutter is down and picture has been take, you can preview it in Digital Viewfinder as well, so you won't waste your time to check it on big display.
Personally I think it's huge advantage of mirrorless cameras.
Sony Alpha A6000 Mirrorless Digital Camera with 16-50mm Lens Black - check on Amazon
2. Smaller size
We all know that size does matter. In this case, smaller the better? Not always the case, bet let me explain later.
Pros: Thanks to dropping mirror, body can be smaller and lighter than with DSLR. How much smaller? I would say the the average is around 30%. So why did I said that not always?
Cons: First of all, you won't make the 'photographer' impression on your potential clients. In best case scenario you will look as a professional tourist ;) Second of all, you've got small body, but the lenses are normal sizes, which sometime may look really ridiculous. For example, can you imagine Sony Alpha with this not so big lens?
Tamron 18-200mm Di III VC for Sony Mirrorless - click to check prices.
3. Auto Focus
Pros: It's just brilliant. It's even faster than in Canon Mark 5D. And if you'll go with Sony camera, you will love it their software feature which look for person eye. Why? Cause usually photographers, while doing portrait, focus on the eye and then move a centre of lens a little bit to get better frame. If a person come closer you need to re-focus and set up frame again. With Sony software make all the hard work for you, by keep focusing on the eye, no matter how close or far the person is.
Cons: There is only one but. Autofocus in mirrorless works great only in good light. What I mean by that, that if you'll try to shoot in dark room, or after sun down, you will notice it takes much more time to focus than usually. It's not big problem, just something to bear in mind.
4. Mirrorless = Soundless
So you're shooting a weeding. You're in the Church. The loving couple is just about to say their wedding vows. Everyone are breathtaking. And the only thing what hear is your camera shutter.
Pros: With mirrorless camera you don't need to worry about it. It can be as silent as your smartphone camera, but with much better results.
5. Continuous Shooting
When it comes to capture sport events (other then chess competition), more frames per second you can catch the better.
Pros: And here where mirrorless cameras has advantage over DSLR. Obviously cause there is no need for mirror movement. For example Canon EOS-1D X Mark II can do 14 fps while Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II can make 60 fps.
OK, so let's check why we shouldn't get rid of DSLR yet. Let's talk about some cons of mirrorless cameras.
1. Battery Life
I think this is the biggest issue with current, mirrorless cameras. With DSLR after for fully charged battery you can count on ~1k shots. Of course I'm talking about shooting without using live view and flash. With mirrorless cameras, you can't not use live view. They don't have other alternative to show you what you're going to shoot. Also smaller size mean smaller batteries. All this mean, that in best case scenario you can count on ~500 shots.
2. Steady, ready...
You're on the walk with your camera. Not decided yet what to memorise on you SD card. While you looking around for some good frame and composition, you noticed a squirrel. One moment to take camera, focusing and shot (I assumed exposition is set to auto). No problem... with DSLR. Why is it different with mirrorless. They need to warm up. Depend from model it can take from 2~3 sec up to 10 sec. And you can't do much about it, because everything is no digital, they just need a moment to set up all sensors and display what you may expect after you push on shutter. It can be annoying, specially if you swap from DSLR to mirrorless. Or when you really don't know when something interesting is going to happen (weddings, sport events, wild life).
3. Money, money, money...
So when it comes to prices, of course mirrorless will be cheaper. They are easier to make and have less devices on board. But, cheap compact camera will give you just a small flavour of what photography really is. With cheap DSLR story is opposite. You can fully taste, what photography is about. First, all DSLR have got viewfinder, which is really a game changer. And yes, if you stubborn and want to use only LCD that's fine. Just one comment. It will drain your battery even faster - best case scenario ~100 pictures. And forgot to take a good picture with sun behind you back, or any light.
Summary
Let me be clear here. I'm not sponsored by any of the companies and try to forgot about my preferences. So looking as objectively as possible, I would recommend... DSLR for the beginners. Mostly because when you start you want to spend as less as possible. You want to try out few things first, to check is it really for you. With DSLR it's just easier and cheap as you will find more used lenses than for mirrorless.
Saying that, I really like what more advanced mirrorless cameras have to offer. 4K video, digital viewfinder, possibility of use the same lenses (Panasonic and Olympus). And I think it good choice for someone who's already a photographer and changing system. Or just want to add something more, as most of the photographers have at least two bodies.
Hope this review will give some idea what you want to go with. If you like my posts or photos, please sign up below, so you will up to date. Any comments welcome.
Thank you,
Polished Eye