Currently I am shooting DSLR only and I think it will stay this way for quite some time.
@Ian asked the question "Are we too gear centric ?" and for me taking on the mirrorless topic would certainly mean to put focus on gear even more, because so many things are changing.
I have started my SLR journey with things like a Ricoh TLS 401 and Rollei SL35 ages ago and looking at these mirrorless cameras makes me feel a bit like an alien. Although being involved in things like digitalization, Industry 4.0 , smart factory a.s.o. from professional perspective, I start to feel like an alien these days and one of the areas where that happens is photography. Recently I had to bring my motorbike to the workshop and had to got a replacement for being able to get home. After turning the key this thing "booted" and instead of just letting me start and drive off the yard it asked me to connect my smartphone. Sorry, but this isn't my world anymore... And for me mirrorless cameras feel a bit like that ...
Beside the emotional and psychological side of it I find the things I read and hear about using existing gear - esepeially lenses - with mirrorless cameras not really encouraging. I must admit I haven't followed the topic intensively and most of what I read was around Nikon Z, but I think this time is not just changing a camera technology, it is changing to a different era and I compare it directly with going from film to memory cards. Lenses that have defined the reference for decades have now to be squeezed in a new world by things like an FTZ adapter and become somewhat crippled by the limitations of a new technology - that for sure will disappear in the future but still exist at the moment. The lenses we have skimped on for months sometimes years become something like a "strange smelling compromise", because they just were not made for this world.
Seeing the amazing IQ you get with these new cameras - and lenses - I would probably switch immediately if I were into landscapes, astro, architecture, basically any topic were the photographer defines the timing and the speed of action. Whereever the subject defines it, I think DSLRs will still be the way to go for the while, and the faster the subject(s) are the clearer the choice will be. The real breakthrough we will see if the mirrorless systems can compete with the AF speed and accuracy of DSLRs for fast action in low light and real super tele lenses will be available that are designed for mirrorless directly.
For this reason I will probably go the opposite direction, stay with the glass I have, drop off a few MPixels by getting a good second hand D4S and if necessary wind my fleece muffler around it to cushion the noise when firing off 11 fps bursts
.
@Ian asked the question "Are we too gear centric ?" and for me taking on the mirrorless topic would certainly mean to put focus on gear even more, because so many things are changing.
I have started my SLR journey with things like a Ricoh TLS 401 and Rollei SL35 ages ago and looking at these mirrorless cameras makes me feel a bit like an alien. Although being involved in things like digitalization, Industry 4.0 , smart factory a.s.o. from professional perspective, I start to feel like an alien these days and one of the areas where that happens is photography. Recently I had to bring my motorbike to the workshop and had to got a replacement for being able to get home. After turning the key this thing "booted" and instead of just letting me start and drive off the yard it asked me to connect my smartphone. Sorry, but this isn't my world anymore... And for me mirrorless cameras feel a bit like that ...
Beside the emotional and psychological side of it I find the things I read and hear about using existing gear - esepeially lenses - with mirrorless cameras not really encouraging. I must admit I haven't followed the topic intensively and most of what I read was around Nikon Z, but I think this time is not just changing a camera technology, it is changing to a different era and I compare it directly with going from film to memory cards. Lenses that have defined the reference for decades have now to be squeezed in a new world by things like an FTZ adapter and become somewhat crippled by the limitations of a new technology - that for sure will disappear in the future but still exist at the moment. The lenses we have skimped on for months sometimes years become something like a "strange smelling compromise", because they just were not made for this world.
Seeing the amazing IQ you get with these new cameras - and lenses - I would probably switch immediately if I were into landscapes, astro, architecture, basically any topic were the photographer defines the timing and the speed of action. Whereever the subject defines it, I think DSLRs will still be the way to go for the while, and the faster the subject(s) are the clearer the choice will be. The real breakthrough we will see if the mirrorless systems can compete with the AF speed and accuracy of DSLRs for fast action in low light and real super tele lenses will be available that are designed for mirrorless directly.
For this reason I will probably go the opposite direction, stay with the glass I have, drop off a few MPixels by getting a good second hand D4S and if necessary wind my fleece muffler around it to cushion the noise when firing off 11 fps bursts
.
