Hey Rassie, would love to hear your reasons for never wanting to go back to using DSLRs. As a hopeless old fogey still stuck in the past, I haven’t yet made the transition myself.
I'm not Rassie (obviously) but for myself, my subjects and my way(s) of using a camera, the advantages of mirrorless are many and often game changing:
Exposure preview in real time with zebras. No more "oops, underexposed or overexposed". Without this capacity exposure feels like a shot in the dark. I don't know and don't care what metering mode the camera is using, I just look in the viewfinder and adjust as needed.
Silent shutter. No more spooking the critter with the first mirror slap, no vibration.
AF tracks over the entire image area and is accurate without the AF micro-adjustment kludge.
Subject detection, eye AF.
Reviewing photos, menu-diving and magnified image for manual focus can be in the viewfinder. No reading glasses required.
Much faster frame rate.
Stabilized sensor, works with every lens even adapted legacy lenses.
I'll use a DSLR again only under duress.
What Doug said. Repeating some of his points here and adding some of my own, below are my summarized points why:
1. I can see and do everything inside the EVF. No more need for my reading glasses when I'm out shooting (yes, I'm also getting on in years). I very rarely now use the back LCD on the Z8.
2. WYSIWYG. Looking at the scene through the EVF I can immediately see whether exposure is good. No more need for making a test shot and reviewing it first on the back LCD. If exposure needs adjustment I do it and confirm at the same time inside the EVF. I can even (and do) display the histogram superimposed on the view inside the EVF.
3. Silent shutter. Say no more.
4. Electronic shutter on the Z8/Z9 family. No worries about eventually wearing out the shutter anymore. This should ensure better longevity in the camera.
5. Focus accuracy. Because the mirrorless cameras have the focus sensors embedded in the main sensor they focus on the sensor, thus more accurately than the DSLR cameras which use a separate sensor for focusing. This means no more need to fine tune autofocus to get the most accurate focus from my rig. All my DSLR F-mount lenses are sharper on the Z6 and Z6II that I had before, and now on my Z8 and also my wife's Z50.
6. Focus points spread all across the viewfinder, edge to edge, instead of them being concentrated in the middle one-third of the viewfinder.
7. Brighter viewfinder. In dim conditions the light is amplified inside the viewfinder, improving visibility of fine details and composition.
8. With fast CFExpress cards, buffer in the camera is larger, allowing for longer bursts at very high frame rates. I don't know about the buffer on a D500 or D850, but I'm willing to bet at maximum frame rate of those cameras (10 fps or less), they won't sustain a burst for a longer duration than a Z8 or Z9 at double that frame rate at 20 fps.
9. Volumes have been spoken already about the subject detection and focus tracking of the mirrorless cameras, so I'm not going to elaborate here except to say it's not just for fast-moving animals or birds in flight that the superior focus ability of the mirrorless cameras are beneficial. The focus choices I have with the Z8, coupled with subject and eye detection enable me to focus accurately on a bird or animal in the foliage without the focus getting hijacked or distracted by a twig or leaf between the camera and the critter. As long as the eye is visible in the clutter, the camera will focus on that. This ability enables the camera to grab focus faster than one would be able to with a DSLR. See example below.
10. Live focus confirmation before taking the shot. One can enlarge the view in the EVF to 100% before tripping the shutter to confirm focus is accurate.
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Cheers! Happy New Year.
Many thanks for sharing your perspective- I know my days are numbered.
