It’s the debate that will seemingly never go away, DSLR vs Mirrorless, which is best? Die-hard DSLR fans like John Bridges say they will never switch to mirrorless cameras, and for some people the optical viewfinder and long battery life are obvious benefits of DSLR cameras. But, there are so many advantages to mirrorless cameras, that the list could easily take all day to make (faster and more advanced autofocus, new sharper lenses, smaller camera bodies, the latest video technology, advanced optical correction, just to name a few), it makes me wonder if people who complain about mirrorless cameras, have actually tried some of the newer models?
Adding fire to this debate, is this video by Matthew Ruderman, who says there are 5 reasons why DSLRs are better than mirrorless cameras, and that “newer isn’t always better”. Watch the video below to see what he says:
To quickly summarise his main points, here’s the 5 reasons DSLRs are better than mirrorless…
- Superior ergonomics (and handling)
- Optical viewfinder
- Battery life
- The images
- The price and value for money
Plus there’s a bonus reason, so make sure you watch his video to find out what that is, as well as hearing his disclaimer.
I definitely agree with some of his points, particularly battery life, which as always (and still is) an issue for mirrorless cameras, especially if you go for a smaller mirrorless camera. Another thing that I agree with is price and value for money, you can get a second-hand full-frame DSLR for way cheaper than a full-frame mirrorless camera, as they’ve been out for so much longer, therefore the price has dropped massively.
You can also pick up a huge range of second-hand DSLR lenses for much cheaper than mirrorless cameras, and this is for two reasons, DSLR lenses were always cheaper than mirrorless lenses even when new, and then add in the fact that they’re been around for much longer, means second-hand prices are often a real bargain! The nifty-fifty, 50mm prime, lens in Canon or Nikon DSLR mount is often cheap as chips ($130 new, $70 second-hand), whereas the 50mm prime for a Sony / Nikon / Canon mirrorless camera is often double, triple, or quadruple that price.
But for me, the benefits of mirrorless cameras outweigh the benefits of DSLRs, especially as you can get a mirrorless camera that is WAY smaller than a DSLR, as well as smaller lenses, and with older models from Olympus, Panasonic, Fujifilm and others, you can get really cheap cameras, plus cheap lenses, that will even fit in jacket pockets, while DSLRs remain much larger in comparison.
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