If you’ve read any of my previous articles, you’ll know I love shooting with a DSLR. I think the ergonomics of a larger camera, with a large grip and optical viewfinder, provide a photographic experience that can’t be matched by electronic viewfinders in mirrorless cameras.
However, putting that aside for a second, has the switch by major manufacturers, such as Canon, Nikon, Sony, et al, to mirrorless, and killing off the DSLR market, been a huge marketing mistake? Hear me out.
There must be hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of photographers out there who have been using DSLRs, who love their DSLR cameras, and yet the modern-day mirrorless version just isn’t the same.
If we compare it to the car market, is switching from traditional DSLR cameras the same as trying to get people to switch to electric cars? Not only do you have to stop putting petrol in your car, but you also need to think about how, and where, you’re going to charge your car. (And how long the battery is going to last…)
Similarly, the switch to mirrorless requires thought… will you be using the same lenses as before (with a clunky adapter), will you get on with the electronic viewfinder? Will the sound of the shutter give you the same satisfaction, and ultimately, is it worth the expense, and the emotional effort needed to change?
Of course, there are technical advantages to switching to mirrorless, as they offer massively quicker shooting speeds. But there are vast numbers of people who don’t actually care about the technical features of a camera, don’t need to shoot at 120fps (me included), and simply want to take a good photo.
And what is a good photo anyway? We all used to walk around with 6MP digital cameras, and take beautiful pictures of our family, print them out, and keep them as the happy memory of the time that was. Nobody is complaining that it wasn’t taken with a 47MP full frame camera and wasn’t shot at f/1.4 with Canon’s latest $2000 lens.
That neatly brings us on to the price of new cameras, which seems to be ever increasingly moving out of the reach of students, beginners, and budget-minded photographers.
You used to be able to buy a cheap DSLR with kit lens for around $400/£400, from both Nikon and Canon, now you’re lucky if you can buy an entry-level mirrorless camera for $800/£800, and even then, it might not come with a lens!
So, I wonder, if the whole move to mirrorless cameras, was in fact, a huge market mistake, and misstep by the camera companies? Has it turned off a whole generation of photographers who love the DSLR?
Remember, it’s not the camera that takes the photo, it’s about being there. If you managed to capture a photo of the Loch Ness Monster, would it matter that you took the photo on a DSLR, rather than a mirrorless camera?
John Bridges, is a keen photographer, and Canon/Pentax DSLR user, and has previously shared with us: Have we given up on DSLRs too soon?, 120fps? No thanks, I’ll stick to 5fps, Here’s why the DSLR will always be in demand, The DSLR is not dead, Why I only buy Canon DSLRs, and NFTs are everything that’s wrong with the world.
The views expressed in this column are not necessarily those of Amateur Photographer magazine or Kelsey Media Limited. If you have an opinion you’d like to share on this topic, or any other photography related subject, email: ap.ed@kelsey.co.uk
