Agree completely! I started out with Olympus Evolt DSLRs. Still have my E-520. Excellent color science and camera overall. For digital, I shoot primarily with my Olympus E-10 Mark II (mirrorless) and my Sony a6100 (mirrorless). I also adapt vintage lenses to both cameras. Currently, I’m enjoying shooting with my (1972) Nikon F and my six other 50+ year old 35mm film SLR cameras. I love the differences, the art form the process and versatility of both mediums! Thanks for your video.
With most current dslr’s there is a live view available. Also, no mirrorless has an optical viewfinder. (Excepting the Fuji x-100 and x-pro cameras). I too started my photography over 50 years ago. And I use both dslr’s and mirrorless. But the camera I use most, currently, is my Nikon Df followed by the D780 and Zf. Cheers!
First Sony mirrorless in the Alpha series had a pretty horrible EVF and terrible battery life. I've had a D750 for the past 10 years and I'll definitely switch to mirrorless eventually but I'll still use my D750, F100, D3300, and my dad's Voightlander Vito CLR rangefinder, and my grandad's Voightlander Brilliant
About 2 hrs. ago I pulled My D750 out .... I played with it for about an hour .... I came up with the same things You did... It was the best (for me) at the time but the Z6III n Z8 are amazing !!!!!!! Best to You My Nikon Buddy :) :) :)
@@johnyoung1606 For some people the DSLR may be just what they need. For me it’s mirrorless. It’s great to have so many options. Thanks for watching John.
I own a D7100, a D3S, and a Z8. Absolutely love the Z8 for the same reasons that you state. Also, the new Z lenses are much lighter to carry and seem to be sharper. So far, I have the Z 14-24 mm, the Z 105 Macro, and the 180-600 mm. I use my F mount 24-70 mm and the F mount 70-200 mm lenses which also work fine on the Z8.
@@dennishaldiman6087 Thank you Dennis. For most subjects, I will never go back to a DSLR. Although I do love the D810 for portraits with studio lighting.
My opinion is based on sentiment... therefore I prefer all my DSLRs. My favourites are the Df and D750. I also have a soft spot for my favourite film camera, the F3
Thanks for discussing these scenarios. I have never had the opportunity to try a mirrorless camera, so I have no idea how to feel about an EVF, but What you See is what you get is very appealing, as well as any kind of help with birds in flight. Sometimes I can track birds in flight with my DSLRs but it is very hard. More than once I have scared away animals with noisy cameras.
I loved my Canon 1Dx but stopped using it when I started using the Canon R6II. I love that my old DSLR lenses focus better on the R6II than they ever did on the 1Dx.
This ended up being much longer than I intended. Short version: Old Nikon Glass + Novoflex Adapter + M43 Body = Great Photos & Enjoyment. I shot with Nikon DSLRs until 2019. At that point I switched to Micro Four Thirds and really enjoy using that system. It has some great lenses and the size/weight are very convenient for travel . Over the past few months I've been picking up a lot of older digital bridge cameras because many of them are cheap and some have neat features. Several are models I wanted but couldn't afford when they were around $1000 new. Now many of them can be purchased for well under $100, the Sony F828 being my favorite for it's full spectrum/IR capabilities. This want of cameras I never acquired eventually lead me full circle to the Nikon D200 & D300. I can't believe how cheap these bodies and many of the great lenses for them are. I didn't realize how much I missed shooting with DSLRs. The sounds, feel, and even the size/weight make me feel very connected to photography. I'm not ditching my mirrorless M43 stuff and still use it. In fact, I'm in England now and chose to bring a couple of old Panasonic GF1s with fantastic prime lens on each. Your thoughts on the mirrorless advantages are spot-on though, especially regarding manual focus. Once I got the D200/D300 I started picking up some of the nice. older Nikon glass such as the 135mm f/2.8 & 200mm f/4. Once again, the prices on this excellent equipment are criminally low. I've also got a few from the original Vivitar Series 1 line that are stellar performers. The 90mm f/2.5 macro is amazing. I installed microprism/split prism focus screens on the Nikons but still have some trouble nailing focus sometimes. On a whim I bought a Novoflex adapter to use the Nikon lenses on my M43 bodies expecting it to be a novelty. I was amazed at how well these lenses performed on my Olympus E-M1. Focus peaking makes nailing critical focus a breeze and the images have those unique qualities of the older glass with fewer coatings & elements. I actually picked up a second adapter to have two M43 bodies using Nikon lenses simultaneously. It's turned out to be a lot of fun.
@@photoman12001 You are having a great time exploring many of the options we have today. I always say it’s a great time to be a photographer because of all the options. Thanks for watching my video.
White balance doesn't matter if you shoot raw. It's just metadata on the RAW file. Using Camera Raw or LightRoom you can change the metadata without penalty with RAW files.
Jules, I only have one mirrorless so far, a pre-owned Z7, it is still second to my D850. That said, I totally agree with you and for those reasons, I am saving to purchase a Z8 to finally retire (or sell) my D850. Recently, I have been using the Z7 more and more for things that do not require fast auto focus like birding. Also, one small advantage that you can add to your list is the ability to use non-AI lenses with the FTZ adapter. I recently started doing this after your previous video and I am enjoying playing with these “cheap” old lenses. Today, the only advantage of my D850 would be the ability to auto focus with a screw drive lens. Anyway, thanks again for a great video.
Hi Jules all your points are good true and valuable. For me the main advantage of mirrorless vs dslr is the façt that you see through the evf the photo,like it will be, and so you save a lot of time. This advantage is mainly important when you need to save time like sports and events. For portraits , landscape and even wildlife this is less important. During portrait sessions or wildlife sessions when you have the good settings you don t need to change them so often and for landscape you usually have time. Then comes the price. Mirrorless are expensive and the second market for dslr is huge and cheap. You can get a d810 for less than 800€ , a d4 for less than 1200€ and a Nikon f2.8 or f4 zoom trilogy for less than what you have paid only for one of the three lenses five years ago… so for the price of a good but not high end mirrorless camera you can have a full set remarquably well made with lenses from 12 to 200mm… and it will be difficult to distinguish the difference on the final photo. So mirrorless are more easy to use and are ultimate pro tools but this gets a price. See you next week.
@@philmtx3fr I agree with you, especially on the price. It’s also true that in the final image, it’s hard to tell the difference. I do think that for wildlife the autofocus is superior with mirrorless and also the option of silent operation. As always, thank you for your comments.
Thanks for this video. Look I was probably late to the but now that I'm in the Mirrorless camp I definitely think there are advantages with the system and especially in handheld situations in lowlight you can even do quarter and half second exposures with ibis. I think ibis is a bigger game changer than actual Mirrorless if you've got a camera that's Mirrorless with Ibis seriously what you can do with those cameras is incredible so if you are looking at getting into Mirrorless have a look at cameras with in bodies stabilisation it makes a huge difference in lowlight Especially handheld with bigger lenses
I had to warm up to mirrorless slowly. Loved my D750, but especially with the 14-24 lens, it was massive, heavy, and the autofocus was atrocious. Tried Fuji, then quickly moved to the full frame Sony a7II. Immediately loved the EVF, smaller-lighter package, and the much better autofocus. Today, I feel like my Nikon Zf can do no wrong. It seemed like Nikon made huge leaps when they introduced their mirrorless line. 😉 I don’t think I could go back willingly to DSLRs.
@@VolkswagenNut1969 While I still use my D810 for some portraits with studio lighting, my mirrorless cameras are used for everything else. I love mirrorless. Thanks for watching.
For a professional photographer a mirror-less camera does seem like the way to go. But for the rest of us, the prices are mostly out of range. I've never used a mirror-less camera (or even seen one) so I'm speaking from a point of ignorance. In do own a Sony Alpha 350 which I bought new many years ago and whenever I need digital it's perfectly adequate for my skill level (but nobody will prize me away from my Nikon F2's . !!)
I'm a Nikon D7200 user who does a lot of museum photography, and I'm looking to upgrade. Your points about the EVF and the silent shutter really hit home with me. I had to once take a photo of a statue that in a room that was nearly pitch black. Do you think I could even see the subject in the viewfinder? Not a chance! And I couldn't get the shot.
With the Z6 and Z7 you have the option to set the camera for apply setting to live view which will show the effect of your settings in the viewfinder. The Z8 has a similar setting which is show effects of settings. it also gives you the option of a love histogram. Also all with all 3 cameras you have the option of no shutter sound at all. Thanks for watching and your comments.
@@julesvuottosphotofocus4696 Thank you for your reply. I am strongly considering the Z7ii at this point (or perhaps wait for the Z7iii). I need a higher resolution than is offered by the Z6--unfortunately some of my photos need deep crops. What can I say? Archaeological photography has some unique challenges (low light, no flash, can't make noise, can't get close to an object, can't use a tripod, everything is behind 50 year old plexiglass, and long lens are frowned upon, and you still need to record the tiniest details). The only thing I wished the Z7ii had was no limit on filming 4K video--I don't need 8K but the 30min cut off on filming is a pain in the butt. The Z7ii has everything I need except the video.
@@julesvuottosphotofocus4696 I would love a Z8, but it is crazy expensive. And it's not on sale right now in Canada. And any savings I could get from importing would be entirely eaten up (and more) by the import fees.
Good points… adapting Nikon D lenses on FTZ adapter: while it is true it is manual focus for screw drive lenses, having CPU contacts can have extremely accurate focus confirmation (green box confirmation in the EVF). On your other points, I agree *mostly*. On the Z7ii, the EFV in good light is sometimes more distracting to me vs. optical viewfinder. Also, battery life on mirrorless is not on par with DSLR. All the advantages and disadvantages from either side are somewhat subjective: as you said, tons of choices, and we live in an exciting time for photography. One more thought: while having the EFV pre-rendering the final result is efficient, there IS something to be said for the mind’s ability to abstract and pre-visualize the results. What I mean is that I must know my DSLR’s abilities in various contexts to get what I see in my mind’s eye. The actual process of doing that without the EVF pre-rendering has its own rewards. But all that said, for events etc., having mirrorless advantages (and let’s not forget eye autofocus) is a boon to producing great imagery. Cheers!
harshly disagree on evf in low light it's probably had to be last generation stuff like in Sony A7SIII or something with 9m dots evf in all other cases with my Fuji X-T3 I found MUCH harder to see anything in EVF in low light, especially when manual focusing in macro, and it was MUCH easier to manual focus with my Nikon F4 and Nikon F-301 film cameras
Thanks for your comments. I must disagree. I recently shot an event in a ballroom with my Nikon Z8 and also took along my D810. The room was dark and I was using flash. It was much easier to see using the Z8. Maybe it wasn't so with some of the older mirrorless cameras, but the EVF on the Z8 is great. Thanks for watching my video.
Agree completely! I started out with Olympus Evolt DSLRs. Still have my E-520. Excellent color science and camera overall. For digital, I shoot primarily with my Olympus E-10 Mark II (mirrorless) and my Sony a6100 (mirrorless). I also adapt vintage lenses to both cameras. Currently, I’m enjoying shooting with my (1972) Nikon F and my six other 50+ year old 35mm film SLR cameras. I love the differences, the art form the process and versatility of both mediums! Thanks for your video.
@@henryrogers5500 It’s great to have all the choices we have today. Thanks for watching Henry.
With most current dslr’s there is a live view available. Also, no mirrorless has an optical viewfinder. (Excepting the Fuji x-100 and x-pro cameras). I too started my photography over 50 years ago. And I use both dslr’s and mirrorless. But the camera I use most, currently, is my Nikon Df followed by the D780 and Zf. Cheers!
My soul-camera brother, yay
First Sony mirrorless in the Alpha series had a pretty horrible EVF and terrible battery life. I've had a D750 for the past 10 years and I'll definitely switch to mirrorless eventually but I'll still use my D750, F100, D3300, and my dad's Voightlander Vito CLR rangefinder, and my grandad's Voightlander Brilliant
About 2 hrs. ago I pulled My D750 out .... I played with it for about an hour .... I came up with the same things You did... It was the best (for me) at the time but the Z6III n Z8 are amazing !!!!!!! Best to You My Nikon Buddy :) :) :)
@@johnyoung1606 For some people the DSLR may be just what they need. For me it’s mirrorless. It’s great to have so many options. Thanks for watching John.
I own a D7100, a D3S, and a Z8. Absolutely love the Z8 for the same reasons that you state. Also, the new Z lenses are much lighter to carry and seem to be sharper. So far, I have the Z 14-24 mm, the Z 105 Macro, and the 180-600 mm. I use my F mount 24-70 mm and the F mount 70-200 mm lenses which also work fine on the Z8.
@@dennishaldiman6087 Thank you Dennis. For most subjects, I will never go back to a DSLR. Although I do love the D810 for portraits with studio lighting.
My opinion is based on sentiment... therefore I prefer all my DSLRs. My favourites are the Df and D750. I also have a soft spot for my favourite film camera, the F3
Good points especially at the z5 price it’s a no brainer
Thanks for discussing these scenarios. I have never had the opportunity to try a mirrorless camera, so I have no idea how to feel about an EVF, but What you See is what you get is very appealing, as well as any kind of help with birds in flight. Sometimes I can track birds in flight with my DSLRs but it is very hard. More than once I have scared away animals with noisy cameras.
@@KHModelWorks I love the EVF on the Z8, especially in low light. Thanks for watching.
I loved my Canon 1Dx but stopped using it when I started using the Canon R6II. I love that my old DSLR lenses focus better on the R6II than they ever did on the 1Dx.
@@bngr_bngr I would say the same thing is true with the Z8. The F mount AFS lenses do seem to focus better. Thanks for watching.
This ended up being much longer than I intended. Short version: Old Nikon Glass + Novoflex Adapter + M43 Body = Great Photos & Enjoyment.
I shot with Nikon DSLRs until 2019. At that point I switched to Micro Four Thirds and really enjoy using that system. It has some great lenses and the size/weight are very convenient for travel . Over the past few months I've been picking up a lot of older digital bridge cameras because many of them are cheap and some have neat features. Several are models I wanted but couldn't afford when they were around $1000 new. Now many of them can be purchased for well under $100, the Sony F828 being my favorite for it's full spectrum/IR capabilities. This want of cameras I never acquired eventually lead me full circle to the Nikon D200 & D300. I can't believe how cheap these bodies and many of the great lenses for them are. I didn't realize how much I missed shooting with DSLRs. The sounds, feel, and even the size/weight make me feel very connected to photography. I'm not ditching my mirrorless M43 stuff and still use it. In fact, I'm in England now and chose to bring a couple of old Panasonic GF1s with fantastic prime lens on each.
Your thoughts on the mirrorless advantages are spot-on though, especially regarding manual focus. Once I got the D200/D300 I started picking up some of the nice. older Nikon glass such as the 135mm f/2.8 & 200mm f/4. Once again, the prices on this excellent equipment are criminally low. I've also got a few from the original Vivitar Series 1 line that are stellar performers. The 90mm f/2.5 macro is amazing. I installed microprism/split prism focus screens on the Nikons but still have some trouble nailing focus sometimes. On a whim I bought a Novoflex adapter to use the Nikon lenses on my M43 bodies expecting it to be a novelty. I was amazed at how well these lenses performed on my Olympus E-M1. Focus peaking makes nailing critical focus a breeze and the images have those unique qualities of the older glass with fewer coatings & elements. I actually picked up a second adapter to have two M43 bodies using Nikon lenses simultaneously. It's turned out to be a lot of fun.
@@photoman12001 You are having a great time exploring many of the options we have today. I always say it’s a great time to be a photographer because of all the options. Thanks for watching my video.
@@julesvuottosphotofocus4696 You’ve got great content. It’s good information and the videos aren’t over produced like so many others.
@@photoman12001 Thank you very much.
White balance doesn't matter if you shoot raw. It's just metadata on the RAW file. Using Camera Raw or LightRoom you can change the metadata without penalty with RAW files.
Jules, I only have one mirrorless so far, a pre-owned Z7, it is still second to my D850. That said, I totally agree with you and for those reasons, I am saving to purchase a Z8 to finally retire (or sell) my D850. Recently, I have been using the Z7 more and more for things that do not require fast auto focus like birding. Also, one small advantage that you can add to your list is the ability to use non-AI lenses with the FTZ adapter. I recently started doing this after your previous video and I am enjoying playing with these “cheap” old lenses. Today, the only advantage of my D850 would be the ability to auto focus with a screw drive lens. Anyway, thanks again for a great video.
@@leod1671 Thanks Leo. I’m still learning about the Z8. It an amazing versatile camera.
Hi Jules all your points are good true and valuable. For me the main advantage of mirrorless vs dslr is the façt that you see through the evf the photo,like it will be, and so you save a lot of time. This advantage is mainly important when you need to save time like sports and events. For portraits , landscape and even wildlife this is less important. During portrait sessions or wildlife sessions when you have the good settings you don t need to change them so often and for landscape you usually have time. Then comes the price. Mirrorless are expensive and the second market for dslr is huge and cheap. You can get a d810 for less than 800€ , a d4 for less than 1200€ and a Nikon f2.8 or f4 zoom trilogy for less than what you have paid only for one of the three lenses five years ago… so for the price of a good but not high end mirrorless camera you can have a full set remarquably well made with lenses from 12 to 200mm… and it will be difficult to distinguish the difference on the final photo. So mirrorless are more easy to use and are ultimate pro tools but this gets a price. See you next week.
@@philmtx3fr I agree with you, especially on the price. It’s also true that in the final image, it’s hard to tell the difference. I do think that for wildlife the autofocus is superior with mirrorless and also the option of silent operation. As always, thank you for your comments.
Thanks for this video. Look I was probably late to the but now that I'm in the Mirrorless camp I definitely think there are advantages with the system and especially in handheld situations in lowlight you can even do quarter and half second exposures with ibis. I think ibis is a bigger game changer than actual Mirrorless if you've got a camera that's Mirrorless with Ibis seriously what you can do with those cameras is incredible so if you are looking at getting into Mirrorless have a look at cameras with in bodies stabilisation it makes a huge difference in lowlight Especially handheld with bigger lenses
@@nevvanclarke9225 I agree, IBIS is a game changer. Thanks for watching.
I had to warm up to mirrorless slowly. Loved my D750, but especially with the 14-24 lens, it was massive, heavy, and the autofocus was atrocious.
Tried Fuji, then quickly moved to the full frame Sony a7II. Immediately loved the EVF, smaller-lighter package, and the much better autofocus.
Today, I feel like my Nikon Zf can do no wrong. It seemed like Nikon made huge leaps when they introduced their mirrorless line. 😉
I don’t think I could go back willingly to DSLRs.
@@VolkswagenNut1969 While I still use my D810 for some portraits with studio lighting, my mirrorless cameras are used for everything else. I love mirrorless. Thanks for watching.
For a professional photographer a mirror-less camera does seem like the way to go. But for the rest of us, the prices are mostly out of range. I've never used a mirror-less camera (or even seen one) so I'm speaking from a point of ignorance. In do own a Sony Alpha 350 which I bought new many years ago and whenever I need digital it's perfectly adequate for my skill level (but nobody will prize me away from my Nikon F2's . !!)
@@sputumtube If the camera you have enables you to capture the images you want then that’s all you need. Thanks for watching.
I'm a Nikon D7200 user who does a lot of museum photography, and I'm looking to upgrade. Your points about the EVF and the silent shutter really hit home with me. I had to once take a photo of a statue that in a room that was nearly pitch black. Do you think I could even see the subject in the viewfinder? Not a chance! And I couldn't get the shot.
With the Z6 and Z7 you have the option to set the camera for apply setting to live view which will show the effect of your settings in the viewfinder. The Z8 has a similar setting which is show effects of settings. it also gives you the option of a love histogram. Also all with all 3 cameras you have the option of no shutter sound at all. Thanks for watching and your comments.
@@julesvuottosphotofocus4696 Thank you for your reply. I am strongly considering the Z7ii at this point (or perhaps wait for the Z7iii). I need a higher resolution than is offered by the Z6--unfortunately some of my photos need deep crops. What can I say? Archaeological photography has some unique challenges (low light, no flash, can't make noise, can't get close to an object, can't use a tripod, everything is behind 50 year old plexiglass, and long lens are frowned upon, and you still need to record the tiniest details). The only thing I wished the Z7ii had was no limit on filming 4K video--I don't need 8K but the 30min cut off on filming is a pain in the butt. The Z7ii has everything I need except the video.
@@ancientegyptandthebible Have you considered the Z8? I believe it’s on sale right now.
Also the Z8 doesn’t have the 30 minute limit.
@@julesvuottosphotofocus4696 I would love a Z8, but it is crazy expensive. And it's not on sale right now in Canada. And any savings I could get from importing would be entirely eaten up (and more) by the import fees.
Agreed. My money went Mirrorless and my DSLR stuff to my adult daughter! 😂👍🏽
Good points… adapting Nikon D lenses on FTZ adapter: while it is true it is manual focus for screw drive lenses, having CPU contacts can have extremely accurate focus confirmation (green box confirmation in the EVF). On your other points, I agree *mostly*. On the Z7ii, the EFV in good light is sometimes more distracting to me vs. optical viewfinder. Also, battery life on mirrorless is not on par with DSLR. All the advantages and disadvantages from either side are somewhat subjective: as you said, tons of choices, and we live in an exciting time for photography. One more thought: while having the EFV pre-rendering the final result is efficient, there IS something to be said for the mind’s ability to abstract and pre-visualize the results. What I mean is that I must know my DSLR’s abilities in various contexts to get what I see in my mind’s eye. The actual process of doing that without the EVF pre-rendering has its own rewards. But all that said, for events etc., having mirrorless advantages (and let’s not forget eye autofocus) is a boon to producing great imagery. Cheers!
Well said Jared. Thanks for watching and your comments.
harshly disagree on evf in low light
it's probably had to be last generation stuff like in Sony A7SIII or something with 9m dots evf
in all other cases with my Fuji X-T3 I found MUCH harder to see anything in EVF in low light, especially when manual focusing in macro, and it was MUCH easier to manual focus with my Nikon F4 and Nikon F-301 film cameras
Thanks for your comments. I must disagree. I recently shot an event in a ballroom with my Nikon Z8 and also took along my D810. The room was dark and I was using flash. It was much easier to see using the Z8. Maybe it wasn't so with some of the older mirrorless cameras, but the EVF on the Z8 is great. Thanks for watching my video.
@@julesvuottosphotofocus4696 Z8 is a much newer and later model which proves my point :(
2 and a half minutes in & not one single point mentioned. What is it with people trying to drag content out?
First