jerrypoller Loc: Huntington, NY

I read with interest yesterday a post asking about moving from DSLR cameras to mirrorless or bridge cameras to offset the weight of lenses/bodies as we older shooters start to struggle with holding our gear steady. It made me think, I moved up to a Nikon D80 (then D90, then D7100, and finally the D610) from a Canon G6 because I found the shutter lag on the G6 to be too long - I was missing facial expressions of my grandchildren because of the lag between seeing the shot and the shutter releasing.
Do the new bridge (not sure what that means) and mirrorless cameras have faster shutter releases than the older, non DSLRs did back 10 years or so ago. The main reason I moved up the DSLR initially was to reduce the shutter lag. Just wondering where the technology has gone. I'm still a committed DSLR shooter as long as I can handle the weight as a walk around camera. Thanks.

Shaun Loc: Tucson, AZ

I recently purchased a Sony a6000 mirrorless interchangeable lens camera after reading in many sources that it was the fastest focusing mirrorless camera available. I don't know if it still is but it IS fast! Not only would you capture the expressions of the moment, but if you shoot at the high speed burst rate of 13 frames/second with continuous focusing, you would probably capture a lot of expressions that you didn't see. There are many, many more reasons I chose this camera and for me, this was the right course. Go on YouTube and view some of the many videos that discuss this amazing little camera.

seagull5

Cannot tell you definitely but pictures of my 4 Grandkids' ages 2 to 8 my dog jumping for a ball bird taking off have almost always been clean and crisp with a HX300 and less so with an sx50. I almost sprung for a P600 but the few times I have tried one out at the photo dept....way too slow to lock on .BUT any long reach focus will especially at the long end /low light not be as usefull.....but for weight/expense cannot find anything better....have fun

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

The Canon SX50 has an HQ burst mode that I often use when shooting eagles. Raw isn't available in this mode, but if you look at the shots linked below, and know that they were taken at a very long distance with a $350 camera/lens, you might look forward to the day :)

http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-300935-1.html

seagull5

nice set........you can pick up a SX50 for 199 at canon refurshibed.....the one they sent me is new....not a scratch...1 year warranty...2 week return if you don`t like it...I am very happy with the camera especially for the zoom length ....the way it came...and the way canon does business

bull drink water Loc: pontiac mi.

yep, many of todays cameras have bad shutter lag. we had it back " in the day ". we just allowed for it. today I have " finger " lag, the fingers on my right hand have a lot of numbness, so it's hard to feel the shutter button. I miss some shots unless I put my left hand over the top of my camera and use that index finger to trip the shutter.

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

My em1 is blazing fast. I'd suggest the em5ii with the best 5 axis IS on the market. Couple it with sme fast primes and you should be good to go.

FYI with that combo you'll shed the useless weight and size of a dslr.

Click on my user name for my website. Everything taken after November 2013 is shot with the em1. I do not miss my dslr at all.

ralphc4176 Loc: Conyers, GA

I have several mirrorless Sony cameras and am not aware of any shutter lag. Don't notice any shutter lag on my Canon or Sony DSLR cameras, either. I have an old Fuji pocket digital camera which has noticeable shutter lag.
NOTE: If you haven't pre-focused, there may be a brief lag while the lens focuses before exposure. I always set the focus and wait for the right instant to release the shutter.

WAL

User web site, where is the link?

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

Click on my user name. My website is listed there.

f8lee Loc: New Mexico

I think there are two different things to consider in this issue - shutter lag per se and EVF lag.

Shutter lag - that is the time between you pressing the shutter release and the shutter actually firing - has definitely improved a lot in the past decade and I do not think you will find any difference between today's mirrorless cameras and your DSLR.

But "viewfinder lag" - a term I just now invented where I mean the just-perceptible delay between the actual event happening and your being able to see it in the viewfinder - I find that to still be a bit of a problem on my Fuji X-T1 (which is a great camera in general). It is for this reason I still use my DSLR where I need that truly instant view - particularly in low light situations with kids where faces are fleeting and between the slightly slower focus speed and tiny EVF lag I often miss that key expression. Now I have mentioned this on other threads, and a hassle of mirrorless devotees jump up and down in denial of these things, yet I am not the only one who has said them so I don't think it's just me and my super-human vision reaction time.

You might want to rent a camera and a couple of lenses for a week to get real hands-on experience; reading about milliseconds here and focus speed there doesn't really do the issue justice, and it would seem we are all a little different as to how perceptible (and how important) these things are.

Again, I love the X-T1 for travel and general use, but I'm not getting rid of my DSLR for a while.

Denisedancer Loc: Sydney Australia

Thanks for mentioning that link to your photos. I'm seriously thinking of buying the EM1 so it was great to view your photos taken with this camera. It certainly gave me a good idea of what this camera can produce.

How did you take all those indoor shots? Do you use the pro lens or did you need flash? Could you tell me what lenses you use with that camera? I'm thinking of getting the 12-40 Pro lens and the 40-200 kit lens with the camera.

Have you encountered any downside to shooting in the 4/3rds format?

Hope you don't mind all the questions.

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

Indoor shots: while I do have a flash, I rarely use it, I usually rely on bumping the ISO. Id have to know what photos you were looking at to determine flash usage. The other thing you could do is go back to my site and when viewing the image, click on the information button at the bottom of the image, I should tell you if the flash fired, it will also show all the exif info so you see the exposure, ISO and lens I used.

I also know Lightroom pretty well, so I do post process quite a bit. One thing that I've found is that there is quite a bit of detail in the em1 RAW files that can be pulled out.

As for the 4/3 format, I come to expect a little bit of noise, but honestly the noise really doesn't really bother me (it's more like a film like quality) and it's easily suppressed in PP. Noise starts to become noticeable at 1600 (a far cry from the days when I used to shoot an e-500 and noise was a major issue at 400 ISO), but doesn't really become an issue until I hit the 6400 mark. My auto ISO is set to 3200, but I'm not afraid at shooting at 6400 and then cleaning it up in PP.

Other than that, (and perhaps a shorter than normal battery life, but once again that is overcome by the fact that I have 3 extras, 4 total that I stick in my bag) I have zero complaints about the m4/3 system. I really like Olympus glass, as they make some high quality stuff at a resonable price.

If you do go with the em1, I recommend the boem-1 (by really right stuff) camera plate. The 12-40 is a stellar performer. I don't own the kit 40-150 Lens, but at $119 it's a great bargain and is highly under rated. I do recommend the fast primes, like the 75 1.8 and the 25 1.4.

jerrypoller Loc: Huntington, NY

Thanks for getting my question exactly right - I was asking about the perceptible lag between pressing the shutter release all the way down and he shutter actually activating. Glad to hear that today's non-DSLRs have pretty much fixed the lag issue. Some day I expect I'll be forced to give up my DSLR and old, heavy lenses (all Nikon f/2.8 metal build 20-35, 35-70, and 80-200) in favor of gear that's lighter. What I won't accept though is missing the momentary expressions of my grandchildren. Looks like I won't have to when the time comes.

Denisedancer Loc: Sydney Australia

Thank you so much for your reply. I'll have to look up the boem-1 plate as I have no idea what it is. Thanks for your recommendations. I'll have another look at your photos. Many thanks.