BebuLamar

Unhelpful? Can I ask him a question before I give him the details answer? I didn't say go google or search the UHH.

riderxlx Loc: DFW area Texas

Welcome to the forum. There is a lot of great help and information here from members all over the world.
Bruce in Texas.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

I think the big advantage is that having more than one style gives one more choices as to what they want in a camera. Each style has its advantages and disadvantages. If there is one big advantage of a mirrorless camera over a DSLR, in my opinion, it's that the EVF and rear screen give you a preview of what the final image will look like. Secondly, it's the weight and size, however many of the mirrorless camera lenses aren't any lighter than DSLR lenses. I made the switch from a DSLR to a mirrorless camera for the above reasons. In my opinion, neither style is better or worse than the other, just different means of getting to the same destination, so to speak. It all boils down to personal preference.

timcc Loc: Virginia

Welcome to UHH! You'll find lots of useful insights in this forum -- and many appear above -- but as you can see from some of the snarkier remarks, you may have to sift the responses for helpful information. Some members tend to go into action before they've had enough coffee in the morning. But if you have a thick skin and are persistent, you'll get a lot out of UHH.

Nicholas DeSciose

Study the new Nikon’s. C7-C6 all your questions will be answered.

elliott937 Loc: St. Louis

Vietnam Vet, I'm going to read all of these postings, but I particularly liked the very brief, yet insightful comments. BTW, I'm a Canon 5DII owner, with L lenses, of course.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Yep. Lots of fertilizer here in the archives... I’ve written many pages on it.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

I agree the Canon and Nikons can be be made very quiet, but most of the small mirrorless cameras can still be shooting at 60fps and not make a sound. With the next generation of Canon and Nikon mirrorless, it will be interesting to see where the fps ends up for silent.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

It is always wise to use one's brain and assess the situation at hand properly.

bodiebill

Most of the replies were helpful for a new person which is how we should address such questions. Only a few responses were smart-axs, which is an unfriendly way to act. Remember when you were the new person and seeking fundamental knowledge?

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

There is a fairly well balanced, up-to-date, 8-page comparison of MILC (mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras) versus DSLRs here: https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/features/dslr-vs-mirrorless-cameras-how-do-they-compare

A couple things they overlook:

1. Mirrorless camera sensors are quite vulnerable in many models. DSLRs have their sensors hidden and "protected" behind a mirror and a shutter when the lens is removed. In addition, their sensor is recessed about 1.75 inch or more inside the camera (to allow room for the mirror and shutter).

MILC, on the other hand, commonly have the sensor only recessed less than 3/4 inch inside the camera and, in most models, it's fully exposed when the lens is removed. This might lead to more issue with dust, fingerprints or even damage (I've already seen a couple relatively new MILC being sold cheap "for parts", because they had a "scratched sensor")

To be fair, self-cleaning sensors help offset concerns about dust issues. And the more forward mounted sensor will be easier to clean.

But I think it's possible that manufacturers will adopt some sort of protective shutter in MILC, that only closes when the lens is removed. I believe that's already been done in a few models, but don't know the details.

I'd also note that it's not actually the sensor that's exposed in either MILC or DSLRs... It's a filter that sits directly in front of the sensor. Another strategy with MILC might be to make this filter more easily replaceable, separate from the rest of the sensor (in most cases now, it's an integral part of the sensor and the entire assembly must be replaced if the filter gets damaged in any way).

2. Price. MILC are "hot". They are the "latest and greatest"... There's rapid growth in sales of MILC and this tends to keep prices high. At the same time, DSLRs are now sort of "old school" and cooling down in peoples' perception... so prices their prices have been coming down. Overall, you can buy a DSLR and lenses for it for significantly less than a comparable MILC. This isn't always the case, though. Some manufactures have kept their prices low, perhaps reflecting the savings in the cost of manufacturing MILC, as opposed to more mechanically complex DSLRs.

3. The above article mentions the limited choice of lenses for MILC. It doesn't mention the lack of other accessories. For example, the article suggests that one way to address the imbalances using a large lens on a compact MILC body would be to add a battery grip to the camera, doubling the number of batteries and adding a bit of heft for better balance. However, grips don't exist for a lot of MILC. The cameras aren't even designed to accommodate one. This is probably because manufacturers think the primary reason people are gravitating to MILC is for their smaller size (which is offset to some extent by the fact that typically lenses for MILC need to be just as large or even larger). This lack of these battery grips also may mean less comfortable vertical/portrait orientation use of the cameras, as many (most?) of those grips also include a secondary set of controls for that purpose.

Of course this also effects the number of shots that can be taken with the cameras between need for battery changes. If a battery/vertical grip were an option for those of us who want and use them, that would help (the limited number of shots possible with "power hungry" MILC is discussed in some detail in the above article). Fujifilm, Panasonic, Olympus and Sony all offer some battery/vertical grips along with some MILC that can be fitted with them... perhaps concentrating on the most pro-oriented, top-of-the-line camera models. Canon's EOS R (full frame) mirrorless was introduced along with and available battery.vertical grip. But their new, more affordable EOS RP model doesn't have option of using one (a "grip" is offered for the RP - in choice of four colors - but it is merely intended to increase the size of the camera for people who find it uncomfortably small... no batteries, no controls). None of the Canon M-series have option of fitting a grip, either. Nikon has promised a battery grip (no vert. controls) for their two Z-series cameras, but it's still "in development" ().

4. Somewhat misleading marketing info seems to be a problem with MILC. For example, some of them claim impressively high frame rates. However, read the fine print! In many cases that states the high fps requires "focus locked". Now, I would expect high frame rates to be mostly used for action photography, with moving subjects where focus definitely cannot be locked. It needs to track the subject and update as nearly "real time" as possible. More than one MILC sees their "real" frame rate drop dramatically when used without locked AF. In some cases it's a huge difference.... such as 9 fps possible with focus locked, but only half that rate with it unlocked. Personally, I'd be pissed off if I bought a MILC claiming high fps to use for sports photography, for example, only to find the camera slows to a crawl when I use the necessary AF mode. I don't think I've ever seen this sort of thing with DSLRs.

Rather than vilify someone for asking a common question like "mirrorless vs DSLR", I wish people would either point toward a source of the info they've found most useful or try to add to the discussion with their own observations.

Personally I won't be giving up my DSLRs any time soon. IMO they are the better choice for much of what I shoot and MILC just aren't up to the task yet... the cons outweigh the pros. However, for some other purposes I'm seriously considering a small MILC and a few lenses to use on it. Those aren't high priority uses though, so I'm taking my time and haven't bought one yet.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Similar situations, as well as photographing during podcasts. I found a blimp works very well for muffling the SLR noise.
--Bob

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Please, cut the OP some slack. Look at the join date. It was Apr 2. Not a lot of time to familiarize oneself with all of the nuances offered on this site.
--Bob

BebuLamar

New to this site yes. But new to DSLR vs MiLC I doubt that and that is why I asked.

RodeoMan Loc: St Joseph, Missouri

Right On Brother!!!