Photographers, do you think the current trend towards mirrorless cameras will affect DSLR advances?

Question

It seems to me that every time I look at a photography magazine, or online article lately they are expounding the virtues of these mirrorless digitals, stating the quality of the lenses and small size and low weight. Please don't get me wrong, I'm sure these little interchangeable lens mirrorless digital cameras have their place in the photography world, but I am a die hard DSLR man. Do you think the popularity of these "new" cameras will direct the attention of manufacturers away from new DSLR advances in lieu of mirrorless technology advances? Or will there always be a hard market for DSLR and my concerns are unfounded?

Answer 1

Photography is both an art and a science. Science is the engine that drives the evolution of the camera and the apparatuses surrounding photography. Mechanisms for aiming, focusing, and composing, evolved from a simple wire frame “gun sight” to the direct view of the single lens reflex (SLR). Now the SLR design is far from perfection. The natural image as projected by the lens is upside down and quite dim. The SLR design uses a 45⁰ mirror to” reflex” (reflect) the image forming rays to a viewfinder system. A five sided “pentaprism” is needed to correct the orientation of the image. All these internal reflections take a toll and the image delivered to the ground glass viewing screen is quite feeble and suffers from a vignette that leaves the edges super faint. Two countermeasures are employed. 1. The camera lens is held at maximum aperture during viewing; this brightens the image. The wide aperture gives a false impression of the true depth of field. 2. A Fresnel field lens underlies the ground glass. This is a lens constructed of concentric circles; its purpose is to brighten the edges. In doing so it reduces the acuity and thus the usability of the peripheral (edges) of the viewfinder image.



What I want you to realize is, all is not perfection in the SLR system. Additionally, the 45⁰ mirror must fly out of the way during the actual exposure and then fly back to regain the viewfinder views. The rapid mirror movement induces vibration that can blur the picture. Now most think that still photography is the zenith of camera design. Let me tell you that cinematography and its apparatuses take the lead. Cinematography was first to adopt digital imagining and the electronic viewfinder. If anyone thinks the SLR design will be popular in future still camera designs, they need to think again. Electronic viewfinder systems are an evolving science and optical viewfinder systems are passé.

Answer 2

No.



Because mirrorless systems do not a have a live through the lens viewfinder, and they never will. Unfortunately that is a major stumbling block for some photographers. And DSLRs will never become mirrorless, because that would turn them into something that is not a DSLR.



I wouldn't be upset if hobbyist photographers turned away from using DSLRs. Might be a good thing in fact. It might give pro photographers or amateur enthusiasts an edge, the chance to better stand out from the crowd of wannabe photographers.



If you think about it for a moment, due to digital technology photography has never been more popular. But prior to the digital revolution, photography was still very popular, with all manner of mirrorless systems and compact cameras, even 35mm compacts. It certainly never affected the development of 35mm SLR cameras prior to digital, and I don't see why it would now. Also since competition usually drives innovation, I don't see anything but good ultimately coming from the simple fact that there are competing systems.

Answer 3

People are become increasingly wary of photographers, inagining every frame they are in can be misused to their disadvantage. God help you if you point a camera near their children! I know that there is no restriction on street photography in most developed countries but the paranoia is still there and I feel it increasing. The truth is that a digital photo can be sent to the other side of the planet in less time than it takes for an unwitting subject to realise they've been photo'd. That has changed the game a bit because even the falsehood that one is in control has been swept aside. I use very elderly 35mm cameras on the streets. A 75 year old Kodak folding Retina or a Balda will fit into a shirt pocket and their Xenar lenses are very very capable. Their age disarms people and they are more likely to want to talk about the camera than take a poke at you! Also there are very nice small Olympus, Chinon, Ricoh, Minolta fixed lense rangefinder from the 60s and 70s that similarly are seen as curiosities today, not real cameras. Another advantage is that these things take a picture when you press the button, there is no delay for metering/focussing. You should miss nothing.

Answer 4

DSLR will still be popular because I think mirrorless will be incorporated into them and people will want larger sensors. It will force DSLR makers to innovate.