It's 2024 and you're still shooting with a full-frame DSLR? Me too. Here is why I feel no pressure to switch from my DSLR camera body to a mirrorless system any time soon.
Digital photography has come a long way since the Fujix DS line came to the fore in the late 1980s as one of the first fully digital cameras featuring a tiny 0.40 MP capability. Fast-forward to 2024, photographers and enthusiasts are spoiled for choice with the amount of digital camera systems that are available on the market today. From DSLR and medium format, onwards to mirrorless; your budget and area of practice will have largely determined which system you have bought into over the years.
On one end of the spectrum, there are photographers who covet the rapid evolution of technology and upgrade their gear whenever they can, which can be compared to those who regularly upgrade their phones with each new release. Driven by enhanced features and the promise of cutting-edge innovation, these photographers find excitement in staying at the forefront and maintaining a current edge in the industry. On the other end, which is probably where I sit, another group of photographers adopt a more pragmatic stance, viewing their cameras as indispensable tools that are integral to their profession—taking a measured approach and upgrading only when their current equipment no longer serves its purpose.
Everyone is different, and I don’t expect all who read this article to agree with me on this. In terms of my equipment, I feel invested, and it's more than just a financial investment. I chose the Nikon D850, and it was a deliberate and calculated upgrade from my previous Nikon D800, as there were features of the D850 that attracted me, such as 45.7 megapixels of effective resolution, far superior low light performance, and the focus shift feature for product and macro photography. The tilting touchscreen was a bonus too. All of these reasons for choosing the D850 still stand today – they haven’t gone anywhere just because new cameras have been released, so why would I upgrade before the camera ceases to meet my needs? I am not a gear-driven photographer; for me, it's all about the image.
For full disclosure, I almost switched to mirrorless during the pandemic, but held off, and I am very glad that I did. This was the first time that I was tempted by a mirrorless camera as my main body. Nikon announced the Z9 in early 2020 which, I must admit, really piqued my interest. Delay after delay, the initial excitement around the release faded as I continued to use my trusty D850. When comparing the spec of the Nikon D850 and Z9 side by side, there just wasn’t enough to justify the switch. I realized that the main draw of the Z9 for the majority of photographers who were switching was the 8K video resolution. At that time, I rarely shot video.
By the time the Z9 was finally released amid the pandemic, I could not get my hands on one anywhere to even feel in my hands. Online retailers quickly sold out of the limited stock that they had, so I took the money that I would have invested in the body and lenses and upgraded to a new kitchen instead! I am still satisfied with that decision today.
The images I make are very intentional and important to me. Upgrading my equipment is not something that I do more often than is necessary because I form an attachment of sorts to items in my kit. My favorite lens, for example, is the Nikkor 70-200 2.8E FL ED VR, but this is not because I use it the most often, this is because of a specific series of portraits that I shot using the lens back in 2014. If I upgrade to mirrorless, I have to deal with parting with that lens. Yes, adapters are available, but if I’m switching, then I’m fully switching, and that lens is too costly to just hang on to as an ornament. I only just sold a camera I had hung on to since 2008 last year, the Fuji S5 Pro, because that’s what I used when I started studying photography at college. I hadn’t used it in years, and it is better off in the hands of someone who will use it than being packed away in storage.
A camera becomes a part of your routine, and finding your way around it becomes automatic, meaning you can just concentrate on what the camera is pointed at. Knowing your camera intimately can only be of benefit to the photographer and whatever the lens is pointed at. I like to think that this is similar to learning how to drive; at first, you have to think about every motion from controlling the gearbox to indicating, and which way to turn the wheel when reversing. Once you are an experienced driver, there are many parts of your process that become second nature, allowing you to concentrate on the road ahead.
Mirrorless camera advancements have come thick and fast in recent years, with more rumored to be released in the months ahead if you look at some of the recently filed patents and discussions of leaks in various Reddit threads. There have been rumors of a Nikon Z9H circulating since late 2023, and I would bet on some new fast shutter systems being released to coincide with the Olympic Games, which will be held in Paris this summer. Do I need to shoot more frames per second than I am currently able to? I do not, and so I can't imagine that there will be any camera released in 2024 that will cause me to switch.
I still appreciate the optical viewfinder too much to make the jump to mirrorless, which provides a direct optical view of the scene, as opposed to the electronic viewfinders on mirrorless cameras. DSLRs have longer battery life compared to mirrorless cameras, which can be advantageous during extended shoots, which I find myself in often. In a market dominated by high-spec mirrorless cameras, ultimately, the decision to upgrade or stick with a DSLR will be decided by camera manufacturers and what they choose to bring to the market. The Nikon D850, although first released in 2017, is still in production today, which lets me know that I am a long way from being labeled a dinosaur. I will switch when the time is right for me.
Have you switched or stayed with your DSLR system? What is your reason for doing so?
Glad you're enjoying the D850. I of course will have to upgrade my camera someday, and as previously said I look forward to whatever camera eventually tempts me away. I just dont see that happening any time soon.
"Of course you will have to upgrade some day". Depends. As long as shutters are available why should he? Besides, his lenses will all have well established software profiles. He won't be dependent on the camera for these corrections. The lenses are likely much easier to repair. Even if a lens fails, he will likely have lots of replacements to choose from. The beauty of using a pro camera like a D850 is that there will likely be a lot of support for it for many years. It is still currently for sale new. He should have at least 10 maybe 15 or more years of life on it. Look how many people are still using D800's. 45mp is generally more than adequate. In 15 years, who knows what the camera manufacturers will be flogging by then and any EVF currently available today will worth peanuts then.
I switched when the R7 was introduced as a no brainer. All my EF and EF-S lenses are 100% compatible (Sadly only a fraction of Nikon autofocus are useable on Z cameras). Then it has IBIS and amazing industry leading AF for all subjects in both stills and video (Again Nikon DSLRs have no real video capabilities). Finally the R7 allows full use of the amazing range of R, FL and FD lenses now with no glass adapers. So I had a list and the R7 checked ALL the boxes justifying moving to mirrorless with a very high resolution thrown in as a bonus not on the list.
No! Still using my D850. I photograph.dog sports such as Hunt tests.
I’ve been a Nikon shooter for almost 15 years and, like you, I own a D850 which I bought in 2022. I also own a D610, which I now use as a backup body. Some of my friends questioned my logic in buying another DSLR. The Z9 had been on the market for over a year. In so many ways, it was the ultimate pro camera. The Z9 was also miles above my budget and I didn’t think that I could ever justify laying out that much cash. I don’t shoot video, nor do I delve into much sports photography (the 850 is certainly no slouch in the latter department).
Also on the market at the time were the Z7II and Z6II. Both of these cameras had a lot to offer and were in range of my budget but had some notable issues including laggy EVFs and short battery life. The D850 has an exceptional optical viewfinder and extremely long battery life with the EN-EL15b. Honestly, after 3 years of service, the D850 has everything I’ll ever need. I’m also pretty heavily invested in F-mount glass.
The Z8 came out last year and is pretty tempting but I’m so comfortable and happy with the performance of my D850. Is it a dinosaur at this point? Certainly. As Chris Nichols once asked, “Is this the tyrannosaurus rex with feathers right before the meteor strikes?”. His words ring true today, but that doesn’t change a thing for me. I’m in love with this old beast!
I would stop well short of calling the D850 prehistoric :) since the D780 still lags behind it in several important metrics photographers actually care about (the OVF for one), and the Z6/z6ii is just the D780 with the mirror assembly yanked out of it and set to live view permanently.
I totally agree with you. I have never had a working pro look down their nose at my D810. But we all laugh at the people running around with their mirrorless cameras, trying to take photos with their camera held out in space, staring at the live view screen, instead of utilizing the one genuine improvement over dslrs... the digital viewfinder with exceptional focus assists and real time exposure metering. I just dont know what to ask them first when i see them doing that haha. Like they had to have owned a dslr and taken pictures properly at some point, they cant *all* be absolute tourists about photography.
I will go a step further. I have several cameras, both full frame and crop. As primarily a travel photographer I have settled on the Nikon D5300 as my primary companion, usually fitted with Nikon's 16-80 f/2.8-4.0 zoom. This combo is much lighter than my D610 with 24-105 Sigma Art attached, produces photos of indistinguishable quality and has built-in GPS, which I find very helpful. Sure, there are better cameras out there and I admit to drooling over the Z7ii but nothing else justifies the costvof any upgrades.
Thanks for the great article.
I still shoot with a nikon 5200 which ive had for about years. For my type of photography, it's served me very well indeed. I do still life's, abstract and weddings. I haven't had one complaint yet about the quality of my work. And that's over 15 weddings!.I'll only change when i need to.
Many have an addiction upgrading to the latest camera gear for various reasons. DSLR cameras had already peaked in 2017. In other words, some of the best full frame DSLR cameras for still photography were already in circulation well before 2017. What's more important, are the lenses being used. A low quality lens attached to any body will only produce what that lens can manage, no-matter the camera megapixel sensor size. I still use a few dinosaur DSLR bodies, including some prehistoric 1980s manual focus prime lenses. You can self-judge these 6MP lunar captures with a 2007 D3 & 2009 D3S in DX format taken in 2022, 2024. And what lens was used for both images? Wait for it...a 1986 Nikkor 800 5.6 ED prime. And these shown are low res only.
Im right there with you. Between the D70 from 2005, my 85 1.4 and 135 f2 from the early 80s, and even the 55mm 1.2 or 55mm 2.8 ais on occasion, i can easily see that im the weak link in *that* setup when im reviewing photos later on, even with the D70. I used a nikon D7100 from 2014-2022, and likely wouldnt have ever got my D810 if it was a D7200 (low light performance was broken by horrible banding/noise (worse than the D70 imho if the 7100 went over 4800 iso). But that only really happened when i was getting careless with settings/technique. The D810 just gives me so much more leeway when i get lazy or end up somewhere virtually pitch black.
I caused a bit of a ruckus over on reddit when i was posting some of my favorite photos from the D70 And being very clear that every novice photographer could easily start with a $100-$200 dslr, basically *any* camera made after 2013 will outperform even seasoned photographers pretty regularly. The "new photographers should spend $2k on a consumer grade crop sensor mirrorless camera and a couple plastic zoom lenses" crowd was not happy haha.
Rob, the 'everything newer is better' was already hatched during the roll film, manual focus era. For years, I had traveled using Nikon F2, F2AS bodies with a bag of primes. Manually setting focus and winding changing film wasn't a burden. It was enjoyment. The move to medium format 6x7 cameras was total overdrive. Still have a soft spot for the Mamiya RB, RZ & Mamiya 7. And people today talk about megapixels. Like yourself, I'm still using the first version, D800 for street photography. The body has had no issues since 2012. But as for straight out of the gate stills, the 2007 D3 still has its day. The problem is user error — not the camera, no matter how old it is. Another D3 street image taken with the 1986 800 5.6 ED AIS prime — wide open @ 30m distance.
Thats a lovely photo!! I have been so thoroughly broken by the instant gratification we all expect now in society haha. I dont think i could use film, but i do keep half an eye on medium format digital options. Im never going to stop being a "spend as little as possible to get the results i want" person, so it may be a wait until i get to play with that format. They just offer benefits that compliment the photographs i like to take, mostly buttery smooth low light/available light. And with data and processing power being so cheap now, its an avenue im excited to explore.
I shoot mostly old mirror-less. My DSLR will be around until I'm not around or until I don't care.
Thanks for your article, I somehow had a feeling that maybe i missed the trick to switch to mirrorless when I upgraded from my basic dslr. To introduce, i am just an enthusiast, no way trying to get into professional, and have no formal education on that front as well.
I just avoided the mirrorless for the viewfinder which i thought is not accurate (it was accurate however, its just how it works) and felt the sales guy would have wanted me to purchase something which would be expensive to maintain later unnecessarily.
At the end of the day, i wanted my photos (not camera) to be good enough so that i understand the next improvement required. The old camera was d3100 and were missing on few things so moved to d7500 and the photos did justice to a great extent like low light (comparing to d3100, and no way d850) and others. After 1 year of purchase, now I guess I would stop seaching whether i made a mistake or was okay. Thanks to you
The D7500 is quite popular with low/available light photographers around here. Those D7*00 series check a lot of boxes. Weather-protected, reliable, a *huge* catalog of fully functional lenses, many at 1/2 their MSRP because of the switch to Z-mount (the af/af-d lenses are a particular steal at the moment)... if you love the art youre making with your camera, then youre using the right camera. If youre not making art you love, cast a critical eye on it and see what can be improved for free :)