The Differences Between DSLR and Mirrorless Cameras and If You Should Upgrade

No doubt, the industry is quickly moving toward a fully mirrorless age, but that certainly does not mean DSLRs are suddenly useless or that you should immediately upgrade to a mirrorless camera. This excellent video explores the differences between mirrorless cameras and DSLRs and if you should consider trading in your DSLR or if you can hold on to it.

Coming to you from Saurav Sinha, this great video explains the differences between mirrorless cameras and DSLRs and if it is worth upgrading at the moment. There is no doubt that every manufacturer (save for Pentax) is moving toward a fully mirrorless future, but that does not necessarily mean you need to give up your DSLR just yet. In fact, if you do not need the specific benefits of a mirrorless camera, now might be a better time than ever to pick up a used DSLR, with mirrorless cameras driving their prices down and numerous excellent models available on the market. In addition, both Canon and Nikon offer lens adapters for mounting DSLR lenses on mirrorless cameras that generally make for a pretty seamless experience, which will help you ease the transition into mirrorless whenever you eventually decide to make it. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Sinha. 

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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6 Comments

This definitely confirms why the R5 is not a camera for me.

Some of my reasons for moving to mirrorless was face/eye detection and no longer having the need to micro focus adjust the body to lenses. Face/eye detect just made things a lot more convenient and faster. EVF took getting used to. But, it was worth the effort.

I wonder what criteria makes such a video into FS. I am starting to skip more and more videos because they are so random. I'd prefer less but I prefer less, but better selected ones.

This is the first explanation of mirrorless that I've seen that actually has something in it that makes me think mirrorless isn't worthless for what I do. I don't make videos, I don't track fast moving objects, I don't mind making manual adjustments (most of the so-called benefits of mirrorless in the video are benefits primarily for lazy photographers). But, being able to see what exposure setting changes will do to a figure study or portrait is a valuable benefit compared to bracketing and then looking at the always inadequate on board display. Thanks for this Alex and Saurav.

To me the evf isn't as important as I would rely on my set up. Of course I don't have a ML so I don't know if you can overwrite the screen adjustment and screw up a full session, but over all this video does bring up all the points that most other videos don't clearly because they are mostly commercials (clicks).

I bought mirrorless cameras, because my eyesight isn't the best and the viewer magnification helps me nail the focus. As bonus I can adapt vintage lenses and others more easily. As I don't buy heavy lenses the weight is also significantly lower.