Sports And Action Photography

The Rio Olympics was mostly shot on DSLRs, but the 2020 Games in Tokyo, Japan, could be very different

AS THE massed ranks of the Canon L series and Nikon pro lenses at the Rio Olympics have shown, sports photographers have been very reluctant to trade in their DSLRs for mirrorless. Much of this is down to the perception that the continuous AF on mirrorless cameras lags behind (it’s essential for action shots), or that their electronic viewfinders (EVFs) are not as bright and clear as traditional optical versions. Leon Neal, a sports and press shooter for the AFP agency, speaks for many of his peers.

‘Mirrorless is almost certainly the future, but currently the features that I need aren’t addressed by makers of mirrorless systems,’ says Leon. ‘My Nikon D5 bodies are very fast and incredibly tough, but also include things like a network port for tethered shooting at events like Wimbledon and the Olympic Games. I’m sure future generations of cameras will ditch the flapping nod to history that is the mirror, but until then, I’m sticking with it.’

While a network port for tethered shooting is indeed lacking in mirrorless cameras – makers would argue it’s still a very niche feature – some of Leon’s colleagues are proving more receptive to the idea of changing over.