Keep The Faith

With all the buzz about full-frame mirrorless, it’s easy to forget that many pros are sticking with the DSLR. Ailsa McWhinnie finds out why from five top shooters.

- Ailsa McWhinnie

When, in 2008, Panasonic launched the Lumix G1 – the first Micro-Four-Thirds-mount mirrorless camera – few could have predicted how it would go on to revolutionise the camera market. Now, 11 years on, all the major manufacturers have mirrorless ranges, with new additions and upgrades being added at a rate of knots.

However, for many photographers, especially professionals, the headline benefits of the mirrorless system actually work against them, not for them. Compact size? For those with bigger hands, that can service to make a camera more fiddly to use. Light in weight? For photographers loyal to their DSLR workhorses – be that a Nikon D850 or a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV – knowledge that their camera will do exactly what they want it to, when they want it to, outweighs a few hundred grams saved here and there. (And as it is, the requirement to carry additional batteries often cancels out any benefit.)

Accusations of being a dinosaur tend to roll off a professional photographer who is devoted to his or her DSLR. Most of them have stuck with a single brand for decades, and this means they know their camera inside out. The ability to alter settings with barely a moment’s thought can be the difference between capturing the money-making shot or going home empty-handed. Learning the ins, outs and foibles of a new system can take time that many professionals simply don’t have.

Loyalty to the classic DSLR body isn’t blind, however. Nearly all the professional photographers featured in this article admitted that once a few key issues with the mirrorless system are ironed out, in all likelihood they’ll be powerless to resist its force. Despite everything, it would appear the future is most definitely mirrorless.

Guy Edwardes