Mirrorless cameras

The days of chunky and clunky DSLRs are behind us – the best innovations in the camera market are now in the mirrorless sector. Time to take your snaps to the next level

For several decades, when you wanted a ‘serious’ or ‘proper’ camera, there was one place to turn: the SLR (single-lens reflex), followed closely by the DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) when the market turned away from analogue and towards digital.

In 2009, things started to change when the first ‘mirrorless’ camera came along in the shape of the Panasonic G1. In the intervening 10-and-a-bit years, the camera market became almost unrecognisable compared to what it once was. Just to be clear – although technically any camera without a mirror could be classed as ‘mirrorless’ (including phones and compact cameras), this name generally refers to interchangeable lens cameras.

While DSLRs still very much do exist and make up the bulk of the market, the future is almost definitely headed towards a complete domination by devices that do away with traditional camera construction. If you take a look at the new models that have entered the market in 2019 and 2020, just a handful are DSLRs – the overwhelming majority went down the mirrorless route.

As the name implies, the main difference between DSLRs and mirrorless cameras is the lack of a mirror. With a DSLR, a physical mirror reflects the image up to an optical viewfinder. When you take a picture, this mirror flips up out of the way to allow light to hit the camera’s sensor. In a mirrorless camera, the sensor is always exposed to light and displays an image via something known as Live View, displayed either on the camera’s rear screen or through an electronic viewfinder.

THE MERITS OF MIRRORLESS

It took a while for the mirrorless revolution to really start to take hold, as the benefits weren’t strong enough to outweigh the drawbacks. But as more and more players joined the market and innovation began to accelerate, it’s fair to say the opposite is now true. A large number of people are still buying DSLRs – by and large because there are lots of cheap models available – but those who want the latest tech increasingly seek out the newer format.

One of the major benefits of early mirrorless models was their small size. Removing the mirror allows the device to be much more compact. Early models from Panasonic and Olympus also used smaller sensors than has since become the norm, so overall, devices were small, light and extremely portable. No longer did you have to sign up to the books of your local chiropractor once you became invested in photography.

While it’s still true that, on average, mirrorless cameras remain smaller than their DSLR counterparts, the introduction of larger sensors has led to the differences becoming a bit more marginal. In some cases, there’s barely any size difference at all. That might not be a problem for those who like the feel, weight and tactility that a larger camera brings, though – so don’t necessarily write off the bigger models out of hand.

On the flip side, one of the worst things about early mirrorless models was their electronic viewfinders. Slow, lacking in clarity and low in resolution, using them was often an uncomfortable experience that nowhere near matched what an optical viewfinder was capable of. In the past few years, manufacturers have paid special attention to improving the usability of EVFs, so much so, that for many, they’ve actually become preferable.

With an EVF, you see a real-time preview of any settings changes you make, so you can be confident that you’re getting the shot you want with every hit of the shutter release – that’s something an optical finder just can’t do. Speed, resolution and clarity have all been addressed with the latest viewfinders offering a great experience that should win over even the most determined of naysayers.

Since there’s no mirror to move out of the way, frame rates (how many shots per second the camera can fire) can be extraordinary. Some models allow bursts of up to 30fps (frames per second), making it almost impossible to miss that key moment for sports, wildlife and action photography.

In-body image stabilisation systems found in mirrorless cameras are another advantage. They help you to get the sharpest shots possible, as well as making some shots possible without the need for tripods, too.

Of course, there are still some issues to consider too. Battery life is a problem for mirrorless cameras; since, by their nature, they’re always outputting a live view to either a screen or a viewfinder, they’re incredibly power-hungry. Significant battery life improvements have been made over the years, but nothing comes close to the several-thousand shot life that you can expect from most modern DSLRs. Whether that’s a big deal or not largely depends on the type of snapper you are – but it’s always worth considering investing in a second battery if you’re going to go down the mirrorless route.

Another downside – although this is becoming less and less problematic as the years go by – is the size of the surrounding ecosystem for mirrorless cameras. Having been around for decades, SLR lenses and accessories are abundant. There are literally dozens of different compatible lenses available for DSLRs, while newer mirrorless systems give you a little less choice. Most systems have enough lenses to cover most bases now though, so it’s only those with specialist needs that might struggle to get what they want with mirrorless.

The sector was also perhaps a little slow to take hold because it was missing major input from the two main camera players for several years. While Panasonic, Olympus, Sony and Fujifilm were all key exponents of this new type of device, Canon and Nikon held back – perhaps worried about cannibalising their own DSLR sales. Nikon tentatively entered the market with its doomed ‘Nikon 1’ series, which used a tiny one-inch sensor and has since gone the way of the dodo. Canon was equally cautious, with its M series of cameras initially failing to win many plaudits.

With Sony completely owning the full-frame mirrorless market since it launched the A7 back in 2013, Canon and

As there’s no mirror to move out of the way, frame rates can be extraordinary