Mirrored opinion

Camera manufacturers like Nikon spend time and money to make lovely small and light mirrorless bodies with a large mount; but these new mounts mean that all our older lenses do not fit without an adaptor. Added to that, they double their prices compared to DSLR bodies.

Once they have made these wonderful lightweight compact bodies, they make new lenses to fit their small bodies. But are these lenses small and light? No! They are big and heavy, one-and-a-half times the weight of the DSLR equivalent, with a price tag two to three times the price.

So you now have a system that weighs heavier than before and costs twice as much with bulkier lenses to carry around. I am not saying that there aren’t advantages to mirrorless cameras, and

the quality of the pictures are better due to the up-to-date tech, but does it outweigh the cost and weight penalties?

I think the manufacturers have missed the target by a mile. It might be okay for highly paid professionals, but for us normal beings it’s a pain to find the equipment that we have spent a long time building up is to be superseded, and possibly redundant. If the manufacturers decide not to support the old equipment, we’re out on a limb! Do they think so little of their clients that have supported their products for years?

I would hope they have some sort of backup for their loyal supporters. It seems as if the manufacturers have put themselves on a course to price themselves out of the market, supplying heavier gear and missing the point of building a lighter camera. Andrew Poulter

Nikon’s first mirrorless cameras (and lenses) were aimed squarely at the top end of the market, and while cheaper cameras have been launched since – such as the Z 50 – there’s no getting away from the fact that cuttingedge gear is, by its nature, more expensive than triedand-tested tech. But prices will tumble over time, and there are rumours aplenty about a new ‘entry-level’ Z-system camera.

While removing the mirror assembly means lighter cameras can be created, the size of lenses is dictated by the laws of physics – a 70-200mm f/2.8 is always going to be a big beast!

And we don’t feel Nikon is abandoning its existing DSLR users – in fact, we wouldn’t be at all surprised to see a new DSLR or two launched before the year’s out…