After being a pro sports photographer for 20 years, I've seen all types of tech added to cameras. I was using my Nikon F5 to capture images when I saw the Nikon D1 announced, which led Nikon into the digital age of producing some of the best DSLR cameras I've ever seen – including my favorite of them all, the Nikon D800, and DCW's cream of the crop pick, the Nikon D850.
But time moves on, technology gets better, speed increases, capture rates double, and of course the wonderful DSLR is now gone and replaced with mirrorless. But are the best mirrorless cameras on the market really better?
Well, in short, yes they are… so why don't I own a single mirrorless camera? It might be because I was on the cusp of what mirrorless could do when I went into journalism – I remember someone showing me a variant of the Nikon 1, saying it was the future, and I was thinking, "You're an idiot, it's tiny, it will never take off…" guess I'm the idiot now!
But as a journalist within the photography industry, I have held and used many mirrorless cameras, from the awful Nikon 1 to the most amazing Hasselblad X2D, and they all have the same issues for me: an electronic viewfinder, and they are too expensive.
I've spoken before about how I love an optical viewfinder, and how I did not like the EVF tech on the first Hasselblad X1D and other flagship cameras of the time, but one camera I do get on with it the Leica SL2-S – but it's super expensive. And while it's a remarkable mirrorless camera, the older and clunky Nikon D850 offers the same specs (if not better) for half the price brand new!
I personally think DSLRs still have a place in the modern world. Heck, my whole setup at the moment is built around the 12-year-old Nikon D800. And what keeps me going back and using my wonderful DSLR is its wonderful optical viewfinder that is simply a joy to use; no screen, no flicker, just basic optics and it looks wonderful. Even on the SL2-S I was not 100% sold on its EVF, but it was better than most.
Another thing, which might seem counterintuitive in today's world, is I like the heft of a DSLR. When you pick it up, you know it means business – you get that feeling that no matter what adventure you're going to take it on, it will be with you at the other end. Some mirrorless cameras that I've used feel as though they will give up the moment you need them most, or you'll need to carry a huge amount of batteries for them to keep up.
I often just use the one battery in my D800 in its most compact form, when traveling the coastal paths, and I can certainly go a full day of shooting without needing to change the battery – and when I put the grip on and I have two batteries at my disposal, well I've got weeks of juice left. You can't say that about mirrorless cameras currently.
Maybe I'm an old fossil and I just love what I am used to, which in some regard could be true, but I have used many great mirrorless cameras in recent years and my trusty Nikon D800 keeps calling me back – and it's here to stay.
Get the full lowdown on the rivalry in our DSLR vs mirrorless cameras comparison. You might also be interested in the best Nikon cameras, both DSLR and mirrorless, as well as the best Leica camera alternatives if you also feel the prices are a bit steep!
