Considering a switch from Full frame DSLR to mirrorless, have a few questions

CaptainNapalm

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Hi guys, this is my first time posting in this neck of the woods (mirorrless section) but I'm considering switching from a full frame DSLR system to mirrorless and looking for some input. I've been shooting as a hobby now for a good few years and know for sure that photography will be a big part of my life moving forward. I started off shooting with the Nikon D5100, then moved onto the D7000 and for the past year or so have been enjoying the D600 full frame camera. I enjoy shooting landscapes, street photography, functions, people and some wildlife such as birds and other animals.

For the past few months though I've noticed that my camera comes with me less than I'd like to. For example, today I went to a family function and decided not to bring my camera bag with all the gear. I knew that it was going to be a tight space with lots of people and just didn't want my bag with the camera, flash and lenses tugging along. Well my sister's boyfriend was there who recently picked up a mirrorless fuji camera and after playing with it for a good hour I really appreciated it's size and function. I came to the realization that if I had a system his size I would literally take it with me everywhere. The DSLR is great for dedicated photo walks but it really is starting to become a burden for me for everything else and I'm finding that I'm missing photo opportunities just because I don't have it with me when I want it.

So now I'm getting an itch to completely ditch my DSLR system and invest in a nice mirrorless system. I figure if I sell my mint condition D600 along with 5 lenses, flash and accessories I can get about $2,800 for everything. This would allow me to get the Sony A7R with a couple of lenses in new condition and maybe some accessories. I really want to continue shooting with full frame sensor despite stepping down to a compact system and I'm interested in the A7R to it's high resolution and great image quality.

My main question is, for those of you who have ditched their DSLR system in favour of a mirrorless system, ditch you enjoy the switch? Do you regret it? Is there some things I should consider that are important that maybe you didn't take into account when switching? I would appreciate any advice you can give.
Thanks!
 
I love it, it is a sense of freedom that I haven't known since forever.
Read this which I wrote some months after the switch.
I've used nothing but M43 since last March.

But there is no such thing as a camera that is perfect for everything.

I'm not certain about the A7r if only because I've heard that the AF isn't fast at all and for street work, for me at least, AF speed is a biggie.
It is also larger and heavier than most.
My best friend shoots with one and the quality is great.
 
An EVF can never be an adequate replacement for an OVF such that you would consider the switch even. You will have to be able to justify and live with the downgrade from the OVF and consider it was worth it for the advantages in size and weight.

I made the switch and I consider it an overall positive compromise. I was in a similar situation where I just wasn't using the big gun 5D and so it had to go. I'm happier now with a much smaller and lighter camera that I am using, but I do miss my OVF.

Joe
 
Id be very interested in this thread, Id love to have an A7R, Its funny, the thing I would struggle with most is the view finder I reckon. I havent looked through the A7R version but looking at the digital image as oposed to the SLR mirror would take me aaagggeess to get used to.
 
I love it, it is a sense of freedom that I haven't known since forever.
Read this which I wrote some months after the switch.
I've used nothing but M43 since last March.

But there is no such thing as a camera that is perfect for everything.

I'm not certain about the A7r if only because I've heard that the AF isn't fast at all and for street work, for me at least, AF speed is a biggie.
It is also larger and heavier than most.
My best friend shoots with one and the quality is great.

Thanks Lew, I'll read through your blog.
 
An EVF can never be an adequate replacement for an OVF such that you would consider the switch even. You will have to be able to justify and live with the downgrade from the OVF and consider it was worth it for the advantages in size and weight.

I made the switch and I consider it an overall positive compromise. I was in a similar situation where I just wasn't using the big gun 5D and so it had to go. I'm happier now with a much smaller and lighter camera that I am using, but I do miss my OVF.

Joe

Thanks for your input Joe. For some reason, I didn't find the electronic viewfinder on the Fuji I used today all that irritating. Certainly not irritating enough to overweigh the benefit of the small size of the camera. Its the AF system that I needed to adjust to more.
 
Id be very interested in this thread, Id love to have an A7R, Its funny, the thing I would struggle with most is the view finder I reckon. I havent looked through the A7R version but looking at the digital image as oposed to the SLR mirror would take me aaagggeess to get used to.

Wasn't all that bad for me today.
 
Id be very interested in this thread, Id love to have an A7R, Its funny, the thing I would struggle with most is the view finder I reckon. I havent looked through the A7R version but looking at the digital image as oposed to the SLR mirror would take me aaagggeess to get used to.

Wasn't all that bad for me today.

Does it look very different to the mirror? Stupid question? Just not sure how "realistic" they can make it

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
 
An EVF is different but it depends on how critical the use of fine detail seen through the viewfinder is in someone's specific work.
For me the ability to see the actual exposure when I use the EC certainly far outweighs any loss in resolution.

(not to mention the difference in weight)
 
An EVF is different but it depends on how critical the use of fine detail seen through the viewfinder is in someone's specific work.
For me the ability to see the actual exposure when I use the EC certainly far outweighs any loss in resolution.

(not to mention the difference in weight)

So in the A7r for example you cant see the actual exposure?

Great site also Lew, never looked at it until now.
 
I'm certain that in the A7r you can see the change in exposure with ec.
My hesitation has been the lack of two lightweight lenses that I use the most , 24-70 and 70-200 2.8 and the uncertainty of the speed of AF.
I have those equivalents in the M4/3 and I'm happy as a clam.
It would take a huge improvement in something unknown to me now for me to go back to a heavier system.
 
Id be very interested in this thread, Id love to have an A7R, Its funny, the thing I would struggle with most is the view finder I reckon. I havent looked through the A7R version but looking at the digital image as oposed to the SLR mirror would take me aaagggeess to get used to.

Wasn't all that bad for me today.

Does it look very different to the mirror? Stupid question? Just not sure how "realistic" they can make it

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

It looked pretty good. To be honest I didn't pay all that much attention to it but was using it and it was sufficient enough not to bother me so maybe for me it's not a deal breaker. Lew nailed it on the money with his other posts regarding it.
 
I have a Samsung NX300 that has a 20.3 pix sensor the same specs in size as in a Nikon Crop sensor DSLR and its fantastic. 8 FPS and a Shutter speed up 1/6000th is impressive.The downside with mine is no view finder and I cant see the LCD on sunny days. That said, no way I would ditch my DSLR Cameras.
 
I love it, it is a sense of freedom that I haven't known since forever.
Read this which I wrote some months after the switch.
I've used nothing but M43 since last March.

But there is no such thing as a camera that is perfect for everything.

I'm not certain about the A7r if only because I've heard that the AF isn't fast at all and for street work, for me at least, AF speed is a biggie.
It is also larger and heavier than most.
My best friend shoots with one and the quality is great.

Lew, I read you post. It becomes obvious from your experience that a compact system is a no brainer for street photography but seeing quite a few of your posts on here I conclude that this is mostly the type of photography that you do. For me, the use of my camera would be more varied, although, I can still shoot good landscapes, functions, vacations, etc. with a compact system. The only struggle I see myself having is shooting fast moving birds or sports which I don't do all that much. I think before I jump the gun here and commit to the idea I'm going to borrow the camera I played with today for a week or so if possible and see if it truly fits my liking. Well written post by the way, I'll go back to read the rest of them when I have some more time.
 
I switched from an OVF to an EVF ... and I like it. Yeah, looking through a 100% viewfinder prism (like I had on my Canon nF-1) is different than an EVF ... but I did not find the transition so bad.
The OVF on my APS-C was dramatically smaller than my nF-1 that it bugged me. The EVF was as large as the Canon.
Having live feedback through the viewfinder on exposure (and white balance) is great ... actually I no longer think about how much exposure to set, just eyeball it and it is very accurate (though I do not do a lot of very low light shooting). The Sony A57 only has a 1.4M dot EVF, while the A7r has a 2.4M so it should look better than what I see.

I would switch over if I was not shooting wildlife ... actually, I may just upgrade my NEX-3 to a 7 just as a carry around/backup camera.
 

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