The future of the reflex mirror DSLR?

brunerww · Dec 6, 2012

Will Crockett of shootsmarter.com and discovermirrorless.com says the new Panasonic GH3 and 35-100 constant f2.8 lens signal the end of the DSLR - and not just the entry level.

In his view, reflex mirror DSLR values will start downward in a couple of years.

He may be right, he may be wrong, but as always, he is interesting.

If he is right, I'm certainly glad I sold my DSLR

Cheers,

Bill
Hybrid Camera Revolution

JDFlood · Dec 6, 2012

Well, he makes a good case. I actually thought mirrors were on the way out ten or fifteen years ago... Silly me. What seems to happen with technology is the next thing in is touted as the "x" killer, and it ends up just another choice: mini-computer to mainframe, laptop to desktop, tablet to laptop... Pager... Ok, that one is a pretty narrow niche now. But I like lighter, and mirrors don't work with video, and if you get usefulcontinuous focus and mixed cvideo and single shots... Think Red. He has a point for wedding photographers. Doing both well, would be hard. I guess at some point mirrors become unnecessary, and we a closer to that point than we used to be. As a test, I just turned on my mirrorless Fuji xe1, it is really dark, before sunrise, the EVF is pretty good in the dark... I guess we are getting close. JD

Village Idiot · Dec 6, 2012

They have to improve that happens. The EVF needs to be able to produce a perfect replica of the scene you're looking at. As of now, you can easily tell the difference between an EVF and a OVF.

The big companies have to jump on board and with the idea of losing the mirror, but not changing the form factor. My OM-D is small. That's great, but when I'm shooting with my 5D MKII, the size and weight compliment the lenses. The control scheme feels right in my hands. Adjusting the shutter speed and aperture on the OM-D can be a bit difficult and the button you use on the back to assign focus too is tiny and hard to hit. It just doesn't feel as good as a larger mor spacious camera. I guess you could compare a small well performing compact car to a high powered sedan. The compact isn't a terrible car, but sometimes it's just too small or doesn't provide the necessary performance you need for the job.