Switching to Mirrorless

[Bill Thornhill]

I've been shooting with the Fuji Mirrorless system for about 12 months now so I thought I'd share my thoughts on making the switch. Hopefully people might find it interesting.

Switching from Nikon to Fuji

 

[goodguy]

Wow Bill I loved your pictures, excellent work, no doubt you are doing great with the Fuji.

You really wrote a strong case to get a Fuji camera and those are without a doubt excellent cameras but I will play the devils advocate here and tell you why for me personally I wouldnt want one and why for me my Nikon D750 is the right tool.

First I would add for you its not just mirrorless vs DSLR but also FF vs APS-C which for me is the bigger issue here.
I own an APS-C camera and a FF and I found I really enjoy the bigger field of view compared to the 1.5 crop factor.
Another issue is low light performance, I jumped from a good APS-C camera (D7100) to the D750 and the low light performance was very big, any ISO over 400 and pictures come cleaner which means I need to introduce less or no noise cleaning thus I get sharper images.
Fuji has some f2.8 lenses but I think they are not so small and the overall package you get well aint so comfortable and unbalanced, small camera on big zoom lens voids the advantage of the small camera and as I said creates unbalanced feeling in the hand.

So would I consider a mirrorless ?
Yes but no now, the camera I like right now is Sony A7R II, had the chance to use it and WOW it was good but not good enough when you need to AF in darker conditions, my D750 will lock focus when the Sony will keep hunting, I dont know if this is also an issue with your camera as I never used it but from what I read in lower light mirrorless will tend to hunt much more then a good DSLR.
I wouldnt get an APS-C camera as my main camera for reasons I wrong above, I wouldnt get the Sony A7R II because its AF is still not as good as a good DSLR and because Sony still refuses to produce fast 24-70mm 2.8 and 70-200mm 2.8
If and when they will make these lenses and their AF will be as good as a DSLR I will consider buying one, I need to add that the A7 isnt a small camera and frankly I would want it bigger so it would balanced nicly with fast zoom lenses.

So I think small mirrorless is really amazing for people who like APS-C and are happy to use primes or smaller zoom lenses, also if they shoot in all lighting conditions they might find their camera will hunt more then DSLR so thats a point to remember.

P.S I love the design of the Fuji cameras and the Panasonic

 

[Bill Thornhill]

Thanks very much for your kind words. Your points are very valid goodguy and any choice is down to what you shoot as well as personal preference I guess. I love full frame I have to admit, but for what I shoot (portraits mainly with the odd wedding), I found I wasn't really missing out by having a crop sensor. The D750 is a beast in low light it has to be said.

 

[Ido]

Wow Bill I loved your pictures, excellent work, no doubt you are doing great with the Fuji.

You really wrote a strong case to get a Fuji camera and those are without a doubt excellent cameras but I will play the devils advocate here and tell you why for me personally I wouldnt want one and why for me my Nikon D750 is the right tool.

First I would add for you its not just mirrorless vs DSLR but also FF vs APS-C which for me is the bigger issue here.
I own an APS-C camera and a FF and I found I really enjoy the bigger field of view compared to the 1.5 crop factor.
Another issue is low light performance, I jumped from a good APS-C camera (D7100) to the D750 and the low light performance was very big, any ISO over 400 and pictures come cleaner which means I need to introduce less or no noise cleaning thus I get sharper images.
Fuji has some f2.8 lenses but I think they are not so small and the overall package you get well aint so comfortable and unbalanced, small camera on big zoom lens voids the advantage of the small camera and as I said creates unbalanced feeling in the hand.

So would I consider a mirrorless ?
Yes but no now, the camera I like right now is Sony A7R II, had the chance to use it and WOW it was good but not good enough when you need to AF in darker conditions, my D750 will lock focus when the Sony will keep hunting, I dont know if this is also an issue with your camera as I never used it but from what I read in lower light mirrorless will tend to hunt much more then a good DSLR.
I wouldnt get an APS-C camera as my main camera for reasons I wrong above, I wouldnt get the Sony A7R II because its AF is still not as good as a good DSLR and because Sony still refuses to produce fast 24-70mm 2.8 and 70-200mm 2.8
If and when they will make these lenses and their AF will be as good as a DSLR I will consider buying one, I need to add that the A7 isnt a small camera and frankly I would want it bigger so it would balanced nicly with fast zoom lenses.

So I think small mirrorless is really amazing for people who like APS-C and are happy to use primes or smaller zoom lenses, also if they shoot in all lighting conditions they might find their camera will hunt more then DSLR so thats a point to remember.

P.S I love the design of the Fuji cameras and the Panasonic

So what you really want is an A-mount counterpart to the a7R II ;-)

 

[goodguy]

Wow Bill I loved your pictures, excellent work, no doubt you are doing great with the Fuji.

You really wrote a strong case to get a Fuji camera and those are without a doubt excellent cameras but I will play the devils advocate here and tell you why for me personally I wouldnt want one and why for me my Nikon D750 is the right tool.

First I would add for you its not just mirrorless vs DSLR but also FF vs APS-C which for me is the bigger issue here.
I own an APS-C camera and a FF and I found I really enjoy the bigger field of view compared to the 1.5 crop factor.
Another issue is low light performance, I jumped from a good APS-C camera (D7100) to the D750 and the low light performance was very big, any ISO over 400 and pictures come cleaner which means I need to introduce less or no noise cleaning thus I get sharper images.
Fuji has some f2.8 lenses but I think they are not so small and the overall package you get well aint so comfortable and unbalanced, small camera on big zoom lens voids the advantage of the small camera and as I said creates unbalanced feeling in the hand.

So would I consider a mirrorless ?
Yes but no now, the camera I like right now is Sony A7R II, had the chance to use it and WOW it was good but not good enough when you need to AF in darker conditions, my D750 will lock focus when the Sony will keep hunting, I dont know if this is also an issue with your camera as I never used it but from what I read in lower light mirrorless will tend to hunt much more then a good DSLR.
I wouldnt get an APS-C camera as my main camera for reasons I wrong above, I wouldnt get the Sony A7R II because its AF is still not as good as a good DSLR and because Sony still refuses to produce fast 24-70mm 2.8 and 70-200mm 2.8
If and when they will make these lenses and their AF will be as good as a DSLR I will consider buying one, I need to add that the A7 isnt a small camera and frankly I would want it bigger so it would balanced nicly with fast zoom lenses.

So I think small mirrorless is really amazing for people who like APS-C and are happy to use primes or smaller zoom lenses, also if they shoot in all lighting conditions they might find their camera will hunt more then DSLR so thats a point to remember.

P.S I love the design of the Fuji cameras and the Panasonic

So what you really want is an A-mount counterpart to the a7R II ;-)

Well Ido I would say I want an A7R II with better AF in lower light and Sony 24-70mm 2.8 and 70-200mm 2.8 lenses for same price Nikon and Canon lenses charge and make the A7 body bigger oh and while you at it make the Sony menus more user friendly.
I think the Sony A7R II is the best mirrorless camera in the market today and an overall excellent camera but Sony needs to work hard on lenses and AF system to make it a DSLR killer.
Fuji makes excellent cameras but to limited crowd.

 

[goodguy]

Thanks very much for your kind words. Your points are very valid goodguy and any choice is down to what you shoot as well as personal preference I guess. I love full frame I have to admit, but for what I shoot (portraits mainly with the odd wedding), I found I wasn't really missing out by having a crop sensor. The D750 is a beast in low light it has to be said.

Kind words said by a kind and wise man

There isnt one camera that suits everybody, different cameras offer different options to different people.
I think Canon, Nikon and now slowly Sony are offering cameras that offer a lot in one body, Sony is closing the gap very fast, if Canon and Nikon will not wake up they just might find themselves trying to play catch up with Sony.
Only time will tell.

 

[Ido]

better AF in lower light

You’ll get that with a high-end A-mount camera’s AF system.

Sony 24-70mm 2.8 and 70-200mm 2.8 lenses for same price Nikon and Canon lenses charge

Sony has that in the A-mount, though these lenses—even the recently released 24-70 II—are apparently not quite as good as the Canon and Nikon counterparts. Tamron makes their superb 24-70 and 70-200 f/2.8 lenses for the A-mount, though, with VC removed, and at significantly lower prices than Canon’s, Nikon’s and Sony’s offerings. So…

make the A7 body bigger

You’ll surely get that with a mirror-equipped A-mount body ;~)

oh and while you at it make the Sony menus more user friendly.

Can’t help you with that!
Well, if I can use the Olympus menus with no problem—it’s pretty much intuitive to me by now—the Sony menus surely won’t look that bad to me!

Sony needs to work hard on lenses and AF system

It’s very apparent that they are doing that. Look how far they’ve come in less than 2 years!

 

[goodguy]

better AF in lower light

You’ll get that with a high-end A-mount camera’s AF system.

Sony 24-70mm 2.8 and 70-200mm 2.8 lenses for same price Nikon and Canon lenses charge

Sony has that in the A-mount, though these lenses—even the recently released 24-70 II—are apparently not quite as good as the Canon and Nikon counterparts. Tamron makes their superb 24-70 and 70-200 f/2.8 lenses for the A-mount, though, with VC removed, and at significantly lower prices than Canon’s, Nikon’s and Sony’s offerings. So…

make the A7 body bigger

You’ll surely get that with a mirror-equipped A-mount body ;~)

oh and while you at it make the Sony menus more user friendly.

Can’t help you with that!
Well, if I can use the Olympus menus with no problem—it’s pretty much intuitive to me by now—the Sony menus surely won’t look that bad to me!

Sony needs to work hard on lenses and AF system

It’s very apparent that they are doing that. Look how far they’ve come in less than 2 years!

Ido, please post a link where you can get Tamron's excellent 24-70mm 2.8 VC and 70-200mm 2.8 VC in an A mount
Also show me please where Sony makes A mount 24-70mm 2.8 and 70-200mm 2.8 lenses
I was not aware any of those existed but I will be happy to learn new things and say I was wrong.

 

[goodguy]

better AF in lower light

You’ll get that with a high-end A-mount camera’s AF system.

Sony 24-70mm 2.8 and 70-200mm 2.8 lenses for same price Nikon and Canon lenses charge

Sony has that in the A-mount, though these lenses—even the recently released 24-70 II—are apparently not quite as good as the Canon and Nikon counterparts. Tamron makes their superb 24-70 and 70-200 f/2.8 lenses for the A-mount, though, with VC removed, and at significantly lower prices than Canon’s, Nikon’s and Sony’s offerings. So…

make the A7 body bigger

You’ll surely get that with a mirror-equipped A-mount body ;~)

oh and while you at it make the Sony menus more user friendly.

Can’t help you with that!
Well, if I can use the Olympus menus with no problem—it’s pretty much intuitive to me by now—the Sony menus surely won’t look that bad to me!

Sony needs to work hard on lenses and AF system

It’s very apparent that they are doing that. Look how far they’ve come in less than 2 years!

Oh wait the A7 family isnt A mount its FE mount.
So how is the A connected to the FE ?
A is for Sony's SLT cameras which we are not talking about here.

So if Sony or Tamron has 24-70mm 2.8 or 70-200mm 2.8 please send me the link so I can learn new things, I didnt find anything of the sort.

 

[Derrel]

Sony's different mount types are confusing. Isn't it three different mounts they have had in 10 years?

 

[dxqcanada]

A = DSLR and SLT, APS-C and full-frame
E = APS-C mirrorless
FE = full-frame mirrorless
Yeah, I wish Sony would work on the lens side of things as seriously as the cameras.
I like my A-mount ... but they seemed to have forgotten it exists.

 

[Ido]

Oh wait the A7 family isnt A mount its FE mount.
So how is the A connected to the FE ?
A is for Sony's SLT cameras which we are not talking about here.

Right. But you say you want an α7R II, but also want it bigger, with a DSLR-caliber AF system and f/2.8 zoom lenses. The base of that is the α99, only with the α7R II’s sensor, and perhaps the α77 II’s AF system (or better). These cameras have electronic viewfinders. What else do you want from mirrorless? You’ve eliminated the size factor, and the A-mount cameras have EVFs, so what else do mirrorless cameras have that you’d want in your own camera?

So if Sony or Tamron has 24-70mm 2.8 or 70-200mm 2.8 please send me the link so I can learn new things, I didnt find anything of the sort.

They have them for the A-mount. On B&H, it’s in the “SLR Lenses” category.