Ask HN: DSLR or Mirrorless for a beginner-intermediate camera?

3 points by uger ↗ HN
What are people's opinion about buying a DSLR versus a Mirrorless camera for a beginner to intermediate user aspiring to get more serious about photography?

6 comments

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DSLRs are dead.
Mirrorless.

I shoot with a Sony α7ii. Overall I like it, particularly the selection of lenses, but I do think (1) it gives more pixels than the optical system can really make "tack sharp" (that is I get depressed when I look at the images at max enlargement but when I print them or put them on the screen as I'd expect people to see them they look great) and (2) you have a choice between compressed RAW files that have visible quality loss and uncompressed ones that are huge.

Before I had the Sony I had a Canon, I love the ultrasonic motor for the autofocus in Canon and was worried I'd miss it but I don't.

Gear doesn't matter. Work on what you see, and you will be led to what you need to get it.
I would say that I'm pretty amazed at what phones and tablets do in terms of computational photography.

I usually shoot with a Sony mirrorless but the two best photos I took in the last five years were taken in HDR mode with an Amazon Fire tablet.

Lately I have been taking stereo photos with a Nintendo 3DS because stereo lenses and attachments for the Sony have been eaten by the supply chain monster or a patent lawsuit and I haven't gotten around to calibrating my Kula to work with my iPad. On paper the 3DS is an awful camera but I the anaglyphic cards I make with it are really cool and with 20 cent glasses I get better image quality than a Magic Leap or Hololens 2.

I think at this point, if you're going to invest in a camera system, I would go mirrorless. Canon has announced they won't be developing any more EF lenses (For their DSLR based cameras). Mirrorless is the future, and between Sony, Fuji, Canon, and Nikon, I doubt you can really go wrong right now.

I prefer the Fuji system for their tack sharp lenses and fantastic build quality.

Mirrorless. You can’t buy a DSLR now, it’s like buy a new Intel Mac right now.