Mirrorless Cameras vs. DSLR Cameras - Advantages and Disadvantages

There are amateur photographer who struggle to decide, whether to buy a compact EVIL camera or a large DSLR. Size matters, but matters regarding what?
In this blog post, I want to talk about the advantages and disadvantages of both large DSLR cameras, and compact mirrorless digital cameras. Let's take an inside look at today's latest technology achievements, and evaluate the importance of the size of the cameras in terms of portability, technology and ergonomics. A few years ago, there weren't any mirrorless compact digital cameras. If you wanted a more advanced & professional camera, you would probably pick a large-body DSLR camera.


Image Stabilized Lenses are more Expensive - Holding a large DSLR camera in your hand, you can immediately feel that you hold an advanced digital camera in your hands. Larger camera body size, also means better ergonomics. Taking photographs with a compact consumer Point-and-Shoot camera is as easy is taking photographs with a large DSLR camera. The main difference is when you want to frame your picture, hand-held. Many amateur photographers cannot afford to buy expensive image-stabilized lenses. Lenses with image stabilization are more expensive than lenses without image stabilization. For that reason, photographers with a tight budget, buy affordable lenses, which most of them do not have in-lens optical image stabilization.

Compensating Hand-Shake - Image stabilization is very important, especially when buy a large focal length telephoto-zoom lens. The 1/(focal length) rule of thumb says, that if you want to compensate hand-shake, you need to shoot at the focal range equivalent shutter speed (35mm equivalent focal length of the lens).  For example, if you want to compensate hand-shake in 200mm, you will need to shoot at 1/200th second  shutter speed. And this is with a lens without hand-shake compensation. It is a basic rule, and it doesn't mean that you can't take sharp images at lower shutter speeds. If you hold your camera steady, you can even shoot in lower shutter speeds and get clear un-blurred images. However, in order to achieve this, you will need a camera that is easy to grab and hold. That's where camera ergonomics kicks in.

Large Camera, Better Ergonomics - A large camera body, offers better ergonomics, and fits better in the hand of large-hand photographers.  Compact digital cameras, suffer from lack of ergonomics, so it is harder to hold the camera steady. That even get worse, when you use a large telephoto zoom lens with a small mirrorless digital camera. Mirrorless cameras are compact and lightweight. So when you shoot photos with a long and heavy telephoto-zoom lens, you try to compensate the weight, by holding the lens itself. It is much easier to stable the camera, when you hold the vertical camera grip, rather than holding the lens.

So this is one disadvantage of mirrorless camera, especially when using long and somewhat heavy lenses. The weight of the lens tows it downwards. When you use your hand under the lens to compensate the weight,it will be difficult to use this hand for zooming and manual focusing. Therefore, large cameras allow a more comfortable grip while shooting, compared to compact cameras. There is a reason why many hobbyist  photographers, base their buying decision, on how the camera feels in their hand.

Image Stabilization - Nowadays, you can find compact interchangeable-lens cameras, which utilize internal sensor-shift image stabilization. You are probably familiar with Panasonic OIS Optical Image Stabilization) and Sony AS (Anti-Shake) technologies. There is a reason why Panasonic and Olympus opted for in-camera IS in their mirrorless digital cameras. By implementing those technologies, both Olympus and Panasonic could create smaller and lighter large focal telephoto-zoom lenses. So the lens no longer poses an issue regarding its weight. This is the reason why mirrorless cameras' lenses are smaller and lighter than the equivalent in-camera IS lenses. Mechanical image-stabilization turns every lens into a stabilized one. Fujifilm, Pentax, Casio, Ricoh and Samsung, also use the sensor-shift technology inside their cameras.

If you decide to buy a new camera, you should take those facts into consideration. Of course with DSLR cameras, you will compromise portability, for better ergonomics. With in-lens image stabilization, you can see the effect, while in shift-sensor mechanical image stabilization, you cannot.

A few years ago, when you wanted to buy a compact camera, you would have to accept lower image quality. However, things have changed since then. Who would have thought that we would see a compact camera with an ASP-C sensor back then?

Four Thirds System - The revolution started when Olympus and Kodak  have declared the Four Thirds (4/3) System standard. That lead to compact digital cameras with interchangeable lenses, following the Four Thirds standards.  With a smaller sensor, measuring 17.3x13.0 mm (21.63 mm diagonal), camera manufacturers could create smaller and lighter camera bodies and lenses. The Four Thirds Standard has its own advantages and disadvantages. Nevertheless, 4/3 cameras have finally allowed photographers to buy compact cameras, without the compromise in image quality. It is not the perfect equation, but the image quality is much better than consumer digital P&S cameras. In August 2008, Olympus and Panasonic introduced a new brand new standard called "Micro Four Thirds". The new standard utilized the same sensor size, but the mirror box was removed, allowing companies to create much smaller camera bodies. Those cameras are also known as Mirrorless or EVIL cameras.

Olympus ED 75-300mm, Smallest &
Lightest 600mm (35mm equiv.)
Micro Four Thirds lens

DSLR Advantaged - DSLR cameras will usually offer better battery life, better ergonomics, higher ISO sensitivity settings (because they have a larger sensor), a larger collection of lenses and accessories.  Olympus keeps updating their Micro Four Thirds lens range with more advanced lenses. For example, on August 2010, Olympus released the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 75-300mm F/4.8-6.7 Micro Four Thirds lens. This is the World's first smallest and lightest 600mm (35mm equiv.) ultra-telezoom lens. Mount it on the Olympus PEN EP-2 Mirrorless compact digital camera, and you get the most portable 600mm (35mm equiv.) travel lens in the world. By looking at the 2010 Mirrorless cameras' market share in Japan, you can see that the Mirrorless camera market, keep growing, at the expense of the DSLR market.



Mirrorless, Best of both worlds - If you want a camera for studio photography, DSLR is probably a better way to go. You will have better control on your camera flash(es) and accessories, which can only be connected to DSLR cameras.  Even so, there are many photographers who carry a mirrorless camera in their photography bag. They want to enjoy the advantages of mirrorless cameras as they travel from one place to another. But for the amateur photographer, mirrorless cameras offer the best of both worlds. Mirrorless compact cameras have come a long way. We can expect this market to continue its growth, as new improved models appear every year. In the near future, you will have a larger selection of lenses, accessories and improved technology innovations.

Sony NEX-5 Mirrorless compact digital camera

In 2010, Sony corp. has also introduced two compact mirrorless digital cameras, the Sony Alpha NEX-3 and Sony NEX-5 cameras. Both have an ASP-C sensor, and are at the same size of consumer Point-and-Shoot digital cameras. They can take both Sony E-mount and A-mount lenses.

Sony Alpha SLT-A55 with translucent
mirror.

Mid-Size DSLRs - It is not all black & white. You can find mid-size DSLR cameras that are compact in size, but yet offer all the bells & whistles of larger more advanced DSLR cameras. You can read my review on the Sony SLT-A55 digital camera, to find out more information on translucent mirror technology. Translucent mirror technology allowed Sony to reduce the size of its DSLR camera, but maintain and even upgrade some of the features that can be found on professional dSLR cameras.




Sigma has also introduced the Sigma DP2. It is an ASP-C size Foveon X3 camera, with a fixed prime lens, which offers ultra-high image quality.

DSLR Cameras Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages:

• Availability of Full Frame sensor cameras
• Better ergonomics for people with large hands
• Overall better image quality (arguable)
• A large collection of accessories
• Better balance with heavy & long lenses and external Flash
• Easy & Direct access buttons to the camera settings
• Ability to add extra battery & longer battery life
• High availability of professional grade prime lenses
• Make a professional impressions
• Better shutter life expectancy
• Weather & dust sealed camera body & lenses
• Better performance
• Pentaprism  viewfinder
• Better AF performance

Disadvantages:

• Heavy and bulky
• More expensive on average
• Great instant results in JPEG
• Batteries are more expensive
• Require a photography bag
• Attracts attention

Mirrorless Cameras Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages:

• Compact (even pocketable) & light weight
• Great out of the camera JPEG images
• Longer focal range in X2 cropped factor cameras
• Best to take when on vacation
• Attracts less attention
• Offers DSLR image quality (entry-level ones at least)
• You family can shoot with it
• Cool gimmicks for the hobbyist photographer

Disadvantages:

• Lack of ergonomics for photographers with large hands
• Overall Slower performance
• Lost of balance when long telelphoto-zoom lenses are being used
• Small collection of interchangeable lenses
• Doesn't look professional (if that's what you need)
• Lack of high-grade prime lenses
• Short battery life
• Shorter shutter life span
• Not weather sealed

Mirrorless Digital Camera or DSLR? - So choosing between a compact mirrorless camera or a large body DSLR camera, it's all about your needs and desires. Whether you decide to buy a large DSLR camera or a mirrorless one, take the pros & cons into consideration. There are different cameras for different type of photography shooting habits, ergonomic needs and image quality preferences.