DSLR or mirrorless: which would be best for us?
Many of you have, by now, taken a look at the green flash photos that I shared 4 days ago. I noted on that post that the photos were taken with my Canon 30D DSLR. I purchased this camera a year or two prior to us setting off cruising, and I’ve been carrying it with us ever since. While the camera still works great, and I love the photos that I can take with it, I have recently started looking at the new generation of mirrorless cameras, primarily because of their reduced size and weight. I have to wonder if one of them might be better suited for our purposes, an adventure-ready camera with size and features somewhere between the Olympus Tough point-and-shoot that we carry with us almost everywhere, and the full-sized DSLR which we take off the boat only rarely.
These are two mirrorless cameras that have been recommended:
Your thoughts?
More eye candy:
The following pics were also taken with our trusty Canon DSLR, sometime during the last month or so. Note that they’re all sunset pics. That’s because, as I mentioned, I seldom take the camera off the boat.
Olympus have some amazing micro 4/3 lens. That maybe one aspect to consider. Great cameras too.
Our friend who has the Olympus I linked to, or perhaps its predecessor, recommended the 17mm F1.8 prime, and the 14-150.
Howdy Mike! I purchased an A6000 a couple months ago. I am FARRrrr… from an expert and my life has been crazy busy over these months so I haven’t used it nearly as much as I had hoped. Nonetheless, I am very impressed. Be near Saint-Anne this time next week and I’ll let you play with it.
Sounds great. Thanks!
We’ve gone the Sony route, an A-6300, we previously had an Olympus E-P3. I don’t think either of them are bad cameras at all, and really neither is your Canon. The thing to really consider is switching over your whole system. Lens, flashes & accessories all add up quickly. One great advantage of the mirrorless cameras is their smaller stature, but once all the pieces are together (3-4 nice lenses, extra batteries, and the like) our Sony is in the same bag I used to carry my Nikon gear in. So in the end not really any space saving. One thing that I found surprising is that because the camera is smaller, and less intrusive, I find I can take more candid portraits. So that’s certainly something. In the end, nearly all the cameras take as good a quality photo as you’d probably ever need. It’s a matter of how easy you find it to use, that will determine wether or not you have it with you when you need it.
We just had another friend on Facebook put in his vote for the Sony A-6300. Thanks for sharing your experience!
I went the other way …Ditched my canon g9 for an Olympus regretted it because the g9 was always in my pocket or briefcase where as the Olympus is still too big …Invoke the old adage “the best picture is the one you never got to take because you don’t have your camera with you”. Consider upgrading your point and shoot to a better P&S
I am not really looking to replace the point and shoot. We’ll still keep that as it’s burly, and waterproof. It’s the DSLR that I’m looking to replace. Maybe.
There are lots of good options, but if you stick with a Cannon DSLR, you don’t have to replace your lenses. You can get a new one, but all the good ones you have will move right onto the new camera.
Or I could sell what I have, or trade it all in on something new. 🙂
Canon also has their own mirrorless offering. The M4. You can read more about it here – https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canon-eos-m5-review
Thanks, Brian!
I have always been a Canon buyer. I am considering the sx60 with the super zoom as a camera to take along most times. I think it’s small enough but with that zoom I would think it would come in handy for you for shots from boat, etc. no changeable lenses however.
Happy sailing
Thanks, Rick. I too have used Canon for a long time. The ability to swap lenses is pretty important though. At least I think it is.
The Olympus that you are looking into is the one that I have. It takes wonderful pictures (and I don’t know much about photography), but the best part is how easy and simple it is to carry around. It’s virtually weightless!!! If you get it, you won’t regret it. Happy new year 2017!!!!
The weight of the camera is a big issue for us. Thanks for chiming in.
With the quality of cameras in phones these days I’m hard pressed to ever take my DSLR camera with me. I even picked up a DJI Osmo Mobile for doing smooth video with my cell phone. With some software trickery (lightroom) and a good photo taking app on your phone (I use Filmic Pro for video on iphone) you’re getting good quality images… Heck, you can even get different lenses to put over the stock lens on your phone these days
You’re right, today’s cameras, both point and shoot, and the ones on phones, are incredible. I like to think of my phone a bit more like a computer though, so am reluctant to use it for pictures where there is a risk of damaging it. That said, a number of the pics on this blog have been taken with our iPhone.