It seems like just yesterday that we were trying to come up upward with a sensible name for mirrorless cameras but 2016 will marking the eighth anniversary of the first Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Photographic camera. In that fourth dimension they've gone from beingness an interesting new development to beingness a apparent culling to APS-C and full-frame DSLRs.

Mirrorless cameras are interchangeable lens cameras that don't have the mirror and optical viewfinder that ascertain a DSLR. In most other respects, they're extremely similar: with merely a few exceptions, near mirrorless cameras these days are built around the same sized sensors as DSLRs, increasingly have similar lenses available, and tin can offer the same image quality.

Other than the presence of a through-the-lens optical viewfinder, the only other significant difference is that DSLRs have a separate, dedicated autofocus module, whereas mirrorless cameras use their main imaging sensor for focus. Beyond that, there's not a whole lot of difference betwixt the two: mirrorless and DSLR cameras are available for a variety of needs and budgets and in that location isn't a major manufacturer that doesn't have some mirrorless cameras in its lineup.

What are the advantages?

Size

As mirrorless cameras accept matured they've also diversified, making it harder to generalise nigh their strengths and weaknesses. It remains true though that mirrorless cameras aregenerally smaller than their DSLR peers. Taking the mirror out means that the lens tin can exist mounted closer to the sensor, helping to reduce the size of the system. Furthermore, without the need to exist backwards-compatible with picture-era systems, the lenses tend to be designed to friction match the size of the sensor, meaning many of these are smaller, too. Just as in the DSLR globe though, more expensive, faster lenses - especially those designed for Sony's full-frame Alpha a7-series - are still pretty large and bulky.

Autofocus

Some other advantage is autofocus. One time considered a weakness of mirrorless, hybrid autofocus systems (using a variant of the phase-detection method used in DSLRs to make up one's mind how far away a subject is) take substantially airtight the gap betwixt DSLR and mirrorless focus performance for all but the most demanding applications. Non all mirrorless models offer hybrid AF though, and so it's worth doing a little inquiry if you lot need a photographic camera with skillful continuous autofocus.

The Sony a6000 is much smaller than a DSLR but offers impressive autofocus tracking performance

In fact, considering all mirrorless cameras assess focus from their imaging sensor rather than a split module, they are able to be more accurate and consistent, especially when focusing wide-aperture lenses. Combined with awareness of the scene that allows cameras to rails and maintain focus on a subject field's eye, it's increasingly the case that autofocus is i of mirrorless'southward strengths.

Video

Mirrorless cameras already use their sensors' continuous output to constantly preview the scene, so information technology's not a large leap (or change in behavior) for them to capture this output as movie footage.

The most obvious advantage of mirrorless cameras is that there isn't a mirror blocking the sensor. This means that unlike a DSLR, yous don't have to completely change the way that the photographic camera works in order to shoot video: you can go on to utilise the same means of previewing and shooting when y'all switch from stills to video. As a upshot, it'southward mirrorless cameras that have led the accuse towards offering improve and ameliorate video and the clever photographic tricks that can stem from it.

System

Many mirrorless systems are now mature enough to include a broad range of lenses, such as Fujifilm's X-mount lineup, pictured hither.

Because all mirrorless systems are less than 8 years old, their systems aren't as fully developed as legacy DSLR systems. The flip-side of this novelty is that nigh of the lens designs are relatively new and are well optimised for use on the latest high-resolution models. It's worth checking that the lenses y'all might want are bachelor for the organization yous're considering, but you may find that at that place are more modernistic, more interesting or more affordable lenses bachelor for some mirrorless systems than are available for the big DSLR brands.

What are the disadvantages?

The disadvantages of mirrorless are decreasing with every new generation of camera and only a few of the remaining drawbacks are directly related to the lack of a mirror. The relative novelty of mirrorless mean that manufacturers are still finding their feet, so in that location'southward less consistency of performance and behaviour across brands: ergonomics and user interface are all the same the field of study of experimentation and not every visitor has worked out how to design lenses that autofocus chop-chop.

Furthermore, the demand to constantly power the sensor and screen while shooting, combined with attempts to capitalize on the size benefits of mirrorless mean that bombardment life is much more than limited on nigh mirrorless cameras - sometimes to a restrictive degree. Nosotros'd strongly recommend you read our reviews or roundups to find out about these details before making a purchase.

Most mirrorless cameras permit SLR lenses to exist mounted using adapters. The Sony a7R II is the first that can autofocus other brands' DSLR lenses successfully.

Finally, of course, there's the absenteeism of an optical viewfinder. While electronic viewfinders are constantly improving, aren't limited past the size of the image format and can more than accurately preview the image you're going to get, almost contemporary cameras' alive view feeds even so lag behind the activeness when continuous shooting. On top of that, some people simply prefer the 'part-of-the-scene' feeling that an optical finder gives. These factor, every bit much equally the vast number of photographers already invested in DSLR systems, pretty much guarantees that mirrorless cameras won't totally replace the DSLR in the virtually future.

Just as mirrorless cameras take started to compete in areas the DSLRs have traditionally dominated, we've also seen DSLR makers first to respond to that claiming, with mirrorless-style on-sensor phase detection being added to offering a faster alive view experience and ameliorate autofocus during video. As such, it's getting to the point that personal preference for one particular feature or one specific lens might sway your determination more than the presence or absence of a mirror in the camera. Whichever you lot choose, advances in engineering science and a broader range of choices tin can only exist a proficient affair.

© 2015 www.dpreview.com