Advantages of mirrorless?

JRPhotos

5D4, 24-105LII, 70-300L, 35 1.4II, 85L 1.2II, 100L
Jan 19, 2014
118
2
Maine
www.jrogdenphotography.com
Hi,

I shoot with the 5DMK IV. What are the advantages of mirrorless?

Smaller Body? Better resolution? Sharper images? I've read specs but just don't understand the hype. I'm genuinely wanting to know.

Does the new R replace the 5D line or is it along the lines of a 6D?
 
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koenkooi

CR Pro
Feb 25, 2015
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For me the biggest advantage is a bright picture when using the MP-E 65mm in 2-3x mode. The viewfinder on my 7D1 is very dark in that situation and doesn't show the Dof properly, the M1 shows a bright picture and very good approximation of the final DoF.

This could be done in Live View mode, but Canon decided that taking pictures in that mode needs a mirror down/up cycle, which not only adds too much lag, but also shakes the camera a bit and is pretty loud compared to just cycling the shutter.

Mirrorless allowed me to sneak up on this dragonfly on my backyard and take a lot of pictures like this:

37140950133_c11ce2e2bb_k_d.jpg
 
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Mar 25, 2011
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Hi,

I shoot with the 5DMK IV. What are the advantages of mirrorless?

Smaller Body? Better resolution? Sharper images? I've read specs but just don't understand the hype. I'm genuinely wanting to know.

Does the new R replace the 5D line or is it along the lines of a 6D?
Generally, its been a case of "almost as good as a DSLR", with few advantages, although some think that smaller is good.

I see that this one offers full electronic exposure for totally silent shooting, but there may be some rolling. The specifications come reasonably close to a DSLR, falling short in only a few areas.

I expect it to be very popular,and they will sell a ton in the first 6 months until people discover that its not better and costs more, in terms of better capabilities or images for similarly priced DSLR's, its still about the same or almost as good.

It definitely does not replace any of the DSLR's, particularly not the "5D" line, its a lower spec unit.
 
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Sep 25, 2010
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Hi,

I shoot with the 5DMK IV. What are the advantages of mirrorless?

Smaller Body? Better resolution? Sharper images? I've read specs but just don't understand the hype. I'm genuinely wanting to know.

Does the new R replace the 5D line or is it along the lines of a 6D?

It has a number of potential advantages, depending on what and how you shoot.
  • Smaller/lighter means more portable and less conspicuous. Without the mirror the lens can sit deeper in the body
  • See what the sensor sees: zebras, focus peaking, etc. Achieve optimal focus and exposure without bracketing or histochimping
  • Reduced noise/vibration
  • Simpler design/construction could allow less expensive production
My pet potential advantages, which I don't expect until the second or third generation of ML
  • Use two sensors (and a pellicle mirror) to achieve ridiculous DR (potentially 18+ stops)
  • Use three sensors (RGB) and a trichroic prism to improve color, resolution and light capture (no loss of light to the Bayer filter)
 
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Mar 2, 2012
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Use three sensors (RGB) and a trichroic prism to improve color, resolution and light capture (no loss of light to the Bayer filter)

How does that work? Don’t each of the three sensors still need to be color filtered? Sure you have three of them so it makes up for it, but the filtering would still cause a light loss right?
 
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How does that work? Don’t each of the three sensors still need to be color filtered? Sure you have three of them so it makes up for it, but the filtering would still cause a light loss right?
No, the prism splits the light by color, and directs the different colors to the separate sensors. There is likely a very small loss in transmission through the prism, but not the heavy loss caused by the Bayer filter.

https://petapixel.com/2015/03/26/ap...with-3-sensors-and-a-prism-that-splits-light/
 
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RayValdez360

Soon to be the greatest.
Jun 6, 2012
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For me the biggest advantage is a bright picture when using the MP-E 65mm in 2-3x mode. The viewfinder on my 7D1 is very dark in that situation and doesn't show the Dof properly, the M1 shows a bright picture and very good approximation of the final DoF.

This could be done in Live View mode, but Canon decided that taking pictures in that mode needs a mirror down/up cycle, which not only adds too much lag, but also shakes the camera a bit and is pretty loud compared to just cycling the shutter.

Mirrorless allowed me to sneak up on this dragonfly on my backyard and take a lot of pictures like this:

37140950133_c11ce2e2bb_k_d.jpg
Did eyes autofocus work with this as well.
 
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As a 6D MKII user, I see little benefits - body is only a bit smaller (and if i want a really small body I'll use my SL1 +17-40L) and lenses introduced seem no smaller than current EF L lenses. As someonw who likes long exposures, I like the facility that Olympus have whereby you cna see the exposure developing on the the LCD in real time; not sure why other manufacturers don't have the same...
 
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Aug 26, 2015
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It definitely does not replace any of the DSLR's, particularly not the "5D" line, its a lower spec unit.
For video, it kind of does. While not nearly as popular as the Mark II & III were, the Mark IV is still being used for that purpose, and this could be a very nice upgrade over any previous versions (and no camera below the C100 is able to record video to two cards anyway, 1DC included)

Finally, there is an EVF, swivel screen and a lens adapter with drop-in ND filters. Plus it takes EF-S lenses as well, somewhat helpful with the inevitable crop factor in 4k. Three (+1) annoying things fixed in one go, the only big question mark is the rolling shutter.

And of course it is still going to be quite a decent stills camera. Reviewers used to say to the 5D IV & 6D II that they are great stills cameras with crippled video, now it might be more the other way round.
 
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Jerry Jaz

EOS R, EOS R5 (in order)
Sep 16, 2018
2
0
New Mexico
QuietMedia.com
Hi,

I shoot with the 5DMK IV. What are the advantages of mirrorless?

Smaller Body? Better resolution? Sharper images? I've read specs but just don't understand the hype. I'm genuinely wanting to know.

Does the new R replace the 5D line or is it along the lines of a 6D?

When I shoot in quiet situations (classes, movie sets) the mirrorless ability to shoot silent is a deal maker. I'm bummed that in silent mode mirrorless cameras, at least the Sony and Canon, may leave horizontal banding from lighting sources. 1/125, 1/150, 1/200 seems to be a sweet spot for manifesting the bands.

Also the EOS R went in for repair after the back panel failed. It would light, but no info. I had to finish an assignment with just the viewfinder (which is excellent). It crashed a few times and a reboot brought it back, then it failed for good. Canon rep was great in trying every trick in the computer library to try to tease it back to life. So after 4 days and 4,000 images, it went in for repair. Overnight to them and overnight to me, but so far over a week without the body. It even displayed an error at one point, on the top panel, 0950. Nobody at Canon knew what that meant. Onward!Liisa stripes - 1.jpg
 
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ML Advantages: Histogram in viewfinder, silent shooting with electronic shutter, no AFMA, focus guide in manual focus (not possible in DSLR)
ML Disadvantages: Curved golf clubs and violin bows in silent shooting; color and exposure difference between LCD and viewfinder; overall lower reliability because of immaturity of technology and failure of electronic components specially in humid, hot and cold weather.
 
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Mar 25, 2011
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The sharp focus every time is worth a lot. AFMA is nice, but it only gets sharp focus at one diastance, focus is usually off near MFD, but not with mirrorless. If you use typically troublesome third party lenses, they focus a lot better.

You get a 5D MK IV senor and Canon's great colors. It sits a bit higher than the 6D MK II at about the same initial price.

AF in low light is better due to DPAF

AF at f/11, you can use a t/5.6 telephoto with 2X TC and have autofocus

I have not used silent shooting enough to find the limitations, but Canon says don't use high shutter speeds stopped down

Reliability will be high, mechanical components used in the complex mirror, and AF are unreliable, the camera uses typical high reliability electronic components, its a lot simpler.

Early adopters will be the ones to find bug in firmware.

The main disadvantage I find is the small size does not fit my hand, and the camera does occasionally have some lag on the lcd touch functions, but nothing that bothered me.
 
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