I decided some years ago that I was not going to write about the commercial aspect of photography. I would instead focus on my personal experiences relating to my own photography. From time to time, I have strayed off path, but I always return and keep my literary focus. Until I stray again. My propensity to stray is a topic for another blog entry.

I do; however, still own a business and my business is still doing fine. One aspect of the business is the equipment. Nikon just lowered the price on their top tier full frame DSLR, the D850. I never bought the D850 because I typically never buy a camera when it first hits the market. I almost always wait to buy a new camera near the end of its market life. All the camera manufacturers discount their cameras when they are either going to stop making them, or release an upgraded model. I pounced on the new price of the D850, with all the market stuff in mind. I’ve been waiting for this very moment for 3 years.

There were other considerations. From a market perspective, the cameras that are being released today are very seldom DSLR’s. Mirrorless is where the market is and may very well be the future of the majority of the camera market. Do I invest in DSLR equipment knowing that I could be obsolete within a couple of years? Canon dumped an entire system back in the day and nothing new would work with anything old afterwards. It could happen again. Sometimes big companies do drastic stuff to adjust their business. I must rationalize.

I don’t have problems with the ability of Mirrorless. It’s just that I have no lust for mirrorless, and that’s the bottom line. When I analyze the investment and reinvestment costs, versus the actual productivity and quality of the result. There’s no difference. Mirrorless isn’t better and it isn’t worse. Mirrorless is just a different design to do the same thing. Create a digital photograph to the highest degree of quality possible. For a full frame digital photograph using standard 35mm frame width, there is no better all around camera than a Nikon D850, be it Mirrorless or DSLR.

So I go back to my simplification process and reach a common mindset with different variables. As I used to tell my students in the earlier days of digital cameras; “Don’t shoot JPG format files unless you are required to do so. Always shoot RAW.” Thinking about switching to Mirrorless and I arrive at the same formula. Don’t do a major conversion unless it is required. I have a delightfully varied array of DSLR’s in my kit and I’m not going to give them and my lenses up for the hell of it. If and when the time comes that I can’t do something I need to do, I’ll find something that will do it. I’ve yet to reach the limits of the DSLR from a photographic perspective. Mirrorless isn’t giving me a solution, it’s only an alternative, at the moment.

So, from my view of the road. If you are investing into a new photographic kit, I would recommend you to choose Mirrorless equipment. Once you learn it, you’ll do just fine.

If you have enough disposable income to do what you want to do, have at it.

Personally I don’t like to throw money at things if I can avoid it, but it’s never really worked that way in practice.

As for the diehard DSLR shooter out there. I’d say, keep your DSLR until they pry it from your cold, dead hands.