I purchased the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 VR earlier this year in February as a replacement for the 24-120mm VR I had been using for years. The old 24-120mm is basically a kit lens and not a bad lens, but it does have a few problem areas that I wanted to eliminate.

My first real use of the newer 24-70 f/2.8 was this past week when I gave it a good days work at Garden of the Gods and I’m very happy with the results I got from it. This isn’t a new lens to the market though. It was originally released by Nikon in 2015, a lifetime ago by market standards, but it is the most up to date version in that focal range for the DSLR mount.

Which brings me back to my current mindset. The camera manufacturers are all producing Mirrorless products these days. Mirrorless is the latest-greatest but honestly, they aren’t the greatest from my view of the road. Battery life and lack of system additions, along with product shortages and lack of longer and macro lenses don’t make for a better system. While the mirrorless surge takes over the commercial consumer market, I plan to keep my DSLR’s for some time yet to come. Mirrorless isn’t producing better photos and all the perceived advantages of switching to mirrorless aren’t that many and where they fall short makes them a 89% solution from my view of the road. I’ll let the herd follow the market. Myself, I’ll keep using my DSLR’s and getting great shots without having to trash my gear and buy new commercial products.

I’ve got my day kit all worked out for the time being. Nikon DSLR’s, D810, D750, D500, and lenses. I can pack two bodies, the 24-70, 70-200, and the 200-500 in my courier bag along with a few extras and I’ve got a handy-dandy day kit that will get just about anything done well. Plus I can count on battery life up to 3,000 shots per battery charge. Try that with your mirrorless body.