Author Topic: Photography - Mirrorless Cameras  (Read 356 times)

Ben

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Photography - Mirrorless Cameras
« on: March 27, 2023, 09:06:04 AM »
So I haven't dipped into my photography hobby for a while, and in doing some perusing this morning, I find that unbeknownst to me, DSLRs are out and mirrorless cameras are in. Which wouldn't be a big deal, except one major thing has changed: apparently older lenses are either not fully compatible, or not compatible at all.

You can use an adapter in some instances, but previously one of the great things about SLRs and DSLRs was that the big companies always made sure the older lenses (often the most expensive part of a system) were fully compatible with newer bodies - even going from film SLRs to DSLRs. It looks like with these newer systems, they have gone to completely new bodies and lenses and mounts.

Sad to see. While phone cameras have come a long way, they still can't come close to "real" cameras for a lot of stuff. For instance, one of the reasons I was looking this morning is that all the snow geese, sandhill cranes, and tundra swans are migrating over my house, and I'm breaking out the good camera, as a phonecam cannot come anywhere close to my 12 year old Nikon D300 and the big lens both for image quality, especially at zoom, and for motor drive capability.

I don't need a new camera, as the D300 still does everything I want, but I'm not thrilled that if I ever have to upgrade for some reason, it looks like I'll have to start collecting expensive new lenses again for full compatibility. The D300 is the ruggedized Benproof body (one of the main reasons I bought it), so hopefully it will give me many more years of service.
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Brad Johnson

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Re: Photography - Mirrorless Cameras
« Reply #1 on: March 27, 2023, 09:14:31 AM »
If you have Canon EF glass, Canon makes a bespoke EF->RF adapter. Haven't played with them so can't speak to quality.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1433717-REG/canon_mount_adapter_ef_rf.html

I presume Nikon has something similar.

Brad
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Kingcreek

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Re: Photography - Mirrorless Cameras
« Reply #2 on: March 27, 2023, 09:24:13 AM »
Sigh.
I still get out my old SLRs and lenses once in awhile. Not to use, just to fondle. Still have a couple rolls of 35mm Kodachrome I’ll never use.
I enjoy photography and have even earned some awards in a few shows or photo contests. Unlikely I will invest in a platform newer or different from the DSLR. Picture quality with the new phones is amazing but I’m really glad I learned composition through the lens, back when it was a one shot deal and you didn’t know for sure until you got the film developed.
I know a woman that calls herself a photographer, takes thousands of digital pics, spends hundreds of hours editing with software, just to end up with a few photos she is proud of. Im sure she has never used 35mm and would have a meltdown if she had to shoot film.
What we have here is failure to communicate.

Ben

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Re: Photography - Mirrorless Cameras
« Reply #3 on: March 27, 2023, 09:29:30 AM »

I presume Nikon has something similar.

Brad

They do, for $250. I've only done cursory reading, so likely don't have full information, but so far, it appears there is degradation and some functionality loss using the older lenses with the adapter vs using the Z lenses.
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HankB

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Re: Photography - Mirrorless Cameras
« Reply #4 on: March 27, 2023, 10:15:16 AM »
I have a 35mm SLR I haven't used in a long, long time, a Yashica Contax with a couple of Zeiss lenses. (I KNOW they're excellent, I tested them myself both with a star test and by measuring the MTF.)

I'm not aware of any current DSLR or other camera that will allow me to readily use those lenses.  :'(
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Brad Johnson

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Re: Photography - Mirrorless Cameras
« Reply #5 on: March 27, 2023, 10:56:56 AM »
It's all about the pancakes, people.
"And he thought cops wouldn't chase... a STOLEN DONUT TRUCK???? That would be like Willie Nelson ignoring a pickup full of weed."
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AZRedhawk44

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Re: Photography - Mirrorless Cameras
« Reply #6 on: March 27, 2023, 11:24:07 AM »
I never got the photography bug back in high school like it seems most photogs get; but it did strike about 2 years ago.  I ended up diving in to the mirrorless world without a legacy of older lenses to frustrate the investment.  I got a Sony a6400 APSC camera, and started off with Sigma's E-mount 18-50mm lens.

I'm very much still studying photography principles; I have a book I'm going through as well as a hokey online course I'm doing, and I have a couple of photog friends that coach me from time to time.  Since the first lens, I've invested in a Sigma 16mm F1.4 prime for landscapes and astro stuff, and a Sony 70-350mm zoom that I have yet to put to good use; I didn't get drawn for elk this year so maybe I'll go practice my stalking in a different way.  At first I was afraid of taking the camera and glass on motorcycle trips and I also ended up buying a used Sony NEX-5, along with a couple older generation 16-55mm and 50-210mm kit lenses.  Got them used off of KEH for a song, compared to the cost of the new a6400 and other lenses.  I bounce back and forth now whether I take the new or old camera on trips.

I seem to have drunk deep from the Sony kool aid, because I didn't much care what model of phone I carried before all of this but now I seem to really like the general Sony UI mentality, and my smartphone is a Sony Xperia.  It doesn't take terrible photos either.  Kind of funny that my smartphone has image stabilization in it while my purpose built camera body does not.

You might benefit from browsing KEH, Ben.  There are a host of different adapters out there for older gear to work on new stuff.
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Bogie

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Re: Photography - Mirrorless Cameras
« Reply #7 on: March 27, 2023, 12:05:53 PM »
Quantity has a factor... Back when I was playing Army, and doing a lot of shooting for Army stuff... "Travel costs a lot, but film is cheap." Got good at reading contact sheets. When I was shooting events at Pfizer, I'd just burn... When shooting a group photo, just lean on the button - you may get ONE with everyone looking in the same dir... squirrel!
 
And when we'd do a photo montage from big events like walkathons where we'd have a hundred or more employees participating - I'd have two cameras, one wide, one tele, and I'd fill some memory cards.
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RoadKingLarry

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Re: Photography - Mirrorless Cameras
« Reply #8 on: March 27, 2023, 12:22:28 PM »
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.

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Bogie

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Re: Photography - Mirrorless Cameras
« Reply #9 on: March 27, 2023, 12:50:17 PM »
Personally, I think the biggest advancement was in increasing the sensitivity of the chips, while maintaining quality. My 15 year old Nikon at 3200 is absolute crap... So I'll be upgrading for the coming season's santa pix... Because I want a fast recycle on the flash heads.
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BobR

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Re: Photography - Mirrorless Cameras
« Reply #10 on: March 27, 2023, 12:53:36 PM »
I have a friend who is a birder and model photographer who recently switched from Canon DSLR to the Nikon Z platform. He is very happy with the switch. Some of his photos are extremely good but I don't know how much is post photo manipulation in whatever editing program he uses. He does a lot of "model walks" along Fremont street and posts to FB.

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Re: Photography - Mirrorless Cameras
« Reply #11 on: March 27, 2023, 08:58:49 PM »
About four years ago, I took a dive into photography.  Bought a Canon T6i DSLR with a 25-60 mm lens, a 75-250mm zoom lense, and a "nifty 50" 50 mm fixed focal length lens.  And then mirrorless cameras took off.

On the plus side, the lenses I have cover all of my needs.  I'd like a longer Zoom lens, but not enough to spend more on a lens than my first car (which was $1000 back in 1985). 

Ben, at keast around here, the used lens market for DSLR cameras is full, with prices coming down, as people make the jump to mirrorless.  Might want to look at that option.

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Ben

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Re: Photography - Mirrorless Cameras
« Reply #12 on: March 27, 2023, 09:07:05 PM »
Ben, at keast around here, the used lens market for DSLR cameras is full, with prices coming down, as people make the jump to mirrorless.  Might want to look at that option.

Thanks. I actually have all the lenses I need, including a 150-600 telephoto I splurged on. I'm more concerned with those lenses potentially becoming obsolete and having to start over. I don't want to buy that telephoto more than once.  :laugh:
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zxcvbob

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Re: Photography - Mirrorless Cameras
« Reply #13 on: March 27, 2023, 09:48:25 PM »
I have a Olympus M43 mirrorless camera* that I bought about 7 years ago.  (haven't used it in a couple of years, I need to dust it off)  It should work with just about any manual focus lens with a mounting adapter to hold it the right distance from the sensor.  With 35mm lenses, you get effectively double the focal length.  (a fast 50mm prime lens would make a great short-telephoto portrait lens)  I think I bought a Canon FD adapter but never got around to playing with it.

*One of the things I like about it is it looks very much like an old OM-1 film camera.  It even has a prism housing; I think that's where most of the electronics live. 
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