Putting Me To The Question

An old colleague came in to test out zoom lenses yesterday - he's thinking of some travel photography that might involve long-distance wildlife. Wise man - he hired out the lens he was interested in and tested it on his own camera. Then on to his own computer and he gets to see the results for himself. Better than any internet advice ever could be...

Ironic that, isn't it. Here I'm typing advice on the internet and you're reading it on the internet. But it is just advice - and you can make your own decisions far better than I.

But then he asked me a facer - he queried whether the new mirror-less cameras will replace the DSLR's that we all use. The answer is still circulating in my brain, and when I see him next I'll have to tell him yes. And no. And maybe. And maybe not. I'm not sure about whether I will be in two minds about being ambivalent, but I'll try to decide, perhaps...

No dang way that the mirror-less things will be used for bill-board campaign pictures unless someone decides to do it. Likewise they won't replace the DSLR for wedding or fashion work until it happens. At least the DSLR's won't be used as tourist cameras except by tourists.

In short, it is a long question. Each manufacturer will jostle for position with the pro market with the big devices, but the middle market has now got the option to go smaller and get just about as good a result. Quite frankly, if the end result that the photographer is going to make is always going to go onto a computer screen, there is a lot to recommend in the smaller camera systems. You have a lot less weight to deal with and a lot more chance to take the lens combo you need - indeed a number of the smaller systems have such advanced anti0shake systems as to obviate the need for tripods.

But if the image needs to be HUGE...you gotta make a huge file. And that means a large camera and large lenses. And you gotta know what you are doing. Or not, if you are me.