{"id":606,"date":"2019-12-10T23:34:27","date_gmt":"2019-12-10T23:34:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jimhphoto.com\/?p=606"},"modified":"2025-03-14T20:26:11","modified_gmt":"2025-03-14T20:26:11","slug":"mirrorless-its-the-little-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimhphoto.com\/index.php\/2019\/12\/10\/mirrorless-its-the-little-things\/","title":{"rendered":"Mirrorless: It&#8217;s The Little Things"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some of the seemingly minor advantages of mirrorless cameras really made a difference for me&#8230;   <\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"it-s-lighter\"><strong>It&#8217;s lighter<\/strong>.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sometimes getting a photo means walking a long way and hanging around for quite a while, and there may come a point where I get a bit tired and discouraged. The heavier the camera bag, and the more it bonks me on the hip as I walk,  the sooner that point is reached.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mirrorless cameras are significantly lighter and manufacturers often make lighter lenses to go with them.  And lightweight lenses  with plastic bodies are great.   I&#8217;m not shooting in a war zone with my camera gear rattling around in the back of a jeep &#8211; so I don&#8217;t need a lens that&#8217;s built like a pipe wrench. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"it-s-smaller\"><strong>It&#8217;s smaller.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Smaller means less noticeable, reducing my chances of being hassled by mission-deprived security guards at &#8220;public&#8221; buildings or landmarks.   Carry a big bulgy black DSLR  with an f1.4 lens and a hood, and they&#8217;re on you like a bad cold.   But I slyly pull a mirrorless out of a pocket and get the shot before they can climb off their stool and amble over to inform me of &#8220;the policy against photography&#8221; while surrounded by people shooting the same things with phones.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"201\" src=\"https:\/\/jimhphoto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/DSC00013-300x201.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-613\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jimhphoto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/DSC00013-300x201.jpg 300w, https:\/\/jimhphoto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/DSC00013-768x514.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jimhphoto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/DSC00013.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"it-s-silent\"><strong>It&#8217;s silent.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These Taiko performers are in the middle of a traditional Japanese piece for drums and flute.  In the spaces between the notes you could hear a pin drop.   But with silent electronic shutter,  the people sitting right next to me aren&#8217;t even aware I&#8217;m shooting. <\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"214\" src=\"https:\/\/jimhphoto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/DSC01243-300x214.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-612\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jimhphoto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/DSC01243-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/jimhphoto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/DSC01243-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jimhphoto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/DSC01243.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"i-see-actual-dof-in-the-viewfinder\"><strong>I see actual DOF in the viewfinder.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Remember your DSLR&#8217;s &#8220;DOF preview&#8221; button &#8211; that you never used because it made the viewfinder too dark to see anything?  Forget about it.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"i-see-a-live-histogram\"><strong>I see a live histogram.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;m not out there with a tripod, spending an afternoon carefully applying the Ansel Adams Zone System.  With a live histogram in the viewfinder I can quickly figure out how to squeeze in the important highlights and shadows, then fine tune the curve  later in postprocessing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"i-can-zoom-w-a-a-ay-in-and-focus\"><strong>I can zoom w-a-a-ay in and focus.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Right in the live EVF, I can zoom in to get that one thing I really want in sharp focus &#8211; and forget about &#8220;focus peaking&#8221; which fills the view with distracting bright jaggy lines that are really based on contrast, not sharpness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"i-can-see-the-shot-in-b-w\"><strong>I can see the shot in B&amp;W.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Live, in the viewfinder &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/jimhphoto.com\/index.php\/2020\/01\/21\/see-it-in-bw-with-picture-control\/\" title=\"here is how\">here is how<\/a>.  Removing the distraction of color shows me the real hot spots and helps me frame the shot.  And if the photo doesn&#8217;t look interesting in b&amp;w I can skip it because it won&#8217;t be any good in color, either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"it-s-easier-to-clean-the-sensor\"><strong>It&#8217;s easier to clean the sensor.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A lot of people say mirrorless sensors attract more dust, because they&#8217;re not normally behind a mirror, but I haven&#8217;t really noticed much of a difference.   Bu if a mirrorless sensor does get dirty, it&#8217;s easy to clean &#8211; you don&#8217;t have to wade into the menus and do a &#8220;mirror lockup&#8221;.  Just remove the lens, and there it is, ready for a blast of air from a squeeze bulb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"i-don-t-need-the-glasses\"><strong>I don&#8217;t need the glasses.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I need reading glasses for anything closer than arm&#8217;s length.  With a DSLR I needed the viewfinder for shooting, and the LCD for menus and reviewing what I just shot &#8211; so those glasses were on and off a thousand times.   With mirrorless I can do it all through the viewfinder &#8211; no glasses <em>and<\/em> no glaring menu screens in dark auditoriums (see &#8220;silent&#8221;, above).   Or I can leave the glasses on and use just the LCD,  while pretending I&#8217;m doing something else (see &#8220;security guards&#8221; above). <\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/jimhphoto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/20191210_111635-1-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-614\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jimhphoto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/20191210_111635-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/jimhphoto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/20191210_111635-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jimhphoto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/20191210_111635-1.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div style=\"height:61px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br><em>You can see all my photo work <a href=\"https:\/\/jimh-photo.framer.art\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/jimh-photo.framer.art\/\">here<\/a>.<\/em><br><br><em>Leave a comment on this post, with the URL of your site, and you&#8217;ll be rewarded with a nice SEO-juicy &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/nofollow-link\">dofollow<\/a>&#8221; backlink.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some of the seemingly minor advantages of mirrorless cameras really made a difference for me&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[651],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-photo-tech"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimhphoto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimhphoto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimhphoto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimhphoto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimhphoto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jimhphoto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimhphoto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimhphoto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimhphoto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=606"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimhphoto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}