By Ken Y-N ( September 2, 2010 at 00:14)
· Filed under Hardware, Polls
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I think the buzzword in the English speaking world is Micro Four-Thirds, but in Japan they use mirrorless to describe the new generation of SLRs that have no optical viewfinder. To find out more about them, iShare took a look at the merits and demerits of mirrorless SLRs.
Demographics
Between the 13th and 17th of August 2010 1,114 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The sample was prescreened to select those people who had used an SLR (either digital or optical) for more than three years and were familiar with the specifications for mirrorless SLRs. All the sample were over thirty years old, and 82.9% were male.
I’d like to get a mirrorless SLR, but as my wife doesn’t even trust me with our point-and-shoot, I’m afraid I wouldn’t get much use from it. Furthermore, as they don’t have at least 12 megapixels (or if they do, they don’t make a fuss about it) she won’t be interested.
Research results
Q1: What do you think are the plus points of a mirrorless SLR? (Sample size=1,144, multiple answer)
| Small size, light weight |
75.7% |
| Cheaper than a proper SLR |
39.1% |
| No mirror shock |
30.2% |
| Can see 100% of the image in the viewfinder |
28.9% |
| Easy to use |
27.9% |
| Simple build so less to break |
27.4% |
| Quiet in use |
21.1% |
| Can check the exposure, white balance, etc before taking a photo |
18.7% |
| Affinity for the movie features |
16.0% |
| Other |
2.2% |
| No plus points |
1.6% |
Q2: What do you think are the minus points of a mirrorless SLR? (Sample size=1,144, multiple answer)
| Poor selection of lenses |
39.2% |
| Slow autofocus |
30.1% |
| Difficult to do precise manual focus |
28.9% |
| Time lag in finder |
25.3% |
| Heavy on batteries |
24.9% |
| Slow image capture |
21.1% |
| Long shutter release time lag |
14.4% |
| Easy to gets whites and blacks washed out |
12.8% |
| Limited storage for images |
8.3% |
| Noise interference from electronic shutter |
7.3% |
| Other |
5.3% |
| No minus points |
10.7% |
Q3: What do you think are the plus points of a conventional SLR? (Sample size=1,144, multiple answer)
| Wide selection of lenses |
79.7% |
| Easy to capture the moment with an optical viewfinder |
49.2% |
| Feel of the shutter is pleasing |
40.9% |
| Easy to reuse old lenses |
38.1% |
| Big lenses |
31.9% |
| Short shutter release time lag |
21.4% |
| No parallax so no distortion of the subject |
20.5% |
| Large storage for images |
18.9% |
| Light on batteries |
17.2% |
| Other |
1.7% |
Q4: What do you think are the minus points of a conventional SLR? (Sample size=1,144, multiple answer)
| Body is big and heavy |
74.1% |
| Expensive |
55.2% |
| Difficult, complicated to use |
22.9% |
| Mirror shock occurs easily |
22.9% |
| Cannot check the exposure, white balance, etc until after taking a photo |
19.0% |
| Difficult to see 100% of the image in the viewfinder |
18.3% |
| Loud shutter noise |
17.2% |
| Other |
1.2% |
| No minus points |
4.4% |
Q5: Do you have a mirrorless SLR, such as a Sony NX, Olympus Pen, etc? (Sample size=1,144)
Q5SQ1: Have you ever had a mirrorless SLR? (Sample size=987)
Q5SQ2: What did you expect from your mirrorless SLR? (Sample size=209, multiple answer)
| Small size, light weight |
61.7% |
| Easy to use |
42.6% |
| Cheaper than a proper SLR |
34.4% |
| Simple build so less to break |
25.4% |
| Can see 100% of the image in the viewfinder |
21.5% |
| Affinity for the movie features |
17.2% |
| Can check the exposure, white balance, etc before taking a photo |
17.2% |
| Quiet in use |
16.3% |
| No mirror shock |
12.4% |
| Other |
2.4% |
Q5SQ3: Out of 100, how satisfied are/were you with your mirrorless SLR? (Sample size=209)
| 100% |
5.3% |
| 80% |
64.1% |
| 60% |
24.9% |
| 40% |
4.3% |
| 20% |
1.4% |
| 0% |
0.0% |
Q5SQ4: What were you disappointed with in your mirrorless SLR? (Sample size=209, multiple answer)
| Slow autofocus |
30.1% |
| Poor selection of lenses |
28.7% |
| Heavy on batteries |
25.8% |
| Slow image capture |
24.9% |
| Difficult to do precise manual focus |
23.0% |
| Time lag in finder |
17.2% |
| Easy to gets whites and blacks washed out |
12.0% |
| Long shutter release time lag |
12.0% |
| Limited storage for images |
10.0% |
| Noise interference from electronic shutter |
8.6% |
| Other |
2.4% |
| Didn’t have any disappointments |
19.1% |
Q6: What do you think are the most important points ? (Sample size=1,144, multiple answer)
| Features, functions |
89.1% |
| Price |
69.9% |
| Lens |
69.9% |
| Body weight, size |
49.5% |
| Brand, maker |
46.2% |
| Design |
31.5% |
| Display |
17.8% |
| Rarety |
2.4% |
| Other |
1.7% |
Read more on: club bbq,
ishare,
mirrorless,
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Four Thirds and Micro Four Thirds refer to the products from one set of companies (Panasonic and someone else… Sony?).
The other makers have followed them but have to use their own marketing names.
So, I think it’s good if Japan calls it mirrorless DSLR or something along those lines.
The English world will be forced to follow soon enough in my opinion.
I’m surprised that 40% thought that selection of lenses would be a problem since I thought they are supposed to use the same lenses as DSLR.
Panasonic’s GH1 and GF1 can use some standard sony lense mounts.
Finally, I was surprised that AF motor noise was not listed as a complaint.
My understanding is that the modern set of products are all competing to have full time continuous auto focus so you can shoot for effective HD Video from the camera
and trying to minimize the AF motor noise was the biggest issue.
The 4/3rds system is Panasonic and Olympus.
I have a Pen mirrorless SLR. It isn’t really an SLR, since the image is displayed on a screen on the back. You have to get an accessory viewfinder in order to switch off the screen and use a more conventional SLR style of viewfinding technique. The disadvantages of this are that the accessory viewfinder is an extra piece of stuff on the camera, and it occupies the flash shoe which you might want for a flash gun.
It’s a nice camera though it suffers from the same problems of most digital cameras that you have to wade through a lot of menus and buttons to do anything not totally automatic.
There are three lenses available. Olympus do a fixed focal length, so do Panasonic, and there is a zoom. You can use any 4/3 system lens on it, but only the Micro lenses interface 100% and allow the on-board software to do full corrections of the image in camera. You could still do corrections in Photoshop.
I still prefer my manual film cameras for a lot of shooting as they are quicker and easier to use. I only uses prime lenses on them.
The ultimate camera for me would be a Leica M9, combining digital recording technology with resolutely old-school lenses and manual control. Unfortunately they cost as much as a small car.
Surely the biggest minus points for a mirrorless DSLRs are the lack of a real viewfinder (digital viewfinders and LCD screens are not the same), and the fact that when you change lenses there is no mirror blocking the sensor so the sensor gets covered in dust far more easily.
10% said no minus points. Jokers!