Mirror on the front of the D850, behind the lens mount
This time, I will talk about Nikon, which I have been using for many years, the main camera replacement from D800E to D850, and the change of generations.
I hope it will be helpful in choosing a camera for those who are wondering whether to use a mirrorless camera or a single camera.
content
Introduction
Burden on the eyes
Finder brightness
Finder image in the dark
Battery life
Instantaneous power
Momentary delay, time lag
Viewfinder resolution and gradation expression
Familiar shutter sound
Benefits of mirrorless
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Introduction
Nikon already has a full-frame mirrorless Z7 with in-body image stabilization.
Mirrorless cameras are becoming more popular these days, but there was no idea to buy a mirrorless Z7 as the main camera for taking pictures.
Currently, the manager uses Panasonic's GH4 as a mirrorless camera, but it is mainly for video.
I use Nikon SLR cameras exclusively for photography.
Single-lens reflex viewfinder, favorite machine D800E
Now, based on my experience using Panasonic's GH4, I will list the advantages of single-lens reflex cameras and the disadvantages of mirrorless cameras one by one at the discretion and prejudice of the manager.
1, burden on the eyes
I felt that mirrorless cameras would put a lot of strain on my eyes and would reduce my eyesight.
I myself often shoot wild birds and wild animals, and in preparation for a photo opportunity, I often keep looking through the viewfinder for a few minutes to a few tens of minutes.
Staring at the LCD screen in the viewfinder for a long time is quite hard and very tiring for the eyes.
With a single-lens reflex camera, the brightness is natural, and even if you keep looking for a long time, there is almost no eye fatigue.
I used to shoot wildlife in Serengeti, Tanzania for several months.
At that time, most of them were filmed, and at that time, I kept looking through the LCD screen of the viewfinder from morning till night. If you keep looking at the LCD screen for such a long time, your eyes will naturally get tired.
When such tiredness overlapped, the appearance of the left and right eyes changed.
It began to appear prominently during the dark hours from dusk.
Normally, the appearance of the left and right eyes is corrected immediately and looks the same.
When fatigue overlapped, it was not corrected and the left and right eyes looked different.
The difference in appearance between the left and right is a tremendous sense of incongruity.
The cause is that the effect is the left eye, almost the left eye looking into the LCD.
What looks different is that one eye looks bright and the opposite looks dark.
When I think about it normally, I think that the eyes that keep looking at the LCD screen look darker, but that was not the case.
I was able to see it like this、Left tired eye watched view finder for long time, Right Normal eye
Eyes that did not look into the LCD screen look dark
The colors and contrasts of the right and left eyes now look different not only at night but also in the daytime.
Here, the eyes looking into the LCD screen have low contrast and the colors look pale.
At that time, I managed to change the way I looked into the viewfinder and balanced the left and right sides so that they looked the same.
When I wasn't shooting, I avoided the LCD screen of my computer as much as possible, tried to rest my eyes as much as possible, and ate carrots as a supplement for vitamin A.
Perhaps because of that, my eyes were restored and I was able to continue shooting.
I have an acquaintance with a video cameraman who says that the effect of looking through the viewfinder has become a cataract.
He said, "I was always looking through the viewfinder, so I had a cataract."
After that, he was operated on and healed completely.
From my own experience, it is no wonder that there is a risk of cataracts if you keep looking at the LCD up close.
It is unavoidable to keep looking into the LCD screen in the video, but I want to avoid it as much as possible.
I felt that I didn't want to repeat such a dangerous nightmare even in photography.
Most of today's single-lens digital cameras also have a live view, so I usually use the single-lens viewfinder, and when I want to use the LCD or when it is advantageous to use it, I thought that I should use the live view that comes with the single-lens. ..
Apart from ultra-bright subjects such as the sun, the image projected on the viewfinder screen of a single-lens reflex camera is an optical projection of the real thing, so even if you keep watching it, the burden on your eyes is very small.
The biggest reason I chose a single-lens reflex camera was that I wanted to use it in good condition for a long time.
2, finder brightness
In the case of a mirrorless LCD, the difference in brightness between the outside world and the image projected on the LCD screen becomes considerably large in the hot sun in the daytime, in the dark hours at dusk, and so on.
Especially in the dark hours, my eyes looking through the viewfinder are burnt, and even if I take my eyes off the viewfinder, when I look at the outside world, I can hardly see anything in the darkness.
In such a situation, it will cause you to lose sight of moving subjects such as wild birds and wild animals.
Looking through the viewfinder with eyes accustomed to the darkness, it looks like this for a moment (GH4)
The eyes quickly get used to the brightness of the viewfinder, but it's hard to get used to the darkness.
On the contrary, even in a bright state in the middle of the day, the moment you look into the LCD screen, the LCD feels dark and does not look good, and it takes some time to get used to it.
The LCD screen also has the function of changing the brightness according to the outside brightness, but it is far from the single-lens screen.
The image projected on the SLR viewfinder screen is easy to see because it matches the outside brightness perfectly in proportion to the outside brightness even in the dark night or in the middle of the day, and there is no overexposure or underexposure.
Your eyes are always ready to shoot.
There is no need to worry about burning your eyes in the dark. The shooting information is a little annoying.
3, finder image in the dark
The mirrorless viewfinder has a function to slow down the shutter speed so that it can be seen well even in dark places.
If the image is stationary, there is no problem, but if it is moving, it will be expressed as a trajectory.
The image on the screen is also displayed as a miracle every time you move it to match the composition, so it's a little difficult to match the composition.
Also, the blackout and noise in the dark areas are ugly.
The single-lens reflex viewfinder is always seen, and is not expressed as a trajectory.
Mirrorless cameras are far from single-lens reflex cameras when taking panning shots in the dark. (status quo)
Benefits of LCD screen
I wrote only bad things, but of course there are merits.
There are various merits such as being able to project a dark object that is invisible to the naked eye and focusing, magnifying the image to focus when shooting a star, and being able to focus precisely with a wide-angle lens. It is also true that there is.
LCD screens, which can reliably focus on astrophotography, are now indispensable.
After all, by using both the LCD live view and the single-lens screen properly, the single-lens reflex camera that can take delicious food will be the best choice.
It can be displayed on the current single-lens, LCD, and can be used in the same way as a mirrorless camera, so it looks like a single-lens hybrid camera.
4, battery life
Single-lens reflex cameras have a very large battery even when the power is left on.
Even in long-term battles with subjects such as animals and birds, you can concentrate on shooting without worrying about the battery.
The single-lens reflex camera is ready to shoot if you look through the viewfinder. Anyway, it's strong at unexpected moments! Even when the power is off, you can shoot immediately after turning on the power.
If it is mirrorless, it is usually in the standby state to save the battery, and it is ideal that the power is always on, but that will drain the battery.
When the mirrorless is in standby mode, the LCD screen is off, black and nothing can be seen.
The moment you want to shoot, the time it takes to get up, it's a moment, but it leads to missing a few shots.
In addition, the moment when the battery is frequently replaced and the time during which the battery is replaced becomes completely defenseless.
It will be necessary to replace such batteries more frequently than with single-lens reflex cameras.
In situations where the battery cannot be charged, such as when traveling or staying in the mountains, a single-lens reflex camera with a long battery life is advantageous.
Especially in winter when the battery life is poor.
5, instantaneous power
When you want to shoot something immediately, even if the power is off, the SLR can start shooting immediately when the power is turned on.
If it is mirrorless, it will take some time to turn on the power and start up, which will lead to missing the first few shots.
The LCD is pitch black, the shutter, and even the composition cannot be adjusted until it starts up.
Is this a dub with 4 above?
However, these things, compared to before, it seems that the recent cameras are at a level that is not a problem at all because they are used more commonly.
6, momentary delay, time lag
The LCD screen, its delay and time lag are very small compared to before, but the world delayed from the event for a moment is projected on the LCD screen.
The image on the mirrorless LCD is a moment in the past, no matter how momentarily the shutter is released, that moment is delayed for a moment.
It is still disadvantageous compared to a single-lens reflex camera with no time lag.
Furthermore, the LCD screen displays 30 frames or 60 frames per second. Is there 120 frames?
However, no matter how much the frame speed is increased, it is far from the reality of infinitely smooth flow.
Images projected on the LCD and continuous still images are displayed, which gives the illusion that they are moving like a television.
In bright daytime conditions, the shutter speed becomes faster, so there is a blank space between the frames of the image displayed on the LCD screen, and nothing can be seen during that time.
I wrote down what it looks like below.
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Flow of time →
The moment when the black line is acquiring the LCD display image.
The white part is completely invisible.
It's almost unnoticeable with human eyesight.
Events that occur continuously in the invisible part will not be visible in the viewfinder at all.
In the real world, there are almost infinite events between the frames.
The single-lens screen is a real thing that is not an illusion that you can see everything in real time without overlooking such infinite events.
7, Finder resolution and gradation expression
It's nice to have higher resolution, but there's another important factor.
It is the gradation expression from the bright part to the dark part of the image.
So, I compared the three types of cameras I have.
The cameras are Panasonic GH4, D800E, D850
Press the mobile camera against the fan to shoot, and the shooting magnification is all the same.
It's far from being seen with the naked eye, but I think I can get an idea of it.
Mirrorless, GH4 finder image
GH4 LCD viewfinder
Overexposure peculiar to liquid crystal can be seen.
The contrast is displayed strongly, and the eyes get tired when looking into it.
merit
There is a merit that you can shoot while checking the white balance and exposure of the image to be shot.
D800E finder image, DK11M magnifier used
Viewfinder image of D800E
A single-lens reflex camera has a screen installed on the surface where the lens optically forms an image, and a prism is used to create an image and the loupe is used to check it.
It's a very analog tic, but if it's assembled with high precision, it's extremely easy to see.
The single-lens viewfinder does not overexpose and crush black, so I can see it.
Even if you stare for a long time, most of your eyes do not get tired.
The downside is
Even if the exposure and white balance are set incorrectly, it always looks good.
Viewfinder image of D850
By the way, compare D850
The viewfinder magnification is smaller than the D800E with a magnifier, but the mountain of focus is easier to grasp than the D800E.
The color of the shooting information display has changed.
When shooting in the dark, it became a little unsightly bright.
The number of pixels on the LCD has increased and it is now possible to see very small details, but the quality single-lens viewfinder screen is still better.
The gradation expression, which is important as well as the number of pixels, has improved considerably, but it is far short of the viewfinder screen.
Mirrorless LCDs are easy to crush in the dark and easy to fly in the bright, and so is the gradation expression in between.
The image projected on the single-lens viewfinder screen is an optical projection of the real thing.
Its tone expression ability is almost infinite, and its appearance depends on the ability of the eyes, and the better the eyes, the more advantageous one eye becomes.
Whether it's a dark night or a bright day, it's easy to understand if you think of all the tones as they are.
8, familiar shutter sound
Every time I release the shutter, I feel that SLRs don't take pictures with "Pasha!" And "Pasha!".
Even if you don't have a mirror, you can hear the shutter operation sound without a mirror, but it's not enough.
The shutter sound of the single-lens reflex camera gives you a sense of comfort and security as if you were listening to music.
It also gives a rhythm to the shooting.
The sound of an acoustic sound, not an electronically created sound.
Just listening to it makes camera lovers happy.
It's a simple thing: the mirror goes up, the shutter works, and the mirror goes down again.
However, there is the ultimate analog mechanism that continues to produce accuracy hundreds of thousands of times, and Japanese craftsmanship that has raised the accuracy and durability to the current level, and even myself is Japanese. I feel the pride of being.
Is it a little overstated?
The D800E used by the caretaker, the shutter has exceeded 310,000 times, but it is still working properly.
I wonder if this is the place
I tried to list what I had thought about until now,
As I was writing, I became more and more aware that if I were to take pictures, it would be a single-lens reflex camera.
If it ’s all bad things, it ’s unbalanced.
I will try to raise the merit of mirrorless
Benefits of mirrorless
1. Mirrorless has no mirror as it is read, so the flange back can be shortened.
Therefore, it is possible to design lenses that could not be designed with a single-lens reflex camera, from standard to wide-angle lenses and zoom lenses.
This makes it possible to make the lens compact, have high performance, have a large aperture, and have an ultra-wide angle.
It would be nice if it would be cheaper or reflected in the price, but that expectation seems to be low.
2. Simplification and compactness of the camera by eliminating the mirror box and pentaprism.
If this happens, Japan's dominance is likely to disappear completely.
3. Since the flange back is short, many single-lens lenses from various companies can be attached via an adapter.
4, the focus and frame can be confirmed perfectly.
If it is a single-lens screen, it may be slightly out of alignment depending on the model.
Anyway, you can see the angle of view perfectly.
5. You can shoot while always checking the video to be shot.
Exposure, white balance, etc.
6. Many models such as face recognition and pupil recognition have extremely high autofocus accuracy and focus on the corners of the screen.
High ability to recognize the subject.
You can shoot portraits without worrying about the focus point.
People who move around the screen, and even pets, keep focusing on the corners of the screen with high accuracy.
7. With in-body image stabilization, you can shoot while checking the effect.
8. Finder image that does not disappear even when the shutter is released (when the mechanical shutter is not used)
I tried to list what I came up with.
1-3 are the merits of mirrorless cameras that cannot be physically achieved with a single-lens reflex camera.
If you use a short flange back ultra-high performance wide-angle lens that can only be designed with 1 mirrorless, I think it is a good idea to use a mirrorless lens for that lens.
Seeing that the rear lens of the single-lens telephoto lens is placed in the back, it seems that the short flange back of the single-focus telephoto lens does not have much benefit.
Although it is a disadvantage, a lens with a short flange back designed for mirrorless cameras will not be applicable at all.
For example, you can attach an eyepiece and use it as a telescope, or replace it with a camera made by another manufacturer and play with it.
Well, is that a merit as a manufacturer?
In that case, the second-hand market is likely to collapse at once.
If it is a standard to wide-angle lens, the mobility will be greatly improved in combination with the compactness of the lens.
However, the downside is that if you use a sunnipper or a larger telephoto lens, you won't really benefit from the compactness of the camera.
Or rather, it may be disadvantageous.
In the first place, a large-diameter single-focus telephoto lens is not used in consideration of weight reduction.
Large-aperture telephoto lenses have a big head, and the center of gravity tends to be biased forward.
If the camera is small, the large-diameter telephoto lens is unbalanced and difficult to hold.
Even if it is light in weight, it feels heavy and cannot be held for a long time due to its difficulty in holding.
When shooting a sunnipper with the D800E, the balance is poor and it is difficult to hold it without the vertical grip.
Even if 4 to 9 are single-lens, it is theoretically possible if you use the live view function.
Also, mirrorless cameras will be a great weapon for face recognition and pupil recognition for portrait photography.
With the large-diameter lens close to the maximum aperture, the frame you want to shoot is left as it is, and the eyes of the model moving in the frame are autofocused to focus on the subject, even to the edge of the screen.
It's because it's mirrorless that you can shoot like that dream.
If you are shooting portraits, unlike natural animals such as wild animals and wild birds, there will be few long-term battles, and the light conditions and brightness will be moderate, so the burden on your eyes will not be so great.
Looking at it this way, I feel that mirrorless cameras are superior to single-lens reflex cameras in portrait photography and fields that require ultra-wide-angle lenses.
However, looking back this time, I felt that mirrorless cameras were still overwhelmingly disadvantageous for taking telephoto shots of wild birds and wild animals.
So, as a person who pursues natural subjects with a focus on telephoto, as soon as I settled on a single-lens reflex camera, I decided not to introduce mirrorless cameras. But also.
The Nikon messenger came to the conclusion that he would choose the SLR D850.
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end
I'm just starting to use the D850, so I can't talk about its hidden abilities yet.
In the future, I will post a report on the use of this camera on this blog.
Until the end Thank you for reading.
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