Mirrorless camera

Albert Pedrosa
Photo mania

I JUST had a nice chat with Martin Uy of Colours Digital Foto about compact cameras. It seems like the compact camera era is still on the rise. Sony, on the other hand, is planning to reach out to their Alpha users in Cebu through a series of workshops. Hang on for more details in the coming weeks.

Often times, I get a question about what camera to buy for first-time camera buyers. Their immediate choices are Canon and Nikon. With the long line of models from both brands, I can understand the confusion especially when the price of these cameras ranges from those of iPhones to that of entry level cars.

I don’t think that an average consumer can fathom the range of complexity of these electronic camera devices. Even at my level, I’m sometimes overwhelmed with the many models and features that comes out in the market. However, I think that the selection of camera that would best fit you is not a question of brand only but also, camera type.

In the past couple of years, the compact camera has drastically changed the landscape of the digital camera market. There used to be just point-and-shoot and DSLR and maybe some mid-range camera. Today, compact or mirrorless cameras have created and redefined the market. If size and weight matters to you and expect an optimum quality for a digital camera, then mirrorless is for you.

The quality of mirrorless cameras today is comparable, if not, better than top of the line DSLRs. Most of the professional photographers would still prefer DSLR for commissioned work, but you’ll be amused to see them sporting a mirrorless camera when travelling or using it as their everyday camera.

One time, food photographer Mike Perez mentioned about the advantages of electronic view finder EVF. The mirrorless camera uses EVF in their viewfinder while DSLR uses optical light through the lens. He said that it’s amazing to see how much clarity you see in the EVF when previewing photos.

True. Nowadays, EVF are packed with two million plus pixels. That’s more than an HD resolution compressed into a small display inside your viewfinder. What’s good about EVF is the simulation of your exposure. Because the camera see’s the scene differently versus our eyes, we have to check in the LCD if we got it right.

With EVF, since you are looking at a simulated view based on your camera settings, you need not chimp over to your LCD display because you get what you see. The level of contrast and the exposure compensation including the preset colors are applied in your view before you take the shot.

A purist photographer would argue about this feature and would claim that the art of photography may be lost if everything is given to you in a silver platter. I share the same view but just the same as when we crossed film to digital, it’s all about the shooter. It’s about how he sees the moment and how he wants us to experience the same through his photos.

Keep on shooting, everyone!

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