Going From A DSLR To A Mirrorless Camera

Well, I’ve switched from a DSLR to a mirrorless camera. That’s right after all these years I’ve finally done it. It was never a case of not wanting to learn a new technology or anything like that at all. Rather, for most of this time there’s never been a compelling benefit to me in making the change. As I’ve said before, I wasn’t hesitant to change other than there was a no good reason to make the change.

For me the hallmark of a good camera is the quality of the image it can take, the amount of control it gives me, and the breadth of options it provides me to take whatever type of image I want. Simply put, I want quality, control, and options. This boils down to things such as:

Image Quality Factors:

Image Resolution
ISO to Noise performance
Dynamic Range
Image Stabilization

Breadth Of Control and Options:

The ability to control (automatically & manually) all settings as desired.
Allows me to be in full control of what the camera does
It gives me plenty of options in the way I use the camera

The Evolution Of Mirrorless Technology

For many years mirrorless cameras weren’t really about these things. I’d hear people excitedly talk about how great their mirrorless camera was. They’d talk about how it was lighter and smaller than a DSLR. They loved the electronic viewfinder (EVF) that provided WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) capability.

The thing is, when I would ask if they got better images the answer was typically: “No, but it’s lighter/smaller or looks pretty in the viewfinder”. Simply put, these are all efficiency and comfort features that don’t do anything to make the picture better. I recognize everyone’s needs are different so if efficiency and comfort is a major factor in your photo making then by all means go for it. Personally, I was not about to spend thousands of dollars for a camera that didn’t give me higher quality images and give me more options in controlling how I use the camera. If I was going to make the switch from a DSLR to a mirrorless I wanted more that a little bit of weight and size reduction. I believe the image is more important than the tool you use to get it!

I believe the image is more important than the tool you use to get it!

In the early years of mirrorless cameras the images they produced were no better than the images for the DSLR they replaced. However, over time as inevitably happens with new technology, the manufacturers shift their investment of time and money from the old technology to the new technology. So while the old technology remains stagnant the new technology develops improvements that enable it to exceed what the old technology could do.

My Decision

My old camera is a Canon 5D Mark III DSLR. This is a high-end camera that was considered state of the art when it was released in 2012. I bought my camera in early 2013 and it still takes great pictures. However, the wear and tear of the past 12 years are starting to show and the mirrorless capabilities have now surpassed it. It’s time to make the switch from a DSLR to a mirrorless.

I’ve decided to go with a Canon R5 Mark II mirrorless camera. Like its predecessor, the 5D Mark III, the R5 Mark II is considered to be state of the art. I would have gone with R5 earlier but I heard rumors the R5 Mark II would be coming out soon so I decided to wait. It turns out the wait was longer than expected. However, I believe it was worth the wait.

Image Quality Factors

A comparison of the image quality factors that I considered important are:

	Canon 5D Mark III DSLR	Canon R5 Mark II Mirrorless
Effective Image Resolution	22.3 MP	45 MP
Dynamic Range	11.7 stops	14.8 stops est.
Dynamic Range	8.96 stops	11.45 stops
Image Stabilization	N/A	In-body up to 8.5EV correction, coordinated with lens
ISO Range	100 – 25600	100 – 51200

The most important lines in the above table are the first four.

First, I’m getting double the resolution. We can always use that. I know many would say that I don’t “need” that many megapixels. However, it is nice to have them in those cases where you do. For example, making a large print. They also make picture-in-picture opportunities more feasible. Having options is always a good thing and computer storage is relatively cheap which makes it easy to do.

There are two lines for the available dynamic range. The first is from what I’ve seen published on camera sales sites. The second is from Photons To Photos. Both sources obviously have different ways of measuring this, neither of which I understand. However, it is clear that in either case, I’m getting 2.5 to 3 stops more dynamic range and that’s always a good thing!

I mentioned earlier how manufacturers stop development on old technology in favor of the new. IBIS (In-Body Image Stabilization) is a good example of that. As shown below, IBIS can work cooperatively with optical lens stabilization to increase the overall stabilization effect. It also helps with lenses that have no optical stabilization. My favorite lens is a 24mm tilt-shift lens that has no stabilization. The R5 with IBIS has now given me additional options when using this lens.

Going From A DSLR To A Mirrorless Camera - Cooperative control of image stabilization — *Credit: Canon*

Noise Versus ISO

Perhaps the most disappointing thing with the R5 is the noise versus ISO relationship. The Photos To Photos site compares the two cameras. It does caution, “These raw values are not appropriate for comparing camera models because they are not adjusted for gain or area.” However, you can’t help but draw some conclusions from the information.

It appears that above ISO 8000 the R5 has about 10-15% more noise. This is not insignificant. Fortunately, I rarely shoot at ISO settings that high and AI based denoising software works pretty good.

With ISO settings below 2500 the R5 has less noise; sometimes significantly. However, it should be noted that a large reduction in a small amount of noise at lower ISO settings is not a significant benefit.

In the range of 2500 and 8000 ISO the two cameras have essentially the same performance.

Personally, I find it disappointing that with all the advances in technology in recent years no manufacturer seems to have made a landmark breakthrough development in reducing noise at higher ISOs. For sure, a few may have made some improvement but there doesn’t seem to have been any ground-breaking change in performance.

What About The Automated Focus Options?

The R5 has a number of focusing options/improvements including focus tracking and eye control. It could be argued that by helping you get an good shot they should be considered a way to improve the quality of your image. I’d say, “It depends.” It depends on what style of photography you do. If you do a lot of sports photography or birds-in-flight, it probably does. My main styles of photography are architecture, landscapes, and street photography. None of these typically have rapidly moving subjects. As a result, these things are a nice option to have for when I need it. But, I don’t expect to need it very often. The situation could be very different for you.

The Electronic View Finder (EVF)

A lot of people love the EVF because of the WYSIWYG capability. If they like what they see they know they have a good exposure. However, I like to do ETTR (Expose To The Right) exposure. I also use a neutral Picture Style to get the most realistic histogram to get the right ETTR setting. The resulting image from this process appears over-exposed (but not blown-out) and “flat”. It doesn’t really give you an idea what the image will look like after processing. It does, however, increase the available data to do your processing and bring out more detail.

The only things I’m interested at seeing in the LCD screen or EVF is info on blown highlights – the “blinkies” , the histogram, and focus peaking. Since the image displayed in the EVF isn’t the final image it’s not of much use to me.

I recognize others may have different shooting styles and find more advantage in using the EVF.

The Breadth Of Options

The R5 has a number of options not available on the 5D that are especially nice and can help in getting higher-quality images. There are also options that may be a great value when I try new things. These include things I’ve already mentioned, such as IBIS. Another example is shooting in Manual with Auto ISO which both cameras can do. However, with the R5 you can also use exposure compensation which you cannot do with the 5D. Likewise, the R5 has focus peaking which the 5D doesn’t. I suspect they’ll be more items like this that I haven’t discovered yet.

What About The Lenses?

Clearly, having good quality lenses is also an important factor in getting high quality images. For the time being I will continue using all my EF (DSLR) L series lenses with an adapter on the R5. They are all good lenses and quite frankly changing to RF (Mirrorless) L series lenses just isn’t in the budget right now. Going from a DSLR to Mirrorless can be an expensive transition.

Future lens purchases (no current plans) will probably be RF lenses. At some point I might consider swapping out an EF lens for an RF but only after doing the homework to be sure I’m getting better quality images as a result. Fortunately, I won’t have to worry about this for some time. Of the 3 lenses I routinely use there is currently a mirrorless mount (RF) equivalent lens for only one of them. When I look at the DXOMARK rating for the 1 lens available in both mounting configurations the old DSLR mount (EF) lens has a nominally better rating! So, clearly getting new lenses when going from a DSLR to a mirrorless camera isn’t something I’m going to have to worry about for a while.