How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Sony

In this post I will try to describe with more details my experience so far, and my love and hate relationship with Sony mirrorless. I briefly wrote about my decision of switching from Nikon DSLR to Sony MILC camera on “What’s in My Camera Bag in 2024”. I won’t cover the DSLR vs. Mirrorless topic, rather I’ll address the reasons made me appreciate the advantages mirrorless is offering over DLSRs.

Workarounds

Coming from OVF, I don’t shoot with WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). I can see the appeal for many Photographers, but this was the first setting I turned off to make me feel more comfortable using the EVF (electronic viewfinder).

Now let’s talk about design. I was never bothered by the DSLR size, actually I liked the ergonomics better over the mirrorless. I do love the modern angular design of the Alpha bodies, it’s more attractive and sober than the rounded design of the Canon and Nikon competitors. But even with some improvements over the years, the body is just too small in my opinion. I added this aftermarket grip extension with a very useful Arca-Swiss base plate, which improved my experience regarding ergonomics — not the most elegant in terms of design, but it works for me.

I’m also a big fan of the top LCD which shows important informations at a glance — not present on Sony bodies. I know Canon and Nikon have bigger bodies and top LCD on their cameras, but the lenses offering made me overlook these drawbacks in Sony favor. And honestly I got used with not having the top LCD informations in my camera. The only thing I miss the most is the OVF (optical viewfinder), a tradeoff I’m fine with, given the gains in my workflow with the new system.

The Sony menu system is just awful. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the menu on my Nikon DSLR (looks outdated as it can be), but I just hate the menu on my Sony. I know the newer models already have a revamped menu system, I just wish it could be updated via firmware on some old recent models at least. On my A7R IV menu nothing seems to make sense: from the organization to the naming system. It took longer than I wanted to get used to it. After the initial configuration, I added shortcuts of the features important to me on the “Favourites” tab and it is better now. As long as I don’t need to go through it I’m OK with it.

Another thing I loved about DSLR bodies is that every function was available by a physical button. Nowadays it seems too much to be honest. Sony offers 3 useful custom buttons, and the camera is highly customizable all around. I also didn’t like the EVF/LCD Display with too much information, so I configured to show only the shots remaining, battery percentage, ISO, shutter, ƒ/stop and virtual level. Now that I have the camera customized for my use, I’m really pleased with it after all.

Advantages

Although lenses in the mirrorless systems are considerable more expensive than the DSLR equivalents, the quality is at another level — very worth the investment. There is basically no need for AF fine tuning. Focus accuracy and eye AF are game changers no matter what people say. Another huge advantage is the image stabilization, it makes possible to lower the shutter speed and get the shot in challenging conditions. Not to mention the ability of having almost 100% of the sensor covered by AF points, once impossible even in the most advanced DSLR camera.

Conclusion

The mirrorless cameras can be very controversial among photographers. Some people say the advancement in technology takes away the technique and knowledge required to be a professional. In my opinion these improvements are very welcomed and positive, not diminishing the work of a professional at all.

I’m pretty aware the transition to mirrorless didn’t make my work any better. Some of my favorites images were shot on a DSLR camera paired with entry level lenses, they are very capable and a good alternatives since their prices are dropping lately. It’s not that they are totally obsolete, but they are for sure surpassed by now. Most likely in the near future this won’t even be a debate anymore, we will get used to it like we got used to auto focus lenses in the past.

Apart from nostalgia, I’ll never look back.