It's always tough letting go of gear that has served you well and you really still like.
I'm in the same boat; been collecting F-mount Nikkors since 1989 and would not be gaining enough to start over at this point...I know I'm late to this thread(very late) but for me I don't see myself abandoning my DSLRs any time soon.
The only system I'd seriously consider is the Nikon Z system, and from what I've seen the Z7 offers at best marginal improvement in image quality over my D850 and likely worse AF performance. The Z9 of course can beat the D850 in that department and probably even the D6(with over double the pixel count) but until they hit the secondary market they are out of my comfortable price range.
Personally I never saw a good reason to continue the SLR into the digital age. The design provided a great way to frame the image in camera, reducing or eliminating cropping back in the film era. However once into the digital world so much could have been accomplished with a properly shaded display at least until electronic view finders were finally mature.
My early on ventures with digital were very much limited by an almost non-existant budget. That is no longer true so I may at some point spring for something mirrorless above and beyond the Lumix ZS200, but so far nothing is reaching out and grabbing me. And I really love having cameras that don't park themselves on a shelf at home when I go for longer walks and hikes, or excursions on lakes and rivers.
In a lot of areas around the world, including remote locations, SLR and DSLR (not mirrorless) will be used for many years to come. The average DSLR does not use as much power to operate as a mirrorless camera, and in some places electrical power can be iffy or non-existent. Some camera manufacturers have batteries that are interchangeable between camera models, so in this case one can use a battery that has a greater capacity with a DSLR camera, which in turn allows for it to be used for longer periods of time. But nowadays cellphones are becoming more common, specially with war photographers in the war zone. Maybe because of compactness, which in turn does not draw as much attention as a DSLR or mirrorless camera (?).
It's been a while since I purchased the Sony AR7iii mirrorless and while it's a great camera I still find myself shooting with my old 6D (original) just as much. Even though it's 11 years old it's still a great camera that I'm pretty comfortable with but in the end it comes down to whichever camera has the lens closest to what I want to use on it at the time.I know I'm late to this thread(very late) but for me I don't see myself abandoning my DSLRs any time soon.
The only system I'd seriously consider is the Nikon Z system, and from what I've seen the Z7 offers at best marginal improvement in image quality over my D850 and likely worse AF performance. The Z9 of course can beat the D850 in that department and probably even the D6(with over double the pixel count) but until they hit the secondary market they are out of my comfortable price range.
The one big benefit I see to mirrorless systems-and this can't be downplayed-is the "clean sheet" optics designed around a shorter flange distance and, for Nikons at least, going from having one of the smallest 24x36mm mount diameters(F mount) to one of the largest(S mount). The lens designers did have a decent amount of freedom in F mount with super teles and I doubt that future improvements will be much different from what could be seen if F mount designs continued. It's a really big deal for wide angle to moderate focal lengths.
With that said, I'm deep in the F system and even though I could dump it and likely build a competent Z7 based kit, I'd likely not be able to replace 1:1 or something as versatile as what I now have. Also, F mount prices I suspect have bottomed out(maybe not) which would mean a big loss for me but also lets me continue building my F mount kit occasionally and for far less than I've been able to in the past for comparable quality.
That's where I am, and why I'm not changing.
I use all my EF lenses adapted to the R6. None of these lenses have IS, but they work quite well with the R6, since it incorporates in body IS (IBIS). I also use Tokina and other non-canon lenses adapted to my R6. The Northern lights photos I post now and then are taken with my R6 and a Tokina wide-angle lens for FF cameras.Giunniello wrote:
"I have no clue if Canon reflex lenses can be used onto a mirrorless body with an adapter"
Just about any EF or EF-s lens will work on the "R-series" mirrorless cameras with the $99 Canon adapter.
In fact, most users report that their old lenses actually work BETTER on the RF mount cameras, than they did on the older DSLR's...
Perhaps, but cellphones are becoming quite useable in the war zone. The photographer in the link (below) tells his reasons for using cellphones:Phones are just for occasional video clips from the war in my experience. And of course for communicating on a very busy WhatsApp channel. But for still photography? None who I know are using anything but mirrorless these days.
Interestingly enough, the original Nikon D1 series(D1, D1H, D1X) were on a good track toward ditching the mechanical shutter.Old Macs wrote:
"Personally I never saw a good reason to continue the SLR into the digital age"
Even "mirrorless" cameras aren't yet fully "digital", so long as they still have mechanical shutters.
When "global" shutters become common, THEN they will have become fully digital cameras, with no "mechanical" moving components at all.
(well, there will still be buttons to press, I guess!)
EDIT:
I'm thinking that camera makers MIGHT still implement a mechanical "shutter cover" (as does Canon on some models) that comes down to cover and protect the sensor when the power is switched off. You can't "digitize" that...!
Nothing wrong with Lowy's work at all, but that story is from 2012, with an update from 2016. So when replying to your statement "nowadays cellphones are becoming more common, specially with war photographers in the war zone" I was referring to photographers working in Ukraine.Perhaps, but cellphones are becoming quite useable in the war zone. The photographer in the link (below) tells his reasons for using cellphones:
The photographer documenting war with a cell phone
An early adopter of mobile technology, Benjamin Lowy was the first person to have a cell phone photo make the front page of a major magazine. He has since taken this fresh approach to the front lines in Iraq and Libya.www.cnn.com