Half a Year Ago, I Went Back to DSLRs. I Don’t Regret It

You should know that I’m writing this article on the day of the Sony a7r VI launch. The new camera has a lot going for it that I’d probably like: a bigger viewfnder for low-vision photographers, megapixels galore, lots of good lenses, weather resistance, a new battery, and AI assistance. It still doesn’t do a lot of what I’d want it to, though. This, ultimately got me thinking: I don’t need a new camera. You see, half a year ago, I bought a Nikon D850 simply because I was so sick of feeling like modern cameras were doing all the work for me. Even when I disabled so many of the settings that do this, it still felt as if it was being forced on me like your employer forces you to use AI. I’ve realized something: DSLRs are still pretty much as capable as your mirrorless camera is.

Oh man, have I really used this camera. I’m currently writing in a cafe and I just texted Reviews Editor Alberto Lima. “Yo, now I remember why I prefer working from home,” I wrote. “Cafe Wifi sucks balls.” You see, I’ve made so many photographs with the Nikon D850 that are in the Phoblographer’s media library that even with the right parameters typed in, the cafe’s wifi can’t pull the image that I want easily. I’d instead have to scroll further back — and that doesn’t happen in my office where I’ve got 1GB speeds up and down.

All of that within six months. You see, Phoblographer has very specific naming tendencies to our images: and often it includes the name of the camera. I just tried to search for “Nikon D850 product” again in our media library and it was still taking forever.

Ultimately, this answers the question in your head: am I happy?

Friend, I’m so happy that I forgot what happiness was like. Sometimes, it’s using AI tech to help me find birds in a busy tree. In fact, even well-sighted photographers use this because there have never been more bird photographers and wildlife photographers than ever before. Part of this is also thanks to the pandemic and its lingering effects.

I’ve been very satisfied with the 45.7MP and all the in-camera profiles that I can add. Often, I don’t even need to do any editing. But when I do, I know that this is one of Nikon’s most capable camera sensors.

But there are a lot of other factors at play. The only things that have really improved are megapixels, AI processing based autofocus, noise reduction, and a few other unique features that are computational based. By all means, no one has done much that’s unique or really innovative. Here, I’ll go through a list spanning the past 10 years:

• Canon: The shutter coming down over the sensor to protect it when the camera is powered off.
• Nikon: An electronic shutter that can sync at all speeds with a flash
• Sony: More megapixels and the introduction of AI-based autofocus and 120 fps.
• Panasonic: Incorporating Live Composite into a full-frame camera along with Real Time LUT integration into stills along with continuing on with multiple exposure RAW formats.
• Fujifilm: The first third-party company to bring tilt-shift lenses to medium format digital mirrorless.
• Leica: IP durability ratings and Content Credentials being hardwired into the camera
• OM System: Computational photography
• Hasselblad: LiDAR autofocus
• Pentax: Existing?
• Ricoh: Existing?

I mean it when I say this, when you’re not relying on the camera to give you a preview of the exposure combined with the white balance, face detection, animal detection, vehicle detection, to track a subject through the entire scene, and to shoot a billion frames a second, then you do the work yourself and realize that you actually have to be skilled at using your camera and being in touch with your artistic side.

Even all the post-production software is trying to do all the work for us too. I mean, look at Adobe. Look at all the AI that’s built into it.

I’m writing all this for a good reason. I’m not telling you to go back to DSLRs and I’m not telling you that I’m a superior photographer to you because I’m using skills. I’m instead reminding you that the person behind the camera still matters. Even if the camera is doing all the work for you, it’s still up to you to find ways to make images that no one else can make instead of trying to copy one another on social media.