The gap between DSLRs and mirrorless cameras is not as wide as you might think for MOST photographers

Last week, I did a talk on motorsport photography to a local camera club, and I said something about mirrorless cameras and DSLR cameras that might ruffle a few feathers: “the differences are minimal”. I said this shortly after discussing the very best cameras for sports photography on the market, namely the Sony A9 III, Canon EOS R1, Nikon Z9, and Fujifilm X-H2S.

I also mentioned the Nikon D6 and Canon EOS-1D X Mark III, two of the most advanced DSLR cameras on the planet. And you know what? The aforementioned mirrorless cameras would be rolling in the aisles at 14fps (16 or 20fps for the Canon), archaic AF, and standard CMOS sensors (no stacking or global shutter here). So what the heck am I talking about?

Well, there’s a reason flagship sports cameras are traditionally released during an Olympic year. If you’re photographing an Olympic synchronized diving final, you’re going to take as many frames per second as you can get. If you’re focusing on the touchdown that clinched the Super Bowl, you’re going to want the fastest AF possible. And if you’re using flash to capture an action-packed sports promo, shooting at any shutter speed you want with a global shutter is going to be a huge boon. But the vast majority of us aren’t professional sports photographers.

It’s also worth pointing out that I was talking about motorsport specifically. Since racing cars and bikes move in a linear fashion, they’re not nearly as difficult to focus on as more erratic subjects such as soccer players or birds. I also believe that burst speeds of over 20fps are generally overkill for most photographers because they fill up memory cards quickly and can increase the already laborious task of selecting sharp shots in post-production, tenfold.

But that’s just sports photography. The biggest advantage mirrorless cameras have over their DSLR counterparts for most photographers is the presence of the electronic viewfinder. Now, I’ve spoken before about how I prefer optical viewfinders, but most photographers swear by EVFs, and for beginner photographers, they’re absolutely fantastic.

But getting past EVFs, mirrorless tech can be a law of diminishing returns. Yes, mirrorless cameras tend to be comparatively smaller, but not always much smaller. And yes, optics tend to be a lot better in test conditions, but the gap narrows on a real-world basis. And sure, mirrorless cameras tend to have more AF options and better AF systems, but photographers have always managed to get by when it comes to focus.

When it comes to image quality, photograph an identical image on a like-for-like DSLR and mirrorless sensor, and I deny anyone who can tell the difference beyond a lucky 50:50 guess. All that said, there’s still no doubt in my mind that mirrorless cameras are the better option in 2025. They tend to have better specs all around, and you’re buying into systems that are here to stay.

But if you’re using a DSLR and feel like a mirrorless camera would be a massive step up that will revolutionize your photography, it probably won’t, especially if you’re looking to buy a comparable mirrorless camera. That is to say, if you jump from a Canon EOS Rebel T100 / 4000D to a Canon EOS R100, or from a Nikon D850 to Nikon Z8, you’re probably not going to revolutionize your photography. That, dear reader, is down to you and you alone.

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For more of my ramblings: This is why I never update my firmware on day one, and shallow depth of field has killed cinematography – movies all look like they were shot on iPhone's Portrait Mode. Plus, here's the latest camera news.