These days, the best camera for most people is a smartphone. But if you want to take control of your photography and learn to make precise, unique images, you need a dedicated, interchangeable-lens shooter.
After testing a number of beginner cameras, I'm surprised to discover that the best options are "mirrorless" devices like the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II pictured above, not the more classic DSLRs.
DSLRs, or digital single-lens reflex cameras, work by bouncing light that comes in through the lens up through the viewfinder at the back of the camera. That way, you can see exactly what your frame will look like before you shoot it. When you press the shutter button, the mirror flips up for a moment, allowing light to hit the camera's sensor.
Mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras (MILCs), on the other hand, have no moving parts. The image you see in the viewfinder is a digital feed from the camera's sensor, limited by lag, frame rate, resolution, and color fidelity issues that don't impact mirrors. It's clear that eventually these lighter, faster cameras will replace DSLRs, but the tech isn't there yet. Even after years on the market, I don't know a single professional photographer who uses an MILC as their primary device.
For years I've encouraged budding photographers to skip mirrorless cameras for smaller, cheaper DSLRs like the Nikon D5500. It's important to learn photography through the black box of a viewfinder as opposed to the rear screen — the experience is closer and more visceral, and teaches you to think about the world in terms of a photograph's four walls. And DSLR viewfinders still offer the most accurate look at your composition. A mirrorless viewfinder screen is just a laggy, pixely light shining in your eyes.
But after spending some time with this year's crop of mirrorless and consumer shooters, I have to say the MILCs come out on top. Here's why.
The most important difference between consumer and professional DSLRs is sensor size. Pro, "full-frame" cameras have sensors about the size of 35-millimeter film — a fairly big shooting area. There are a lot of benefits to bigger sensors, but one important one is a bigger mirror. The image you see when you peer into the viewfinder looks wide and close. You can easily fine-tune focus and pick out details.
Cheaper cameras use smaller "crop sensors." The experience of shooting with these is more difficult. The mirror is smaller, and the world looks farther away. The aperture, ISO, and shutter speed readouts look smaller and more confusing too. I have a lot of affection for these devices — I learned to shoot on Nikon D70s and D300s. But they offer a less immediate shooting experience than their professional cousins. That's a big part of why you'll see people carrying pricey DSLRs around but shooting using the rear screen like a cell phone.
The MILC viewfinder screens, despite their drawbacks, don't have this problem. Through the viewfinder, you see a wide, up-close image. And despite the griddy, laggy, shiny pixels, that's a big advantage over consumer DSLRs.
As an experiment, I brought an Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II along on a recent trip to Chicago and asked non-photographer friends to use it while I talked them through some photo basics. Peering through the viewfinder, they were able to pick up the basics and make sharp shots without the frustration of first-time photographers encountering tiny little DSLR mirrors.
Yes, it's a soulless, laggy screen. Yes, it's nothing like SLR shooting. But I'm going to have to start pointing new photographers toward MILCs.
