Question for you pro/semi-pro/really good hobbist photographers,
Do you prefer DSLR or mirrorless and why?
I’m neither of those things but I did start off with a mirrorless Samsung camera. Wanted to get away from the brand as it was hard to get lenses and not much support for it so I got a Pentax DSLR. That being said the Sony Alpha series is a very nice mirrorless camera if your willing to spend the money. I was not wanting to drop that much money at the time. Lately I have been doing film so I don’t have to edit my photos (I know lazy) but it has made me see photography different.
@torga would probably have insight.
I took a class last week for film printing and learned how to edit film negatives for print >
Dodging and burning (and the reason they're called that) make more sense now that I know what it physically takes to do dodging and burning, rather than a slider/brush in editing software.
But as for DSLR vs mirrorless, the only reason I'd recommend a DSLR to someone looking to get into photography is if there's a strict budget constraint. And even then, it would have to be incredibly strict, because excellent mirrorless cameras can be had for less than $1k.
So yeah, mirrorless all the way unless you really don't want to spend very much money. Manufacturers are dropping DSLR product lines left and right and focusing on mirrorless -- it's just better tech now, imo. They're also able to make much smaller/lighter cameras when you don't have to worry about fitting in a mirror and a prism.
As for brands, I'd really recommend Fujifilm. Their JPEG processing is probably the best in the business right now and it's very easy to change the "look" of the JPEGs. Fujifilm spent a lot of time replicating the feel of film. You can think of it like a less intrusive filter. Less like a coat of paint on Instagram and more like a real time filter than respects changes in lighting and such. It feels organic.
Fujifilm does this thing where most of the cameras use largely the same image sensor and processing chip and the biggest difference is in the body of the camera. They really leave it up to the consumer to decide how you wanna use a camera -- whether you just want something small to throw in a bag and casually shoot or if you want something more serious. With either option, you don't have to compromise too much on imaging performance with this methodology.