Mirrorless Cameras for Beginners

While DLSR cameras and conventional film cameras utilize a mirror system that reflects light from the lens to an optical viewfinder, a mirrorless camera does not have a reflex mirror or optical viewfinder. Instead, it uses an electronic viewfinder (EVF) or an LCD screen to display the image you want to capture. Though it took some time for EVF technology advancements to achieve enough clarity and responsiveness to rival the optical viewfinder, there are now highly responsive mirrorless options available.

Keep in mind that one disadvantage of mirrorless cameras is that they can have slightly shorter battery life than DSLRs. This is because the electronic viewfinder and LCD screen both require battery power. However, since they do not include a mirror box, they are smaller and lighter than DSLR cameras, which makes them an excellent choice for travel and everyday photography.

One of the reasons to upgrade from a point-and-shoot camera to a mirrorless camera is to be able to use varying mirrorless lenses to achieve different effects. Camera lenses affect images in unique ways. For example, on a full-frame camera, a 50mm lens will create images that closely resemble how we see objects through the human eye.

The lower you go in millimeter number, the wider the angle and the more the lens will exaggerate the distance between near and far objects in the image. Wide-angle lenses can also create distortion to capture a greater field of view. Furthermore, they can be effective for landscapes with objects at varying distances and for photos that emphasize size juxtapositions.

Meanwhile, most portrait photographers use prime mirrorless lenses of 70mm and up, also known as telephoto lenses. These lenses are good for portraits because they do not distort faces the way wide-angle lenses do and they offer dramatically narrow depths of field. This means you can put the background completely out of focus to emphasize the human subject.

Telephoto lenses are also a crucial component of wildlife photography because of their magnifying effect. Although, telephoto lenses have a harder time capturing images in low-light situations because not as much light makes it through the lens to the sensor. Physically, wider lenses will be shorter and lighter and telephoto lenses will be longer and heavier. You can also choose a zoom lens to get a close-up shot while photographing nature.

If you're new to photography, it's important to learn the basic settings of your camera. The most essential camera settings you will need to understand are aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. Aperture controls how much light comes into the camera, shutter speed controls how long the camera lens receives light, and ISO controls the camera's sensitivity to light. These three settings work together to create an exposure.

By understanding these settings, you can control the amount of light in your photos and avoid over- or underexposing them. Once you understand how those settings interact in different environments, you might also begin to explore white balance, which affects the color temperature within your images.

If you are planning to take video, you will benefit from a memory card with faster speeds. You may also want to keep multiple memory cards on hand if you’re going on a long vacation and plan to take as many pictures as possible. And if you want to take RAW photos (meaning photos stored as uncompressed files), you will need a memory card with a lot of capacity.

Many photographers shoot in RAW data to maintain the greatest flexibility for photo editing later. Alternatively, you can choose lower file qualities when you are just starting out if you do not want to splurge on extreme SD cards yet. It's important to find a card that fits your budget. Remember, you can always upgrade later once your budget allows.

Even if you're used to shooting with a point-and-shoot camera, a mirrorless camera is a different animal. Therefore, it's important to keep your camera’s user manual handy when you’re first starting out. You might consult the manual for how to set up your camera properly and how to control aperture (f-stops), shutter speed, and ISO. Check to see if your camera includes auto settings that prioritize one of those, such as AP (aperture priority mode), which automatically selects the best settings based around the aperture you want.

Knowing your camera before taking it out in the field will save you a lot of confusion and frustration when you’re trying to create a certain effect. With a solid grounding in those basics, you should feel well-prepared for some experimentation with your new mirrorless camera.

With so many options from top brands, it can feel overwhelming to choose the best mirrorless camera for a beginning photographer. The good news is that you can’t go wrong with most of the choices on the market today. This is due in large part to the healthy competition among brands to produce the best mirrorless camera at every price point.

No matter which camera you choose, what matters most is that you take care of your purchase by keeping it a durable camera bag when not in use. Make sure you that you buy one with plenty of room for your digital camera accessories, such as your power cord or spare batteries.