A Mirrorless for Me

On my way to Home Depot, I stopped in to Best Buy to see if they had a Zing Camera Cover. But I found something even more interesting...

I did a double-take as I passed the Sony display featuring the A7 and the Alpha a6000, and I just couldn’t resist. The thing I was most curious about was the viewfinder. Just how close to “real” could a 2.4MP EVF be? Well, I’m still not crazy about them, but I could definitely live with this camera.

The resolution was fine, the refresh rate adequate. But what was working in its favor for me was the sheer amount of info. Once I figured out how to access Manual Focus (I had to use the C2 button), the viewfinder accommodated me by enlarging the view as soon as I rotated the focus ring. These days, when things actually do what they’re supposed to do, I’m impressed, especially when it comes to cameras. But in addition to this little epiphany, there were all kinds of other information that made the EVF worth the price of a “synthetic” image.

Handling-wise, the camera was light, and felt pretty good in the hand, despite the small size and fairly hefty 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 lens. These OSS lenses are about the same diameter as a traditional 135 manual focus lens, but seem to be overly long. To use Minolta AF lenses, the LA-EA4 adapter is required, which adds additional weight and bulk. Good luck figuring out which lenses work with which camera, as the mount is EF, but who knows if the lenses will cover a full frame or not. This guesswork is avoided with the Nikon system. All the DX and FX lenses work with with either camera body one way or another.

The build quality was excellent, with a metal body (magnesium, not brass) and a gloss-black enameled finish, not quite up to the traditional 70’s spec, but as good as we can expect for the current state of the art. As far as I’m concerned, If this is the direction mirrorless cameras are headed, the future is bright. But, the jury’s still out, because Sony, ironically, is the leader in this respect. These are the cameras Nikon and Canon should be making. But instead, they’re focusing on the 1" sensor, which incidentally, so is Sony. Had I not chosen the AE-1 over the XG-7 back in the 70’s, this camera might have been a foregone conclusion. 

I was also quite impressed with the Alpha a6000 which was right next to the A7. While the A7 harkens back to the Olympus SLRs of the 70’s, the a6000 evokes memories of the equally significant rangefinder. Equipped with an APS-C sensor, this camera is more than adequate, although the focus-by-wire approach, which is just plain silly, does not do it justice as does the A7’s more traditional approach. 

The multi-purpose command dial could have been a dedicated exposure compensation dial, aligning it more closely to the A7, but alas, no. Still, it’s miles ahead of it’s predecessors.

These cameras leave me hopeful that when the time comes to retire the DSLR (which is inevitable, I’m afraid) the viewfinders will be up to snuff.