Mirrorless for motorsports and birds in flight?

[BAB]

Don't understand the OP position on mirror less bodies they have there afvantages for birding and motor sports, I would suggest renting and trying, your biggest issue will be the learning curve, setting up the camera and memorizing the custom buttons. Then adjusting to the particulars of the viewfinder and sequence firing. I've used the Oly and Fuji two body generations withe each no I have a X Pro 2 kit we'll sort of the 16-55 and the 100-400 w/ 1.4 ex I don't know how much faster you would want the camera to focus but if set up properly is VERY FAST. There is a review on Fuji site by one of the foremost Motorsport photographers using the 100-400 at the track you should watch it!

Regards

[SZRitter]

So this popped up today, and I thought it was relevant to the discussion: Superbikes on Mu-43.com

[Harald L]

I believe that a mirrorless is able to shoot racing cars and birds as well. It's not like a decent DSLR, but it works. Interestingly it's quite comfortable to shoot racing cars by a Fuji X-Pro1 and the 50-200mm with OVF because you see a small frame with a lot of context around which helps you to track the car and shoot as soon it reaches your pre-focussed zone.










And yes, when it comes to catch the atmosphere your tiny mirrorless is unbeatable...












Ah, I've almost forgot the birds...







So in my opinion it works quite well.

[BernardLanguillier]

I would get a D500 and be done with it.

By the time mirrorless gets good enough Nikon will have their own offering.

I don't quite understand why anyone would want to deprive oneself from the amazing focusing abilities of the latest DSLRs on moving subjects in favor or mirrorless at this point in time. Portrait would be a different story thanks to eye recognition though

The sad truth is that there isn't a single all mighty technology at the present time.

Cheers,
Bernard

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi,

I would suggest that the problem with mirrorless for shooting action is the viewfinder lag.

Personally I prefer EVF but a good OVF has advantages of it's own. Real time viewing is just one of those.

Best regards
Erik

I would get a D500 and be done with it.

By the time mirrorless gets good enough Nikon will have their own offering.

I don't quite understand why anyone would want to deprive oneself from the amazing focusing abilities of the latest DSLRs on moving subjects in favor or mirrorless at this point in time. Portrait would be a different story thanks to eye recognition though

The sad truth is that there isn't a single all mighty technology at the present time.

Cheers,
Bernard

[BernardLanguillier]

I would suggest that the problem with mirrorless for shooting action is the viewfinder lag.

Could be, but at the end of the day what matters most is the success ratio in terms of focused images.

Cheers,
Bernard

[Harald L]

...
I would suggest that the problem with mirrorless for shooting action is the viewfinder lag.
...

That's why I love my X-ProX

Harald

[Robert Roaldi]

I would suggest that the problem with mirrorless for shooting action is the viewfinder lag.

Currently, it can be a problem for some, to be sure. But TV cameramen have been using real-time LCD displays of golf balls and hockey pucks for decades, so presumably viewfinder lag is merely a question of technology. Lag is already miles better than it used to be, and there are enough people using EVFs already to suggest that their now shorter lag is not a limitation for everyone. I used a Nikon V2 for a while, and once that level of AF speed and EVF lag performance becomes widespread, it will become difficult to ignore or resist, I suspect.

[Zorki5]

I would suggest that the problem with mirrorless for shooting action is the viewfinder lag.

Had been addressed recently in Sony a6300.

When you switch to its "no lag" mode (continuous view, always seeing current, not previous frame), you drop shooting rate from 11 to 8 fps, but if you really, really need that OVF "speed", it's a worthwhile trade-off.

[Robert Roaldi]

It's probably too soon for anyone to have first-hand experience with one, but the released specs indicate that the Nikon DL24-500 has similar AF performance as the Nikon 1 line. It might be a compelling choice for many, too bad it's not weather-sealed.

[Petrus]

I would suggest that the problem with mirrorless for shooting action is the viewfinder lag.

I agree. When D4 came out the first shots I used it for were our 4 dogs (no cats…) playing in snow on our front yard. Several great frames of our Swiss White Shepard jumping after snowballs. Some weeks ago I repeated the shoot with Fujifilm X-T1, which has one of the fastest EVFs, and being mirrorless, should have no shutter lag. Shooting with 56mm short tele, I got no rightly timed/framed shots at all! Late every time. Focus was mostly spot on, but small consolation, that.

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi,

I don't know about the Fuji, but mirrorless needs electronic first curtain to reduce shutter lag. Without EFCS the shutter needs to be cocked before exposure.

Best regards
Erik

I agree. When D4 came out the first shots I used it for were our 4 dogs (no cats…) playing in snow on our front yard. Several great frames of our Swiss White Shepard jumping after snowballs. Some weeks ago I repeated the shoot with Fujifilm X-T1, which has one of the fastest EVFs, and being mirrorless, should have no shutter lag. Shooting with 56mm short tele, I got no rightly timed/framed shots at all! Late every time. Focus was mostly spot on, but small consolation, that.

[Petrus]

Presumably X-T1 would fire faster with no mirror to go out of the way. But there is enough lag to make fast jumps hard to catch. Disappointing anyway.

[Jason DiMichele]

I second this.

If people managed to make pictures of birds and racing cars back when film cameras didn't have autofocus at all, I'm sure you can manage to get good pictures with the latest gen mirrorless systems.

I third this. The Panasonic Lumix GX8 (I use this as an example because I am very familiar with it) in combination with the 35-100, new Leica/Panny 100-400 (and some other lenses) are a killer combination. The focus is fast and tracking very accurate. I don't have anything on my website currently of the birds in flight but my Facebook profile has some on it. I can also post some here if interested.

Cheers,
Jay