3 Way Shootout Part 9, Final Comments and Predictions for the Future



On the left, Nikon 1, V2, Center, Nikon D5200, Right Panasonic Lumix G6

 

The questions At the beginning of this 9 part 3 Way shootout, I put several questions.  Let us come back to these, with the results of testing in hand.

Q.  Do DSLR's make better pictures than MILC's ?

A. No. Picture quality is determined by many things, the distinction between DSLR and MILC not being one of them.

Q. Do larger/more expensive cameras make better pictures than smaller cameras ? This question goes to the selling message long promoted by CanoNikon in particular.

A. Sometimes but it depends on many things. Some large cameras make great photos in certain circumstances but, for instance, long distance hiking would not be the best circumstance for a large heavy camera. Even with large and small cameras on location together, you cannot always expect the larger one to make better pictures.

Q. Do larger sensor make better pictures than smaller sensors ?

A. Sometimes, but again it depends on many other attributes of the imaging system.

Q. Does Phase Detect AF work faster or better in some way  than Contrast Detect AF ?

A. In some cases.  However not all PD or CD autofocus systems are made equal. In fact the performance of each varies markedly with manufacturer, system and model of camera and lens. Even with the demands of predictive autofocus on moving subjects, recent advances in CD autofocus have brought CDAF up to or even in some cases surpassing the performance of some PDAF systems.

Best kit of the three on test ?

Taking into account all the findings of the previous 8 posts, my pick for the one which best fulfilled the brief for a family/holiday/all-in-one/beginner to enthusiast camera kit is:

1. G6/14-140mm, followed by

2. V2/10-100mm, and

3. D5200/18-200mm

Best Camera type ?

When mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras were first introduced they were a distinctly underwhelming, overpriced, underperforming bunch which DSLR users generally ignored.

But in the last two years or so, the balance of capabilities between the two types has changed.

In the mid range, upper entry,  consumer level of the market which has been explored in this 3 Way shootout, MILC's now have the upper hand.

Future Prospects

DSLR    My considered view, with which others are free to differ, is that the DSLR as a camera type has no future at all. I am not alone in this view. Panasonic and  Fuji are no longer in the DSLR business. Olympus' latest, the EM-1 is likely to be a mirrorless offering with on chip PDAF which can effectively drive lenses originally designed for the 4/3 DSLR system. Sony is strongly rumored to be exiting DSLR and SLT technologies altogether.

While the makers of DSLR's were engaged in making small, incremental improvements with each "new" but actually not very new, model, the makers of MILC's were re-inventing the camera with a series of disruptive innovations.

Research and development in the MILC world is racing along at a great pace while that in the DSLR world has almost come to a halt. The main reason for this is that the DSLR as a type of device is nearly at the end of it's evolutionary journey.

MILC  I believe that in a few years MILC's will be the dominant interchangeable lens camera type.

M43  If the makers of M43 camera can eliminate the problem of shutter shock, perhaps by developing a global shutter and speed up their EVF refresh rate, then I believe M43 is best placed to become  the dominant interchangeable lens system. M43 sits in the sweet spot between larger and smaller formats. The sensor is large enough to deliver excellent picture quality, but small enough to allow the design of very compact lenses.

Nikon 1 SystemWhen Nikon introduced it's oddly named "1" system it was greeted with derision by reviewers and commentators alike.

Nikon's engineers developed a photographic rocket, with the fastest still and continuous frame rates, fastest EVF refresh rate and biggest RAW buffer ever seen. The V1 and now the V2  have the guts of a product line capable of outperforming every other camera in existence and transforming the entire  industry.

In the event, Nikon's product development people slipped this potential industry hero  operating system  inside a series of small, point-and -shoot style compact ILC's with atrocious ergonomics and childish gimmicks like Motion Snapshot Mode. The critics were rightly critical.

BUT.  Watch this space. IF Nikon's execs wake from their current torpor and stop trying to make dumb cameras aimed at a possibly non existent target buyer group (one blogger has coined the phrase "teenage facebook girl"), give the 1 series a better sensor and improved ergonomics, then watch out camera world.   Of course Nikon and all the others will have to completely restructure their entire product line and I guess they don't want to do that. But I believe it is just a matter of time before they are pushed into doing so, ironically by the invention of their own engineers. The genie will not go back in the bottle.