Is a DSLR still a good choice in 2026?

MacBigfoot wrote on Tuesday 23 December 2025 at 00:55  | reply

My Olympus has pre-capture, and more and more cameras are capable of doing that, I can't remember ever seeing that function on a dSLR.
In addition, my Olympus also makes it very easy to apply multi-exposure: you bring the first photo up on the screen and compose the second photo over it.

In addition, the processors are becoming increasingly powerful: that offers possibilities for functions that older cameras, including older mirrorless ones, are not capable of.
So I have Live Time, newer cameras have a built-in ND filter and even a graduated filter.

The low weight of the equipment is a major advantage, especially with MFT. The quality of the sensors is very good.

Weight and crop factor, the latter can be an advantage or disadvantage. Lenses and camera are smaller and lighter.

So according to you, more features isn't decisive, because it comes down to whether or not you use them.
OK, then I suggest you switch to a Leica from 1934. You can take just as beautiful photos with that, after all.
Get it?

I still have a Canon 400D, my only problem is the weight compared to my Fujifilm X-E3, otherwise it still takes really good photos. Yesterday I saw the body offered for €41...

I'm glad you're writing it here, it doesn't have to be in the image.
Mirrorless offers me no advantages, all my lenses are F-mount, so I would either have to buy everything new or work with an adapter.
Moreover, mirrorless cameras are expensive, too expensive, given the fact that they contain much less, no mirrors, with all the mechanics that come with them, no prism, sometimes not even a mechanical shutter, while those mechanical things are more difficult, and therefore more expensive, to manufacture.
And I find those bodies hideously ugly.
I'm sticking with my D500.

I also find the silent mode in mirrorless cameras a great advantage. Especially during classical concerts

I attach great importance to location data. My Canon 5D mark4 has built-in GPS. A mirrorless device does not. Apparently it consumes too much power. But I find an external GP-E2 GPS inconvenient and a synchronization connection with with a smartphone is too much hassle for me.

Does anyone know what effect mirror or not has on filming ? Thank you ! Debby

Eight years ago I predicted the end of the DSLR. By now that is a fact. However, I do not think that the choice lies in whether or not to use the possibilities. A professional or hobbyist wants to know and apply the possibilities of a mirrorless camera. If not, then you are a casual photographer. When someone who has no knowledge of photography yet asks me which camera he should choose, my question is “What do you want to do with it? Will it become a hobby or is it to capture photos of your travels, outings, births and family parties as memories? If the latter, then don’t buy a camera but a good smartphone and then you need to know little or nothing about photography.”
So I also predict the end of FF. By now, several very well-known nature and wildlife photographers have switched to M4/3 or another crop factor. They experience the gains in weight in their photography bag and € in their wallet every day. The difference is not in the body but in the tremendous difference in weight and price of the lenses. For them, there are no advantages to an FF anymore, only disadvantages. I am also certain that for the other forms of photography it will not take much longer before FF has to bite the dust.

the AF system:
i still use my Nikon D500: focusing always good (and predictable), same with the exposure.
Flash photography with the CLS system also always good.
Now my XT1: great in terms of size, weight and lenses: so it comes along on trips. Only focus doesn't work (far too slow) in low light. Flash photography and EF500 is a gamble
XT5: is a lot better in terms of specs. Only the AF is a mystery to me: it focuses through built-in intelligence and that is usually unpredictable for me and i struggle to turn off the intelligence because i know exactly myself. So are those AF capabilities now an improvement ?

@ Jelle,
The AF system works perfectly on my four OM cameras (the former Olympus). You do have to choose the appropriate settings for your subject. I suspect that you don't know/master your XT1 sufficiently. I can't help you further because I don't know the XT1, but owners of it can undoubtedly assist you.

Agree with your response: I took a course and learned the book about the XT5 by heart. So I understand how it works

However, you have to dive into the menus to see how the camera is set up. Same thing to set the settings to your "preference'.
So plenty of choice and that is where the problem lies.

With the D500 I choose between single point AF or 3D continuous depending on what I want to photograph with 1 little button .
Less choice, reliable and no AI that chooses the focus point itself and does or does not follow it.
So probably if you do this every day then it works but not if you pick up that camera after a month, then you first have to practice for a few minutes.

@Jelle
You can more than likely save preferred settings. At least, that's what I did. For example, you can save three AF methods that you prefer. And I have lenses that switch directly from autofocus to manual focus by moving a ring. Moreover, by a change in color on my screen I can see perfectly 'where' exactly the sharpness is. All of that is possible with modern mirrorless cameras. I have been using one for 8 years now and I often still learn about new possibilities. As a self-taught person, I find a lot on the internet. I do have a good command of English, which can be an advantage.

When I read the comments on Jelle here, I get the impression (I don't follow all the new developments) that cameras are going to take over the thinking.
I find that extremely sad, the man/woman behind the camera should be in charge, and they should tell the camera what needs to happen.
I also have a D500, the AF is on single point 99 times out of 100, and I decide for myself where I focus. Leaving everything to AI I find a major shortcoming .
It may well be that it can be useful, but not to rely on it completely. Just do it yourself.

Nando, that last sentence is absolutely true. First megapixels were the big selling point and now it is AI as the biggest selling point.
Ultimately, it is about setting up the camera correctly for the kind of subject you are going to photograph. There is no point in turning on eye detection if you are going to photograph a tree, just to give an example.
Admittedly, I sometimes forget to adjust the settings when I come across a different kind of subject that is cool to photograph. If the result is no good, I cannot blame the camera for that. Then I am the one who made the mistake.
Indeed, thinking is what you have to do as a photographer. Or as a well-known proverb says: 'Look before you leap.'

The AI AF:
-has to be helped by specifying the type of subject (logical) and indicating on screen where that subject is (with multiple identical subjects)
-works with image recognition and CDAF (contrast detection: fine if there is sufficient light and the subject is recognisable .
-requires processing time --> some delay )to be compensated for by anticipating where the subject is at the moment of taking the photo.

There are cameras where this is implemented perfectly.
With the Fuji XT5 this is not the case: in about 50% of cases it does work (glass half full)

With DSLR cameras, the AF is a combination of contrast detection and phase detection (works quickly and also in low light)

I take many of my photos of people in an environment with little light. A matter of aiming quickly and pressing the shutter at the right moment to capture the facial expression/action at the right moment.'

That is the reason I am a fan of the D500 for those applications because the XT5 (also a sublime camera) lets me down in those cases (too slow and then I miss the moment, suddenly chooses the wrong person, does not follow movement and therefore focuses at the wrong point.

That is my experience and that was the question on this forum

PS am very curious how all this will go on my new purchase Fuji XT30 iii (according to the brochure, that one is even much smarter in A mode)

The weight can also differ depending on the brand. I compared it with a Nikon photographer. He had a Nikon Z8 with 3 lenses from 14 mm to 400mm in the bag , which weighed 11.5kg
I had a Canon R6 Mark II with the same range ( 2 f4 L lenses and 1 EF 100-400mm IS II ) in the bag and my bag weighed 5.5 kg. That does make a difference. I eventually chose mirrorless because of the weight , although I do sometimes look back wistfully at my 5D Mark IV , nothing wrong with it and technically it can still last for years. And indeed the EF lenses up to 105mm are relatively cheap , but my EF 100-400mm IS II still cost €1500 on the second-hand market. ( it does look like new though)

@Paul van Aken, the cameras take NOTHING over from you. The cameras do exactly what you have set them to do. The camera determines nothing by itself. You choose a certain setting and the camera carries it out. If you set the camera to track people, then the camera will recognize a person and focus on them, because you have set the camera to track people. If there are multiple people in the frame, then the camera chooses the person it encounters first and that is usually the person closest to the camera. If you want to focus on another person in the frame, then that is no problem at all.
You as a photographer ALWAYS determine what the camera should do.

Exactly what I mean.
I choose who should be in focus, I decide where I meter, I determine the depth of field.
And yes, my D500 has the necessary tricks too, which I make use of from time to time. But chosen by me.