What is the difference between a DSLR camera and a mirrorless camera?

What are the main differences between a DSLR / SLR camera) and mirrorless cameras called EVIL ( Electronic Viewfinder with Interchangeable Lens ) or CSC ( Compact System Camera )?

EVIl, CSC cameras: Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera ( MILC, or as compact system cameras); EVIL cameras (Electronic Viewfinder with Interchangeable Lens: “electronic viewfinder with interchangeable lenses”) or CSC (Compact System Camera), MSC (Mirrorless System Camera) or DSLM (Digital Single Lens Mirrorless) cameras.

Digital SLR cameras, also called DSLRs: single-lens reflex camera (SLR), whose storage medium for the captured image is an electronic sensor, instead of a 35mm film used in chemical photography (reflex camera).

Nikon 5300 camera

Compact System Cameras (CSC) are called “mirrorless” because, unlike reflex cameras (DSLRs), they do not have a mirror to reflect light from the lens to the viewfinder. We will find the first big difference here. Since they don’t need a mirror, CSC cameras can be smaller. On the contrary, they differ from compact cameras in that they accept interchangeable lenses.

Digital SLR cameras have an optical viewfinder that shows us the image that the lens has captured, and that has been reflected in the mirror. It then passes through a pentaprism that flips the image to appear in the correct position in the viewfinder. The mirror has to be raised by the camera, and the shutter has to open to allow the image to be captured.

Sony A6000 evil camera

All these barriers do not exist between the lens and the sensor in a CSC camera. Some compact system cameras also have an electronic shutter that allows faster shutter speeds than with a standard shutter.

Early electronic viewfinders (EVFs) were pretty bad. However, things have improved tremendously in recent years. Although the contrast and color of the image in an EVF makes it clear that we are dealing with an electronic image instead of having an optical viewfinder, although there are also some significant advantages: exposure, color, and white balance settings are taken into account in the same instant of taking the photo, so we will see the image to be captured, and for example, the image can also be enlarged, and that facilitates manual focus.

The main disadvantage of using an electronic viewfinder is that there is a slight lag when shooting continuously, making it difficult to follow a moving subject.

Digital SLR cameras have a dedicated phase-detection autofocus sensor that is sometimes found in the viewfinder housing. It receives the light from the lens after it has been reflected from the mirror. A phase detection system works like a system that looks at the same point in the scene from two different places on the AF sensor and tries to match them. When the two image sections are correctly aligned, the subject is in focus.

Olympus OM-DE M10 EVIL camera

Many EVIL cameras have a contrast-detection focusing system that uses information from the image sensor and adjust the lens until the area under the active AF point has the highest possible contrast level. It is an actual means of focusing, but unlike phase detection, the camera cannot tell how the lens needs to be adjusted.

Some CSC camera manufacturers are starting to use hybrid focusing systems that combine the precision of contrast detection with phase detection speed.

Why is a CSC camera better than a DSLR?

6 reasons why a CSC camera is better than a DSLR:

  • Smaller and lighter
  • More discreet and silent
  • Live View mode is super responsive.
  • What you see is what you get.
  • More Features
  • Say no to the vibration of the mirror.

What are the reasons why a DSLR camera is still better than a CSC?

8 reasons a DSLR camera is still better than a CSC:

  • Better autofocus
  • Best viewfinder
  • More comfortable to hold
  • Larger controls
  • Larger sensor
  • More lenses
  • More versatile
  • Cheaper