How is DSLR focus different from a Mirrorless camera?

3 years 3 months ago #707384 by Vincent
I was reading another photographers post on Facebook this morning where he referenced a point about focus shifting between a DSLR and mirrorless.  But he made a point about the focusing being different from DSLR to mirrorless.  How is that?

Nikon D700 | 14-24mm f/2.8G ED | 24-70mm f/2.8G ED | 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II | (2) SB-900
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3 years 3 months ago #707387 by Nikon Shooter
Both offer precise and fast AF. On mirrorless, the AF reads what is
is projected on the sensor as, on DSLR, it is read through mirror(s).
That means that I do have to fine tune the AF on all my bodies and
mirrorless don't.

OTH, that operation is nothing when comparing with others less
performing characteristics of mirrorless IMO. I will not invest in
a mirrorless system as long as it will not outperform my DSLRs b-
dies in every possible ways.

For me, at this point, they are just an other product for landsca-
pers or performance hikers.

Light is free… capturing it is not!
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3 years 3 months ago #707419 by Ozzie_Traveller
G'day Vincent

For the mechanics of focussing, do some digging into dr google / DP Review and maybe the camera maker's sites themselves.

In a nutshell ...
a) your dSLR mirror has some half-silvered areas allowing light to go thru the mirror into a prism glued to the underside of the mirror - this light then bounces down to the floor of the camera onto special detection 'stuff' and it determines whether it is focussed or not

b) in the mirrorless cameras, in between selected pixels are other pixels used to 'see' the contrast within the image - the maximum contrast equals in-focus

The traditional dSLR has always focussed faster that other systems - be they rangefinder or mirrorless (or manual), but with faster processors being built into the camera, the mirrorless systems are catching up fast with dSLRs

My Panny FZ-2500 (mirrorless) will autofocus at 12fps as the camera sweeps across the subject - unheard of a decade ago with any sort of camera. If you wish to view some sample images of mirrorless focussing at 12fps, look into my Flickr site (below) and find the set of images in the 2020 image library of a seagull flying across in front of the camera ~ along with many others showing full focus along with fast action

Hope this helps
Phil from the great land Downunder
www.flickr.com/photos/ozzie_traveller/sets/

Phil from the great land Downunder
www.flickr.com/photos/ozzie_traveller/sets/

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