I had just bought my first full-framed mirrorless camera and was anxious to take it for a test drive. Within minutes, I had made this image of Earl who was standing outside Toronto’s Rosedale Library and immediately I was sold on the idea of the mirrorless camera.
There are drawbacks to the mirrorless system. For example, swapping lenses is a problem because it’s so much easier for stray dust particles to find their way onto the sensor. If I’m outdoors on a windy day and I want to switch lenses, it’s almost guaranteed I’ll end up with a dust spot on all my subsequent images. And then there’s the whole issue of hand size. Mirrorless cameras look like they were manufactured in a workshop owned by dainty-fingered elves. Finally, there’s the issue of heft. If I’m tramping around in the woods, I want a camera body that can get knocked around a bit without giving me grief.
On the plus side … A mirrorless camera isn’t likely to cause curvature of the spine. And travel! I can’t believe all the gear I used to haul onto an airplane. But most of all—and this is what I realized when I met Earl—, a mirrorless camera is unobtrusive, so people are more likely to feel comfortable when you frame them in your viewfinder. Never mind that the Sony A7 Mark IV is a 60 megapixel beast. The camera is easy to mistake for a simple point-and-shoot.
So I struck up a conversation with Earl. The conversation wasn’t going anywhere, partly because he mumbled so I heard only every third word, and partly because the words I did hear made no sense. To save the situation, I held up my new camera and asked if he was okay posing for a shot. He smiled and nodded and mumbled something incomprehensible and the rest, as they say, is photography.
