Probably… Possibly… Well, not for me just yet. Here is why:
1. Battery life (see: “Why Sony batteries SUCK”
This is fairly simple and well-known, but battery life is just not great in mirrorless. If I switched to mirrorless it would have to be full frame, and Sony is the only company that offers this. It is a fact that Sony’s battery life sucks, and if you want to know why this is the case just read my post on this topic from earlier.
2. Autofocus
The way that cameras operate is that there is a sensor that focuses the light from the lens onto the sensor. I don’t fully understand the way that it works internally, but when the focusing is done on the actual photo sensor it is not as efficient. My Nikon can focus with the mirror up, but it is very slow. The DSLR is likely to have an advantage over mirrorless for the foreseeable future in autofocus though because it has that mirror and separate sensor for focusing.
3. Lenses
The Sony system has only been around for a few years. Their DSLT system borrowed off of the old Minolta system (which I got my start in photography on), but they have since ditched that in favor of their new mirrorless E-mount system. The lenses are not there, yet. I say yet because they have recently been making huge strides in releasing quality lenses. They used to lack f/2.8 zooms, but now they have 2/3 of them. Sony still needs to add an ultra-wide zoom and longer telephoto lenses to catch up to Nikon and Canon.
4. Accessories
Sony has to get better flashes, triggers, etc… like are easily found in the Nikon and Canon worlds in order to attract my attention.
5. Investment
I am already invested into the Nikon camera world. The camera, lenses, and accessories I have work perfectly fine. I don’t have a need to switch. There is no compelling reason to chase the Sony. There has to be a good reason to ditch my Nikon equipment besides size to convince me.
6. Support
Recently, there has been some migration away from Sony due to a lack of support. A big former user of Sony’s mirrorless just left them because he had an issue and their support let him down. Nikon just has better support especially for professionals today. If you have a $3,000 camera break down on you its not fun and you expect them to support you however possible. Nikon does this while Sony has let some down.
So, the answer is that, surprisingly, yes mirrorless may be the future. I would like to save on some size, but sacrificing performance is not acceptable. Once there is a full frame camera that has no compromises in performance I would love to cut back on the weight of my backpack!
Note:
I am not sponsored by anyone. I own a Nikon camera that I happen to like. I am not partial to any camera, and I choose to use what works best for me. You may relate to some things I have said here, but if you don’t then you do you.