What’s a Mirrorless Digital Camera: Features and Benefits

Did you know that mirrorless cameras are a modern technology in photography?

The technology in the field of photography is constantly evolving and mirrorless digital cameras are the latest development. Understanding what a mirrorless digital camera is won’t take much time and you will see why this device has a lot to offer.

“Mirrorless cameras” is a simpler name for mirrorless digital cameras. They hit the market more than 15 years ago. They have a great design and many features that make it easier for you to take amazing pictures!

When you purchase a mirrorless camera, it will conquer your heart and you won’t want any other camera type because they’ve already gained space in the world of photography.

A Simple Timeline of Mirrorless Cameras Models
Person Shooting a Photo with a Mirrorless Camera

In this post you will see how this beauty of camera arrived on the market, which are its advantages, which are the reasons to invest in a mirrorless camera and the possibilities of innovation that it offers when you get new lenses for it. Now you will understand more about a modern and powerful camera to amazing photos of your life’s best moments.

Let’s see what’s a mirrorless digital camera, which are its features.

A simple timeline of mirrorless cameras models

In 2004, Epson launched the R-D1, the first mirrorless camera, which was a rangefinder, a precision device for measuring real-time distances and interchangeable lenses.


In 2008, Panasonic made a partnership with Olympus, which manufactured the DMC-1 Camera that started mirrorless’ widest spread worldwide.


In 2012, Fuji launched its first compact camera on the market with a great quality sensor, the APS-C X-Trans, several versions of the X-Pro-1 were manufactured in smaller sizes with this sensor. However, it was in 2017 that Fuji won the market with the Mirrorless GFX -50s.


In 2013, Sony dominated the market for five years with its mirrorless camera and, in 2018, Nikon and Canon launched their Z and EOS R series.


It was in 2018 that mirrorless cameras sales took flight, gaining the trust of the consumer market and then of the professional market.

See Which Are the Best Olympus Mirrorless Cameras This Year

===>Discover the best Olympus Mirrorless Cameras in 2021! <===

Main features of mirrorless cameras

  • They’re more compact and lighter.

  • There are lenses made specifically for mirrorless cameras.

  • They support lenses from other cameras and other brands, so you can purchase lenses separately and use it with your mirrorless camera.

  • Their mechanical shutter shoots images resulting in less distortion effects issues.

  • Some mirrorless cameras have more precision in defining the focus and sharpness of the image.

Main Features of Mirrorless Cameras


  • Their shutter in electronic mode ensures fast and accurate clicks avoiding noise and tremors (no “click” sound when you shoot).

  • In automatic mode, the camera seeks focus on the brightest areas working with contrast.

  • In manual mode, mirrorless cameras have the Focus Peaking tool that makes the edges of the photo’s focus object become colored, improving the perception of the photo scene from the viewer’s perspective.

  • Image stabilization system takes place directly on the mirrorless’ sensor without depending on the lens.

  • Mirrorless cameras have larger sensors that can capture images with 4K quality.

  • They have higher fps rates (fps meaning “frames per second”), so if you shoot a video with a mirrorless camera you get better slow motion effects when you edit the video.

The features listed here show that mirrorless cameras have cutting edge technology and quality, which is attracting a large number of consumers year after year.

Among professionals, more and more travel, landscape and portrait photographers are switching to mirrorless cameras.

Their main feature that attracts landscape photographers is the possibility of seeing the immediate exposure of the scene being worked on through the optical viewfinder.

===>Discover the best Olympus Mirrorless Cameras in 2021! <===

Benefits of mirrorless cameras

Mirrorless cameras offer a lot of benefits:

  • Mirrorless cameras don’t have an optical viewfinder, their viewfinder is digital, so the image that appears on the viewfinder is already digitally processed in real time. In case you don’t know, the viewfinder is the part of the camera where you put your left or right eye to preview the photo/video about to be shot, just like pro photographers do!

  • The absence of a mirror in the composition of mirrorless cameras makes them smaller and lighter.

  • There is no mirror after the lens to direct the light to the viewfinder, so the light directly accesses the photo sensor, which makes the shooting much quieter and discreet, creating more harmony in the moment of taking a photo. This is interesting when working on social events, such as weddings (at the time of vows, for example) and on events like lectures and conferences because you can take photos without making noise.

  • The process of shooting until the image is captured is much faster with mirrorless cameras because they don’t need the mirror to return the image.

Benefits of Mirrorless Cameras


  • If you choose the black and white function on your mirrorless camera, the image will appear in real time, which doesn’t happen with previous cameras and the black and white result could only be seen after the photo was taken.

  • If you choose to work with warmer colors from white balance, the result appears directly from the display too.

  • With mirrorless cameras it’s possible to check the light exposure at the moment you are taking the photo, this helps to shoot photos in environments with less light.

  • Through the sensor screen you can follow all the settings that are being made in the photo. For example, if you increase the shooting speed you will see that the photo is getting darker, if you increase the opening of the diaphragm you will see that the blur increases. All of this can be previewed before finishing the photo.

All these advantages that mirrorless cameras offer builds a greater relationship between photographers and their creations. The technological features offered by mirrorless cameras have made working with photos much easier. This camera is suitable for beginners in photography due to the offered by the sensor screen to see the entire process of capturing the image in real time.

===>Discover the best Olympus Mirrorless Cameras in 2021! <===

Tips to take care of your mirrorless camera

  • When changing the lens of your mirrorless camera, be careful not to get dust inside because dust sticks to its sensor and appears in the photos.

  • To clean the inside of your mirrorless camera, use an air spray bottle with the camera facing downwards.

  • When shooting shows/concerts that have laser emission, be careful not to let the laser lights reach the sensor of your mirrorless camera as this could permanently damage it.

  • Always have an extra battery because mirrorless batteries discharge faster.

Advantages of Mirrorless Cameras

What’s next?

Now that you know how to benefit from mirrorless cameras, in case you consider investing in one, there is one more tip for you.

Here’s what to do next:

Discover the Best Olympus Mirrorless Cameras in 2021 to learn more about this brand that is a world leader in lightweight cameras with high resolution image and Ultra HD 4K video recording!

You can also share your thoughts in the comments below! 

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