Pmun

If you haven't bought the camera yet, have you considered getting a mirrorless? I see the D7200 is $1000. A decent mirrorless would be around the same price. It would be much better for travel because it would be smaller.

Explorer789

I prefer to stick with mirror for the reason that I have been wanting to get serious with photography. From what I read about mirrorless, the over reliance on the EVF also contributes to the poor battery life. Quite frankly, I need the battery to last the whole day without the need for carrying a spare.

Pmun

There are some pros that use mirrorless either primarily or as a secondary camera. You'll also see a lot of reviews where they prefer it for travel.

The EVF definitely will eat up a bit of battery. Mirrorless does have inferior battery life for sure. But even carrying a spare battery or two is a lot less weight/space than a full size SLR. Frankly swapping batteries not that big a deal. I have both a DSLR and Mirrorless. I hated bringing my DSLR on vacation because of the size and weight. I also sometimes didn't want to take it out because it is not as subtle, which seems to be something you're worried about.

But back to the EVF. It actually works very well. On my a6000 anyway there is no lag and the EVF is actually a very powerful tool for composing. It is even more "what you see is what you get" than a mirror+prism. You can see exactly what you'll get, right away you know it's under/overexposed, wb is correct or not etc.. I picked up 2 extra aftermarket batteries + dual charger for about $25.

If you haven't bought it yet. I recommend you go down to a store and actually look at some mirrorless and also the camera you plan to buy. Put it in your hands, with a lense you were actually thinking of using. Now think about putting that in your bag or carrying it around all day. It's really cumbersome and heavy. It didn't matter to me that my DSLR can last 2-3 days on battery (live view off) when I didn't even want to take it out of the hotel room because it's so cumbersome.

Also if you're gonna take a picture of food on the tray in front of you on the plane. If you're not flying in J but flying in economy, are you sure there is enough space for a 18-200mm to focus on the tray in front of you? Not sure what the minimum focusing distance is and also the length of the lens+body.

Pmun

So I looked it up for you, the 18-200 minimum focusing distance is 1.6feet, that's 19.2inches + camera is 3 inches deep + 3.8inches lens length. That's 26 inches. + however far you need to be to hold the camera. I think in flight shot out the window would work but if you want to take a picture of food on your tray, you might have to use your phone or another lens. Unless you're sitting in business class and the food can be placed more than 2 feet away from you? I'm not sure I'm too poor to sit in J lol

LtKernelPanic

Never had a problem using my DSLR (currently a D7100) on a plane in either first or cattle. In 10 years of traveling with one the only comment someone has ever made was last summer the guy next to me asked if it was my first time flying into Chicago because I was taking a lot of pics on approach into ORD since it was one of those rare cloudless, crystal clear days.

mspreh

Additionally the part about mirrorless being smaller has been proven to be false.....

Compare the 2 best selling mirrorless systems (Fuji Film XT2, and Sony AR7II) and they take up within in a half of an inch of their traditional DSLR brothers equivalents....... Add the lack of glass for them, then the adapters and the DSLR lenses then you are in the same boat.....

You are dead on about the battery.... My D500 uses the same battery as the D7200, lasts me more than 3000 clicks easy. My Fuji XT2, I'm lucky if I get 500.

Pmun

Dude the AR7II is full frame, of course it's huge. I have no idea why the Fuji is so big though. He's looking at APSC size.

I could be wrong but I thought the most popular mirrorless camers were A6000, A6300, A6500. Seems to be very popular and all that people talk about.

abmj-jr

Nonsense!

The body is not the way to compare but even there my experience has been a significant size/weight decrease. The biggest difference is in the lenses. My OMD-EM1 plus 4 lenses and accessories takes up half the space and almost half the weight of my previous DSLR travel kit.

A fair number of pros have made the switch and love it. I am only a part-timer but wouldn't go back if you paid me. The big names I know and have worked with who have made the switch might surprise you.

For some uses, only full-frame will do but for many others, ILC works great with little to no loss of IQ.

Pmun

I agree, especially for travel. Do you need a full frame to take pictures of the food the airline is serving you? Crop will do just fine!

bthotugigem05

I wouldn't overthink how much airlines care about this stuff. Heck I've had a 24mm Canon tilt shift on my a7rII on a tripod taking pictures of a first class seat before and none of the flight attendants cared as long as I was out of the way.

DonCarpenter

EVF is fine if your subject isn't moving. The technology still isn't quite there. Get the Nikon.

Pmun

I honestly find no difference between EVF and Mirror/Prism in terms of lag. Maybe there might be a slight difference? I don't know. But OP isn't asking for a camera to shoot sports photography. He's asking for a camera to take photos of vacation shots, food, and generally sounds like things that don't move extremely fast. Also have you tried some of the Sony mirrorless cameras? The a6000, a6300 and a6500 have extremely fast autofocus systems. It can track a moving target like a dog or a toddler running around no problem.

deniah

this is really outdated view. evf got really really really good about 2 generations ago, around the time of olympus em1 and fuji xt1.

100% pixel for pixel coverage
limitless info overlay (such as histogram)
preview of exposure brightness
in-viewfinder shot review (rather than chimping on the lcd)
focus peaking
etc etc

evf is so far ahead now in basically all aspects

sea_jeff

Agreed. The X-T2 EVF is fantastic. ^ 100FPS full on live view. Love having a a straight up WYSIWYG view prior to capture.

dinanm3atl

Based on your needs and wants a user a7r and some extra batteries are going to be a far better choice and give you better results than a mid level dSLR.

I have a few 1Dx. 400 2.8 and a host of other lenses. It's my profession. When I travel for fun or with family I have the a7r and a single nice lens. That is it. IQ is spectacular and it's light, small and people don't notice it. Or care. Aim a 1Dx and. 70-200 at someone and the reaction is different than the a7r.

Get the mirror less and a few batteries. However I took my a7r to Japan and never used a spare battery. I had two but I was shooting a fair amount and didn't need them.