And if you want to place your point of focus on something toward the edge of the frame, you have to use workarounds like holding a button to lock focus while recomposing the image. As a result, you must keep the subjects you’re trying to track within the area defined by the focus points, which can often be clustered toward the center on cheaper DSLR models. DSLR mirrors allow you to look through the camera lens in a very literal (and analog) way, but that design also means that DSLR cameras have to use an out-of-date autofocus system that isn’t as flexible as the AF systems in mirrorless cameras. The defining difference of mirrorless cameras, namely their lack of a mirror, is also the source of their greatest strength: a direct connection to the imaging sensor, which acts as the collection point for all the incoming data that lets a camera function. Even third-party companies that make lenses for DSLR cameras seem to have started quietly discontinuing those lenses in the latter half of 2022. Canon says that it will keep selling its beginner-level DSLRs, and you can still find Nikon’s D3500, our top-pick beginner DSLR since its introduction, for sale-we’re just not sure for how much longer. This move came after Sony, the second-largest camera maker, quietly bid farewell to its DSLR lenses, and after Canon, the world’s top camera producer, announced that it wouldn’t be developing high-end DSLRs anymore and discontinued a sizable chunk of its DSLR lenses without much fanfare. The summer of 2022 saw Nikon, the world’s third-largest camera manufacturer, make a public shift away from DSLRs and toward mirrorless cameras, which use an electronic screen fed by the camera’s sensor instead of a DSLR’s mirror gimmick to give you a preview of your photo.

If you want proof that the technology platform of the DSLR-a digital camera that uses mirrors to bounce light around so that you end up seeing through the lens when you look into the optical viewfinder to frame your picture-has reached its endpoint, consider what camera makers are doing. And don’t throw away your DSLR lenses, either as we’ll explain, you can use them with mirrorless cameras, too. Of course, if your DSLR still works, just keep using it until you need a new camera-the world has enough electronic waste. That’s because digital single-lens reflex cameras are going away, and at the same time, the newest and most innovative features are appearing in mirrorless models. If you’re shopping for a new camera today, you should buy a mirrorless camera instead. It’s official: At this point in time, buying a new DSLR doesn’t make sense.

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