Do you non professionals still use DSLR's? And why?

I am semi-pro - I don't make my career from photography, but it makes a little side-income.

I shoot with a DSLR because it's a good tool for my general needs - wildlife and bird photography, night photography, landscape.  I like the large body with lots of direct control, the weight and balance with larger lenses, the huge battery life, the large buffer for continuous shooting, the fast AF tracking capability, and the optical viewfinder.

I also shoot with a mirrorless camera for my general needs - it serves as either a second body alongside my DSLR, or it goes in place of it when I want to travel lighter or need to be less conspicuous.  When choosing a mirrorless camera, some of the issues raised by folks above were very much on my mind and I picked a mirrorless camera specifically to avoid some of those issues, ie: I picked one with an identical sensor to a DSLR, that is equal in low light IQ, that does have a viewfinder (EVF vs OVF, but still better than LCD) for more natural shooting style, and that has the same crop factor (1.5x) as my DSLR.  This makes the two cameras much more compatible and comparable - the DSLR for better tracking and battery life/durability, and the mirrorless for great lightweight and small footprint, with equal IQ.

I currently could not imagine living without BOTH.  Neither can fully take the place of the other in all respects - both require some compromise individually, but together they cover all the bases and compromises well.

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Justin
galleries: www.pbase.com/zackiedawg