New Canon...

SheilaO wrote:

Cann you tell me what is the advantage of mirrorless?

Thanks,

Sheila

If you like interchangeable lenses, but also like the fact that on smaller digital cameras with non-interchangeable lenses you can look at the scene as it appears to the sensor on the rear screen before shooting, with all the effects visible and the shooting data superimposed if you wish (which is called live view), mirrorless combines both seamlessly.  Mirrorless cameras with built in viewfinders - electronic viewfinders, EVF for short - also allow this at eye level and almost all will automatically switch between EVF and LCD using an eye sensor.  All modern cameras, whether DSLR or mirrorless, can shoot good video these days - mirrorless allows eye level shooting and reviewing if it has an EVF (both types can also do these on the LCD rear screen, of course).

DSLRs newer than yours can also do this on the LCD only - you switch them into this mode as it is not their standard mode of operation.

Mirrorless cameras allow the body, lens mount and lenses to be smaller, and the majority have lenses that focus silently, without extending or causing the focus ring to spin as they autofocus - though Canon's new STM lenses for the EOS DSLRs also autofocus this way.

Finally, many mirrorless cameras have the option to shoot in silence, without any mirror noise (since they don't have one) or shutter noise (most DO still have the same type of shutter as your DSLR).  However, Canon has so far only included this feature on its latest EOS M50, in a slightly limited, program-only special mode.  Other brands often have more flexible silent shooting options.

Downsides of mirrorless: because they are always in live view, the battery needs recharging more often, and they don't always focus quite as fast as the fastest modern DSLRs (this is usually only noticeable in continuous AF and they will be faster than your elderly DSLR by quite a margin anyway) and they have a different lens mount - in the case of Canon's EOS M mirrorless line, a compact adapter allows you to fit EOS DSLR lenses to them and carry on using them as normal in most cases.

Despite using film SLRs for many years previously, I find I enjoy mirrorless most of all.