I tried a mirrorless. Have you?

KL Matt wrote:

So my brother-in-law had his new R6 along for Easter. He let me shoot a little with it and his L 85 1.4. Sweet glass, super nice ergonomics with the R6 body. Surprised that the R6 was definitely equal and maybe even superior build-quality wise to my K1.

Then I looked through the viewfinder. Tolerable at best. No dynamic range to the image at all. Everything looked like a cyber nightmare. Ok, so there was no perceptible lag, and I could even tell if something was in focus for the most part. And sure it was bright. Too bright actually. I just really hated it.

So I took his setup and my K1 II with DFA* 50 attached and shot the same scenes with both. The K1 was a joy to compose with. The scene looked beautiful through the lens like it always does. I could see the light.

My brother-in-law loves his new cam, and I do understand why. It's a great piece of kit. But when he says he likes the electronic viewfinder because you see what you're going to get later as a file, I don't understand where that comes from. Those things have no dynamic range! It's not what you're getting in the file later IMO, not even close.

He says that viewfinder is supposed to be a very good one. If that's the state of the art, I may not have a mirrorless for a long time even though I have in fact been eyeing one.
Have you compared a mirrorless to your k1 or k3 III, and what's your take? If you regularly use both, how does the viewfinder thing work out in practice? Using the R3 had me longing for my K1. But I also long for a lightweight, compact 24 1.4 with eye AF. Looks like I'll never get that in K mount. Is it possible to enjoy both types of systems?

Matt

Sounds like Mirrorless is just not for you.

I have the Canon R6 now and sold all of my Pentax gear to invest more in the Canon ecosystem.  AF is light years ahead for most situations.  Lens selection via adaptors makes it almost as robust if not more so than K Mount (especially if manual focus is fine).  Third party support is basically the same for both.

I have no trouble using an EVF, in fact I have come to prefer it.  I can shoot silently at 20-30 frames a second for birding or events.  I can also slow it down just like a DSLR for landscape work via the LCD panel.

I love Pentax, as id was my first SLR 25 years ago, and I had a K-1 and KP as of this time last year.  But for me, Canon and modern mirrorless gets my money moving forward, and my photos are also better for it alas.