C'mon let's wake this forum up

[Arg]

...my A77 & A65 ... I doubt they're in the same category as the 4/3rds systems some have, although on a technicality, they have translucent mirrors not reflex mirrors.

Hi John, I agree, the Sony pellicle models are a unique sub-category of mirrorless camera. As you say, they do have a mirror!

Anyway, welcome! Diversity is strength!

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No doubt, getting into mirrorless when BIF (birds in flight) is a current area of focus with one's DSLR photography, is not something I would recommend. Not just yet.

Could you please explain this view a bit more? My understanding is that an advantage of mirror less is the much faster fps given that they also now have phase detection AF? What am I missing?

Two things, Ian.

[1] DSLM cameras are indeed the fastest at auto focus, but that applies to subjects that are not moving extremely fast towards/away from the camera. In such situations, DSLM cameras are not yet as good as the best DSLRs. And that is a common need for birds-in-flight photography.

[2] Serious bird photographers have a saying "you can't have a long enough lens". Some birds are small and shy, and no amount of expertise will get you close enough for a 200 to 300mm (full frame) lens to do the job you need. These serious guys are willing to pay big bucks for specialist lenses and matching teleconverters that add up to 1000mm or more. At this point in time mirrorless cameras don't have 'native' lenses available in this class. Although, you could always take one of the above Canon/Nikon specialist lenses and adapt it to a mirrorless camera, you won't have AF. (Although, just between you and me, trying to do BIF with a 1000mm lens is akin to self-flagellation!)

[arthurking83]

......

[2] Serious bird photographers have a saying "you can't have a long enough lens". Some birds are small and shy, and no amount of expertise will get you close enough for a 200 to 300mm (full frame) lens to do the job you need. These serious guys are willing to pay big bucks for specialist lenses and matching teleconverters that add up to 1000mm or more. At this point in time mirrorless cameras don't have 'native' lenses available in this class. ....

So why not just crop the image?