That huge size & weight problem (A true story..)

[Olivier]

This is a lovely picture, Knut! So in the end a photo is good when it is shot with a D3x or when a D3x is in the picture...
I went the other route, from D700 to X-T1 and am mostly satisfied of my choice.
It is more than good enough for my casual way of shooting, and the EVF is a big plus for me.
To each his own, there is no absolute answer anyway as everyone is in a different position. You are obviously very demanding (and rewarded with remarkable images as seen in your Lofoten series!) on your equipment, so I guess you made the right choice.

[Bjørn J]

"So in the end I asked myself, when is the camera most important? When I'm carrying it or WHEN I'M PHOTOGRAPHING?"

That's the point, glad you realized it 
As much as the image quality of the D810 impresses me every time, the D3X is still my favourite camera.
A pleasure to see my old 180/2,8 in good use, now I have only one left...

[Jakov Minić]

Chris, the macho man! Love it!

[HCS]

For me it is also about the use of the gear. It shouldn't get in my way. There are plenty of good cameras that deliver good image quality. However, they don't offer what a DSLR offers for me. The "not-getting-in-the-way" factor.

Even a (more) simple DSLR brings me more than a fancy non-DSLR.

It's not about taking many lenses with me. I'd happily go into a town or on a day trip with my D810 and a 35 or 50mm lens.

I once took my AW1 on a city trip with friends because i thought a DSLR would get in the way. It frustrated me the entire 4 days i was on the trip.

YMMV, but i'm with Knut 

[MFloyd]

"I'm selling my DSLR equipment because I want something lighter" is a statement that I'm reading very often. For somebody like me, still active in the military, quite hard to believe, in perspective to the payload we are used to carry. But I have finally admitted that the problem has to be a genuine one.

The "solution" !?:  "Well, I have an iPhone 6s Plus; this smartphone makes very good pictures and weights just under 200 grams" I'm not entirely joking, but the answer we are looking for, is somewhere else: a "mirrorless ?": well, I had the opportunity to briefly test the Sony Alpha 7s, as well as the Leica SL: for the Sony one, although the body is small, the lenses are as bulky and heavy as the ones of a regular DSLR; the Leica has no real size and or weight advantage. And they both "benefit" from an EVF: although EVFs have made big progress, they give still the impression of disconnecting me from the "reality", not speaking from the lag effect which is an absolute killer for someone who is usually shooting action, sport.

"What is left ?": for me, if I want to operate light: I choose carefully One lens and One body, who should do it through the journey; I've always been a man of a single lens and body, so not too much a problem, even if it implies making some compromises, using less "noble" lenses such as a 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 e.g.

As a last addition, I want to cover "huge". I'm not a street photographer, but walking on an air show with a pro monobody, equipped with a 400mm f/2.8 makes you to the crowd belonging to the "pro category", giving you a gentle / kind advantage, such as a better access to the scene, or avoiding that people are walking just before your lens and hide the action .....


Nikon D4s & Nikkor 400mm f/2.8 VR at the Air14 air show (CH, 2014)

[aerobat]

I like to have a camera with me most of the time. That also includes commuting to work with my bicycle. For these occasions I like the Fuji mirrorless and usually only one 23mm lens.

For more deliberate photography I use the D750 with only compact primes up to the 300mm PF. Still a lightweight solution carried in a f-stop backpack.

Yesterday I took the kids to the museum of transportation in Lucerne and had the Fuji with me. I tried some panning shots of the kids racing on carts.
The EVF made the panning difficult and it took many attempts to get something usable.

I'm keeping DSLR and mirrorless system - just need to know which to choose for the day.

[elsa hoffmann]

I'm keeping both systems and am very happy with them.

NIkon and Fudji system

 or

KIDS and camera system...

[Thomas G]

NIkon and Fudji system

 or

KIDS and camera system...

Elsa!

[JohnBrew]

Knut, I agree it's all about the image. Some of us put up with a little inconvenience to get the shot! Yeah, I'd love less weight, but when I use certain equipment that puts a gleam in the eye, when you're looking through a nice OVF and you're in the zone - well, then it's all worth it. I recently acquired a second system which is HEAVIER than my Nikon set-up.

[the solitaire]

Knut, I know exactly what you are talking about.

Back in film days I used a Nikon FM2 but added an MD-12 to add some bulk. Especially at night this added bulk helped me keep the camera steady at 1/15th of a second at up to 50mm. It also balanced well with the 80-200 f4.

My first experience with digital was with a Nikon D100 and that was still ok, but my first digital Nikon was a D70s instead, which was just too small and the controls were too limited in use to make me ever really like th ecamera. When I bought a D200, not too much later, I started enjoying digital a lot more and started using the FM2/MD12 less and less.

Then mirrorless reared it's head and I thought about the days where I went out with a bare FM, 50mm f2 and 17mm f3,5 in a coat pocket and jumped on the mirrorless bandwagon. I was duly disappointed because the ergonomics I knew from my D200 and D300 was gone. The optical viewfinder was gone. I just could not adapt, even though the image quality was good.

So I sold the Sony and bought a D3. In short, I have never been happier with a camera!

Everything is in the right place. The camera is perfect with bigger AF lenses, but also feels perfectly aligned with the small yet dense manual focus lenses I like using so much.

Same as you, I'm outdoors a lot and under any conditions, so the ability to handle the camera naturally when wearing gloves is not just a bonus. It is a must!

Size and weight? Yes please! Size really is directly related to ergonomics. Too small a camera is no longer easy to handle when you rely on external controls and need to change certain variables often and quickly to keep up with the situation.

As far as color goes, I really love the 12 Mp D3 sensor and it's output. I almost exclusively shoot NEF, but I shot an 80 picture portfolio yesterday selected from 400 pictures and I converted about half of the files from NEF to JPG without editing. The rest needed WB adjustments and some shadow recovery because the light kept changing. I have never used a camera with output that much to my liking.

[Akira]

I agree that the bulk and the weight are beneficial to the quality image.

That said, there are cases that the heavy professional grade cameras are not always the most suitable tools.  For casual snapshots or even serious street photography, the sheer size of the equipment sometimes make the people back off, and their relaxed facial expressions disappear.  Their often loud shutter noise can disturb the atmosphere of the gatherings.  In such cases, a very non-professional-looking non-black small camera would work better.

[the solitaire]

Very true. I use a Nikon F in such cases

[Anirban Halder]

... In such cases, a very non-professional-looking non-black small camera would work better.

Very true. Fuji X-T1/10 and even Nikon Df panda silver are very handy in that respect. Df doesn't scare people away, in-fact it does the opposite. 

[schwett]

i couldn't agree more with the general sentiments here.

the very first priority for me is getting the shot, more or less properly exposed and in focus. PDAF is a must.
the second is the image quality. lots of DR and resolution.
the third is the experience of shooting, which, in the end, i usually do for enjoyment, not profit. EVF = instant disqualification. if i wanted to watch the world on a little TV, i'd stay home.

if weight is an issue on a particular day, i take the d810 with a single f/1.8 prime. i find it hard to imagine that any reasonably healthy adult can't carry 1.3kg for a day or a week. when i'm less concerned about weight, i'll bring two bodies, tripods and lots of lenses including f/1.4 primes, f/2.8 zooms, tilt-shift lenses, big telephotos, etc.

[Akira]

if weight is an issue on a particular day, i take the d810 with a single f/1.8 prime. i find it hard to imagine that any reasonably healthy adult can't carry 1.3kg for a day or a week. when i'm less concerned about weight, i'll bring two bodies, tripods and lots of lenses including f/1.4 primes, f/2.8 zooms, tilt-shift lenses, big telephotos, etc.

... and a drone?