SOUNDIMAGEPLUS: What on earth is wrong with DSLR's? And why are companies like Nikon stopping making them?

As a Nikon user, with both mirrorless and DSLR cameras, I find myself in the situation of not knowing when a replacement / upgrade for the D850 is coming out, or even if one is coming out at all. Nikon also seem to have stopped planning any more F lenses. Everything now seems to revolve around their Z mirrorless system. Why is this?

The problem is that none of their Z cameras is as reliable or fast as the D850 and the battery life on the D850 is way in advance of the mirrorless cameras. I suppose one of the arguments for mirrorless is that they are smaller and lighter, but not everyone wants a smaller lighter camera. I don't.

In fact I added a battery grip and a video cage to my Z7 to make it bigger and heavier. Now I've replaced my Z7 for a Z50 and I've already ordered a video cage for it to make it more comfortable in my hand. I am very skeptical that serious photographers have abandoned DSLR's but it looks like that before long we simply won't have a choice as everything will be mirrorless. Another so called 'advantage' of mirrorless is that it is better for video. Now that may be the case for 'snapshot video' but professional videographers have no problem with using DSLR's since they see the camera as just part of the kit they use.

So is mirrorless more in demand? Well I would argue against this since it's smartphone cameras that are in demand. Since most people do just take snapshots they don't want what a DSLR can offer, or indeed what a mirrorless camera can offer. But what about serious amateurs and professional photographers?

I'll give you an example. I've been working on a project to show what rail travel is doing as a response to Covid. I've been going around to local stations, taking photographs.

For this I'm using my DSLR's, D850 and Df. I tried the Z7 but it is so slow to start up that I was missing shots, particularly when a fast express came hurtling through the station. The DSLR's are completely different. I point them at the train, they instantly focus and I get the shot in a fraction of second. Now this is unusual for me as I normally work quite slowly shooting landscape. But when I needed that speed my Z7 didn't give it to me.

It now seems that Camera Companies are determined to concentrate on mirrorless only in future. Personally I don't think that this will be the financial solution they are looking for, or will increase sales. In fact I suspect the opposite will occur as all those people used to DSLR's will not rush to 'upgrade' to a mirrorless camera. Nikon are apparently working on a Z9 top of the range mirrorless camera. But it will certainly have to be a lot better than the current Z range to tempt me away from my D850 or Df.

Not everything that is new is better and not everybody wants more controls, more options and the resulting complex menu systems. In fact one of the reasons I love using my Df is that it's simple and easy to get the results I want. There used to be a joke that the first rule of being a man was 'If it's got more knobs it's better' however not all of us are sawdust heads and I for one feel that I am being ignored. I just hope that my D850 and Df keep going for many more years.