As the Nimble Photographer, many know me as the champion of mirrorless cameras. And indeed I love them. You would have a hard time prying any of my OM-Ds from my camera bag.

Leah assisting me on a commercial photo shoot. Canon 5D Mark II, 70-200mm f/2.8 zoom at f/2.8. Photo by Derrick Story

But there are plenty of reasons why I still use my DSLR kit. Here are three of them.

• Lens selection - the Canon lens catalog provides just about every type of optic I would ever need. If I don't already have it, I can rent it. Plus clients still love seeing big glass.
• Soft backgrounds made easy - The number 1 request from clients for portrait work is soft backgrounds. With the 70-200mm f/2.8 zoom (plus 1.4X converter if necessary), I can create a soft background just about anywhere.
• Clean megapixels - The 21MP full frame sensor on my Canon 5D Mark II provides clean results through my working ISO range. I never have to worry about providing files that are big enough for clients or clean enough for me.

So even though I shoot with my mirrorless cameras about 70 percent of the time, I want my DSLRs for those situations that demand their strengths. So, if you're running a freelance business, or trying to start one, instead of selling your DSLR to buy mirrorless, go shoot a job with it to raise the cash.

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