Unlike WarehouseExpress, Cameraworld (Chelmsford UK) had the right bits in stock - and their free bundle offer instead of being a £69 battery plus some trivia, was the £99 microphone. So I've got a silver NEX-5 with 16mm and 18-55mm on the way, as originally intended three weeks ago, with a spare battery at normal price but a free microphone, and the Alpha adaptor ordered to follow (the mic also has to come later). Price basically the same as WarehouseExpress or any other dealer - £679.99 for the camera, two lenses and mic (they also include an 8GB MSPD memory card not so vital, but 'valued' at £50).

David

Hi David - glad to see you've tracked down the right sort of deal. What are your plans for reviews; will you be doing anything for other publications, or just 'in-house'?

Hi David

Already recovered from your far west experience?

They haven't announce any twin kit here in the States. Not that I want to buy the 18-55; but a kit including fisheye and/or Alpha adapter would be nice.
Like an Alpha owner kit: NEX5 + 16mm + Alpha Adapter + hotshoe adapter (they must do one) + wideangle or fisheye adapter and a EVF.
Then the Video-lover kit, including 18-55 or 18-200 + Mic + alpha adapter and I guess in the near future they will developer more accessories for video, like grips, lights, steadycam-like holders...



Regards

Plan to do the proper report for the BJP, probably one of for f2 as well, and the urgency to get a kit here is mainly for Photoworld. Personally, I want to find out how well the Sony microphone handles high sound pressure (such as filming a live solo acoustic/amped performer - I do not expect ANY condensor mic to handle rock band sound at close range). If it does a good job, it will be 500% better than the Nikon D5000 which is barely capable of recording loud speech cleanly. The NEX-5 should replace the D5000 kit as my 'car and everywhere' camera and also my events/gigs video recording method.

I'm very keen to get the Alpha adaptor, because I have the 70-300mm OS Sigma and the 60mm Tamron macro both waiting. Paul Genge said the adaptor would not allow the OS of the Sigma to operate; I don't see how it can prevent it, if the connector provides normal power. The lens OS is entirely independent of the camera body. If it works, that's a really major plus.

David

Should mention the issue with pricing: NEX-5 plus 16mm - £549.99. NEX-5 plus 16-55mm - £589.99. NEX-05 with both - £679.99. Pancake as an extra - £216. 18-55mm as an extra - £249. Effective bundle price of 16mm therefore £90, saves £126; or bundle price of 18-55mm £130, saves £119.

My feeling is that at £90 for the pancake OR £130 for the zoom, you would not want to be missing either lens - but at £216 or £249 to buy them afterwards, you might well prefer to stick with just one lens...

US trip went well. Have used Lightroom this morning to fix the first three folders on each of our memory cards, where we had forgotten to reset the time on the cameras on arrival. LR can permanently change the capture time incuding RAW files by replacing the metadata.

David

Sounds like you got a great deal, David!

I also got the Alpha converter for £139 only, which is £10 less than some are asking. And I get the 17.5% VAT off as well.

Looking at the 'lens only' prices, the NEX-3 body is a mere £230 (call it $300 before tax) and some video users reckon the 720p of the 3 may be preferable to the 1080p of the 5.

What will make a huge difference, for me, will be the release of Lightroom/ACR including the NEX raw conversion. All of the problems present in the 16mm and 18-55mm can be rapidly solved by a Lightroom 3 lens profile.

David

Although I am not interested in the current NEX models there is clearly a lot of interest by many people. I bet the LR profiles for the lenses will appear soon.

what about the review for photoclubalpha.com web site?

Alas, there is no way yet for share lens profiles (apparently you have to submit the profile to Adobe and they'll put it on adobelabs or include it in the next update...)
http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lensprofile_creator/

Stranger things never happened

Looks like those having those profiles made (by hand and quite laboriously) are not quite eager to share, while waiting for Adobe...

Let's just wait a bit - everybody is going to be as sharing as possible. (A note to DK - let's share some small files that are not a subject to you know what...)

Further review material including proper quality video will appear at the same time as the next magazine which is scheduled for before the end of July.

David

My girlfriend's friend need a new camera so we took her to the store (Adorama) so she could see by herself the difference between a G11 and a the S90, and look for alternatives. I told her that I was waiting for the NEX5 and I was recommending her the EPL2. When we got to my trusty sales person Wilson, he show us the NEX3 that just arrive to the store this morning -both kits are available.

The interesting thing: Wilson have a GH1 that he loves, specially because the video capabilities. And he was extremely enthusiastic about the NEX, not just the video, that he found much better than the GH1, but all the functions the camera have. I've never seen this kind of enthusiasm for any Minolta or Sony camera at Adorama. I've never seen sales people recommending Minolta or Sony cameras, even if more of them respect the quality of cameras and lenses.

My girlfriend's friend is still hesitating about what camera she'll buy (she'll probably get the NEX, even if it is 150 dollars more than the G11), but I almost buy the NEX3! The plastic body doesn't look as cheap as some people told me and I;m not sure yet the difference in video quality is that important (I asked a friend who does video editing if there is a difference in real-world )

Regards