Photoclubalpha

http://www.photoclubalpha.com/2012/07/1 ... nd-hybrid/

Problem is, I could have written so much more...

David

I read your review. Very good and it brings up some of the things that have been on my mind a lot with mirrorless cameras. Even though I have spent a rather significant amount of money (for me) on lots of new m4/3 gear I am still a bit uneasy about it for exactly the reasons you mentioned in your NEX 7 review. I am concerned about readiness for taking a photo, in particular. The AF with the m4/3 bodies I have is quite fast and the E-M5 has IBIS and a stabilized EVF so that is a plus.

I had the Panasonic G3 for about 6 weeks before getting the Olympus E-M5 and lots of lenses and a flash and those 6 weeks in Tokyo worked out fairly well doing the kinds of street and travel photography I like, but I had to work a bit to keep the camera ready since if it went to sleep there was a 2-3 second delay for it to wake up. Of course, keeping the camera ready means the battery is used faster. The E-M5 is similar in this regard and I am concerned about that. I haven't been able to put the E-M5 to the test yet though. Definitely I will need to get a couple more batteries for travel.

We will be back in Hawaii next week though and then I expect to find out how the E-M5 works taking the sorts of photos I tend to take. I have my fingers crossed that I can get on with it okay. The smaller size/weight of this new gear is just so darn attractive for me and that is what sold me on it. Of course, other aspects have to be acceptable though. I have written elsewhere about the E-M5 compromised ergonomics, which I am not overly happy with, but they are within the acceptability range for me.

Getting accustomed to using an EVF rather than a DSLR's OVF is another thing. On both my G3 and E-M5 I shoot raw so that frees me to set various jpeg settings which affect the EVF display. I can do quite a lot to improve the EVF image so that it is not as contrasty as the defaults. It is interesting to look through the EVF or at the rear screen at a contrasty scene and make all of these adjustments. Suddenly shadows that are black open up and I can see into them more and blown out highlights can get a bit more detail. Not nearly as good as an OVF, but better than the EVF defaults. Hawaii will really test this though and I am looking forward to seeing if the EVF will be adequate. Of course, the rear screen is mostly useless much of the time in Hawaii.

This thread is about the NEX 7, but the other mirrorless cameras such as the E-M5 and G3 share many of the same characteristics so that is why I mention them.

Very thoughtful piece, David. To be honest I nearly didn't bother, thinking it rather late in the day, but I'm pleased I did. I do think that "warts and all" reviews, done by experienced users, are so much better than the "gee whiz" reviews done by the teenage (and those who should know better) scribblers in the rather biased photo media. I hope, too, that Sony takes note of comments from people like your goodself but I fear it won't - nearly every commentator has complained about the damn-stupid video button but no firmware version has arrivedto allow it to be disabled! Still we live in hope.

Unlike you, I'm not fussed about the lack of GPS - rather have more battery life - but when I recently had to replace a broken 7 I was seriously tempted by the E-MD with its in body IS but its a clunkier box than the elegant 7 and the IS is not rated highly by some reviewers. But I do wish Sony woud get a move on with providing some decent stabilised lenses because the current offerings are pretty weak. Now I hear the 16-50G pancake announcement has been put back to August. Very irritating and they deserve to lose sales to Olympus because of this dilettante approach.
Martin

Thoughtful article setting out the pluses and minuses of owning a NEX-7. I had intended to purchase a NEX-7 when the body price reached around £800 here in UK, but I must admit I am beginning to doubt it would be a good decision. I only need quality gear at this level for my Alamy submissions and frankly having reached 5000 images on line I am noticing that the earnings per image has halved. I am earning no more on 5000 images than I did on half that number. Not cost/effective to actually spend money on producing more images any longer.

My inventory of two A350, one A550, one A580, one NEX-5 and my trusted Panasonic LX5 with assorted lenses are more than capable of producing my type of images in the foreseeable future. Time to stop spending money on gear I really don't need.

David Kilpatrick wrote: Problem is, I could have written so much more...

David

I hope you kept the best for yourself

I thought long and hard as to whether to buy the 5n or the 7 as this was largely an experimental purchase much like buying an iPad was. And just as I have decided that I prefer the MacBook Air to the iPad, it will require substantial refinements before I will buy another Nex at this sort of price. Not that it is a bad camera but for me the SLT camera range is at present a better option. I bought the camera with a tax refund so it was a zero sum purchase for me.

Should Sony release the rumoured pancake 16 - 50 zoom and a couple of extra wide primes then some of my present niggles with this camera will go away. I think a lot of people are expecting that they could simply use long telephotos with no more thought or effort than if they were using a medium or high end DSLR. As David has pointed out and I mentioned to Sury this is not really the case. You can use long telephoto lenses if you accept the limitations and have a good tripod and head AND know how to use them.But lets face it a high end Nex is really a digital age substitute for a Contax or Leica RF camera and these cameras are intended for wide angle and short telephoto use.

And on the question of wide angle lenses, I do have a set of Contax C/Y lenses that are usable on a APS sized Nex camera but would be so much better on a FF camera. I hope to relegate these to the reserve bench when and if Sony gets round to releasing extra CZ wide angle primes but the same argument would still apply. Also I would not buy these in the E mount over the A mount as the Alpha cameras are my principal cameras even though the lenses would be larger and heavier. Some form of in body stabilization would be worth it if it doesn't make the camera too large, too expensive and too mechanically complex (unreliable) for its present price point.

I am not damning the current camera but simply pointing out what I believe is needed to make a mainstream successful camera into the future.

To me cameras such as a Nex 7 or a 9 fit in with the A77 and the rumoured A88 / A99 cameras and you shouldn't have to unlearn using these types or cameras to use an upper end Nex. To me this means a similar menu structure, GPS, the same batteries,a larger hand grip with side mounted memory card door ( tripod use and it is simply quicker), an optional vertical grip and a somewhat larger camera which would be useful in heat reduction for those given to video but to me would enable quicker handling with space for decently sized back and front control dials.

David Kilpatrick wrote:http://www.photoclubalpha.com/2012/07/1 ... nd-hybrid/

Problem is, I could have written so much more...

David

Very objective article, thanks. It shed some light on many issues I sometimes see with the a77. I even learned a thing or two to do with my a77... and yet too many questions arise.
Frankly, I noticed you have much more to say... thus leading to new questions... and dilemmas...

artington wrote:Unlike you, I'm not fussed about the lack of GPS - rather have more battery life - but when I recently had to replace a broken 7 I was seriously tempted by the E-MD with its in body IS but its a clunkier box than the elegant 7 and the IS is not rated highly by some reviewers.

In my experience, the E-M5 IBIS is at least as good as the A700 and probably better. Also, the EVF is stabilized.

David, that is a great review of a great but flawed camera. For me, the pluses outweigh the minuses, though I have to say that I find the NEX-7 a tremendous video camera companion that takes great stills in many conditions. Here is my vacation video that I shot handheld using the A77 and NEX7 cameras. The long shots were taken with the A77 and 70-400G lens, handheld. You can definitely notice camera shake, but the footage is usable. That won't be the case with the NEX7 handheld with the same lens.

https://vimeo.com/45559777

This is a video I am still editing - the music choice needs to change, for example. I did find that for landscape photography, the NEX7 was an ideal companion. But so was the A77. Most of the video footage (including the moose) were taken with the NEX7 and the Sony 18-200mm lens. A fantastic combination.

I am wondering, David. Do you still miss the NEX7? I do wish Sony would improve the AF performance and implement electronic stabilization of some form. That would make the camera even better.

I'm not missing the NEX-7 because I've got a NEX-3. I sold a NEX-5n with electronic finder, because of certain issues - mainly that it was not as convenient as the NEX-7, and the finder was somehow not as good.

What I am missing is eye-level operation. My RX100 comes tomorrow and my new specs come in a week or two, but they won't help as they are new distance ones, plus something I have never had before, a special office varifocal pair designed for the Mac screen and for reading things in different positions (expecting some headaches from that).

There was a 16mm optical finfer on eBay yesterday for £47.50 but it was at KEH in the USA and they won't ship to the UK, or I would have bought it. I am no way paying £180-200 for the finger, twice as much as for the lens! Crazy.

So, I am working on ideas to use an LCD-screen only camera better. Maybe a Hoodman loupe screen hood fitted to the RX.

David

What I am missing is eye-level operation.

I had the same problem when I purchased my NEX-5 back in December 2010. I had a Panasonic LX2 I fitted with a Clear Viewer http://www.clearviewer.com/index.html and I wasted no time ordering one for my NEX-5. I rarely take any pictures with my LX5 and NEX-5 without using my Clear Viewer (one for each camera). Fortunately the Pana one for the LX2 also was suitable for LX3 and now LX5. I recommend the quality glass although it is more expensive.

David Kilpatrick wrote above

I sold a NEX-5n with electronic finder, because of certain issues - mainly that it was not as convenient as the NEX-7, and the finder was somehow not as good.

Wex Photographic has got a Sony store now and are offering a body only NEX-5 at £429 after £50 cash back.
I was wondering if it would be a good deal to purchase one at that price and trade in or sell my NEX-5? Hopefully I would be able to transfer my Clear Viewer as I would not purchase the EVF add on finder. On the other hand the price may go down below that level later on when the upgraded model is released. I don't really need more than 16Mp and a slightly faster AF (compared with NEX-5) would be appreciated.

David Kilpatrick wrote: What I am missing is eye-level operation. My RX100 comes tomorrow and my new specs come in a week or two, but they won't help as they are new distance ones, plus something I have never had before, a special office varifocal pair designed for the Mac screen and for reading things in different positions (expecting some headaches from that).

There was a 16mm optical finfer on eBay yesterday for £47.50 but it was at KEH in the USA and they won't ship to the UK, or I would have bought it. I am no way paying £180-200 for the finger, twice as much as for the lens! Crazy.

So, I am working on ideas to use an LCD-screen only camera better. Maybe a Hoodman loupe screen hood fitted to the RX.

David

My RX-100 also coming tomorrow and I am interested to see whether the screen lives up to its promise. Like David I prefer a finder (but not a finfer or finger ) but I can live with an LCD on a tiny box like the RX-100. Hopefully Adobe comes up with raw compatibility on LR4 in speedy time.

A thoughtful and thought provoking review as always DK - thank you.

For landscape and macro I much prefer LV and that lovely big 3" view . For action though the A700 OVF is much preferred. Very clever of Sony to make me want two of their APS-C cameras at the same time. Unluckily for them too much investment required for me at this time .