 Your new post is loading...
The Sony NEX 5N and NEX 7 are superb cameras. Raw files from the NEX 5N can deliver stunning 13X19" prints quite easily; so I never regretted buying this camera for its extreme portability and discretion when traveling. It packs a lot of quality in a very small package. The only frustration has been the relatively small number of lenses that are made for it - an improving story as the product line matures. Yes, I do have the (costly) LA-EA2 adapter and it does extend the lens options considerably, but the pickings are thin in the super wide-angle zoom category (lenses in the range of 10~18mm zoom). I've tried three different ones using the adapter and returned them, because sharpness at long ends of the images was simply inadequate (to my liking) to justify the high prices one pays for them. Two of the three were also quite heavy and all of them used with the adapter added much bulk to the camera, impairing the beauty of handling it.
While on the subject of returning lenses – do yourselves a favour and buy from retailers who will take them back and refund your money without fees if you're not happy after a short trial period. This is particularly important for these zoom lenses that are challenging to design and manufacture, and experience indicates that not every piece is necessarily optimal.
So I was patiently awaiting the day when Sony would produce a super wide-angle zoom with an E-Mount for the NEX. Last week they finally hit dealers' shelves and my patience was rewarded. The NEW Sony 10~18mm super wide angle zoom really has some good things going for it.
"Sony has announced the NEX-F3 entry-level 16MP mirrorless camera and lightweight 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 OSS stabilized superzoom lens with for the E-mount. The NEX-F3 gains a built-in flash, along with the updated 16MP sensor from its NEX-5N big brother. Its big party trick is undoubtedly its LCD, whose image automatically mirrors when it's flipped up for taking self-portraits. Meanwhile, the E18-200mm F3.5-5.6 LE OSS is a more compact, lighter 11x superzoom lens for the NEX system. Starting in June, the NEX-F3 will have an MSRP of around $600, while the SEL18200LE will sell for around $850 from July. With its 62mm filter thread, minimum focusing distance of 0.5m and 17 element/13 group design, the SEL18200LE does look a lot like the lens Tamron announced in December 2011."
Click here for our hands-on preview of the NEX-F3, including real-world samples
"I generally don’t write separate reviews on items. I put a ‘take’ up on most items we rent, letting people know what I think about it. That lets me be neutral because it doesn’t make me any difference what people rent as long as they’re happy with it: the return on a $10,000 lens and a $200 lens is the same to us. So if I think a product isn’t good I’ll suggest something else.
Every once in a while, though, I’ll evaluate a piece of equipment as a possible rental item and really be impressed with it. Impressed enough to write something about it even though we don’t even stock it for rent (yet). That happened today. We received a Nanoha Ultra Macro lens for mirrorless cameras that I’d ordered to evaluate as a possible rental item. Let me start by saying my expectations were low. The lens is made from a microscope objective so it has a maximum f/11 aperture. It has some LED lights on the front which I usually think of as something cheap and ineffective. If you Google Nanoha you get 42 pages about a female Anime character. But they had some nice images on their site, and I thought it might, might be worth a look."
"SLR Magic is an interesting new chinese lens brand. They are manufacturing manual focus lenses for various mounts including Micro-Four-Thirds and Sony NEX. So far most of their lenses were found on the cheaper end of the food chain but they are keen of delivering more ambitious products in the future. We’ve already tested their 12mm f/1.6 in Micro-Four-Thirds mount with good results. However, they have just released a very different beast – the SLR Magic Hyperprime LM CINE 50mm T/0.95 in Leica M mount – it is a build-to-order product. Some of you may not be familiar with the T-value here - it refers to the effective light transmission characteristic rather than the calculated f-number (the T-value is slower than the f-number). At ca. 3000$ it is certainly far from being cheap in absolute terms. However, compared to the Leica Noctilux 50mm f/0.95 it is almost affordable. Please note that it is very different to the Hyperprime 50mm f/0.95 that has already been available for MFT for around 1000$ - this may be a bit confusing so watch out for the details of the lens name.
We’ll provide a Leica M mount review later but as a teaser we have done a quick test based on the Sony NEX 7 and a Metabones Leica M to NEX adapter. Such a setup can only be used with manual focusing and aperture-priority (or M) mode. Due to the purely manual coupling there is no lens specific EXIF data."
The picture on top (Click here it to see the full size version!) shows an intriguing test made by DSRLcheck. It compares the JPEG quality of the very likely three new most famous mirrorless cameras at 28mm focal length...
"Sony have today released the first sample videos from the NEX-FS700. The video features my friend Den Lennie (who created my DSLR training DVD alongside me) and various other filmmakers who have had a chance to shoot with pre-production cameras. It was also very interesting to note that Sony met with Den to discuss camera development six months ago – clearly they are actively listening to shooters needs..."
"As of the time of this review high quality zoom lens options are not really available in Sony E mount (Sony NEX) so it is viable to have a look beyond. Sony Alpha (DSLR) lenses can be used on NEX cameras via Sony Alpha adapters (EA-LA1 & LA2). The more interesting adapter is the new Sony EA-LA2 which basically transforms your NEX into a Sony Alpha SLT DSLR with phase-detection AF support - with no real drawbacks apart from the extra bulk.
An attractive Alpha lens option is certainly the fairly new Sony 16-50mm f/2.8 DT SSM - a fast, high grade standard zoom. It is a native APS-C format lens featuring a field-of-view equivalent to about "24-75mm f/4" on full format cameras. The "f/4" refers to the comparable depth-of-field. For determining the exposure, the real aperture obviously remains the relevant number. It is a rather large lens so a NEX camera looks a little dwarfish when "attached to the lens""
"I’ve always been fascinated by pancake lenses. It just amazes me that something that small can actually function. As I mentioned in an earlier post, we’ve been taking things apart to determine where and how (and sometimes if) the lenses can be adjusted optically. So, I decided to do two pancake lenses for mirrorless cameras side-by-side to see how they differed (the Sony 17mm f/2.8 E mount and the Olympus 16mm f/2.8 micro 4/3 mount). I wasn’t sure there would be much we could do with pancakes (and there wasn’t), but I still found the look inside rather interesting."
"The weakest spot of the Sony NEX system is the rather limited amount of lenses. Released in latest 2011 the Sony E 30mm f/3.5 macro was the fourth lens (type) for the system. At the time the community was fairly surprised about the specs - a slow speed and rather "wide" macro lenses is certainly not a priority for a new system. Anyway, macro lenses tend to be pretty good so this may be something to get excited about ... hopefully."
"Sony has said it will have 15 lenses ready for the NEX system by the end of 2013. It made the annoucement of an expanded E-mount roadmap at the start of the CP+ trade show in Yokohama, Japan. The roadmap includes a variety of zooms and prime lenses, including a high-end standard zoom with Sony's premium 'G' branding. There will also be a pancake prime and a mid-telephoto prime lens some time during 2013. The roadmap is understandably hazy about exactly when each lens will arrive but with the huge biennial Photokina trade show coming later in 2012, it seems reasonable to assume some will arrive then."
We've rounded-up the latest Mirrorless cameras, breaking them down into user groups and highlighting the standout models. Having used all the current crop of cameras extensively, we summarize their main strengths and weaknesses.
The Sony Alpha NEX-5N is one of three new NEX models announced by Sony in August 2011. The NEX mirrorless ILC range is built around a large 'APS-C' sensor (the same in many DSLRs) which allowed the original NEX-3 and NEX-5 establish a reputation for quality and superb low noise performance in a very compact body...
"Since we tested the Sony SLT A77 we were very curious to see how the soon-to-be released Sony NEX 7 would compare. And today we have the answer: as we expected, the absence of mirror give the NEX7 some advantages. Let's see it in details..."
|
Sony has announced the Alpha NEX-5R, the latest in its series of mid-level mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras. The 16MP 5R adds on-sensor phase detection elements to enable hybrid autofocus, and gains a control dial and dedicated function button over its predecessor, the 5N. The 5R also gains Wi-Fi capabilities and the ability to run proprietary in-camera apps to extend its capabilities.
Read our preview to find out more.
"In January 2012 the Sigma company presented two new lenses designed for mirrorless cameras - the Sigma 30 mm f/2.8 EX DN and the Sigma 19 mm f/2.8 EX DN. One month ago we have published our review of the first one of them. Today the time has come for the second. Enjoy!"
"Here at Photozone we sometimes enjoy having a look beyond the mainstream and I always wanted to check out the Voigtlander Heliar 75mm f/1.8 VM. The lens is actually made by Cosina (Japan) and only marketed under the classic (German/Austrian) Voigtländer brand name. It is a fairly recently released product with Leica M mount. We'll surely give it another look on the Leica M9 soon but I was curious how it performs on the Sony NEX 7 with its ambitious 24mp sensor.
If you don't mind using an adapter solution with manual focusing, working aperture and without lens EXIF data it may be worth a thought. After all Sony has only released a handful of more or less acceptable lenses in Sony E mount so far."
"It's now been six months since I started using the Sony NEX-7. I received one for testing in November, 2011, just before leaving for six months in Mexico, and have been using it there all winter. It was my primary camera over that period of time. I liked it so much that shortly after starting to work with it I ordered one for my long term use. The NEX-7 has been a huge success for Sony. Delayed by the events in Thailand and Japan last year, and only now entering full-scale world-wide distribution, this 24 Megapixel APS-C camera is small enough to fit in a pocket (at least with pancake lens) yet able enough to produce large exhibition quality prints. But, it's not without its flaws..."
The Sigma 19 mm f/2.8 EX DN lens has come to our editorial office, recently. We are pleased
to present the sample pictures taken using this lens mounted to the mirrorless Sony NEX-7 camera.
"The Sony E 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS got a companion to cover the mid to long tele range - the Sony E 55-210mm f/4.5-6.3 OSS. Both lenses are also sold in some double lens kits with a NEX camera. The 55-210mm OSS has a 3.8x zoom ratio which is about typical for such kit zoom lenses. The max. aperture of f/6.3 at 210mm is slower than average though - this is, most likely, a measure to keep the lens as small as possible. In full format terms it "behaves" like a "83-315mm" so it is suitable for applications such as basic portrait-, sports- and wildlife-photography."
"The Zeiss Planar T* 85mm f/1.4 ZA (Sony SAL-85F14Z) is certainly not an obvious choice for being used on the Sony NEX but if nothing else it is certainly an interesting experiment - especially using the new 24 megapixel sensor of the NEX 7. The Zeiss ZA 135mm f/1.8 may still be a tad better but it can certainly be taken as a benchmark lens.
The lens can be used on NEX cameras via Sony Alpha adapters. You can even use autofocus when using the Sony EA-LA2 adapter. Basically it transforms your NEX into a Sony Alpha SLT. The setup with the Zeiss lens is a bit front-heavy for sure but I had no real issues with this - other may disagree with this view. The NEX system has an APS-C format sensor so the ZA 85mm f/1.4 behaves like a "130mm f/2" on a full format camera. The "f/2" refers to the comparable depth-of-field at f/1.4. The speed remains attached to the original aperture, of course."
"50mm lenses were almost a forgotten species but during the very recent years they have seen a revival - on APS-C format cameras they are something like a moderate tele lens and as such a quite attractive option for portrait- or street-photography. Now Sony did a little more than just releasing a "plain" 50mm lens - they added an optical image stabilizer ("Optical Steady Shot" in Sony terms). The Sony E 50mm f/1.8 OSS is also the fastest stabilized system lens ever built (as of the time of this review). This was certainly a difficult engineering task considering the centering effects on the optical system at such large apertures."
"I have to say I have one of the better jobs on the planet, at least for a photography gear-head. The part I like best — well, really there’s a lot of parts I like best — but one fun part is that my job description includes: Take things apart. See how they work. Learn how to fix them..."
"Remember the NEX-7? Ever since a days-long shooting session back in September, Sony's prized mirrorless cam has eluded us -- and the rest of the world. As you may recall, the flagship Alpha ILC was hit by the Thailand floods, resulting in delay after delay, eventually missing the holiday shopping season entirely before resurfacing late last month. Another week later and our beloved Sony Alpha NEX-7 has finally arrived, ready to take on the streets of New York City. So what exactly is the NEX-7, and why does it cost as much as a mid-range DSLR? First off, the 24.3-megapixel APS-C ILC captures, well, 24.3-megapixel images, offering the highest resolution of any mirrorless model on the market. Its APS-C sensor is identical to the one found in Sony's A77 DSLR, measuring larger than Micro Four Thirds and on par with most full-size digital SLRs."
"Our in-depth review of the Sony Alpha NEX-7. With its 24MP APS-C sensor and high-resolution EVF encased in a compact body with lots of external controls, the NEX-7 is one of the most desirable cameras of the year for the enthusiast photographer - on paper at least. But at a body-only price around $1000, it's far from cheap. So does it live up to the expectations and hype? Read our 28-page in-depth review to find out."
"Hong Kong-based lens maker SLR Magic has announced a 23mm F1.7 lens for Sony NEX cameras as part of its 'HyperPrime' range. The E-mount lens offers a 35mm equivalent field-of-view and a minimum focus distance of 0.15m to offer a good degree of control over depth-of-field. It becomes the company's forth E-mount lens (in addition to the recently announced 35mm F1.7, 50mm F0.95 and 28mm F2.8), which it claims it is the fastest APS-C lens of this focal length. The company is seeking volunteers to provide feedback, who will be able to buy the lens at a discounted price."
|
