Just bought Sony NEX 5, advice on alternative lenses if poss?

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jonathanhubbard

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Hi all,

Complete Novice here, don't really know anything about photography but I plan on changing that :thinking:

I've recently purchased a Sony NEX 5 - didn't actually intend to but I was very impressed with the specs so decided to take the plunge!

I now want to look at alternative lenses, I particularly like the fisheye effect on photos but don't know enough about the different types of lens...

I know the NEX is an E Mount, and you need an adapter to be able to use other lenses. Sony's official adapter to A mount is over £100, then you need the lens.

So looking on ebay I found this - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fisheye-Macro...97733761?pt=Camera_Lenses&hash=item45f70f8881 which seems to be about £100 cheaper than any other type of fisheye. and I can use it with my current 18-55mm lens.

I know they won't be as good as a dedicated fisheye lens, but has anyone used anything like this before? Just starting out it seems like a good step in to alternative lenses.

However being a complete newbie also very conscious that I can easily buy a load of tat that will just be thrown away :-)

Any advice would be very much appreciated :wave:

Jon
 
Jon, the ebay link is for a complete throw away - save your money for something better. There are plenty of cheap adapters for various different manual focus lenses, including nikon, pentax, canon fd, leica and so on. I am sure you would be able to find good bargains on that front. Just never buy "cheap" unbranded (and uncoated) glass in any form.
 
Thanks for the information both appreciate you helping a novice out you must get these questions all the time...

Glad I checked I'll give the cheap lenses a wide berth. It may be best to wait until I can afford the 16mm pancake lens and the official fisheye adapter.

I only went for the 18-55mm lens primarily down to cost, but I couldn't understand why anyone would want a lens that doesn't zoom like the 16mm, when you have 18 at the lowest setting on the main lens.

I don't suppose you know - if both the 16mm and the 18-55mm are 49mm, why wouldn't the official Sony fisheye adapter VCL-ECU1 work on the 18-55?

Ah how uneducated I must sound :lol:
 
jonathanhubbard said:
I don't suppose you know - if both the 16mm and the 18-55mm are 49mm, why wouldn't the official Sony fisheye adapter VCL-ECU1 work on the 18-55?
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I imagine that they were designed to work together taking into account the characteristics of the 16mm. I imagine that they will work just that image quality may not be as good & of course they won't go quite as wide on the 18-55 as on the 16.
 
The 16mm is an amazing lens, and don't believe the pixel peepers. If folks stare at everything with a magnifying glass, they don't just find problems, they become problems. As I wrote elsewhere, recently - ever looked at a Monet at 100%? Blotchy nonsense, I tell ya...

So, find a 16mm and try it. Lovely imprecise bokeh - almost rangefinderlike; easy to handhold slow exposures [1/15 is fair game, 1/8 if you're steady]; nice tonality, fast aperture; and AF and AE is preserved.

Once again, don't discount it because everyone told you to on the internet. We're not all alike, you know!
 
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Well I think you've sold it to me. I'm going to try and get hold of the official fisheye adapter, see how it works on the 18-55 and if not wait until next pay day to get the 16mm pancake lens :)

First off though time to start browsing this forum for some good educational material... I hate being 'all the gear, no idea' so I need to understand how to take some good pics with this ace bit of kit!
 
chrism_scotland said:
I've been quite keen on the NEX but the lack of small AF lenses is pushing me toward Micro 4/3,!
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Fixed for you ;)
with adapters there are all sorts of lenses that work on NEX (& indeed micro 4/3) with manual focus & of course Sony Alpha mount lenses with in-lens motors will AF (albeit slowly) with the Sony adapter but are not small.

There are more lenses coming for NEX though incl. Zeiss.
 
I have the 16mm and the ultra wide angle adaptor - VCL-ECU1 - to match (I don't like fish-eye's :)) and it's a great combo.

It really does bring out the best in the 16mm and has virtually no convergence issues too.
 
heidfirst said:
Fixed for you ;)
with adapters there are all sorts of lenses that work on NEX (& indeed micro 4/3) with manual focus & of course Sony Alpha mount lenses with in-lens motors will AF (albeit slowly) with the Sony adapter but are not small.

There are more lenses coming for NEX though incl. Zeiss.
Click to expand...

I think the NEX as a system will be excellent once they get some more native lenses, I don't mind using MF lenses but compared to Micro 4/3 there just aren't as many attractive, fairly affordable native lenses at the moment.

I do expect this to change eventually though!
 
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