Sony Nex-7 finally Being Shipped.
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Woohoooo!! Bet you'll be wearing a hole in the carpet waiting for the delivery van
LOL. I must admit it's a long time since I've been this excited about a camera, so yep - I'll be peering through the curtains no doubt.
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Fair question Frac. I'm interested in all genres of photography and this camera is one you can take with you pretty well anywhere, and offers image quality unheard of previously in a camera of this size. It actually offers IQ not matched by any other APS-C sized sensor including any current DSLR.
There's a good choice of converter mounts available which offers the ability to fit lenses from other marques, including the Zeiss lenses from my Contax G2. Sony were pretty shrewd in offering details of their lens mount to 3rd party manufacturers of converters at a very early stage in the development as they realised the ability to fit other marque lenses would be a big attraction for potential buyers. Choice of Sony AF lenses for the camera is limited at the moment, but Sony have quite a few new lenses in the pipeline.
The camera also has the most advanced OLED (digital) viewfinder yet seen and offers a manual focusing system which is very high tech - basically the in-focus parts of the image change colour - it's a very quick and positive way to use manual focus.
It's not an all-rounder in that the servo AF system is no match for a DSLR, but for most other things it's a veryattractive proposition.
I won't be dumping the DSLRs or the long lenses any time soon though.
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OP
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Good news! If you end up selling a 5n compatible Evf I claim bagsies!
I never bought one Jim, although I probably would have done had it not been for the fact I ordered the Nex-7. It has to be a worthwhile purchase though for anyone with a 5N. As far as I can see they're in very short supply with the only available ones being from the far east, although that situation may change now with Sony back in production.
No doubt you will!
menthel
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I never bought one Jim, although I probably would have done had it not been for the fact I ordered the Nex-7. It has to be a worthwhile purchase though for anyone with a 5N. As far as I can see they're in very short supply with the only available ones being from the far east, although that situation may change now with Sony back in production.
No doubt you will!
Thanks Cedric, will be good to see the results. I am debating stil over the EVF- digitalrev have them for a fair price and I do have some spare money. The problem is that I have more plans for that money than I have funds available!
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srichards
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OP
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Finally! 
Firstly- Jessops get a bad press, no doubt often deserved, but the guy who rang me on Sunday couldn't have been more pleasant. He was working Sunday to clear the backlog of back orders in view of the length of time people had waited for delivery. I was promised free next day delivery and that's exactly what I got, so well done to Jessops.
Presentation and boxing of the camera is very nice- quite reminiscent of the way Apple do things - not quite to that standard, but not far off.
The body itself is not heavy but has a reassuring weight to it. It feels very well built and the initial impression is that it isn't going to baulk at being worked hard. It's noticeably bigger than the NEX- 5N, but still only around the size of a fairly compact 35mm rangefinder.
The OLED viewfinder is a surprise, albeit it a pleasant one. The viewfinder is the same size as a 1DS MK3 apart from perhaps a millimetre on the longest side. It's big and bright with a wealth of camera and exposure info displayed . A quick fiddle with the dioptre adjustment and the image and exposure data are pin sharp. The viewfinder also shows a 100% field of view with no cropping which is very impressive.
This is an enormously complex camera, which thankfully has been made highly customisable via 2 wheels and a button on the top plate to get the camera set up to exactly how you want to shoot, but I'm going to have to break the habit of a lifetime for once and actually read the manual to get it set up how I want it.
Off to read the manual, but watch this space.
Firstly- Jessops get a bad press, no doubt often deserved, but the guy who rang me on Sunday couldn't have been more pleasant. He was working Sunday to clear the backlog of back orders in view of the length of time people had waited for delivery. I was promised free next day delivery and that's exactly what I got, so well done to Jessops.
Presentation and boxing of the camera is very nice- quite reminiscent of the way Apple do things - not quite to that standard, but not far off.
The body itself is not heavy but has a reassuring weight to it. It feels very well built and the initial impression is that it isn't going to baulk at being worked hard. It's noticeably bigger than the NEX- 5N, but still only around the size of a fairly compact 35mm rangefinder.
The OLED viewfinder is a surprise, albeit it a pleasant one. The viewfinder is the same size as a 1DS MK3 apart from perhaps a millimetre on the longest side. It's big and bright with a wealth of camera and exposure info displayed . A quick fiddle with the dioptre adjustment and the image and exposure data are pin sharp. The viewfinder also shows a 100% field of view with no cropping which is very impressive.
This is an enormously complex camera, which thankfully has been made highly customisable via 2 wheels and a button on the top plate to get the camera set up to exactly how you want to shoot, but I'm going to have to break the habit of a lifetime for once and actually read the manual to get it set up how I want it.
Off to read the manual, but watch this space.
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OP
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I will, although real life problems seem to be conspiring to stop me actually getting out and taking any shots at the moment, but i will post some shots up as soon as I get a chance.
In spite of everything I said earlier, the manual remains unopened. After a few hours sitting and playing around (as you do) I have to say that the camera is pretty intuitive to set up and I have it pretty much as I want it. Anyone looking for just a portable point and shoot camera may well find it overkill for their needs and could easily be over-whelmed by it, but anyone coming from a NEX 5 or 5N should have no problems at all - in fact anyone with reasonable camera experience shouldn't be intimidated by the camera in the least in spite of some the things I read. :shrug:
Rangefinder fans are obviously going to be drawn to this camera with it's ability to use their Leica, Contax, Zeiss etc. lenses with it's excellent manual peak focusing system which works so well and makes accurate manual focusing a doddle. A quick test with my Contax G Zeiss lenses and the Metabones converter shows that they all work just as they should.
There's no point in doing a full review, there are plenty out there already, but I'm just trying to keep my comments of practical use to prospective buyers.
The digital viewfinder is superb and one of the options in the menus is to enable mirroring of all preview screen info in the viewfinder. What this means in practise is that there isn't a single setting on the camera whether it's being made via the menu screens or any of the soft keys and customisable buttons, which can't be made without taking your eye from the viewfinder. This will become enormously useful once you've programmed yourself to find the necessary buttons without looking and it really isn't difficult to do that - they're very thoughtfully placed from a user point of view.
A couple of minor irritations which have been picked up by some reviewers......
With the camera hanging around your neck and switched on, every time the viewfinder gets covered by your clothes, the camera will wake up and enable the LED viewfinder as it 'assumes' your eye is at the viewfinder. The same applies when putting the camera in a bag or pocket - make sure it's powered off or you'll get rapid battery drain.
A thing which annoys a lot of people is that it's all too easy to accidentally catch the video button on the back of the camera with your thumb. It's fair comment - it could be better placed, but I only managed to do it once in an evening of messing about and being unfamiliar with the camera, so once you know about the problem I can't see it being a major issue.
Other than these minor issues, the camera is. pretty much perfect for me and I suspect will be for many others.
The battery is identical to the one in the 5N
It looks like I'll get about 1700 full sized best quality jpegs on a 16 gig card. I haven't installed the raw software yet so I dunno how many raw files the same card will hold.
Just be aware that the camera takes huge 24.3 mp files, so you don't want to be processing too many shots on a slow computer, and if you want snappy performance from the NEX-7 then divvy up and get the fastest card you can.
That's it for now.....
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I'd be very interested in this camera but there isn't one Sony E mount lens that I'd want and third party lenses seem as common as hens teeth.
If the Siggy 30mm f1.4 would fit it'd probably clinch the deal.
If the Siggy 30mm f1.4 would fit it'd probably clinch the deal.
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At least the Fuji has some attractive (to me) lenses, but as I wear glasses most of the time the lack of diopter adjustments seems to be an amazing shot into the foot by Fuji. I just can't understand why they'd leave it off and offer individual corrective lenses. I'm not interested in buying and fitting them individually so it's definitely a try and test severely before buy.
Irritable_Rabbit
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OP
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Quick thread hijack... But holy shiny Contax G2 CTman!!... You still have it and use it after all this time!
I knew it went to a good home.
Well I'll go to the foot of our stairs!...Jonathan!!
And helloI have been.... Away.
That sounds like you've been banged up - or abducted by aliens?
Damn right I still have the Contax. Nice to know you're still around.
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I can see why that's muddied the waters a bit for you - the Fuji looks cracking.
Willo
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I sold my 5n ready to get the 7 but X-Pro 1 has definitely got my attention, add to the delays and the 7 has colour cast with legacy wide angles I've really gone off it.
The Fuji looks very good from what I've seen, I just need to know how it handles M mount glass.
The delays of the 7 really did work against it with the Fuji being announced, but it still looks a very good camera with a nice sensor and the Zeiss 24mm even compares pretty favourably to the Leica 24mm Summilux which costs about £5,000. I'm reading a rolling review of the X-Pro by Sean Reid and it does look like it needs some stereotypical Fuji problems sorted out (orbs, weird firmware etc).
I like my NEX-5, but I find myself using the 18-55mm on it rather than the Leica 50mm Summilux ASPH or Zeiss M glass as manual focus with the LCD screen (even with peaking) is unnatural to me. The M mount glass renders lovely on it though, so a NEX-7 looks a good bet.
I like my NEX-5, but I find myself using the 18-55mm on it rather than the Leica 50mm Summilux ASPH or Zeiss M glass as manual focus with the LCD screen (even with peaking) is unnatural to me. The M mount glass renders lovely on it though, so a NEX-7 looks a good bet.
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The problem with the NEX-7 and legacy wide angle lenses needs to be looked at realistically. These lenses were originally designed for, and only ever intended to be used with, film - not digital sensors.The problem is many legacy wide angle lenses are of a symmetrical design which means that the light hits the sensor at an oblique angle which is what actually causes the cast problem. Some legacy wide angle lenses are of a retro focus design (a sort of reverse telescope) which means light takes a less straight path through the lens and hits the sensor at a less oblique angle. These lenses don't cause the colour cast on the Nex-7. If you already own legacy wide lenses then it's going to be a lottery as to which type you have. Both my 21mm and. 28mm Zeiss Biogon lenses exhibit the magenta edge cast. It's more pronounced the wider the lens as you'd expect.
The NEX 5N doesn't suffer from any of these issues - largely because it has fewer and larger pixels than the NEX-7. Fuji may well prove to be wise in restricting the Xpro 1 to 16mp, but it doesn't mean that the problem won't be there depending on other factors, or that it wont have other niggling issues anyway.
If the use of wide angle lenses on the NEX-7 is a big issue for you then stick with the 5N, although to state the obvious, shooting in B&W completely removes the problem, or you can download free software which solves both the vignetting and the colour cast issue once your lens is calibrated to the software.
https://sites.google.com/site/cornerfix/
I can already hear people howling that 24.3mp is a bridge too far on the NEX-7 but it's worth remembering that Sony didn't design this camera primarily for use with legacy lenses - it's a welcome feature which we now know will largely depend on which legacy lenses you use, but you have to look at the camera as a whole before you chuck the baby out with the bath water.....
DxO have concluded intensive testing of the NEX-7 and given it a score for IQ which is exceeded by some medium format digital cameras and only the Nikon D3S and Pentax K5 out of the contemporary DSLRs and by an almost negligible amount at that. This is some incredible feat on a 24 mp 1.5X crop sensor! The NEX-7 and cameras like it are going to make an enormous change in the type of cameras many people feel inclined to buy - hence the rush for manufacturers to get into the market place with their offerings.
The NEX 5N doesn't suffer from any of these issues - largely because it has fewer and larger pixels than the NEX-7. Fuji may well prove to be wise in restricting the Xpro 1 to 16mp, but it doesn't mean that the problem won't be there depending on other factors, or that it wont have other niggling issues anyway.
If the use of wide angle lenses on the NEX-7 is a big issue for you then stick with the 5N, although to state the obvious, shooting in B&W completely removes the problem, or you can download free software which solves both the vignetting and the colour cast issue once your lens is calibrated to the software.
https://sites.google.com/site/cornerfix/
I can already hear people howling that 24.3mp is a bridge too far on the NEX-7 but it's worth remembering that Sony didn't design this camera primarily for use with legacy lenses - it's a welcome feature which we now know will largely depend on which legacy lenses you use, but you have to look at the camera as a whole before you chuck the baby out with the bath water.....
DxO have concluded intensive testing of the NEX-7 and given it a score for IQ which is exceeded by some medium format digital cameras and only the Nikon D3S and Pentax K5 out of the contemporary DSLRs and by an almost negligible amount at that. This is some incredible feat on a 24 mp 1.5X crop sensor! The NEX-7 and cameras like it are going to make an enormous change in the type of cameras many people feel inclined to buy - hence the rush for manufacturers to get into the market place with their offerings.
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I might end up with a Nex 7, dunno yet, depends on how the Fuji suits, and I'll probably end up using a manual focus lens with it but I do wish that the AF options were more attractive... a fairly compact 30mm f1.4 would be a very tempting start.
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I can't argue with that. Availability of good AF lenses for the 7 is sparse at the moment, but Sony have quite a few Zeiss AF lenses in the pipeline, which will obviously not be cheap. Given the fact that we're no doubt going to see an explosion in these types of cameras I'm sure lens development is a high priority for all makers at the moment so in due course you'll probably get your wish - I hope so.
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I suppose time will tell.
It's interesting that Fuji has come out with what to me look like three attractive lenses whilst I can't really pick one Sony lens I'd want so there isn't really a Sony AF starting point for me, at this moment.
It's interesting that Fuji has come out with what to me look like three attractive lenses whilst I can't really pick one Sony lens I'd want so there isn't really a Sony AF starting point for me, at this moment.
Irritable_Rabbit
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Well I'll go to the foot of our stairs!...Jonathan!!
That sounds like you've been banged up - or abducted by aliens?
Damn right I still have the Contax. Nice to know you're still around.
I shall be slightly cheeky and hijack this thread again...
Although to be on topic, the NEX 7 and a couple of lenses would be my choice for a mirrorless ILC if:
a) I needed a smaller, hi quality camera for travel.
b) I had the money spare. Which I don't because I've spent it on a big camera.
Off Topic: Yep.. Sorry to the world. Still around.
Your guess of abduction by aliens is probably closest to the truth. Analogous to being probed and having my mind messed with. 
But I hang in there, doing what I do in the style that I do it.
G
gingerweasel
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CT - How are you getting on with it? Do you have any images you can post?
I was looking at DxO and they do indeed rate the NEX-7 very highly. I was especially surprised to see it score so high for ISO. It comes slightly ahead of the X100 but the real world samples I've seen at high ISO look a lot noisier than the X100.
I was looking at DxO and they do indeed rate the NEX-7 very highly. I was especially surprised to see it score so high for ISO. It comes slightly ahead of the X100 but the real world samples I've seen at high ISO look a lot noisier than the X100.
bl0at3r
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Hold on, does this work on the nex7 ???