Summicron 35mm on NEX-3

[s.agar]

I'm quite happy to see that this lens gives very sharp photos, from corner to corner. No vignetting even wide open (using the sweet spot of the lens), and "almost" no CA. PLUS a Leica look.

F2

F5.6

My Fotodiox adapter is fine, except that it has been machined thinner than required, which makes focusing with the marked distances useless. Actual infinity is at around 10 m line of the scale.

Seyhun

 

[turtleinsea]

Nice shots.

Few questions from a potential NEX buyer. When using leica m lenses, is the auto metering and exposure from the camera accurate? Or do you have to shoot manual mode to get the best results?

I found from my experience from shooting leica r lenses on dslrs that manual mode was the only reliable way to get a shot. I fear this ay be too cumbersome given the NEXs controls.

Finally, have you had a chance to use or at least research how the zeiss zm 35/2 compares to the 35 summicron?

 

[roweraay]

I fear this ay be too cumbersome given the NEXs controls.

I believe in full manual mode, all you need to do is to go into the menu and leave it on full manual. Then you use the dial to change the shutter speed and the aperture (you do not have to go back to the menu for that, once you set it to full manual in the menu).

In the past, to change the ISO, you had to go back into the menu, but with the new firmware upgrade, you can assign the ISO to a button and thus will not have to menu-dive to change it. In other words, full-manual is full-manual via dials/buttons, without the need to menu-dive.

Of course if you are an "A" or "S" mode shooter primarily, the above still applies, where you set it to either "A" or "S" one single time in the menu, and then will not have to re-visit the menu to change the shutter speed or aperture......and with the assignable button, ISO is also directly accessible.

 

[s.agar]

Anoyher sample, but this time with a better light

 

[s.agar]

I think the auto metering is very reliable with my NEX-3 Summicron combo. However, I "usually" set -1/3 exposure, to eliminate blowing up the highlights.
Changing this setting is difficult, but then it's the only way. I don't think I'm much slower than while using the Leica M8.

The Manual focus aid is very nice with this excellent quality LCD screen. I may be doing better than my M8(?), even under bright lighting.

But there's a tricky point. I use MF with F/2, and then stop down to the actual F stop. For the next photo, if I expand the view while I'm at say F/8, and then remember that I need to go back to F/2, the camera blows up the view. You need to go to F/2 first, and then expand the view.

I can't say the procedure is a quick one, but it pays off for me. (I couldn't like the Sony kit lenses, especially the zoom lens).

Seyhun.

Nice shots.

Few questions from a potential NEX buyer. When using leica m lenses, is the auto metering and exposure from the camera accurate? Or do you have to shoot manual mode to get the best results?

I found from my experience from shooting leica r lenses on dslrs that manual mode was the only reliable way to get a shot. I fear this ay be too cumbersome given the NEXs controls.

Finally, have you had a chance to use or at least research how the zeiss zm 35/2 compares to the 35 summicron?

 

[simonclivehughes]

But there's a tricky point. I use MF with F/2, and then stop down to the actual F stop. For the next photo, if I expand the view while I'm at say F/8, and then remember that I need to go back to F/2, the camera blows up the view. You need to go to F/2 first, and then expand the view.

Seyhun,

Can you explain why you feel this is necessary? I'm using fast glass (CV 50mm f1.1) on the NEX and the screen gains up enough to focus without having to open the lens up.

Cheers,

 

[saxshooter]

I've been reading your posts with great interest. Would you say all the Leica M to NEX adapters are created equal? What made you decide to get the NEX-3 (which I'm leaning towards) and not the NEX-5?

 

[hardloaf]

In general matrix metering in my NEX-5 works very well and I use it exclusively with manual lenses (Zeiss Flektogon 35/2.4 and Zeiss Sonnar 50/1.5 ZM).
For shooting I mostly use A mode and adjust aperture on the lens. It's perfect this way and I actually like it much better than adjusting aperture via some dial. In this case camera adjusts shutter and compensates LCD view so I can always see what I get right away no matter what aperture value is. EV compensation is available through shortcut on the dials bottom push.
You may also switch to M mode for more precise shutter control. With such LCD it's actually easy to adjust shutter just by looking at screen - if it looks right on LCD it will look right on computer.
Also in bright light I found that matrix metering + 3 frames bracketing with 0.7EV step works the best instead of constantly dialing compensation. I just push shutter and let it fire 3 shot (7 FPS is very handy for this and it stops after 3 shots). Later there will be something to choose.
Hope this helps.

 

[s.agar]

You are right, the screen gains up enough for general photos.

But for critical focusing, you may use the lens wide open (where DOF is very shallow). Then you are sure that what you have selected for focusing will be razor sharp. Then you select your actual F-stop depending on your choice.

But note that, if it's very bright scene, wide open focusing will also be very difficult, because the LCD may not cope with an F1.1, and may be very bright, to the extent of blowing up the details on bright parts. I have seen this even with F2 of the Summicron. Then I use f4 for critical focusing.

Seyhun,

Can you explain why you feel this is necessary? I'm using fast glass (CV 50mm f1.1) on the NEX and the screen gains up enough to focus without having to open the lens up.

Cheers,

 

[s.agar]

Thanks for your comments.

1. Not all adapters are the same. Fotodiox is a very reliable manufacturer, but even in their case the machining tolerances make differences. The general preference is to machine with negative tolerances to guarantee infinity focusing. In my case, with this particular adapter, I get infinity focusing at the 10meters line of the scale. With plus tolerances, you may not get to infinity focusing.
2. I actually preferred the NEX-5, because while it's practically the same, it has better video capabilities. The price difference was only 100 Dollars, but the store didn't have the NEX-5 at the time, and I was in a hurry to catch my flight. So I had to buy the NEX-3.

Best,

Seyhun

I've been reading your posts with great interest. Would you say all the Leica M to NEX adapters are created equal? What made you decide to get the NEX-3 (which I'm leaning towards) and not the NEX-5?

 

[s.agar]

Another photo from yesterday to show the color rendition and highlight details for this combo.

No post processing, except that ACR is used with "auto" correction, which corrects mainly for "levels".

The camera is able to cope with this gem lens. Contrast, colors, etc. are fine. Corner to cormer sharpness is there. The photo is cropped from the sides, but there was no obvious vignetting as well.

Seyhun

 

[turtleinsea]

Just curious - how does the NEX compare IQ-wise to the M8?

Also what is the minimum focus distance on the NEX?

It's a great picture -very contrasty and sharp from my screen.

 

[s.agar]

The IQ is fine. But I tend to play with the controls more than most of the users.

The minimum focus distance is the lens's minimum (app)

About the NEX sensor:
The good thing is that both the highlight and the shadow details are quite good.
This sample was converted to JPG using the "auto" option of the PSE8 converter.

The auto setting does not change the color temperatures, but adjusts the both ends of the histogram until a point where not much is lost from these parts. Manually adjusting in other programs may be preferable to suit your requirements better. This is just a test photo that shows the capability of the sensor. It contains strong red, blue and yellow parts, as well as a white car partly in sunlight and mostly in shadow. The photo also contains the black part which reflects a strong sunlight.

In summary, I think the NEX sensor is quite capable. But the camera can also be used as a P+S camera by most people. But then, I feel the in-camera JPG's are very soft.

 

[barjohn]

What converter is the PSE8 converter? I'm not familiar with it.

 

[turtleinsea]

I tried the NEX at a store today and was very disappointed with the results I brought home. However, I am attributing this to a few things: 1) I was more interested in getting a feel for the manual focus ability so did not play around with the settings so shot JPEG not RAW as I usually do. 2) I used the pancake 16/2.8 lens kit, which may not be a strong optical performer. 3) I really rushed the samples as I was short of time.

Your pictures however are very good and I am hoping this is the camera I have been yearning - something small that can utilize both auto focus lenses and top quality manual focus optics. (that's not asking for too much, is it?!)

 

[s.agar]

What converter is the PSE8 converter? I'm not familiar with it.

The Adobe Raw Converter (ACR)

 

[s.agar]

You may like my following link. The in-camera JPG's are soft, and I think the zoom lens can't utilize the full potential of this sensor. I think I can take better photos with Leica lenses. But then, it's not an AF camera, and the lens is not a zoom lens.

http://forum.getdpi.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19425

I don't know if you felt the same way with your sample photos. Anyway, I use RAW files with most photos. The JPG versions are just for making the initial selection.

Seyhun

I tried the NEX at a store today and was very disappointed with the results I brought home. However, I am attributing this to a few things: 1) I was more interested in getting a feel for the manual focus ability so did not play around with the settings so shot JPEG not RAW as I usually do. 2) I used the pancake 16/2.8 lens kit, which may not be a strong optical performer. 3) I really rushed the samples as I was short of time.

Your pictures however are very good and I am hoping this is the camera I have been yearning - something small that can utilize both auto focus lenses and top quality manual focus optics. (that's not asking for too much, is it?!)