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NEX7 Frustrations

Terry

New member
Re: Nex 7 wheels turn too easy

I wonder if I am the only one who thinks that the Nex7 wheels turn way to easy??? There is allmost no resistance. Why dont these wheels click like wheels of nearly every other camera.
This is IMO the biggest desgin fault in the Nex7 (besides the position of the movie button)
I gauge that by how often I knock them out of place and reset the camera unintentionally. I don't with the NEX 7 (never really happens) so to me the dials are fine. Could the detents be a little bit stiffer, yes, but not if it would force you to move the camera from your eye.
 

Paratom

Well-known member
Re: Nex 7 wheels turn too easy

I gauge that by how often I knock them out of place and reset the camera unintentionally. I don't with the NEX 7 (never really happens) so to me the dials are fine. Could the detents be a little bit stiffer, yes, but not if it would force you to move the camera from your eye.
Thats the point, I unintentionally hit them (aparture and EV) more than once.

I could live with it but life would be easier if the would klick/have more resistance IMO.
 

TimWright

Member
Re: Nex 7 wheels turn too easy

Thats the point, I unintentionally hit them (aparture and EV) more than once.

I could live with it but life would be easier if the would klick/have more resistance IMO.
I find the same thing and now just use the lock when street shooting as no matter how hard I tried I would still change things accidentally.
 

JimBuchanan

New member
As I box up my brand new Sony Nex 7 to return to the dealer , it seemed worthwhile to check my experience with what others are seeing.
1. Focus Peaking ...
2. Camera motion ....
3. Noise ...
4. Color ....
Are my findings consistent with others or do I need to take another look?
Like you, I went as far as to get an approved return autherizatioin # from Sony to return the camera, however I will be keeping it.

When I first got it I put on the Kipon M-NEX adapter and took quick infinity shoots with 15Heliar, 25ZM, 35Summicron. Image quality was terrible and I was disappointed. It turned out the adapter was too thin and the otherwise perfect lenses were giving past infinity shots at the lense focus hard stop. I don't know if 1.Focus Peaking includes infinity, but it is paramount the adapter be the proper thickness. As far as focus peaking is concerned, it was no help in taking portraits with 35 and 50mm Leica lenses, at least I haven't learned how to use it yet. Instead, I press the AF button with my thumb for magnified view to focus critically.

The camera is relatively light, especially compared to an M9, and the front heavy lenses expecially with SLR lenses/adapter can unbalance the combo. For this reason and the objective of placing the hand in a better more secure position on the Sony grip, I have designed and am having made an aluminum hand grip for the NEX7. It will be possible to open the battery door without removing the grip and has an Arca-Swiss type dovetail. It should aid in balancing the camera and provide better control of its various buttons and wheels. We will see...

I have the slightly slower 135 Tele-Elmar and while I haven't done tests with it yet, I am sure it will require a higher ISO and careful technique. I have noticed the noise, probably related to the smaller pixels, but I don't know how significant it will be in prints. Not there yet.
 
Ken

I have had the camera for a few days and have used it 3 times in locations I typically shoot. I have a nice pier into the ocean that I shoot at whenever I want to do a test .

I shared my experience to date because I don t believe that further refinement of my technique will change my impressions . I am interested to see if my impressions are similar to what others are seeing.

Each issue I listed is a relevant limitation to my specific shooting requirements which of course may be different than others . I don t need another camera system and am not debating Sony verse anything but rather trying to extend my M system capabilities . From what I have seen and has been discussed this camera doesn t seem to fit .

What do you think ?
1. Focus Peaking - I find that it's easier with the EVF on the NEX-7 to use peaking instead of LCD only on my nex-5. Did you try zoom and peaking?

2. Camera motion - the nex is light and small and different from the M9 and S2, I would think a different way of shooting would have to be practiced.

3. Noise - would a different converter than LR4 help? nex-7 support is slowly rolling in.

4. Color - I found the NEX series better than the Canon 5d with color and AWB. It could be LR4. Have your tried Raw Photo Processor?

I think there's a learning curve with every camera but if it doesn't feel right, it doesn't feel right. Maybe Leica will have something at Photokina as a suitable M9 backup for you.

t_streng said:
I wonder if I am the only one who thinks that the Nex7 wheels turn way to easy???
The dials are used to move the focus points so they have to be somewhat easy to move. I don't have a problem with it.
 

glenerrolrd

Workshop Member
Which capabilities did you plan to "extend" with the Nex?
A little more telereach due to a cropped sensor?
I ak myself which was your real motivation to buy this camera. What do you except fro it?
If you tell as we can tell you our opinion.
Sorry Thomas I thought I did a pretty good job of explaining my objectives . I fully agree that the type of work you plan to do can really bias your evaluation. I shoot primarily M9 s and do mostly travel and street photography . I have Nikon s for sport and the S2 for landscape and travel . I find the M9 limited in two important areas ....telephoto work beyond the 90 and above ISO 640 ...it both those areas I have to work even harder to achieve results comparable to the M at lower ISO and shorter lenses . I can use the 135 to shoot tennis and I can use the M9 at ISO1600 but the results are not as consistent and often not up to my standards .

When I travel I will normally have the 90 and the 135 with me ....so almost no additional effort to add a NEX 7 . Could I make it work ..of course. But is it worth it ........doesn t appear to be in my case . Because even factoring in that I could improve on everyone of the weaknesses ....I don t believe I can get it to be at the IQ of the M9.
 

glenerrolrd

Workshop Member
1. Focus Peaking - I find that it's easier with the EVF on the NEX-7 to use peaking instead of LCD only on my nex-5. Did you try zoom and peaking?

2. Camera motion - the nex is light and small and different from the M9 and S2, I would think a different way of shooting would have to be practiced.

3. Noise - would a different converter than LR4 help? nex-7 support is slowly rolling in.

4. Color - I found the NEX series better than the Canon 5d with color and AWB. It could be LR4. Have your tried Raw Photo Processor?

I think there's a learning curve with every camera but if it doesn't feel right, it doesn't feel right. Maybe Leica will have something at Photokina as a suitable M9 backup for you.

Ken
Thanks

I think your observations are constructive insights and I agree with each of them . No question that technique adjustments are required for focus peaking and holding a very light camera . I shoot mostly people and frequently in a street setting . I much prefer to go wide and get close but around water ....I get stuck and sometimes the compression of a short telephoto makes a more interesting photograph. I found focus peaking to be very fast but I wasn t accurate enough and the light camera was hard to brace for lower shutter speeds.

I think you are right about the raw converter just not being tuned . This is why I created my own color profiles and worked on presets for LR ..I could get 85-90 % of what I wanted . However every time the light shifted I had to rework the images . So my conclusion here was ...great is it worth using the OEM raw convertor for 10% of my images . And even then the noise is a problem at ISO s above 400 . If you told me that you found LR4 to produce pretty great color using the adobe standard camera profile ...well then I would take another look .
 
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philber

Member
My experience is very different from the OP's.
Focus peaking is useful, but not accurate enough that is lets me dispense with magnification. That said, on stationary objects, my keeper rate as far as focus goes, is 90%+. So I am not exactly complaining.
Noise: because of the very high resolution, a 100% crop shows a greater magnification factor on the NEX7 than on other cameras. So checking noise with a 100% crop puts the 7 at an unfair disadvantage. I expected the 7 to be significantly less good than my 5N, but was pleasantly surprised. The handicap, if any, is no more than 1/2 stop. Very good performance, if you ask me.
Colours; This is the most surprising item of all. Coming from Canon (5DII + Zeiss MF glass), even my 5N was very nice, and the 7 is better. Not only are the colours very nice, but the camera handles high contrast situation very gracefully indeed, and recovering deep shadows is easy.
My guess is, and it is only a guess, is that the 7 is no substitute to a M9, or a sub-M9. The approaches of Sony and Leica are poles apart. Thus, coming to the 7 with a fresh mind, or from other NEX cameras, could yield a very difference user experience than approaching this cam with a Leica expectation.
 
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