jonoslack
Active member
HI There
Being one of the Simple Folk I thought I'd share my findings:
I've had something of an epiphany recently about shooting cameras with an EVF which actually mirrors what you're going to get (not all EVFs do it seems).
The NEX7 is famously modal and different with respect to the menus, and I thought it would be really nice not to need to use them.
Added to this, the fact that everything changes every time you switch to a different mode is, at best, confusing, at worst profoundly irritating, it makes it really hard to achieve a rhythmic way of shooting.
I think I've pretty much achieved this (with the single exception of formatting the cards in camera).
The first problem is the PASM switch, which requires a menu stop. . . this got me to thinking why one needed to change this at all.
If you simply put it on P mode, what do you actually lose? The two big dials on the top of the camera then go to Program Switch and Ev compensation. A little thought convinced me that this means that you can get pretty much any combination of right (or wrong) exposure using just these two dials - of course, you couldn't do it with an optical viewfinder as you wouldn't be able to see the effect of what you're doing.
So - I have the central custom button on the back dial custom settings to:
ISO
WB
Metering type (spot etc.)
Focus Area
Focus type.
the AE lock button I have set to toggle, and the AF/MF button to AF/MF, with focus peaking turned on. The right side of the rear dial click I've set to Focus assist.
Simple setup . . . . it seems to work fine in all situations:
Third Party lenses - you will be setting the aperture on the lens . . . but the program shift will allow you go control the shutter speed in conjunction with the Auto ISO and the EV compensation (this is problematical on shutter priority because it's too easy to over-expose by mistake).
Sony Lenses - it gives you complete flexibility with respect to AF/MF and exposure.
Suddenly ASM really doesn't seem to be necessary, and after a day or two of familiarisation you suddenly have a camera which behaves predictably. As for formatting . . well it remembers where you last were in the menu, so it's a pretty simple operation.
No More Menus
Hooray! :chug:
Comments and Criticisms are most welcome (have I missed something?)
Being one of the Simple Folk I thought I'd share my findings:
I've had something of an epiphany recently about shooting cameras with an EVF which actually mirrors what you're going to get (not all EVFs do it seems).
The NEX7 is famously modal and different with respect to the menus, and I thought it would be really nice not to need to use them.
Added to this, the fact that everything changes every time you switch to a different mode is, at best, confusing, at worst profoundly irritating, it makes it really hard to achieve a rhythmic way of shooting.
I think I've pretty much achieved this (with the single exception of formatting the cards in camera).
The first problem is the PASM switch, which requires a menu stop. . . this got me to thinking why one needed to change this at all.
If you simply put it on P mode, what do you actually lose? The two big dials on the top of the camera then go to Program Switch and Ev compensation. A little thought convinced me that this means that you can get pretty much any combination of right (or wrong) exposure using just these two dials - of course, you couldn't do it with an optical viewfinder as you wouldn't be able to see the effect of what you're doing.
So - I have the central custom button on the back dial custom settings to:
ISO
WB
Metering type (spot etc.)
Focus Area
Focus type.
the AE lock button I have set to toggle, and the AF/MF button to AF/MF, with focus peaking turned on. The right side of the rear dial click I've set to Focus assist.
Simple setup . . . . it seems to work fine in all situations:
Third Party lenses - you will be setting the aperture on the lens . . . but the program shift will allow you go control the shutter speed in conjunction with the Auto ISO and the EV compensation (this is problematical on shutter priority because it's too easy to over-expose by mistake).
Sony Lenses - it gives you complete flexibility with respect to AF/MF and exposure.
Suddenly ASM really doesn't seem to be necessary, and after a day or two of familiarisation you suddenly have a camera which behaves predictably. As for formatting . . well it remembers where you last were in the menu, so it's a pretty simple operation.
No More Menus
Hooray! :chug:
Comments and Criticisms are most welcome (have I missed something?)
Last edited: