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NEX-7, what's the verdict now?

emr

Member
Sony NEX-7 sounded like a fantastic camera when it was released, raising waves everywhere. I have been seriously considering getting one too, but am late to the game as always. But it's starting to look to me that quite a few early adopters have moved on. So how do you see it today, people who are still using it and people who have moved on? What are its strengths and weaknesses? Would you still buy one today or is an "OMG" (I know that's not the real name) or a Fuji X Pro1 (or whatever the exact confusing name is) a better option?

In addition to the Sony AF lenses I'd probably use some M42 manual ones.
 

hot

Active member
I've a lot of cameras, one better than the other. Than I bought (november - but flood made january) a NEX7 for less money than today's price - it's my BEST camera!
I use it with ~ 30 lenses from 8mm to 500mm, most photos are 3D (REAL 3D, not Sony 3D)
 
V

Vivek

Guest
What are its strengths and weaknesses?
Plastic body which makes it light weight at the same time susceptible to shock and cracks.

The shutter mechanism still needs improvement (may be Sony will get it with NEX-11).

Sensor assembly (the sensor itself is great) needs an overhaul. We will perhaps see that in NEX-9. I am sure that an upgrade (or a F7 or i7) is coming soon.

This is a system that has lot of "potential". I have all the "system" prime lenses plus numerous others.

After using it since debut, I think Sony make a lot of profit out of these. Initial price (ie., the current one) could be a ~30% less.

Sony do not issue FW upgrades but come up with a new model.
 

hot

Active member
For NEX5 there was a very good FW update - for NEX7 I do not need an update.
For me NEX7 is perfect.

"A camera without EVF and movable display is a toy."

NEX7 has both, a very good sensor, etc. - also Lumix G/GH's
 
But it's starting to look to me that quite a few early adopters have moved on.
I think that is simply called GAS. Take a look at these forums and it will become clear that most members are constantly cycling gear in an endless search for the holy grail camera - or as a cure for boredom.

The 7 is one of the best current APS-C cameras on the market, period. If you are looking for a not too big, not too small body, with excellent controls, a great EVF, effective MF (peaking) system for adapted legacy lenses and high resolution, I don't think you can go wrong choosing the Sony.

Personally, I have found the 7 to be truly outstanding YET, it tends to sit on the shelf because I grab the C3 when I need something small (most times) and the A900 when I shoot professionally or just really want the most out of my FF lenses. For someone else who only wants or needs one camera body and has some great legacy glass they want to shoot with, I think it is just about perfect.

The trick is being honest about how you use your camera - is ultra low light performance essential, how big is small enough, do you want to build up a cache of new system lenses, etc. and then choose the system that fits your needs.

Good luck.
 

Cindy Flood

Super Moderator
...snip... For someone else who only wants or needs one camera body and has some great legacy glass they want to shoot with, I think it is just about perfect.

....

Good luck.
I am that someone else....NEX7 is just about perfect for me and I am really happy with this camera and have no lust for anything else digital right now.

emr, the NEX7 works very well with with Sony AF lenses and legacy glass, with the proper adapters. It is very easy to manual focus with this body.
 

scho

Well-known member
Still a great camera and I use it often with both legacy mount lenses and native e mount glass. I also have and use the XP1, mostly with native X mount lenses, because MF is not as well implemented compared to the NEX7. Both cameras offer very good DR and the Fuji excels at high ISO. The good DR of both the NEX7 and Fuji XP1 is one of the features that drew me away from m43.
 

Michiel Schierbeek

Well-known member
The best camera, if you have a lot of legacy glass.

Pros:
Great sensor
Great viewfinder
Focus peaking
Tilting LCD for candid shooting
Good for bigger prints (compared to M4/3)

Cons:
Childish interface which I tend to avoid.
Starts filming by accident.
Not good with symmetrical wide angles.
No build in IS (compared to Olympus M4/3)


For wide angles - no colour shift at all -I use the Ricoh GXR, mainly with the Leica M module.
Very good camera as well with less pixels, a slightly worse viewfinder with focus peaking, but with great files and a much better interface.
And a stronger and nicer body.

Michiel
 
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Terry

New member
I owned it and sold it not because it was bad in any way. I just like using the Fuji better. When I got the Fuji and the OMD I had three systems and didn't want to keep all three. Because the best lenses for the NEX overlap with the lenses for Fuji, the Sony was the one to go. I felt like I had better zoom choices in m4/3 than with NEX (native lenses not adapted).

While focus peaking is very nice the one thing that seemed exaggerated to me was the Sony EVF. Personally I don't think it is the best EVF. I was never able to get the contrast under control and felt like I could see the tones and better judge exposure with both the OMD and the GH2.
 

alba63

New member
I just come back from a beach week- end on the baltic sea, I took with me the Nikon d700 + 2 lenses and the Nex with 3 lenses (Kit, 50/1,8, 30/2,8 sig). I used both, some of the nex shots are very nice, huge DR (better than d700) in sun/ shadow situations plus intense good colours.

BUT: The sluggish compact cam class AF makes it a not- so- serious camera: Most of the d700 shots (also those of my daughter dancing, jumping/ running on the beach) are in focus, sharp and well lit - many of the same type with the Nex are out of focus -

So my short bottom of the line: Within it's relatively small sweet spot the Nex is a very good camera with a sensor that shines. At the borders of it's comfort zone it looses against a good DSLR, big time.

Bernie
 

kit laughlin

Subscriber Member
Like Terry, I sold my NEX-7; for me, the EVF was the least convincing part—to the point I sent it back to the dealer, asking if it was within spec. He offered to swap it with his personal camera, so he obviously thought it was fine. I simply could not get a clear image though it, unlike the OM-D, which I have literally set once and forgotten.

As well, the OM-D has fast AF (not as fast as the D3s, but fast enough).

My final negatives with the NEX-7 are its poor performance with UWA (the CV 12/5.6 is one of my favourite lenses) and the (to me) very large Sony prime lenses (thinking here of the 50/1.8). With that fitted, the camera in no way can be considered small. Sensor size and physics, I imagine.

The OM-D, while not being the body I mount the CV 12 on, has an excellent UWA of its own (the Panny 7–14) and the other primes (12/2, 20/1.7, and 50/1.8 are excellent.
 

ashwinrao1

Active member
Really enjoyed my time with the NEX-7, but upon getting the XPro-1, I had far too much kit, so the NEX went. It's a lovely camera, as others have said, particularly for the wide array of glass adaptable to it.

I ultimately sold the camera, as it's layout, menu structure, and build made it feel more like a consumer electronics gizmo than a camera. The XPro-1, for some reason, appeals to my camera aesthetic more, and I like the files that the XPro-1 produces, which are clearer with more pop and clarity, despite the XPro-1's weakness, which is laggy AF. Overall, I think that the NEX-7 is a fantastic piece of kit for those willing to explore its features and adapt high quality glass onto it....

But at the end of the day, it left my kit, and surely has another home where it's loved....
 

Jim DE

New member
I enjoy my NEX 7 for its strengths like any camera I use. I agree with Kit that I wish it worked better with wide angle legacy glass or that Sony would produce a G or Zeiss UWA e mount but we can't have everything.

The flash, hot shoe, and EVF are of little importance to me as I still try and shoot it as I did my NEX 5 with the LCD out and at waist level or ground level off a tripod with a remote shutter device. The shutter button on the 7 is not as easy to use as the 5 was at waist level and I often trigger the **** video button by accident.

I used to carry the Contax G 28 and 35 in my NEX 5 kit and used a workaround when I wanted to use the 28. For me the 28 on the NEX7 is a no go at any aperture due to corner smearing and color shift so it and the 35 have gone back in the Contax G2 bag with my 21mm. Instead I got the 30mm Sigma and it does a fine job when that focal length is needed. Usually the Contax G 45mm live on my NEX7 but I do carry a assortment of focal lengths in both e mount and legacy glass.

Knowing what I know now I should of followed my gut instinct and bypassed the current NEX 7 and waited for the next version that might of worked better with legacy glass like the 5n did for the 5. Live and learn .... Anyway for what it does do well it does very well and I am using and enjoying mine for what it's strengths are. Base ISO resolution with Zeiss glass
 

retow

Member
Sony NEX-7 sounded like a fantastic camera when it was released, raising waves everywhere. I have been seriously considering getting one too, but am late to the game as always. But it's starting to look to me that quite a few early adopters have moved on. So how do you see it today, people who are still using it and people who have moved on? What are its strengths and weaknesses? Would you still buy one today or is an "OMG" (I know that's not the real name) or a Fuji X Pro1 (or whatever the exact confusing name is) a better option?

In addition to the Sony AF lenses I'd probably use some M42 manual ones.
No pun intended, but many of the "early adopters" to the NEX7 were early adotpers to pretty much most of the recent premium mirrorless offerings to then move on relatively soon. I'm not pretending not to be vulnerable to GAS attacks as well. However, I have the NEX7 to complement my M9 and to get as much use out of M-lenses as possible. I particularly like it for use with m-lenses 50mm and longer. Thanks to focus peaking, super fast shutter release, fast frame rate and an excellent EVF it's great for action shooting (in comparison with an M rather than with a DSLR). Once set up the way one wants it, the user interface is quite brilliant and no diving into the menu system necessary any longer. I suggest to read LL where you will find some good information about and comparison with the NEX7. I bought the XPro 1 about 2 months ago and simply don't bond with it, it neither complements the M9 nor betters it (except for high iso) in any way. As much as I want to like it, it's not my camera and will be sold soon. The Fuji's mediocre AF accuracy and speed, diopter adjustment working either for the OVF or EVF (far sighted) but not for both, crippled MF implementation, noticable shutter lag, RAW support (?) are among the more annoying weaknesses for me.
 

4season

Well-known member
With the NEX and Alpha SLT-series cameras, Sony seems to be redefining what a modern camera should be, without clinging to 20th century models. And as a photographic instrument, I think the NEX-7 is brilliant in many ways. But I can totally understand if not everyone feels at ease with it. In some ways it's almost like switching from DOS and 5.25" floppy disks to a Macintosh with it's mouse and graphical interface: Some power users stayed with the DOS command line for years, because it was what they knew, and they were good at it, and DOS applications like Word Perfect and Lotus 1-2-3 were enormously successful in their time.

I'll admit that I struggle with it sometimes too: Not the controls, which in fact work very well, but the part about wrapping my brain around the notion that something so small can do so much.
 

alphaman

New member
If you are ok with an EVF (and they can take some getting used to initially), then the NEX7 is a wonderful camera.

The only issue for me is that there is currently precious little choice of lenses.

As to using it with adapters, I use mine with Contax G lenses and am more than happy with the cheapo Ebay adapter and also with the ease of use on the NEX7 where manual focus is a breeze.

The Sigma lenses are well worth considering if AF is wanted.
 

jonoslack

Active member
Great Camera, but I moved on to the Olympus OMD because:

1. the OMD has in body Image Stabilisation - useful on 3rd party lenses
2. more lens choice
3. more 'photographer' based interface.
4. less depth of field control with the OMD

I found that if I put down the NEX7 for a week, it took a few minutes to remember how to use it - not catastrophic, but irritating. The Olympus isn't perfect, but it works pretty much like every other camera.

As my main system is full frame - it's nice to have m4/3 as a contrast from a depth of field point of view (sometimes more is better!).

The real clincher is the IBIS, which is very helpful - especially when shooting Leica R telephotos (mind you the missing focus peaking on the OMD is regrettable).

Altogether, a close run thing, the NEX7 is a great camera - but for me the OMD just about won out.

all the best
 
Great Camera, but I moved on to the Olympus OMD because:

1. the OMD has in body Image Stabilisation - useful on 3rd party lenses
I was never a fan of IBIS on previous Olympus cameras - never felt like it was doing much - but I hear it is excellent on the OMD and after seeing what it can do in the A900, I'm a big fan and hope Sony brings this to a high-end NEX model in the future.
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
I've only handled the NEX 7 in the store. I immediately didn't like its controls and menus so didn't buy, even though the concept is very appealing to me.

Of the cameras in this size and type class, with interchangeable lenses, I still like the Ricoh GXR with A12 Camera Mount best as I have my choice of manual focus lenses (which I prefer) and it does a better job with the wides than anything short of the M8/M9. The viewfinder isn't as good, but everything else about the GXR makes me happier than the NEX 7.

(The Olympus E-M5 seems a different class of camera to me: it's more like a small DSLR in form factor, feel, and use dynamics. Very nice, very slick ... but I'm reluctant getting into mFT system once more as I have enough equipment, more than I need. I'm pretty happy with my current system cameras.)
 
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