Nex7 Autofocus System?

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steve g
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p.1 #1 · Nex7 Autofocus System?

I'm seriously considering buying this camera.

I see though that the autofocus is "Contrast Detection" whilst the Nex6 and Nex5 have A hybrid system with both "phase and contrast detection", with the phase detection having a lot more AF points.

I'm no expert in this, so my questions are

1. Does this mean the Nex7 has an inferior AF system?
2 Does it then mean an upgrade to the Nex 7 may be coming soon, and should I hold off for a while. (I've plenty of other cameras to play with !)

Thanks for your thoughts.

Nov 09, 2012 at 02:14 AM

LightShow
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p.1 #2 · Nex7 Autofocus System?

I think a replacement for the 7 will come next year, along with a FF NEX-9(most likely name), as far as AF goes, I don't think any of the mirrorless are all that great yet, they are getting better with every generation, their biggest weakness is still tracking a moving subject, which is typically what I'd use AF for.

Nov 09, 2012 at 07:26 AM

thrice
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p.1 #3 · Nex7 Autofocus System?

1. Yes
2. About 6 months away.

Nov 09, 2012 at 07:38 AM

Vern Dewit
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p.1 #4 · Nex7 Autofocus System?

LightShow wrote:
I don't think any of the mirrorless are all that great yet, they are getting better with every generation, their biggest weakness is still tracking a moving subject, which is typically what I'd use AF for.

+100. Being a mirrorless user myself for years now, they are getting better which NEX and OM-D being the best right now. Compared to my X-E1 the NEX-7 is blazing fast but it's still not even close to a DSLR. Of course AF isn't important to me (I'd use a Leica if I could afford to!) so I don't care but YMMV.

Nov 09, 2012 at 03:01 PM

steve g
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p.1 #5 · Nex7 Autofocus System?

Thanks for the replies.

Now to decide wether to dive in and buy or wait a few months.

AF isn't a big priority for me but 1 great shot missed because of poor AF still really hurts...

Nov 09, 2012 at 11:54 PM

Taylor Sherman
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p.1 #6 · Nex7 Autofocus System?

I'd wait for the Nex-6 to come down in price a bit (or till you can find a like-new used one), then try that out. Well I'm assuming you've looked at the lens selections already, keep in mind that only some of the lenses are compatible with the hybrid focus (all of the zooms, and the Zeiss 24 I think). The rest will just be CDAF (for now, at least).

You'll probably be disappointed by the Nex-7 AF speed and accuracy, I have been (in the rare times that I've used AF).

Though, of course it's complicated by the fact that you can use the LA-EA2 adapter and lenses like the ZA 24/2 and get very fast/competent AF. But you lose the size benefit of the Nex.

Nov 10, 2012 at 01:57 AM

nianys
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p.1 #7 · Nex7 Autofocus System?

I had the 5N and now have the 6. AF improvement is minor. It went from unusable in many situations, to acceptable, at best.
I shot a GX-1 for 7 months before that (and many DLSRs before, the latest being a D700, so I know what pro level AF acts like). The GX-1 was very, very competent for static or slow moving subjects, even in super dim light, AND very accurate (I read several reports the E-M5 is blazing fast in daylight, but tends to hunt in low light and can mis focus quite a bit).
When I got the 5N the AF was so slow I just switched to manual focus entirely.
The 6 isn't that much better that I want to use AF with it either. So far my NEX's are MF cameras.

Nov 10, 2012 at 03:49 PM

alwang
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p.1 #8 · Nex7 Autofocus System?

nianys wrote:
I had the 5N and now have the 6. AF improvement is minor. It went from unusable in many situations, to acceptable, at best.
I shot a GX-1 for 7 months before that (and many DLSRs before, the latest being a D700, so I know what pro level AF acts like). The GX-1 was very, very competent for static or slow moving subjects, even in super dim light, AND very accurate (I read several reports the E-M5 is blazing fast in daylight, but tends to hunt in low light and can mis focus quite a bit).
When I got the 5N the AF was so slow I just switched to manual focus entirely.
The 6 isn't that much better that I want to use AF with it either. So far my NEX's are MF cameras.

What lens were you using on the NEX-6? Was it one of the hybrid-supported lenses?

Nov 10, 2012 at 05:07 PM

nianys
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p.1 #9 · Nex7 Autofocus System?

I used both the 16-50 and my own updated 18-55.
The AF performance is *nowhere* near that of the last gen m4/3 (and I like NEX way better than I do m4/3).

Nov 10, 2012 at 05:15 PM

absolutic
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p.1 #10 · Nex7 Autofocus System?

I've owned NEX 5n and 7. NEX 5n AF is noticeably better to me than NEX 7 in even moderately low light, after 5n received firmware to address the issue earlier in the year. Which NEX 7 never received.

Nov 18, 2012 at 09:55 AM

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