newtophoto wrote:
Loving the photos in this thread. Makes me want to pull the trigger today instead of waiting for the nex-7.
Which is exactly what I did! Should be here tomorrow. My reasons:
1)The x100 with it's 35mm F2 equiv.. lens is going to be more compact/ portable than the Nex7 once a good, 35mm F2 equiv. lens is added.
2)Once you add the cost of a native equiv. 35 F2 lens (the only option being the $1K Zeiss 24 1.8) to the NEX7, the cost is almost double the x100.
3)Sony themselves claim that the APS 24MP senor IQ "approaches" that of full frame. Since I already own the a900, the only way I can justify the NEX-7 is if it could surpass the IQ and serve as a replacement - I don't believe that will be the case. Instead of expecting a hybrid system to do everything well (NEX-7), my experience with just about everything is that dedicated tools designed for dedicated uses always seem to work the best!
4) The Fuji x100 with it's quite leaf shutter will not draw the attention that a loud focal plane shutter will in use. I owned the NEX-5 and one of the things I did not like was the loud shutter. The NEX-7 will be much louder in use than the X100 which would render it unusable for certain situations.
5) I think I will enjoy having the choice of using an optical OR EVF viewfinder.
6)Finally, I miss those Fuji colors from my Fuji S2 days. I feel that Fuji - along with perhaps Olympus - gets color right!
But who knows, by the time the NEX-7 is finally released, perhaps I will give it a try as well.
Tariq Gibran wrote:
3)Sony themselves claim that the APS 24MP senor IQ "approaches" that of full frame. Since I already own the a900, the only way I can justify the NEX-7 is if it could surpass the IQ and serve as a replacement
I totally agree with this. This is probably the primary factor holding me back from the NEX-7, although I still might change my mind.
6)Finally, I miss those Fuji colors from my Fuji S2 days. I feel that Fuji - along with perhaps Olympus - gets color right!
Bernhard bought an X100, and is a big Fuji fan. He had at some point an S2, 2 S3 and 1 S5. He didn't get along with the focusing, menus and colours of the X100 at all, and sent it back. I wouldn't expect too much in this department, although the skin tone rendering does look good.
carstenw wrote:
I totally agree with this. This is probably the primary factor holding me back from the NEX-7, although I still might change my mind.
Bernhard bought an X100, and is a big Fuji fan. He had at some point an S2, 2 S3 and 1 S5. He didn't get along with the focusing, menus and colours of the X100 at all, and sent it back. I wouldn't expect too much in this department, although the skin tone rendering does look good.
Yep, I may be expecting too much but figured I would at least give it a try.
bigkidneys wrote:
Do you think maybe you have a bad X100? I have had no issues with my exposures but have only had it 2 weeks. Extremely bright sun mid day here and every time I had it out both then and in the evening I had no issues.
The exposure issue won't show in bright sunlight, but rather when only less than 1/3 of the scene is bright. Then the camera will blow that part out to lift the rest, which in many cases will ruin the image. The real issue for me is that I like to use auto-ISO, and when the light gets very low I want to be able to dial in a slower shutter speed, but then exposure compensation doesn't work at all. So I have to dig in the menues to alter the speed for when auto-ISO starts working, or set ISO manually.
This is only on of the many flaws, and not the worst. Poor AF, parallax issues with the OVF, unusable MF, sloppy feel of the shutter button, very hard to hold the camera steady at slow speeds (way worse than an SLR), rear wheel and buttons unusable with gloves, impossible to move the AF point with the camera at eye level, misleading live histogram, lower actual ISO than what the number says (seems like almost half of it, which explains the extremely low noise at a certain ISO speed), et cetera.
Most of these problems are because of ridiculous software and could be cured easily. But I doubt that will happen. Too bad, because the image quality and the format of the camera is very nice.
It's a secondary camera, and should be sold as such. If they sort some stuff out in the firmware, I might give it another look before considering an NEX-7.
Better yet, roll out an X150 with 50mm 1.4 equiv. lens. (as well as the needed firmware improvements).
carstenw wrote: More than what happens automatically?
Yes, there is a point when camera shake will affect the image less than the added noise of higher ISO. So from ISO 200-1600 I let auto-ISO work at 1/40, but when that isn't enough I'd rather go down to 1/20 or so than using ISO 3200. Which unfortunately isn't possible without digging into the menues since exposure compensation doesn't work in manual mode even with auto-ISO. If the bloody camera would NOT overexpose everything, it would work.
You could also use the exposure compensation to do that.
Just received my x100 late yesterday afternoon. Overall, I'm mighty impressed. Love, Love, Love that optical finder with info overlay and since using this finder, I can't imagine using an EVF full time so I will be canceling my NEX-7 order. The other most impressive thing to me is the lens. I was expecting it to be good but it really is superb and easily matches the best manual ALT glass I had ever mounted to the NEX-5 I owned. I'm seeing tack sharp, corner to corner detail by F4 which seems to be where my lens peaks. It susceptible to flare in tough lighting situations so I'm sure the JJC lens hood I ordered will stay on it all the time. I think this lens itself is easily worth the price of the camera!
A few things that I've noticed is that the meter can be fooled more often than I'm used to in tricky lighting. The other thing is the color. Out of camera raws are very neutral but the film settings are way over the top for jpegs (I think this is relevant as the jpeg quality can be turned to be almost indistinguishable to the raws with regard to tonality and detail). Tons of yellow in the greens - something most Fuji films are famous for - but the effect does not match the subtlety of the films that the camera tries to mimic nor does it match the older Fuji DSLR's (S2 for instance). To get closer, I'm finding the WB must be set pretty cool - mines at 4500K at the moment. The color is about what I'm used to from the NEX overall which is a step down from what I get out of my a900. Anyway, I pretty much posted this for carstenw as he mentioned the color.
Isn't the NEX EVF supposed to be 30% more resolution than what's in the X100? I read that somewhere, but can't seem to find the stat for the Fuji finder.
corposant wrote:
Isn't the NEX EVF supposed to be 30% more resolution than what's in the X100? I read that somewhere, but can't seem to find the stat for the Fuji finder.
Yes, it will be higher resolution and likely better all the way around. It will still be an EVF though that will still suffer from slight delays and, of course, will not match reality regarding color, dynamic range, etc.
I literally tried the EVF in the x100 one time to see how it was and have not turned it on since! I'm sure in very dim to dark situations it will come in handy but that bright optical finder with the info overlay and very bright white frame lines to me is the best solution I have seen. I also really love seeing what is just outside the frame. I think that greatly helps with composition. Fuji nailed it with this finder.
Tariq Gibran wrote:
I literally tried the EVF in the x100 one time to see how it was and have not turned it on since! I'm sure in very dim to dark situations it will come in handy but that bright optical finder with the info overlay and very bright white frame lines to me is the best solution I have seen. I also really love seeing what is just outside the frame. I think that greatly helps with composition. Fuji nailed it with this finder.
Umm, I hope you understand that the OVF is way less accurate for composition than the EVF? It doesn't see through the lens, which gives a parallax error, and the frame is much smaller than the actual image captured.
Resolution is a different story. I'd gladly use the OVF if it wasn't for the AF problems related to it. You just have no idea of where focus will end up at medium to short distances because of the parallax, even with the firmware fix and moving AF square in the viewfinder.
The only good use of the OVF I can find is for well stopped down work when composition is not very important. Such as street photography.
The EVF isn't that bad actually. The resolution is low, but it is comfortable for your eye and accurate composition is a breeze. I'm sure the NEX-7 will beat it in every way though.
Makten wrote:
Umm, I hope you understand that the OVF is way less accurate for composition than the EVF? It doesn't see through the lens, which gives a parallax error, and the frame is much smaller than the actual image captured.
Resolution is a different story. I'd gladly use the OVF if it wasn't for the AF problems related to it. You just have no idea of where focus will end up at medium to short distances because of the parallax, even with the firmware fix and moving AF square in the viewfinder.
The only good use of the OVF I can find is for well stopped down work when composition is not very important. Such as street photography.
The EVF isn't that bad actually. The resolution is low, but it is comfortable for your eye and accurate composition is a breeze. I'm sure the NEX-7 will beat it in every way though....Show more →
Sure, I understand about the OVF accuracy perfectly though I really have not noticed a major issue yet - and the camera does perform parallax correction with the frame lines by the way. Not a problem at all for me in any case, particularly since I can immediately review the digital image - it's not like I'm shooting film with the camera. Really, the same applies to exposure to a certain degree though my exposures have been pretty accurate in all but the worst backlighting situations. My exp. comp is only set to -1/3 so you may have an issue with your particular camera if your finding major problems in decent light. I have not shot in poor light yet so that could be another story.
I have only shot a few hundred frames thus far - and in good light - so I have not experienced any missed shots due to AF errors. No doubt, in poor light I can believe the AF might be a problem. I really don't expect much from a camera such as this in these situations in any case. I would zone focus.
newtophoto wrote:
Thanks for your impressions Tariq. Been waiting for Amazon to get one in stock but no luck so far.
I kept checking both B&H and Amazon constantly for a few weeks before I found one available for retail at B&H. And forget about the email notification. Had I waited for that, I would still be waiting (probably a long list for notifications I bet).
If your willing to spend $100 more, I saw an ebay auction which had them listed new for $1299 a few days back. But if your patient - and check the usual places often - I bet you could snag one for retail.
Is your camera perhaps defective? I sent mine in to fuji for severe overexposure issues, and they had to replace the lens assembly. It has not been overexposing since it came back .
cathy
Makten wrote: carstenw wrote:
........... If the bloody camera would NOT overexpose everything, it would work.
Cathy Adams wrote:
Is your camera perhaps defective? I sent mine in to fuji for severe overexposure issues, and they had to replace the lens assembly. It has not been overexposing since it came back.
Most definitely not. I just happen to shoot stuff that the X100 doesn't like. It works fine when the light is fine.
More than what happens automatically?
Really, the same applies to exposure to a certain degree though my exposures have been pretty accurate in all but the worst backlighting situations. My exp. comp is only set to -1/3 so you may have an issue with your particular camera if your finding major problems in decent light. I have not shot in poor light yet so that could be another story.