p.11 #1 · Giving up 5D II for NEX? My experience in Japan
Here are some quick snaps around the house today with 5N, Zeiss 100/2 ZE, Fotodiox adapter. All shot wide open at F/2. Some have been cropped, minimal post processing applied. The colors and contrast is the way it came out of the camera. RAW conversion in Lightroom.
This first shot is a portrait taken by my wife. I simply told her to keep focusing until my eyes start sparkling in the EVF and then take a shot. This is the first and only shot she took and she nailed the focus. Focus peaking through the EVF is one of the best features for MF users. The rest are just casual snapshots of stuff around the house. Can't wait to do something more serious with this.
p.11 #2 · Giving up 5D II for NEX? My experience in Japan
bigkidneys wrote:
Unless I am mistaken I am pretty sure you can change the aperture although it is a PITA. Just change the aperture to whatever you want it at while it is on the Canon body then turn the camera off. Place the lens on the Nex and it should still be at that aperture unless I am mistaken.
You have keep pressing the aperture preview button while unmounting the lens. Then the aperture stays stuck in its position. There has been some concern that it may cause the aperture to get stuck/sticky if left like that for a long time, but I don't know if it's really a problem.
p.11 #3 · Giving up 5D II for NEX? My experience in Japan
@ pdmphoto.
There are plenty of 50/1.2 lenses for ff that aren't a lot bigger than the 35/1.2 and they outperform it.
The first version of the 35/1.2 was one of the best of the rangerfinder lenses, the current 2nd version is being compared with the 35 lux asph - one of Leica's best ever lenses. I doubt whether any 50/1.2 for SLR can match it. (apart from a rare Hexanon, I know of none for rangefinder).
50/1.2 lenses are rarely held up as examples of optical brilliance - most being a little soft at 1.2 and weaker than most much cheaper 50/1.4s and 1.8s at smaller apertures. So it is hard to see what you could mean.
Nov 17, 2011 at 03:33 PM
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p.11 #4 · Giving up 5D II for NEX? My experience in Japan
philber wrote:
Snopchenko, you don't need AF on a lens like the ZM 18 on the NEX. I have so much DOF that I just set aperture at f:5.6, and set focus anywhere between 3m and infinity, and everything is sharp. Did you see my 100% crop showing how much detail I get out of that lens with my 5N? And the 7 should give even more detail...
Trouble is, lenses like Zeiss ZM are not exactly cheap anyways, nor the 18 is really wider than the kit lens (nor faster) so the advantage of the total package for me is not obvious. Something like 35/1.2 on the other hand... I really want to get into the low light / large aperture shooting, off any duty, just for myself, but not exactly ready to give up the convenience of AF completely.
Thank God that Sony now has fast lenses at least in 24mm and 50mm flavours. I'd love to have something wider though. On APS-H my favourite focal lengths were/are 14-16mm, 24mm, 85mm and 200+mm (I only have lenses up to 200).
p.11 #5 · Giving up 5D II for NEX? My experience in Japan
wolfloid wrote:
@ pdmphoto.
The first version of the 35/1.2 was one of the best of the rangerfinder lenses, the current 2nd version is being compared with the 35 lux asph - one of Leica's best ever lenses. I doubt whether any 50/1.2 for SLR can match it. (apart from a rare Hexanon, I know of none for rangefinder).
50/1.2 lenses are rarely held up as examples of optical brilliance - most being a little soft at 1.2 and weaker than most much cheaper 50/1.4s and 1.8s at smaller apertures. So it is hard to see what you could mean.
He's just here to remind us good photography is impossible with anything but his big piggy full frame. Kinda sad really
p.11 #7 · Giving up 5D II for NEX? My experience in Japan
I think the bottom line is that we all know that larger formats have several advantages, but the question is whether the IQ advantage is worth the cost and size to each of us and our preferred output.
With film, 35mm became the most popular combination of size, image quality and cost, and, with digital, that has happened with aps-c (digicams/cell phones excluded.) Certainly in my photography, the advantages of a 135 sensor do not jump out at me in the large majority of my work, and so the moving down to the smaller sensor has only slightly affected me, IQ-wise. Honestly, if I were to consider carrying around another large camera, I might consider skipping 135 altogether and go for something like a 645D or another back for my Hasselblad, but YMMV.
p.11 #8 · Giving up 5D II for NEX? My experience in Japan
Ulrik; ok, let me know next time you are inbound.
Douglas; I agree. The turning point for me has been quite recent. The m43 will never be attractive for me, and up until now APS-C hasn't been good enough for me, but now I think it is.
I would still "always" prefer a full frame camera, if one was present in the right form factor and price bracket. At the moment they are too large and expensive and the M9 is a bit crippling compared to the competition. At the moment I am in no rush to get one and wait, albeit slightly impatiently, for someone to bring out a camera that will tick off all the points on the wish list.
p.11 #9 · Giving up 5D II for NEX? My experience in Japan
Actually, I am pretty close to your position, Douglas. I can either stay with both APS-C and FF waiting for 5DIII to take FF further down the IQ road thanks to superb Zeiss glass, or forsake it, and get two NEX 7, or decide that, as long as it is not lightweight, it might as well be as good as it comes, and go for a Pentax 645D MF. I will try a Leica M9, but am not hugely hopeful, as the mutliple limitations, plus the required trips to Solms, and the needed PP are for more committed 'togs than slobs like me, who want to keep matters pleasantly simple and functional because they can't handle anything else...
As matters stand today, based on a test report that calls the 7 "the best APS-C there is", I ma a hairbreadth away from getting two of them.
p.11 #10 · Giving up 5D II for NEX? My experience in Japan
You just don't see anyone strolling around casually with a 5D or D3S or A900--ever. An M9 can go---but you have to be terrified of the consequences.
But an n5n with a little skopar is nothing to carry. You don't give it a second thought. And neither do the victims either. Point a 5D at someone--YoW! It's like going to the gynacologist--painful. Nothing sublte about such a rig.
How many unplanned shots are you going to miss? All of em. You don't take the camera without a plan. Sure there are exceptions, but they are rare.
So all the talk about the esoteric DOF and wide FOV is fine and its true. But the n5n just murders the 5d in the most important aspect---whatcha got on ya? The very fact that we could even discuss the little thing in the same thread as a 5d is unbelievable. It's simply the finest compact camera to date--a quantum leap.
When the n7 finally appears, it will still be behind in shallow DOF wide FOV and the inherent speed of a FF. However the flat out image rez--I'm not so sure. I think it will have it's own signature and will stand out--as the m9 does now.
And in a few years we'll have an EVIL FF that's small. We just have to keep up the clamour. How do you top the n7? There's only one way to make another leap.
p.11 #11 · Giving up 5D II for NEX? My experience in Japan
I don't think the FF-is-heavy-so-why-not-MF idea makes any sense. After playing around with a Hasselblad 645 today, my D3 felt super light Also, you are more or less constrained to tripod-only shooting, all the time, to get the quality you hope for. 135 FF is really the sweet spot.
p.11 #12 · Giving up 5D II for NEX? My experience in Japan
Sam N wrote:
The 5N is extremely tempting but the lack of any off-camera flash abilities really kills it for me. I ended up with a Lumix G3 for traveling light. The sensor isn't quite as nice but it feels like more of a "real" camera and is much cheaper when you figure in the fact that it already has an EVF built in. I also like the fact that I can use the tilt/swivel screen at waist level in portrait mode as well.
Any word on an adapter to turn the 5N accessory port into a proper hot-shoe or at least PC-sync?
You can kind of make your own port by purchasing Seagul SYK-5 optical slave and taping it to the standard flash. Turn off redeye feature and set the delay to the shortest possible (rotate the knob all the way clockwise) and you are all set
Seriously, I use this slave to trigger studio strobe and it works fine.
p.11 #13 · Giving up 5D II for NEX? My experience in Japan
Yes, FF is very probably the sweet spot for a one-camera setup, Carsten. But once I decide that I need at least two bodies for a serious trip, circumstances permitting, and that a lightweight system is a must, the concept of MF as the "heavy" starts to look really good IMHO.
p.11 #14 · Giving up 5D II for NEX? My experience in Japan
carstenw wrote:
I don't think the FF-is-heavy-so-why-not-MF idea makes any sense. After playing around with a Hasselblad 645 today, my D3 felt super light Also, you are more or less constrained to tripod-only shooting, all the time, to get the quality you hope for. 135 FF is really the sweet spot.
It's just a matter of preference. The IQ of the 5N is good enough for me to have as a carry around camera with 1-3 lenses, and it can come with me nearly anywhere without much notice. The last time that I was in Hawaii with only the A900, it felt a little silly bringing that thing to nice dinners and other places, even with only a 50 attached to it. If I'm in a situation where size doesn't bother me, even more size wouldn't bother me much more, although that is obviously a slippery slope. I guess I'm essentially saying that the NEX-5N is fine for me for anything that isn't tripod based photography, where I'd prefer MFDB.
Of course, if someone made a FF DSLR in a body the size of entry level DSLRs, my mind could change. It's a sliding scale for everyone, apparently. I bought my first NEX assuming that it would only be my lightweight option on occasion, and I never shot my A900 again.
p.11 #15 · Giving up 5D II for NEX? My experience in Japan
carstenw wrote:
I don't think the FF-is-heavy-so-why-not-MF idea makes any sense. After playing around with a Hasselblad 645 today, my D3 felt super light Also, you are more or less constrained to tripod-only shooting, all the time, to get the quality you hope for. 135 FF is really the sweet spot.
So let me ask you carsten, when you run to the store, does the D3 go with you?
p.11 #16 · Giving up 5D II for NEX? My experience in Japan
You just don't see anyone strolling around casually with a 5D or D3S or A900--ever.
Really? I've seen plenty, and also carry mine around. Indeed, just lately practically all I've seen are the FF DSLRs. I hardly ever see anyone with a camera and Alt lenses, and have not yet seen anyone with a Nex. I live in Frankfurt and I'm not blind.
p.11 #17 · Giving up 5D II for NEX? My experience in Japan
I'm loving reading this discussion, except that I made an even bigger jump. I went from my 5DII to m43, and loving it. I take the GH2 to work with me everyday and get some great images walking around at lunch or in between projects. Great lens selection. At base ISO the quality is very very good, albeit not at the level of a Sony NEX 5N or 7, but better than I obtained from the original 5D with "L" zooms and Canon (non-L) primes, and Oly OM lenses. . . . A lot of it has to do with the excellent lenses and light anti-alias filter I suspect. I may someday get a "full frame" camera again, maybe. Though I expect that I won't because the smaller sensors should continue to improve and I'll continue to get older and not as willing to carry around large equipment any more. When I want more resolution, I stitch, but frankly 16 megapixels of resolution on a nice light carbon fiber tripod at base ISO of 160 with excellent lenses is almost always enough for me.
p.11 #18 · Giving up 5D II for NEX? My experience in Japan
uhoh7, show us some excellent images shot on the last 'run to the store', please ;~0
Last month in China/Tibet all the rage with cashed-up middle class Chinese folks was giant Canon/Nikon pro DSLRs with giant lenses dangling around their waists, some with those fancy long straps. No cultural concern with large cameras, obviously, and none had camera bags, so they were also pretty 'casual'! About the only NEX I saw was in the Changi Airport's Sony photostore, and I had to look quite hard to find one.
I do think Sony's A99 will be more A77 sized, and a good thing it would be. They have an excellent track record of making small cameras obviously....
p.11 #19 · Giving up 5D II for NEX? My experience in Japan
This FF vs. APS thing has been going on for so many years that I really don't think anyone can make an original comment any more.
I know for some people APS will never be enough and they'll bring out the arguments why FF is better (wide angle DOF, more area gathers more photons, etc. etc.).
So for those for whom APS will never be good enough irrespective of any possible advantages, why do you even enter into the discussions any more? Are you trying to convince those of us who are happy with our APS sensors or are you trying to convince yourselves?
p.11 #20 · Giving up 5D II for NEX? My experience in Japan
philip_pj wrote:
uhoh7, show us some excellent images shot on the last 'run to the store', please ;~0
i'm not going to say my shots are excellent, but pretty much everything i post here was shot on a 'run to the store'. i like to shoot and play around a lot, but have very little dedicated shooting time. maybe twice a month i'll be able to spend a few hours on nothing other than shooting. obviously these shots tend to come out better because i'm not time constrained and i purposely go someplace with a photo in mind.
the NEX can go in my coat pocket and with me anywhere. that combined it's unobtrusiveness in social situations means i use it all the time and get many photos that i really like that i would never get with any current FF camera (because it wouldn't be there). on my dedicated photo expeditions i'd be happy to take a FF camera (or large format for that matter), but they are so seldom and the improvement in image quality is so small that it really doesn't seem worth it to me.
I really want to get into the low light / large aperture shooting, off any duty, just for myself, but not exactly ready to give up the convenience of AF completely.
