frezeiss wrote:
I'm completely stunned yesterday by the performance of touch AF the OMD has, and the fast primes like 14 2.5, 25 1.4 and 45 1.8 also tips the equation further.
Note the Sigma 19/2.8 is comparable in FoV and speed to the 14/2.5 (both are 28mm-e on their respective systems) and optically better. Sony is lacking a fast normal (but delivers a stunner of a 35mm-e instead) and offers a 75mm-e instead of a 90mm-e, although the Oly 45 is a little better optically than the excellent 50 OSS. A lot depends on what you really want, personally what I'd like to see from Sony is a ZA 70/1.4-2 along with a ZA 35.
Fast AF is a nice feature, but I'm in Sebboh's boat, I just don't like AF. Additionally I don't really miss IBIS, I already have rather steady hands and find myself generally able to only get a stop or so out of most IS systems when shooting sub-150mm-e lenses. That's not enough for me to switch systems over, even with an IS system as good as the E-M5's.
5N and Sigma 30 :
- Moderate focus speed
- Changing focus point is quite a wait, you have to press the area of focus and wait until the ever awaited green box to appear, after that then you could press the shutter. In the end, didn't bother, I changed to a ZM 25 Biogon with zone focusing.
OMD 14 2.5 45 1.8
- Faster focus speed
- Selecting area of focus & taking pictures to be a breeze by only tapping the LCD
About the lens war, I agree on the most part with you although it seems m43 has more sexy lenses such as 7-14, 25 1.4 and 45 1.8. The lack of an excellent 35 mm on m43 also gets my attention though.
As for Sony, only Z 24 1.8 gets my attention while the 50 OSS doesn't look very good in rendering and in appearance.
I guess what I really need is for Sony to come out with a body like the OMD which have touch AF and improved AF speed & accuracy, add in a Z 35 1.4 then I'm good. But the thing is, I dont think that will happen, not in the near future.
I used to hate AF too, I have a D700 with Zeiss F and 5N with M glass so its all manual for me. With time, there are occasions when you're tired of it and want simplicity in focusing, hence AF.
mawz wrote:
Note the Sigma 19/2.8 is comparable in FoV and speed to the 14/2.5 (both are 28mm-e on their respective systems) and optically better. Sony is lacking a fast normal (but delivers a stunner of a 35mm-e instead) and offers a 75mm-e instead of a 90mm-e, although the Oly 45 is a little better optically than the excellent 50 OSS. A lot depends on what you really want, personally what I'd like to see from Sony is a ZA 70/1.4-2 along with a ZA 35.
Fast AF is a nice feature, but I'm in Sebboh's boat, I just don't like AF. Additionally I don't really miss IBIS, I already have rather steady hands and find myself generally able to only get a stop or so out of most IS systems when shooting sub-150mm-e lenses. That's not enough for me to switch systems over, even with an IS system as good as the E-M5's....Show more →
frezeiss wrote:
I used to hate AF too, I have a D700 with Zeiss F and 5N with M glass so its all manual for me. With time, there are occasions when you're tired of it and want simplicity in focusing, hence AF.
I'm finding this as well. There are times where AF becomes more convenient in order to "capture the moment". I still consider myself a MF guy but the more I shoot street, the more important a good solid AF capability becomes for me.
The OM-D focuses faster for sure but I've never missed a shot on my NEX-7 because it focused too slowly. The NEX-7 AF speed is still pretty darn quick with the ZA 24.
Just wish it had a touch screen. I keep poking the screen out of habit from using the OM-D.
frezeiss wrote:
I used to hate AF too, I have a D700 with Zeiss F and 5N with M glass so its all manual for me. With time, there are occasions when you're tired of it and want simplicity in focusing, hence AF.
Simplicity in focusing is in fact a major reason why I dislike AF. I find it a heck of a lot easier to just focus manually rather than dealing with AF systems, which tend to annoy me to distraction. All of them have hoops I need to jump through to get the focus where I want it, with MF I just focus the lens, nothing else (assuming TTL viewing, RF's need focus & recompose, which is my only real beef with them).
One thing I love about the NEX-7 is I can have it setup so I almost never need to use the menu or even the secondary controls. It allows me to mostly ignore the complexity of digital cameras, which is a major dislike of mine (I dislike UI cruft). That's one reason why the absence of a touchscreen on the 7 is a feature rather than a fail for me, one less UI frill I need to worry about.
FlyPenFly wrote:
As far as manual controls go, on the NEX-7, if it had a mode dial and a format/delete all button, I would never have to go in the menus again.
Since I don't use AF lenses on my 7, I guess I'm not too worried about the systems AF speed, If I sell my Canon AF gear then I will be, till then... it's MF baby!
sebboh wrote:
wait? why do you guys to need to go into the menus to select mode?
+1, I'm 1 button press away from selecting PASM, I'm more annoyed that the peaking controls are buried.
Fast unobtrusive street photography where capturing that decisive moment is the main goal will be served nicely by the OMD. Sure you could use manual lenses with zone focus but I wont be critically sharp at the object.
For other usage, actually I prefer manual focus. Only for SP and those lazy days where my eyes wont cooperate with manual focus
I'd say great street photography is rarely about critical focus, and the best still tend to use zone focusing. That being said, it drives me nuts that Sony doesn't have some kind of focus distance indicator option in the EVF/LCD, so that one can easily zone focus with native lenses.
After seeing micro 4/3 image thread and regularly checking the NEX thread, I still prefer IQ of the NEX + ridiculously expensive manual lens combo from you guys
douglasf13 wrote:
I'd say great street photography is rarely about critical focus, and the best still tend to use zone focusing. That being said, it drives me nuts that Sony doesn't have some kind of focus distance indicator option in the EVF/LCD, so that one can easily zone focus with native lenses.
True but its hard when you are raised in the FM alt forum where pixel perfection becomes the ultimate goal
Anyways, do you find the distance marks on M lenses to be accurate when used on the NEX? I think its a little off
I've had way too many misses with zone focusing on the NEX but then again, I'm a newbie at shooting that way. My number of keepers was raised dramatically using the Sigmas 30 and 19 relying on AF. I'm also not an in your face paparazzi type street shooter and tend to want to be more obscure, even shooting from the hip with the LCD tilted.
FlyPenFly wrote:
How else do you switch between Manual mode and Aperture priority mode?
I have the right hand button on the 4 way controller assigned to call up the mode dial. I find it falls to hand easier than any mode dial I've ever used when the camera is to my eye. the only advantage of a real mode dial for me is changing mode with the camera turned off. overall I prefer the virtual one, I just wish I could customize what was on the dial.
sebboh wrote:
I have the right hand button on the 4 way controller assigned to call up the mode dial. I find it falls to hand easier than any mode dial I've ever used when the camera is to my eye. the only advantage of a real mode dial for me is changing mode with the camera turned off. overall I prefer the virtual one, I just wish I could customize what was on the dial.
Hmm didn't know you could tie a button to bring up the mode menu, will have to try that when I get home.
