Besides the UI being better to me on the 7, the flash on the 7 seems much more powerful than the ones on the 5 & 5N. It is also pretty cool using it as bounce. Love the grip and like you mentioned, the body just feels more substantial than the 5N. Using the 24/1.8 now, ordered the Tamron 18-200 for my daughters' sports, and maybe the 50/1.8. Guess I am just getting lazy and prefer AF over the 4 50mm legacy primes I have in a drawer
Just for the sake of comparison, Phillipe, there are a few advantages with the 5N EVF over the 7's EVF. Of course, there is the tilt, but there is also an on/off button on the side so that you can switch manually between the LCD and EVF. On the 7, you have to go into the menus to manually switch between the two. The final advantage is that, because of the 5N's strap lug design, the EVF's eye sensor doesn't trigger on your body when carrying. The 7's eye sensor constantly gets tripped by being aimed at your body, thus keeping the camera from going into sleep mode.
I've been going back and forth on whether loosing the above functionality is worth having the more streamlined EVF of the 7.
Philippe - Thanks for the great review of your experiences with the 5N and 7. I can see why your perplexed over the direction to take. However, it is interesting to note my feelings as I read your review. I don't find myself bothered by the 5N's VF and it pretty much stays on my camera most of the time. I also find the focus peaking feature a great benefit on the 5N and note that I have mine set to high-yellow which also works during MF Assist. I'm still getting used to the touchscreen, coming from the 5 to the 5N but certainly appreciate it's value.
I think the thing that bothers me most about the 7 are the observations you made regarding the higher ISO shots between the two and the issue with wide angle lenses on the 7. These seem to make me lean more to the 5N. I agree with you on the portability, take it anywhere, that this is likely a toss up. However, another observation between us is that there is no way that I am giving up on my DSLR. So for me, the NEX system is a lightweight travel companion (business travel) and one I use when walking to and from work.
We all know the saying, "to each his own" but it's nonetheless interesting to observe how some differences can impact each of us and pull us in a different direction even though we are all in pursuit of the perfect camera system. I still wonder how I would feel to use the NEX-7 for a time and experience this for myself but having just purchased the 5N, I'm satisfied enough to stay with this for a while.
Thanks again for you insights. I always find them valuable!
Great images, Philippe, both of them! - The ZM 18 is also an impressive lens, judging from your images and from the test shots you generously let me take with your lens in Beelitz.
I would not recommend the 70-300mm it is quite soft wide open. These were the best of a lot of shots, and most were oof. I returned the lens.
The WATE is very good on the 5n, but is only acceptable on the 7. It is sharp across the frame at f11... The ZM18 seems to be much better for some reason. Center sharpness on the WATE is outstanding at all apertures on the 7. I am hoping to do some shooting with it over the next few days.
douglasf13 wrote:
Just for the sake of comparison, Phillipe, there are a few advantages with the 5N EVF over the 7's EVF. Of course, there is the tilt, but there is also an on/off button on the side so that you can switch manually between the LCD and EVF. On the 7, you have to go into the menus to manually switch between the two. The final advantage is that, because of the 5N's strap lug design, the EVF's eye sensor doesn't trigger on your body when carrying. The 7's eye sensor constantly gets tripped by being aimed at your body, thus keeping the camera from going into sleep mode.
I've been going back and forth on whether loosing the above functionality is worth having the more streamlined EVF of the 7....Show more →
put the 7 in display mode and let it sleep that way? that's the way my 5 sleeps.
wonderful castle shots philippe and sea lion shots andrew!
here's another stitch with the c/y 35/1.4 wide open. pre sunset shot of the same bench i posted earlier. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7208/6889898627_57574b4325_o.jpg
the field of view/dof of this shot correspond roughly to what one would get using 35/1.4 lens on a 6x9 camera (medium not large format). i have yet another stopped down version of this i still need to process...
Andrew Gough wrote:
I would not recommend the 70-300mm it is quite soft wide open. These were the best of a lot of shots, and most were oof. I returned the lens.
The WATE is very good on the 5n, but is only acceptable on the 7. It is sharp across the frame at f11... The ZM18 seems to be much better for some reason. Center sharpness on the WATE is outstanding at all apertures on the 7. I am hoping to do some shooting with it over the next few days.
Andrew
I'm quite surprised with this comment about the 70-300. My copy at least is not at all soft wide open and it gets better if I stop down a little, so either your copy was not very good or I've been lucky.
Those ZM18 shots in Japan are awesome.
I liked your comparison between the 5N and the 7, very nice written, but I can not understand how you would want to go to a cam that will not allow you to use that lens. It would be nice to have a NEX7, but it is expensive and does not have a decent WA option, while the 5N has. I would pass on the 7 and wait for things to come ( be it Sony or something else ).
