So I have almost decided.....

[Corto]

My foray in to more modern Digitals will most likely be a Sony Nex-F3 and a Fuji X-10.

I was going to go for a Nex7 but I realized that I can get both of the above for almost the same money......

I really want a nex for a digital back with all my old lenses and the Fuji X-10 just looks like to much fun.

This combo should take care of my digital needs for quite a while.

I'll wait till closer to fall as I have so much Film I want to use up this summer.

But I'm pretty confident that those two cameras will work for my needs.

 

[BobYIL]

Get the Nex-5N as it has offset microlenses to go with wider focal lengths. I use it with down to 15/4.5 Heliar.

 

[Corto]

I'll go with the new nex-F3, I dont really shoot anything wider than a 28.

 

[Godfrey]

I bought an X10 and returned it three days later. Disappointing performance, IMO.

For RF camera lenses, the best TTL mirrorless body I've worked with (including any of the NEX and Micro-FourThirds) is the Ricoh GXR with A12 Camera Mount. It does beautifully with SLR lenses too, using adapters. I prefer one of those over both of the X10 and NEX-F3 ... and you can fit either an optical or electronic eye level viewfinder to it too, unlike the NEX.

 

[stillshunter]

I bought an X10 and returned it three days later. Disappointing performance, IMO.

As they say:
"Horses for courses",
"Different strokes for different folks",
"Your mileage may vary"...etc.

Love the X10 for what it is.
NB: I've cycled through too many digicams (but don't take my word for it just look at my too many posts on SC.com 😱).

So why the NEX over the Fuji XPro1 or OMD or GXR? I never warmed to the Sony UI...plain awful IMHO.

 

[Corto]

So why the NEX over the Fuji XPro1 or OMD or GXR? I never warmed to the Sony UI...plain awful IMHO.

Price, And tons of adapters.

UI's never bother me much as I tend to adapt quickly.

The two cameras I mentioned were chosen as I just want to play with them without investing too much.

While I'm not on a tight budget I rather own and play around with two cameras for the price of one XPro1 or Nex7.

Not knocking any cameras here, It's just what I feel like doing.😉

 

[Out to Lunch]

"So I have almost decided....." In my line of work that'll get you fired real fast.....'almost'.

 

[Corto]

Good thing this thread has nothing to do with work.

 

[pvdhaar]

One bit of advice: do not, and I repeat: do not, buy the NEX with the 16mm if you intend to use it for legacy lenses... Chances are you'll like the 16 so much, you'll completely forget about all the old lenses you've got. 😀

At least, that's what happened to me..

 

[loneranger]

One bit of advice: do not, and I repeat: do not, buy the NEX with the 16mm if you intend to use it for legacy lenses... Chances are you'll like the 16 so much, you'll completely forget about all the old lenses you've got. 😀

At least, that's what happened to me..

I hated the 16mm that came with my nex, sold it quickly.

 

[pvdhaar]

I hated the 16mm that came with my nex, sold it quickly.

It seems that there are only two kind of reactions to the 16mm indeed.. You either love it or hate it. I've got two colleagues who also shoot the 16. One thinks it's the best thing since sliced bread, praising the incredible detail when cropping. The other colleague thinks it's so-so and advocates sticking with the 18-200. Seems very much to depend on what you expect from it..

 

[Corto]

Yeah this will be a tough decision for me as well.
But I do a lot of sports photography so I will probably get the 18-200 for that.
And maybe the 30 sigma on the side.

 

[kshapero]

Get the Nex-5N as it has offset microlenses to go with wider focal lengths. I use it with down to 15/4.5 Heliar.

Can anyone tell me what this means "offset microlenses"?

 

[Paul T.]

Can anyone tell me what this means "offset microlenses"?

Rangefinder-style lenses sit very close to the sensor. The light rays come out of the back of them at an angle - offset microlenses help direct the light into the little light-sensitive pits in the sensor.

Without them you'd get more vignetting, chromatic aberration and perhaps also smearing on the edge of the frame, especially with wide-angle lenses.

 

[BobYIL]

Can anyone tell me what this means "offset microlenses"?

Paul's (Paul T) comments are right on.

Check the centerline of the miniature lens (microlens) on the cell around the mid area of the sensor. You see it's lined with the axis of the cell.. Now note the centerline of the microlens on the cell near the edge of the sensor; see how it's not aligned, i.e. offset?

Offset placement of the microlenses are for diverting the oblique rays from the main lens as to make them "fall into the well of the cell" in angles near to perpendicular. The main function of the sensor cells is to collect photons, the more the photons are directed to the wells in near-to-right angles to more photons will be collected.(In short, less vignetting, less smearing of the details, less diffraction of white to blue, green, etc., i.e. chromatic aberrations, less color shifts due to inefficiency, more homogenous picture like the way film records.)

 

[kshapero]

Ok but someone said the NEX5 has it and the NEX3 doesn't? Is that so?

 

[Speedfreak]

Get the Nex-5N as it has offset microlenses to go with wider focal lengths.

This gets repeated here and there Bob, but SONY never said that. Fact is, the 5N works better with legacy wide angle lenses than the 7.

 

[BobYIL]

Ok but someone said the NEX5 has it and the NEX3 doesn't? Is that so?

🙂 Not Nex-5 but Nex-5N.. also not the original Nex-3 but the later version Nex-3C. The new model Nex-3F should also have.. the Nex-7 does not..

 

[BobYIL]

This gets repeated here and there Bob, but SONY never said that. Fact is, the 5N works better with legacy wide angle lenses than the 7.

True, do not take it as real offset microlenses layered in progressive angles toward corners as in the M8 or M9 but regard it rather as a wave plane (an optical layer) to function like offset microlenses as some guys with talents to dismantle the sensors of the Nex series confirmed it too.

FYI, no matter how sophisticated a sensor could be equipped with offset microlenses, it still can not "handle" the oblique rays properly unless it is supported also with a "corrective software" written specifically for each type of lens in concern, as in the Leica or Fujifilm bodies.

 

[PaleBlueDotCitizen]

Get the Nex-5N as it has offset microlenses to go with wider focal lengths. I use it with down to 15/4.5 Heliar.

I've never seen any evidence to support this claim. Can you provide any?