Cirrus410
Newbie
There’s a lot of discussion here about using the 5 and, particularly, the 7 with rangefinder lenses and I have six or eight weeks of experience with this now and thought I’d report it. As background to put my observations in context, I’ve been a photographer for 45 years, have used Leicas almost exclusively, starting with the M4 and ending with the M8.2. I never went to the M9 because they’d gone back to the loose frame lines of the M8. About a year ago I got two Fuji X-100s and like and use them a lot. I really like a 40-50 FOV when working outdoors and thus I became interested in the NEX cameras for use with the 28 and 35mm lenses. I now have a 5n body and two 7s. Each has a Novoflex adapter permanently mounted to it. I looked at a few inexpensive adapters and I am fairly sure that they are not precisely enough made to ensure both good alignment and proper positioning of lenses and prevent wear or damage to the lens mounts themselves. I did not look at the Voigtlander adapter.
My idea of lens “testing” is to photograph a large bookshelf in my office from about seven feet with corner to corner book spines on it and do 13x19 and 16x20 prints. My other testing is to just shoot in a variety of real situations, which I do naturally because I always carry a camera. I should also mention that I shoot only B&W (converted in ACR) and almost never use a FOV wider than 28 (and rarely even that). These two limitations will make some of my comments irrelevant to some readers. I am not interested in corner color drift or in using 16 or 18mm lenses.
I can start out by saying that I like the NEX cameras a lot. The image quality is very good, the controls are well designed and the cameras rarely get in the way. Neither NEX camera quite has the tonal delicacy or image refinement of the Fuji camera, particularly at high ISO, but they’re very close. Compared to the M8.2s, the NEXs are much better at high ISO and, to my eye, comparable at low ISO. I think the NEXs, particularly the 7, have very light low pass filters. At the time I got the NEXs, I also spent a few weeks with the Ricoh GXR and Leica module and I like the camera a lot, particularly its physical quality and control design. It was unfortunately rather poor at high ISO and the operational speed (writing files, shutter and control response, etc.) was just too slow. This was slow enough that it got in the way for me. The shutter response of the 7 is perfect, better than I have ever experienced. A Ricoh with the sensor of the NEX 5n and faster operation would probably be a very good camera. Ricoh is a company I have a lot of respect for.
On the comparison of NEX 5n to NEX 7, the NEX 7 offers more customizable buttons and the (quite good) built in finder with eyepiece off to the left edge like a Leica. I have the finder for the NEX 5 and find it defeats the elegance of the camera in carrying and handling. The two top dials on the 7 are terrific. The way I’ve set it up gives me immediate access to ISO, exposure compensation and metering pattern. I have nothing else set up on these dials. The image quality of the two cameras strikes me as fairly close for a given print size, though I slightly prefer the 5n, but not enough to give up the better controls and handling of the 7. I’d prefer to have the 7 with the sensor of the 5, but I guess Sony figured they had to stay in the megapixel race. I think the 5 may be about a half stop better in the high ISO noise department for a given print size, but it may be less difference than that. I routinely use both at 3200 and sometimes at 6400 on both the 5n and 7. Both are leagues ahead of the Leica M8.2 on the high ISO score. I’ve also never seen any banding in shadow areas from the NEXs and the Leica can be quite bad in this regard.
There is really only one (really small, easily correctable) thing that I find unacceptable in the NEX 5n or 7 and that is the vulenerability of the video button to accidental activation. I do this constantly (expecially on the 7) and this means hitting it again and waiting a moment for it to stop filming before a still frame can be shot. It’s just a nuisance, but I’ve lost some shots because of it. Sony absolutely *must* make a firmware upgrade that allows locking this button out, just as they have already done with the two top dials and rear dial. Incidentally, it took me a while to realize that locking out these three dials in the menu does not make them unusable—one simply pushes the top button (to the right of the shutter) and the dials are alive and usable for a while or until the shutter release is touched. This is a great arrangement. The vulnerability of the video button seems the only significant ergonomic problem on either camera and Sony has to be congratulated for this remarkable attention to design. I’ve never used a camera so thoughtfully designed, not even the Ricohs, which are excellent. (I hope Leica looks at the 7 and gives it some hard thought.)
On the lenses, I’m using the following on the NEXs: CV 21/4; Summicron 28 ASPH; Elmarit 28 ASPH; CV 28/2; Summicron 35 pre-ASPH (the Canadian one) and the Summicron 35 ASPH. I also bought two Sony lenses, the 16mm and the 24mm Zeiss (both autofocus), though I’m not sure I’d ever really use them and probably won’t keep them.
I find that all of these M mount lenses I’m using perform just fine on the 5n and the 7. I can see some corner softness (and contrast drop) in the lenses wide open with the images hugely enlarged, but one can always see that. It’s just characteristic of lenses, even the best of the Leitz lenses like the Summicron 28. I’m not sure that this is any worse than on the M8.2, but if it is, it is very slight and is certainly not a problem that one would object to in real photography and real prints. For a wide lens on the NEX (31mm) the tiny CV 21 is terrific on both these cameras if you don’t need anything faster. For B&W work, I highly recommend both of the CV lenses (21 and 28) for their beautiful grayscale. The old Summicron 35 also has this grayscale and is my preferred 35mm lens, though I use the newer 35 if I’m indoors in low light or sometimes on very flat days. As for the Sony lenses, the 16 is something like a cross between a lens and a pinhole camera. The 24mm is pure Zeiss as also seen on Leica cameras: super sharp in the center with fairly soft corners and a lot of contrast. It’s a bit too crisp for me.
I should mention that I’m impressed enough with the NEX cameras that I’ve sold my two M8.2 bodies.
I hope this is helpful as a description of one person’s experience.
My idea of lens “testing” is to photograph a large bookshelf in my office from about seven feet with corner to corner book spines on it and do 13x19 and 16x20 prints. My other testing is to just shoot in a variety of real situations, which I do naturally because I always carry a camera. I should also mention that I shoot only B&W (converted in ACR) and almost never use a FOV wider than 28 (and rarely even that). These two limitations will make some of my comments irrelevant to some readers. I am not interested in corner color drift or in using 16 or 18mm lenses.
I can start out by saying that I like the NEX cameras a lot. The image quality is very good, the controls are well designed and the cameras rarely get in the way. Neither NEX camera quite has the tonal delicacy or image refinement of the Fuji camera, particularly at high ISO, but they’re very close. Compared to the M8.2s, the NEXs are much better at high ISO and, to my eye, comparable at low ISO. I think the NEXs, particularly the 7, have very light low pass filters. At the time I got the NEXs, I also spent a few weeks with the Ricoh GXR and Leica module and I like the camera a lot, particularly its physical quality and control design. It was unfortunately rather poor at high ISO and the operational speed (writing files, shutter and control response, etc.) was just too slow. This was slow enough that it got in the way for me. The shutter response of the 7 is perfect, better than I have ever experienced. A Ricoh with the sensor of the NEX 5n and faster operation would probably be a very good camera. Ricoh is a company I have a lot of respect for.
On the comparison of NEX 5n to NEX 7, the NEX 7 offers more customizable buttons and the (quite good) built in finder with eyepiece off to the left edge like a Leica. I have the finder for the NEX 5 and find it defeats the elegance of the camera in carrying and handling. The two top dials on the 7 are terrific. The way I’ve set it up gives me immediate access to ISO, exposure compensation and metering pattern. I have nothing else set up on these dials. The image quality of the two cameras strikes me as fairly close for a given print size, though I slightly prefer the 5n, but not enough to give up the better controls and handling of the 7. I’d prefer to have the 7 with the sensor of the 5, but I guess Sony figured they had to stay in the megapixel race. I think the 5 may be about a half stop better in the high ISO noise department for a given print size, but it may be less difference than that. I routinely use both at 3200 and sometimes at 6400 on both the 5n and 7. Both are leagues ahead of the Leica M8.2 on the high ISO score. I’ve also never seen any banding in shadow areas from the NEXs and the Leica can be quite bad in this regard.
There is really only one (really small, easily correctable) thing that I find unacceptable in the NEX 5n or 7 and that is the vulenerability of the video button to accidental activation. I do this constantly (expecially on the 7) and this means hitting it again and waiting a moment for it to stop filming before a still frame can be shot. It’s just a nuisance, but I’ve lost some shots because of it. Sony absolutely *must* make a firmware upgrade that allows locking this button out, just as they have already done with the two top dials and rear dial. Incidentally, it took me a while to realize that locking out these three dials in the menu does not make them unusable—one simply pushes the top button (to the right of the shutter) and the dials are alive and usable for a while or until the shutter release is touched. This is a great arrangement. The vulnerability of the video button seems the only significant ergonomic problem on either camera and Sony has to be congratulated for this remarkable attention to design. I’ve never used a camera so thoughtfully designed, not even the Ricohs, which are excellent. (I hope Leica looks at the 7 and gives it some hard thought.)
On the lenses, I’m using the following on the NEXs: CV 21/4; Summicron 28 ASPH; Elmarit 28 ASPH; CV 28/2; Summicron 35 pre-ASPH (the Canadian one) and the Summicron 35 ASPH. I also bought two Sony lenses, the 16mm and the 24mm Zeiss (both autofocus), though I’m not sure I’d ever really use them and probably won’t keep them.
I find that all of these M mount lenses I’m using perform just fine on the 5n and the 7. I can see some corner softness (and contrast drop) in the lenses wide open with the images hugely enlarged, but one can always see that. It’s just characteristic of lenses, even the best of the Leitz lenses like the Summicron 28. I’m not sure that this is any worse than on the M8.2, but if it is, it is very slight and is certainly not a problem that one would object to in real photography and real prints. For a wide lens on the NEX (31mm) the tiny CV 21 is terrific on both these cameras if you don’t need anything faster. For B&W work, I highly recommend both of the CV lenses (21 and 28) for their beautiful grayscale. The old Summicron 35 also has this grayscale and is my preferred 35mm lens, though I use the newer 35 if I’m indoors in low light or sometimes on very flat days. As for the Sony lenses, the 16 is something like a cross between a lens and a pinhole camera. The 24mm is pure Zeiss as also seen on Leica cameras: super sharp in the center with fairly soft corners and a lot of contrast. It’s a bit too crisp for me.
I should mention that I’m impressed enough with the NEX cameras that I’ve sold my two M8.2 bodies.
I hope this is helpful as a description of one person’s experience.
