Leica and Iphone users will love the Nex 5n and here is why

E

eleskin

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I just received my Nex 5n in the mail yesterday (I am still waiting for my M adapter) and my temptation to fool around with the camera before reading the book it came with was too great. A friend of mine bought an Olympus EPL 1 and brought it over the other day and the buttons and menus were a nightmare for me. Trying to figure out how to set it for Raw was very challenging. For me, this camera was begging the user to fiddle and miss shots. Enter the NEX 5n. Just like my M8, I turned this thing on and in 10 minutes I mastered the controls and menu structure. The menus are structured like my Iphone apps and are very easy to use. The controls are minimal and not distracting. So for me, this thing is a winner. Any camera that right out of the box can be used without reading the instruction book is amazing from a design standpoint. I love my M8 because of its minimalist traditional design. The NEX 5n is 21st Century, but it screams Apple in its layout and menu structure. I switched from PC to Apple for a reason. The Nex 5n gets it right for all of the reasons stated above. Now for my M adapter. I cannot wait to use my 35mm f1.2 Nokton and other lenses on this thing at high ISO with focus peaking!
 
I'm still grappling with the menu system--it seems random to me which items are listed under which heading. Do you know how to change ISO more easily in A mode? Can you program some kind of shortcut? It's driving me nuts.

I do think it's a great camera, though.
 
Only have a C3 in front of me now, but I believe it's the same on the 5N--if you're in iAuto, you can't change the ISO, it's done automatically.

In Program Auto (P mode), you can assign ISO to one of the soft keys. I have it set as the right key press on the rear command dial. Allows you to change it quickly.
 
By A mode I meant aperture priority, couldn't remember what it was actually called. Right key press on the rear command dial would be marvelous--where in the menus do you program the soft keys?

Thanks!
 
Leica and Iphone users will love the Nex 5n

Not all of them...

Unless, of course, you mean those who have both Leicas and iPhones.

I have only Leicas.

Cheers,

R.
 
eleskin said:
I just received my Nex 5n in the mail yesterday (I am still waiting for my M adapter) and my temptation to fool around with the camera before reading the book it came with was too great. A friend of mine bought an Olympus EPL 1 and brought it over the other day and the buttons and menus were a nightmare for me. Trying to figure out how to set it for Raw was very challenging. For me, this camera was begging the user to fiddle and miss shots. Enter the NEX 5n. Just like my M8, I turned this thing on and in 10 minutes I mastered the controls and menu structure. The menus are structured like my Iphone apps and are very easy to use. The controls are minimal and not distracting. So for me, this thing is a winner. Any camera that right out of the box can be used without reading the instruction book is amazing from a design standpoint. I love my M8 because of its minimalist traditional design. The NEX 5n is 21st Century, but it screams Apple in its layout and menu structure. I switched from PC to Apple for a reason. The Nex 5n gets it right for all of the reasons stated above. Now for my M adapter. I cannot wait to use my 35mm f1.2 Nokton and other lenses on this thing at high ISO with focus peaking!
Click to expand...

I used my E-P2 for two years, never once looked at the manual. The menu system is not worse nor better than any other cameras out there. It's a personal preference.

I'm a UNIX command-line guy who has used PC and Macs. Again, a personal preference.
 
There is no digicam other than the iphone that has an interface as good as the iphone. Frankly if I were a digicam maker, I'd hire Apple to design the UI.
 
leica owners will love it?
Why, is it a bottom loader? :D:D

No really, you made me curious. I have a M2 and i have an iphone (both very very old :D )
Though i am on the verge of selling my M2... i love it except the bottom loading and small mag VF.
So, i got curious abt that Nex5n.
 
mabelsound said:
Agreed. The iPhone is the most useful devices I've ever owned, and one of the best-designed.
Click to expand...

Including a word processor? Or before that, a typewriter? (As far as I recall, you write for a living.) Or personal transport? Or a proper camera?

You must have missed out 'one of' (in "is 'one of' the most useful devices I've ever owned"), and even then, I'll take some convincing. If an iPhone were really all that essential, I find it hard to believe that I'd be able to live without one. As I have, so far.

Cheers,

R,
 
mabelsound said:
By A mode I meant aperture priority, couldn't remember what it was actually called. Right key press on the rear command dial would be marvelous--where in the menus do you program the soft keys?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I set mine with:
right key ael toggle-it's an auto exposure lock, which I didn't realize the camera had at first.
soft key b (bottom button) as mf assist - screen zoom
soft key c (center button) as custom, with iso first, metering mode second, then whatever else I want. It's too bad you can't set the shooting mode that way.

That's been working well for me. We'll see what happens when I get my EVF in the mail, if I'll have to change anything, but for now it's good. I do wish I could add the peaking settings in soft key c...
 
Oh well, one can live without a can opener and have tinned food every day, but that can opener sure would be the most useful item ever once one gets it!

:D
 
buzzardkid said:
Oh well, one can live without a can opener and have tinned food every day, but that can opener sure would be the most useful item ever once one gets it!

:D
Click to expand...

Or one can avoid tinned food, or buy the sort with the rip-top cans. But I can't quite see the analogy.

Cheers,

R.
 
useful ≠ essential

An iphone is incredibly useful, but in almost* no way essential.

*Depending on circumstances of course ;) For a designer of iphone or web applications, it is essential.
 
semordnilap said:
useful ≠ essential
Click to expand...

True enough, but what would an iPhone do that I can't do at the moment? I work from home, so I have my 'phones and internet here.

I don't want much internet access when I'm travelling -- the occasional checking of e-mail is all I need -- and I have a 10-year-old mobile 'phone for when I want to make or receive 'phone calls.

Now, it's perfectly legitimate to argue that my lifestyle is unusual; but it's also perfectly legitimate to argue that there are a lot of 'busy fools', who substitute 'being connected' for actually doing anything useful or enjoyable, let alone doing anything well.

If my 21-year-old daughter can live without a mobile 'phone for months on end as a student (and she did), and if I live with a very old 'phone that I seldom use, then I think that quite a lot of people could and possibly should live without an iPhone. They might even find their quality of life improved if they did.

A wonderful mistype in the last para (now corrected) was iPhobe. that describes me perfectly...

Cheers,

R.
 
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