Nex5n peaking

[carpark]

I did a search and could not find the answer so sorry if this has come up before. Does the peaking function work with all lenses or just the Sony lenses?
I am ordering the camera this week and I intend to use it with CV rangefinder screw mount glass.
I see a lot of people like the viewfinder attachment. Is it really worth the extra cash?

 

[splitimageview]

All lenses...

 

[kshapero]

I had the 5N with legacy lenses and the focus peaking works but IMHO it takes away from the "experience". I live in a very sunny area and I think the EVF is a must.

 

[Pablito]

The EVF is superb and works great with focus peaking. The Sony lenses are lousy, especially the 16mm. I use my 5 and 5n with Leica and MF Nikon lenses. Wonderful results. The Leica wides do produce some color shift in the corners. Irrelevant if you are doing b&w conversion, of course.

 

[peterm1]

I find that the manual focus assist (i.e enlargement function) on the EVF works quite a bit better than focus peaking for MF as with FP it can be hard to judge exactly where peak focus is (there is usually quite a large area indicated by FP). As Pablito says the Sony lenses are pretty ordinary although I think part of this is a poor AF algorithm. In AF mode the Sony lenses work better when stopped down to at least f5.6 and the central AF point is used. As a result like many other here I almost exclusively use legacy MF lenes (both Leica RF and SLR lenses by Nikon etc.)

 

[dreilly]

I use focus peaking but often I'm with Peter, the magnified view accessed by tapping on the touch screen is the best. The peaking actually gets in the way of this by obscuring the high-contrast details when magnified. I should shut my peaking off altogether and just try the magnified technique. The Ricoh GXR's peaking was better than the 5Ns.

 

[35mmdelux]

The EVF has an absurd cost. I shoot w/ red peaking and scale focusing.

 

[carpark]

Thanks for the replies 🙂
Looks like the focus assist is what I want. I am used to that function from HD video cameras from my job. I will see how i get on before looking at the viewfinder as not sure i can stump up the extra cash. Must admit it is tempting though
I am getting the camera with the Sony lens as its only 60 bucks more than the body only. I know its not great but will mean the wife can use it when she wants as she only likes AF.

 

[pvdhaar]

..The Sony lenses are lousy, especially the 16mm..

My experience is different; the 16 has grown on me. Originally, I planned to use the NEX-3 with CV/Konica lenses only, but couldn't get it body only at the time. Which in hindsight proved fortunate. The 16 may not have the bite of some of the CV lenses, but it's not bad, not bad at all.

... although I think part of this is a poor AF algorithm...

I think you're correct, this is what I had to learn to be conscious of.

When I use the center AF area, and allow the camera the time to achieve focus, the amount of detail that the 16 resolves is actually quite stunning.. But if I just bang the shutter even in single AF mode, it seems to trip the shutter already while still working the AF motors.

I also found that center-focus area and recompose beats using off-center AF areas with the 16mm. Maybe the angle under which the light strikes the sensor has something to do with it for such a wide lens?

All in all, I don't believe the 16 deserves its bad reputation..

 

[Paddy C]

All in all, I don't believe the 16 deserves its bad reputation..

I think a lot of that reputation stems from use on the original NEX 5 and 3. Seems to me like it's doing better on the 5N.

I don't use the focus peaking as I found it unreliable (at least when working with fast apertures). Magnification is much better.

 

[kanzlr]

somehow the peaking is not as easy to work with in the EVF than on the LCD. not sure why. The EVF has high enough a resolution to work without peaking to a degree and zooming works even better. But zooming is not implemented that well on the Sony and the buttons/dial you can configure to zoom are not ideally positioned when you look through the EVF.

all in all I sold the 5N + EVF after I had the chance to try the Ricoh GXR M Mount for a few days as Ricohs assist and peaking modes are, in my opinion, far superior.

 

[boomguy57]

I tried the 5N for a few weeks and the peaking is definitely faster and more enjoyable (for me) than the MF Assist, which I find difficult to use and distracting. With peaking, I can focus, with about 95% accuracy, in all conditions. Sometimes it tells me it's in focus and it isn't, but I can live with a 5% error rate.

Ultimately, I returned the 5N, but not for this reason.