ZM Sonnar 50mm and Sony NEX 5

[kxl]

I received the kit (with 16mm/2.8) yesterday and after charging the battery, mounted my ZM Sonnar 50mm using an adapter I bought from "jinfinance" on ebay. The fit between the adapter and lens has a little play, but nothing to worry about.

Size-wise, the Sonnar doesn't seem overly big when mounted on the Nex5. Using a wrist strap, I cradle the kit in my right hand and manually focus with my left. Yes, I said cradle -- the Nex5 is so small I can't hold it like I would another camera body. Also, since I am focusing with the LCD at an oblique angle, pressing the shutter button with my index finger is awkward, so I press the shutter button with my thumb.

As to usability, the reported jumble of menus is not really that bad. It's actually very intuitive, and the approach Sony-Ericsson has taken lends itself easily to firmware upgrades (perhaps for future customization?).

The 7x or 14x magnification manual focus assist is very nice, although that much magnification does make it obvious that my hands aren't as steady as I had thought they were.

I don't have any pictures of the kit itself (cameras are for TAKING pictures, not posing for them), but here are a couple:

These are straight from the camera -- did NOT go through Photoshop at all. Shot at AWB, jpg = Fine. Both @ f1.5 (my Sonnar is optimized for f1.5) -- the first is at the minimum focus distance of .9 meter (focus on BLUE warning label), while the second is from roughly 4.5 feet away (focus on the RED handle).

 

[jenhao]

Hi Keith, how difficult is focusing if you don't use 7x/14x assist?

Thanks
Mark

 

[kxl]

Hi Mark - it's not bad, and certainly doable... but if I am shooting at minimum focus distances wide open (like I was with the first image), I would have a much higher level of confidence by using the magnified view.

The issue I have with the magnified view is that the default placement of the magnified view indicator is the upper left hand corner of the image, so, with each time that you select a magnified view, you have to move the magnified view indicator to the center of your composition (assuming you want to focus on something at the center of your composition).

Cheers!

-Keith

 

[jenhao]

Interesting, Keith. I presume you can "move" the focus indicator to your subject by recomposing?

By coincidence, I have the same combo on order. I got the Sonnar and the Jinfinance adapter yesterday - still waiting for the NEX! 😉

Mark

 

[kxl]

Hi Mark - actually, you can't "move" the indicator by recomposing. It starts out in the upper left corner in relation to the composition, so by recomposing, the indicator stays on the upper left corner of your new composition. The way it works is as follows:

1. Compose (non-magnified view)
2. Press magnifier (once for 7x, twice for 14x)
3. The magnified view comes up. The indicator is in the upper left hand corner of the magnified view.
4. Using the 4-way control pad, move the indicator to that part of your composition that you want to focus on.
5. Press the shutter button halfway to return to the non-magnified view.
6. Press the shutter button all the way to capture the image.

Step #3 and #4 above slow down the process. If someone out there knows a quicker way to do the above, I'd like to hear about it.

 

[douglasf13]

Hi Mark - it's not bad, and certainly doable... but if I am shooting at minimum focus distances wide open (like I was with the first image), I would have a much higher level of confidence by using the magnified view.

The issue I have with the magnified view is that the default placement of the magnified view indicator is the upper left hand corner of the image, so, with each time that you select a magnified view, you have to move the magnified view indicator to the center of your composition (assuming you want to focus on something at the center of your composition).

Cheers!

-Keith

Keith, use the settings in this link to fix the placement of the magnified area: http://forum.getdpi.com/forum/showpost.php?p=229636&postcount=51

 

[kxl]

Keith, use the settings in this link to fix the placement of the magnified area: http://forum.getdpi.com/forum/showpost.php?p=229636&postcount=51

Thanks Douglas - see, that's why this forum is so great!

For anyone else who might have the same question and comes across this post, the solution to my issue (slow manual focus workflow when using magnified view since the default indicator placement is upper left hand corner):

1. Mount the kit lens.
2. Change setup and camera menu setting as stated on Douglas' link.
3. With the kit lens still mounted, move the indicator to your preferred location, e.g., center of composition.
4. Now, every time you use the magnified view, the default location for the indicator is wherever you had set it.

Totally cool!

 

[DNG]

You will have the ZM 50 Sonnar on the camera more than your kit.. 😉

I have the same lens on my G1. My 17mm stays home for now. 😛
Mine is optimized for f2.8 (That's what I wanted)
With Live View Camera, the focus shift makes no difference when you focus. Because you are focusing through the lens and you will compensate for any focus shift as you focus TTL. But, if you keep you lens at the same focus and close it down past f/2.8 for your lens, you will have to refocus.

It is a nice size too, not to big, and has a nice weight to it too.

Those are some good examples... The Colors are so natural with Zeiss IMO. I shoot raw, and I only tweak exposure, contrast & sharpening. VERY rarely do I adj color or white balance on outside images.

Some of my samples from today

f/5.6

f/1.5

 

[umcelinho]

think TLR: for quick focusing scenes, don't magnify. for slower scenes or scenes that demand precise focusing, magnify.