to those users who prefer going lightweight

Not long ago, I acquired a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera (MILC) – the Sony NEX5. I’ve found its small size to be very convenient and its light weight easy on my shoulder. But more importantly its picture-taking capabilities and quality of the photos rival those of the other cameras in my equipment inventory.

Having interchangeable lenses is a necessity for most serious photographers. So for many years SLRs and more recently DSLRs fit this bill. On the other hand, a MILC is designed as a compact alternative to a DSLR camera. Their small size is what attracted me to the Sony NEX series.

While on vacation for two weeks I used the NEX5. It proved to be a solid performer producing good exposures under a very wide variety of lighting conditions. This model has a 14mp APS-C size sensor, the same size used in many DSLRs and I found it gave me excellent quality images. MILCs are quiet since they lack moving mirrors. The camera’s controls were straight-forward and easy to use. I took advantage of several unique features not found in others such as sweep panorama (in-camera stitching of photos to make a wide panoramic view) and anti-blur (burst of several shots to increase likelihood of non-blurred image) modes and am more than satisifed with the results.

The Sony NEX5

Overall, I am pleased with the addition of the NEX5 to my arsenal of photo equipment. However it lacks two features that one would normally require for professional use:

• Viewfinder – the NEX5 lacks a viewfinder. Relying the LCD for composing is not only slower, but is often difficult in bright sun.
• Flash – the NEX5 has a small, built-in flash. However it lacks a flash shoe, making it difficult to use a standard strobe.

To address these shortcomings, this past week I acquired its big brother the NEX7. This is a higher end camera that sports a 24 megapixel sensor and can capture finer detail than the NEX5. It’s also the first camera to have an OLED viewfinder that lets you preview the exposure adjustments that you make before you depress the shutter. The NEX7 has a flash shoe allowing you to use standard strobes and flash accessories. It has two additional dials let you make quicker adjustments. And for action shots, it’s able to capture up to ten frames per second.

The Sony NEX7	two additional dials at top-right for quicker adjustments
there’s no mirror hiding the 24MP sensor	the E-mount lenses are available from Sony and Sigma

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Here’s a few of the first pictures that I’ve captured with the NEX7.

So far the camera has proven to be easier to use than the NEX5. The NEX7 controls are nicely laid out and menu items are easy to access. You can customize the controls, but I’ll wait a while to determine how best to set the various features for my particular needs. The OLED viewfinder is a thing of beauty – the camera settings are neatly visible and the image refreshes so quickly and clearly that you hardly know it’s an electronic view. I feel that it’s ready for prime time for advanced and professional users.

 

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However, before traveling out of the country, I’ll want to take a few dozen more photos with the NEX7 to make sure it’s up to the task. If all checks out, I’ll be traveling lightweight with this new camera. The weight loss will be good for my back.

 
 

Written by Arnie Lee
 
 

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