Darn Streamyx died just when I wanted to post part 2.


There was also a mock Sony E 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 OSS (Active).

Both the NEX-3 and NEX-5 feel surprisingly natural in hand, like the Samsung NX10, GF1 etc. Nothing at all like the A230/A330/A380. The magnesium alloy body of the NEX-5 feels a heck lot more solid than the non-magnesium alloy bodies, which creak when heavy lenses are mounted!


It is sized like an 85mm F1.4 but with the hulking look of the Zeiss 16-35mm/24-70mm/135mm.


Left: Sony Alpha NEX-5 with LA-EA1 lens adapter; obviously the A-mount is wider than the E-mount, as you can see the Sony E 16mm F2.8 (and VCL-ECF1 fisheye converter) on it.

Top-right: The underside of the VCL-ECF1 fisheye converter; it has a bayonet mount and clicks on snugly to the Sony E 16mm F2.8's bayonet front. I forgot to try putting a 49mm filter on the 16mm to see if the VCL-ECF1 fisheye converter could still mount!
Bottom-right: The LA-EA1 lens adapter allows full aperture control but definitely no AF with screw-drive lenses. I did not fully mount it yet hence the rotation.

I tried the Sony 30mm F2.8 DT Macro SAM on it, but it jerked a bit and didn't jerk or move again after pressing the lens release buttons. Then again this was a demo unit so the functionality could be changed, as there are other testimonials saying that SSM lenses did AF.

The Minolta 50mm F1.4 balances well. Then again, a Nikkor 50mm F1.8 E-series pancake will fit in pockets better.

MF with screw-drive lenses was not as hard as I thought - if you saw the video from the Zeiss 135mm F1.8 the first thing you'd notice is the wobbling (no SteadyShot!) You'd probably think that it supported AF in video, the way I was manually focusing. Anyone could beat the contrast-detect AF speed on say the Nikon D90 easily. Then again, I was pretty alright refocusing with the Nikon D90 albeit handicapped by the reverse focus ring.


Unfortunately, the rectangular baffle of the LA-EA1 lens adapter is APS-C sized; if there was a future full-frame NEX body, you'd have to buy a new lens adapter to fit full-frame lenses!


Sweep Panorama with the VCL-ECF1 fisheye adapter isn't as clean as it is without - it also stops at a 180 degree turn. However it should still, in theory, give you more at the top and bottom. Will need a scientific test with and without for this.

Sweep Panorama fires the shutter away, making it a really noisy process - nothing at all like the silent sweeping espionage on my WX-1. One step backward.


The fisheye adapter has a permanent lens hood which will reach nearly the center of the image when flash is used. Sony, give us a bigger flash or the ability to trigger an external flash! One step backward.

There is no wireless flash option. I'm sure somebody will figure out the pinout protocol and make a standard hotshoe adapter (preferably using a flash bracket.)

At the very least, I would buy a Sony FA-CC1AM flash cable with the E-mount accessory port instead.

Interface

In some ways the interface is slower but not that slow, for example if I was in Aperture Priority:

To change aperture on the NEX-3/NEX-5:
1) roll the dial

To change EV on the NEX-3/NEX-5:
1) press Down on the D-pad (it is marked with the EV icon)
2) roll the dial

To change ISO on the NEX-3/NEX-5:
1) press Menu
2) select Camera icon
3) press center button
4) go through menu to ISO option
5) press center button
6) select the ISO (I don't remember if the dial can be used for this)

Now let's see how the A-mount Alphas do it:

To change ISO on an A-mount camera:
1) press ISO button
2) roll the dial

What about Sony Cybershot cameras?

To change ISO on a Sony Cybershot WX-1 camera:
1) press Menu button
2) press up or down to ISO option
3) press left or right to change ISO

If you just changed ISO, and want to change it again, it will remember that you were at the ISO option, so you skip step 2 and save time!

There is a lower button which is always set to Shooting Tips. I would love for this button to be customizable, to change ISO, for example.

I wish the Sony Cybershot team designed the menus instead! The idea of putting the workload in another team to get to a deadline is cool, but the results were not cool. I've always thought that the Cybershots had far better menu design. One very big step backward.

Heck, even changing the sweep direction is far more hidden, by these darn Sony Ericsson designers! Don't get me wrong - I don't expect the interface of a bigger-sized Alpha 900 with loads of buttons, but this is weaker than the Cybershot interface.

That said, if you are interested in the NEX series, or a tiny Mirrorless Interchangeable-Lens Format camera, and you are well aware of its shortcomings, when you see and touch one, you will not be disappointed! A slight desire for this will be amplified when you see it.

ieR: This Sunday?

zstan: Not necessarily. It is a common misconception that plastic is weaker than metal - some are just more brittle, some spread heat better, plastic is not a conductor, metal expands and contracts based on temperature and for some applications the ability for plastic to bounce helps better with impact. It depends, really.

Try picking one subject and shooting that instead. Your pictures will be more interesting.

I like your sunset, though!

mastering89: So you can use unchipped lenses in Aperture Priority or other modes. With the A200 onwards you have to turn to Manual Exposure or else it will say "Lens not attached. Shutter is locked." This is despite the fact that the meter will still work in Aperture Priority without a chipped lens!

noprob: Like the blue monorail and the blue sky, but too bad about the lamp.

lwliam: Wah, rather busy pictures of Langkawi.

clivengu: Huge only compared to the collapsing Olympus zooms. Yes the zoom ring and focus ring is made of metal! When you see it you'll know how small it is.

roymustang: Very not recommended to mix batteries from different batches, capacities or chemical types.

Seng_Kiat: Hmmm. Bokeh yes, message?

cjlai: Nice blues. Let's see more fisheye shots for unconventional things!

aqiera: I love how my eyes travel up and down the photo!

ahtsong: Congratulations!

d4rkholeang3l: Nice cat shot! 8tvt too (though in portrait maybe better.)

ianho: It exceeds 10 pictures so it spans 2 posts - and my Streamyx died just when I was about to post #2!

alex_cyw1985: Well done, good subject!

zstan: No hints yet. To prevent it from resetting after 9999, stop taking pictures.

mastering89: I'll have a TT the moment I buy one so you all can try it!

ahpingko: Turn off DRO to reduce noise.

ianho: New topic ah?

8tvt: DRO underexposes to save the highlights from being blown out, and brightens the shadows (and the noise in the shadows.)

Mikeshashimi: That is exactly right, what DRO is, in the manual. In reality ISO1600 is just pumped from whatever base ISO your sensor uses.

mastering89: Congratulations, enjoy!

likito: I have - it's one of the lighter 300mm F2.8 lenses in the market at 2.3 kg and a closer 2 meter MFD than any other.

soket: Sounds like gear stripping - remove your kit lens and try again - if there is no sound, then it's gear stripping.

gizmo_pony: HSS needs to pulse the flash rapidly so it gets weak in bounce.

zstan: Good moment, now crop it!

I posted about it a while back in this thread or a few generations back LOL. Or you could find it on my blog.

Gouki: Sony 50mm F1.8 DT SAM has a MFD of 34cm.

fansoption: Good to see you're exploring other shots with macro! I like #1 #4 and #5.

gizmo_pony: Eh the link wrong lah!

The differences in color between brands are down to the color filtration array:
http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/eng/Insig...-sensor-quality

Rightfully, the red channel should max out the red channel only instead of picking up green. This explains the lesser color tones (e.g. Nikon has less differentiation in greens while Canon has less differentiation in reds compared to Sony.)

A bunch of colleagues of mine went to Broga hill with Nikons, and only the one person using Fujifilm Superia and a film camera got much better greens (you could see the different green tones.)

Gouki: How about the Sigma 30mm F1.4 with a MFD of 40cm? It's APS-C only though.

It's the D3x that uses the A900/A850 sensor.

ieR: There is no proof that SAM uses plastic gears.

Veron83: Nice that there are a few layers of leaves! Good shot.

fas29: Wow, lovely! I wouldn't even recognize it as Studio Zaloon if I didn't know.

hokc77: I quite like the more 'interactive' drift shots where you see the car interacting with the cones hehe.

mastering89: It should be noted that Sony does not make the Nikon D3/D700/D3s sensor (and that A-mount Alphas don't have contrast-detect AF.)

ahpingko: I actually like picture #2 but without the HDR look.

boyzone: Use your left hand to hold the stem.

wingster: Wow that's close!

zstan: Why not shoot it like it's a tall tree with red flowers on top?

braindead_fr3ak: Somehow only #4 works for me - or the expression in #3 on the pose of #1.

ianho: The Sony Carl Zeiss Planar T* 85mm F1.4 ZA with autofocus is sharp at F1.4. It has a different optical formula from the Carl Zeiss 85mm F1.4 ZE (Canon EOS mount) and Carl Zeiss 85mm F1.4 ZF (Nikon mount.)

edd, if you're not shooting bugs, I'd highly recommend the Sony 30mm F2.8 DT Macro SAM.

clivengu: For portraits, there is the Leica 25mm F1.4 for FourThirds. Something longer would be the Olympus ZD 50mm F2.0 Macro.

MechaHerc: Yep, DOF on the FourThirds system is deeper.

fansoption: Nicely done! Love the tight crops.

ieR: Aiyo standard lah furniture shop always burn down.

Fortunately I haven't met many bad videographers - if anything, it's quite cooperative - they will point a light and I know where to shoot next. Or I shoot something and the videographer comes along. Plus it lets me get away with ambient light (from the video lamp!)

That's a different view from the plane.

eddybeh: Not quite in focus; you might want to breathe out before firing the shutter as it seems you moved.

clivengu: The Leica 25mm F1.4 for Four Thirds has autofocus.

[G]ooD_DaY: Go for an art course. That will teach you how to see and compose - the technical details of photography can be picked up anywhere.

d4rkholeang3l: Got delete ah? Only one fella ever got banned.

I thought 24/30 FPS was just because it is half your AC current alternating frequency - and then it's really 23.98 Hertz and 59.98 Hertz to avoid getting in sync with flourescent tubes which supposedly could get ugly.

And while 1080i/60fps does have less resolution (540 lines) at any one time, it does have more resolution (1080 lines) at 1/30th of a second (given 2 frames). Even if you did take each frame as a progressive frame, you'd get 540p/60fps which I don't know what people would have any use for but sounds interesting.

ianho: But higher FPS does have its applications - if you're a sports videographer you'd want more FPS but movie directors may prefer the 24 FPS look.

wingster: Congratulations! I didn't check to see what you won LOL.

mastering89: Nope, not in the traditional wireless TTL way - the A850/A900 still has a PC Sync port so you can hook it up to a radio trigger even if you don't have the flash mount adapter.

I was around what - I thought you guys went out to eat but I already ate. I hung around quite a bit!

Oh and the only price announced today was this:

NEX-5K with 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 OSS - RM2699 Recommended Retail Price, where the first 150 people get a free 8 GB card, 2 years extended warranty and a free workshop class.

Other packages' prices are not known yet, but if that is the retail price, you know lah what to expect as the NEX-5 with 18-55mm is more expensive than the NEX-5 with 16mm, NEX-3 with 18-55mm or NEX-3 with 16mm (cheapest).

ianho: I've never had a battery grip. I was already killing my back with a heavy laptop bag from work! I was going light with the Minolta 24-105mm F3.5-4.5(D) and F58 (and a Samyang 85mm F1.4 inside.)

nimrod323: Exactly - though Sony does use other brands as well e.g. Panasonic for the flashes and I can't remember who makes their LED TVs.

cjlai, thanks for the lens pr0n! Didn't notice the lens hood on the 18-200mm.

cjlai: Wah can't see my bag! Nice shots of the models.

Kul | Mo0: Aiyo, I called you right after I got that message but your phone is uncontactable. Does it focus past 5 meters when in AF? As the focus clutch is problematic in early batches.

hazril: I would strongly prefer to buy new batch new stock as you get warranty.

fansoption: Eh you were there too? Nice how the butterflies have many backdrops. #3 is something different.

d4rkholeang3l: For #3 you could try either higher or lower to clear the horizon from the plane.

mastering89, nicely done!

hazril: Supposedly lah. So far the new batch of Zeiss 135mm F1.8 lenses don't have wobbly front shells.

Kul | Mo0: Well, the initial service charge is RM150... unless the part replaced is RM50, you won't be able to spend only RM200 on repair. Realistically RM50 to Sony will buy you a small part but not a clutch assembly.

However, if you do send it in during one of the Sony events where they waive service charge on out-of-warranty items you can save on the RM150.

d4rkholeang3l: Her legs are in a weird pose but the expression is there. The background is distracting - take a few steps left?

enferion: Error 99 just means "any other error" - meaning the camera does not have a translation for you. Error 05, for example, is when the pop-up flash is obstructed and you try to press the flash release button - it will click a few seconds and then report the error, and ask you to restart the camera.

Error 99 could be anything, from broken aperture actuator on lens (some Canon lenses are more prone to this e.g. the 17-85mm F4-5.6 IS USM).

(The Sony A550 does not force you to restart the camera if you have accidentally blocked the pop-up flash.)

Another thing I've never liked about Canon is their scroll bug - it's been around since even my Powershot A520! If you scroll fast through pictures and stop, it will always land on the picture after the one you wanted. This does not happen with any other brand.

clivengu: Congratulations! Dude, CPLs don't work with ultra-wide angle lenses. The polarized effect only covers a 90 degree angle, and you will discover why when you take it outdoors.

clivengu: No, not 1/4th of the frame. If your ultra-wide angle covers 110 degrees, and the polarizer only darkens 90 degrees, you get a bright area that you can never tune off. Try it and post pictures.

zstan: I have the Peleng. It's good for full-frame to get circular fisheye shots. On APS-C it has black corners. The Samyang 8mm F3.5 is a better buy, being A-mount natively, and without the black corners on APS-C. It is a diagonal fisheye though.

ianho: Works for me - have you not logged in, in a very long time? It might have pruned inactive users.

fas29: Any shop that sells lighting equipment, especially related to video production.

Jaroque, heizad: Congratulations! That copper is real sweet.

Mikeshashimi: Looks fine. Just look for a lot of sky and a lot of leaves - that will really bring out the IR effect. Good catch on #6!

gizmo_pony: Nice touch on #2 and #4 where there's yellow light from the back! For #3 it would be better to have the light come from even higher. For #1 if you'd clone out the tree it would be perfect.

8tvt: There is longitudinal chromatic aberration (green/purple in front or behind focus point) and lateral chromatic aberration (colored softness away from center of frame).

mastering89: If you're in PJ you might as well check out AutoDetailer (http://www.autodetailed.com/).

ieR: Happy birthday dude!

shootkk: I see that the 20mm view might be more internal to you. I like the juxtaposition of front and back elements in the pictures.

shmiad: The A290 replaces the A200/A230 as the cheapest Alpha, so it will not be far from their intro price. I think it should be RM1500-RM1700 at first introduction. It will be a better buy than the A230 for the grip alone.

ewin: Long time no see! Yeah have to call. Do you have some new product that is not in the system yet hmmm?

Here are the two original Sony flash stands:



On the left is the HVL-F58AM flash stand (it folds and makes a loud clap - I call it the Bat-arang) and on the right is the HVL-F56AM flash stand (same as the F36, F42 flash stand).


Another shot of the F58AM flash stand.

You cannot put the F58AM on a smaller flash stand - it won't be balanced and won't be able to do this without falling over:


The F36/F56/F42/F58 all come with the flash stand and pouch as part of the package so if the seller does not include the flash stand, ask for discount!

This post has been edited by albnok: Jun 12 2010, 09:07 AM

8tvt: Yes of course - all Sony Alphas (except the NEX-3 and NEX-5 bodies) can trigger off-camera flashes.

It can go as far as the sensor can see the signal. It can even bounce off the subject onto the flash that is behind the camera! (The flash sensor is inside the red window on your flash.)

And yay at least you got eye contact!

noprob: The caps are cropped a bit too much?

shootkk: Flash on rock?

fansoption: Wah that's different!

ahpingko: Try another one using a shower! (Shoot from above lah obviously.)