Thread: Unexpected...

I must say that I am more than pleasantly surprised at the NEX-5. I wanted to choose a cheaper alternative to my M9. The beach, on a boat or any other risky situation are places where I would like to take pictures but would rather not put my M9 on the line. The candidates where the Panasonic GF1 and the Sony NEX-5. I ended up going for the NEX-5 because of the larger sensor and the 1.5 factor instead of the 2 factor (despite not being a big Sony fan). The NEX-5 is smaller and will fit inside my bag like any other accessory.

Anyway, after deciding for the NEX-5, I played with it for a couple of days with the original lens until I got the adaptor to fit my Leica glass on it. For the time being the 18-55mm lens is versatile and practical alternative (helped to get me acquainted with the camera) but the quality is not really what I was looking for. Although at that price it is really not criticizable. The quality and especially the low noise at high ISO settings are very impressive. For a camera of this price and size the quality is simply beyond any reproach even it there are some bugs and things to improve.

In any case I got my adapter today and coupled it to a lens that is not an easy fit but due to the 1.5 crop factor could be a very interesting companion for the NEX-5: The Voigtlaender Nokton 35mm f1,2.

Be careful these are full size. Here are some quick shots...

Sample 1: f 5,6

Sample 2: f 4

Sample 3: f 1,2
As you can see the Nokton when pushed at 1,2 does not do too well, yet what is more interesting here are the artifacts created by the JPEG conversion, or so I believe. I would want to check all of this once I can properly work with the RAW files on LR. Much of the settings, I suspect that most of the settings, although fun, degrade the final quality of the picture.

Verdict:

I must say that I am very happy, despite these pictures being shot in JPEG, they are more that only acceptable. I was not able to shoot in RAW since LR3 does not support it and the supplied software for Mac by Sony is simply garbage. I can't wait that Adobe update LightRoom to be able to import the RAW files and see the real potential of this little wonder-cam. Once I can really use the RAW files I will give it a proper tour of my Leica lenses.

Originally Posted by DFV

I must say that I am very happy, despite these pictures being shot in JPEG, they are more that only acceptable. I was not able to shoot in RAW since LR3 does not support it and the supplied software for Mac by Sony is simply garbage. I can't wait that Adobe update LightRoom to be able to import the RAW files and see the real potential of this little wonder-cam. Once I can really use the RAW files I will give it a proper tour of my Leica lenses.

I must admit I'm also very impressed with the image quality (although I only have the 18-55 lens - can't wait for some Zeiss lenses ). Adobe have a "release candidate" of LR 3.2 which supports the NEX RAW files. Might be worth trying out or waiting for the full release within about a month.

Try the Video yet?