Sony NEX Lens Impressions

5R is not any better for landscape photographers/travel than 5n. The major improvement is the focusing system. The apps are nothing more than a gimmick.

6R will be interesting, but again – the design defeats the purpose. A new hot shoe mount (rumor) and still large lenses just kill the appeal of NEX for light-weight travelers. At this point, Sony RX100 is a better choice.

I picked up a NEX 5n about 6 months ago and have been slowly learning my way around its various settings and options as well as putting together a small collection of native mount lenses and adapters. So far, I’m very pleased with the results from the camera. I find the image quality to often times exceed my expectations (of course I’m coming from a Canon G10 as opposed to a full size DSLR) and I appreciate that I can carry a kit of several lenses and adapters in a relatively small, lightweight package.

Anyway, here’s my current collection of lenses along with some general thoughts.

SEL 18-55 kit lens
SEL 16mm f2.8 pancake lens
SEL 55-210 lens
Sigma 30mm f.28 pancake lense

SEL Fisheye Adapter (for 16mm)
SEL Wide Angle Adapter (for 16mm)
Raynox DCR-250 Macro lens
Panasonic 1.7x Telephoto Conversion lens (telextender)

Overall, I’m happy with this kit at the moment. The kit lens has been a pleasant surprise and has been servicable for me. The 16mm pancake works fine (with certain well known limitations) and the two adapters for it are a lot of fun to play with. The Sigma 30 is excellent, especially for its price. The 55-210 has also produced very acceptable image quality for me. Combining the 55-210 with the 1.7x telextender gets a little unwieldy and suffers from vignetting and light issues at certain times but once you learn its limitations, it can produce some good results with an impressive amount of reach in a small(ish), light(ish) and inexpensive package. I haven’t played around much with the Raynox yet, but so far I find it works very well with the Sigma 30. I’ve had a little trouble using it with the other lenses though (particularly the 55-210). I think the next lens I’d want to add would be a faster lens, something around 1.8 (or faster), just undecided on the desired focal length.

Anyway, here’s a couple of recent non-hiking examples (downsized in quality/size). All shot this weekend while escorting for a friend’s 32-mile paddleboard race. I enjoy the versatility of my collection of lenses:

55-210 w/ 1.7x telextender, shot using in-camera tilt shift mode:

16mm + wide angle adapter:

Sigma 30 using in-camera BW setting:

Sigma 30 using in-camera tilt shift setting:

55-210 + 1.7x telextender at 1600 iso:

18-55 kit lens:

Nick, nice summary on the 5N. I liked your 2nd 3rd images.

I’ve had my 5N going on a year now and have found it to be an excellent camera for travel and landscape use. I guess after using it for a while I feel like it’s a well rounded system if you take advantage of alternative lenses, or perhaps a middle of the road system with native lenses.

I DO think it’s quite a light and compact system, but then I’m not a P&S user. Although the lenses aren’t as small as some of the four-thirds lenses, they’re still quite light. While wearing my camera across my chest I can fit several lenses, extra batt, and remote in a ZPacks hip belt pouch.

I still mostly use my rangefinder lenses with it. Their size, feel, and image quality is hard to beat. Sometimes I feel like having AF and grab the 18-55 kit or the Sigma 19.

We had considered replacing my wife’s digital Rebel with an OM-D but have been holding off. A NEX 6 might end up being the replacement depending on how it performs.

These are not my shots, but thought I would link it anyway, 5N travel photos with various rangefinder lenses (and converted Contax G lenses)
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1144124

and of course the NEX Images thread, which is over 400 pages now! (It was under 100 when this thread was started)
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/969329

I bought a Nex 5N last October and an SLT A77 in January. I have a large variety of lenses for both cameras, including quite a few older manual focus Minolta Rokkor lenses. I have the viewfinder for the Nex 5N, which I almost never remove. When I'm backpacking, my preference is to take the Nex 5N, most often with just the 18-55 lens. The rumored lenses for the Nex look interesting. I agree that the 5R doesn't look especially interesting for landscape photography over the 5N. It's strongest advantage seems to be the AF, which could be very fast (could be useful for wildlife). I often take the A77 for day hikes and some backpacking trips. It weighs a lot more but the A77 has a GPS. I like that. It also has the electronic level, which I find useful for the panorama shots. I like the in-camera HDR and the panorama capability of the Nex. Both are quite useful. I agree that the RX100 looks interesting for super lightweight backpacking. However, right now I'm satisfied with the Nex 5N when I want to lighten my load.

Links to August backpacking photos are below. Almost all were taken with the Nex 5N and the 18-55mm kit lens. The star picture at the cirque was taken with a Minolta Rokkor 24mm F2.8 lens.

Backpacking in the Southern Wind Rivers Range: http://www.flickr.com/photos/craigshelley/sets/72157631023011344/

Backpacking in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness: http://www.flickr.com/photos/craigshelley/sets/72157630877660704/

Here's a variety of pictures I've taken while hiking with one camera or the other: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150783702298001.418507.672508000&type=3

Craig, fantastic set of photos. You just made my mind up for me that I need to prioritize getting into the Wind Rivers Range next year! 04147 was my favorite.

It was the first time I've been to the Wind Rivers. I plan on going back next year too. It is a fantastic place.

I should mention that I've used p&s cameras for the last ten years and waterproof p&S cameras for the last 7 years (I think that is when Pentax came out with waterproof models) – except the last 10 months or so that I've had the Nex 5N and A77. After quite a bit of research last year, I decided to go with the Nex 5N for my hiking. I bought the A77 largely for other purposes as I became immersed in photography over the last 10 months since getting the Nex.

In my younger life I was a photography enthusiast (I'm 60 now). The 5N with the viewfinder is an excellent camera. But I don't have experience with any of the Micro 4/3 rds cameras like the Olympus OM-D E-M5, which looks impressive. I'm pretty committed now with all the lenses I bought for the Sony systems. However, it looks like Sony is pushing the envelope with it's cameras. I'm not disappointed with my choice at all.

Great shots Craig! Like Jacob, I really want to get out to the Winds sometime!

I'm intrigued by the idea of getting some faster, better quality lenses for the NEX. I at one time had a small collection of canon lenses but lost them all in a theft about a decade ago, so when I decided to commit to the NEX system, I was starting from scratch. The native E-mount lens options were lacking but I was really impressed with everything else about the NEX line itself. In a hurry to build up a quick collection of basic lenses that could get me up and running, I chose to stay within the native mount offerings rather than taking the time/expense to research other options.

But now for future lens purchases, I'm willing to consider picking up older MF and/or rangefinder lenses, but I'll be honest, I'm not sure how best to figure out what I'm looking for or where to find them.

Do you guys who go this route tend to stick with one brand or mount-type so that you can get by with just having one adapter or am I concievably looking at having to purchase multiple adapters to fit multiple other mounts? Any recs on which other mounts work best on the NEX?

Thanks for the help. Glad to see this thread is still going.

Jacob has a spreadsheet listed earlier on this topic. It's useful.

I decided to focus on Minolta lenses. The focus peaking feature of the Nex is very nice for using these lenses. There are many sources on the internet. Here's a good site for old minolta lenses: http://www.rokkorfiles.com

I've also checked eBay completed listings so I could build up a database on pricing. It's really a time-consuming task to decide on old lenses and buy them. I'm not sure I recommend it. Of course I always want to pay less than the lens has recently sold for (finding a good lens like the 24mm F2.8 in a bunch of junk on eBay is rewarding but it takes too much time).

You might just want to see what lenses Sony introduces next month for e-Mount.

I’d agree with Craig to wait until the end of Sept and see what Sony announces. The 11-18 (or whatever the ultrawide zoom turns out to be) could be a promising lens. If Sony screws it up… well lets just hope they don’t!

If the ultrawide zoom is a winner, I’ll be moving away from my CV 15mm, and maybe a step closer to moving away from using rangefinder lenses all together (we’ll see).

Here’s the spreadsheet that Craig mentioned.

It includes SLR and rangefinder lenses. Not a complete reference by any means, but encompasses a lot of the small-ish lenses, and some not so small/light. If you have an idea of the focal lengths that you want it should give you some ideas. You can find lenses for sale on eBay, photo forums also work. GetDPI and Rangefinder Forum have classifieds, as well as Fred Miranda, Photography on the Net, and Photo.net.

Someone on Fred Miranda maintains a lens price database which he updates yearly (or more often) I don’t have a link handy unfortunatley. Google maybe.

I also have a little more info here.
http://hikeitlikeit.com/2012/photography-and-backpacking-8/

Ad far as what works etc… pretty much anything with the 5N. If you end up looking at any RF lenses wider than 35mm do some research before buying as they may have issues with color shifting and detail smearing. SLR lenses don’t have that issue.

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The rumor mill says the ultrawide zoom for the NEX is will be available in Nov (2012). Reportedly, it will be a 10-18mm f4 constant aperture lens with a street price of around $800. Steep price tag. Sounds like it's a high quality lens; constant aperture isn't usually found in 'consumer grade' lenses… that may mean it's going to be quite large also.

The new lenses are in the store (pre-order only).

http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&categoryId=8198552921644718503

The 16-50 pancake is interesting, however reports suggest this is going to be a new 'kit lens'. I don't expect the quality of it to be better than the current 18-55, but who knows.

The "52.5mm" 1.8 is actually a 35mm 1.8, not sure why they decided to list the equivalent focal length of that lens.

The 10-18 is larger than the kit lens, but not as large as I imagined. It's actually about the size of the 18-55 kit lens. Same length, 1/2 inch wider at the widest diameter, and 1.1 ounces heavier. The 62mm filter is sort of a downer, but it is an UWA zoom afterall.

So what do you guys think? The wide angle zoom we've been waiting for is finally here. Is it too large? Is it too expensive? A NEX + 10-18 essentially makes for a $1400 P&S with an excellent sensor and the option of adding additional lenses and/or VF. In the camp next door is the RX100 for $650 with a longer (but not as wide) zoom lens, smaller sensor, no lens options, smaller overall package, and about 4 ounces lighter.

Sony definetly gives us some things to think about, and this is not to mention the RX1 (which is quite a niche machine)!

Jacob,

Thanks for being the go to guy on the NEX system.

The new 16-50mm lens really makes the NEX appealing for backpacking as the general do everything lens that I would likely take on the trail.

Two issues that I have with the NEX are:

1. Having to mess around with switching lenses on the trail

2. Not being pocketable

The smaller 16-50mm lens make the NEX more appealing.

However, the RX100 is likely the better choice because of the form factor…is is a pocket camera with a larger sensor.

The question is this….does anyone have photos they took with the RX100 that they can post here so we can compare the image quality of both cameras?

Is the NEX5 that much better than the RX100 to warrant the extra bulk?

The negative to the RX100 is the high cost…getting awefully close to the NEX5, but buying extra lenses will be the cost killer for the NEX vs. RX100.

For me, given that I might be completely fine with just using the 16-50mm lenses, might not be an issue.

Anyway, my circular thinking keeps going and going and going…..

-Tony

Tony, at web sizes the RX100 looks as good as the next thing. As tempting as it is to compare it to other cameras, I wouldn't do that. Take it for what it is, a high end P&S with a sensor that rivals or bests anything else in the P&S world. If you want a camera to take great pics of your trips, the RX100 should satisfy.

If you have some specific reason to want a NEX that's another story of course.

The 16-50 has not been proven yet. Judging by the size, weight, and price it might not be any better than the 18-55 kit lens, and still not a very pocket sized system.

It seems like the RX100 may be the answer for you.

The 16-50 is appealing for its very low weight and wider angle than the 18-55. If it's as good as the latter I'll be very happy with it. I've been using the 18-55 for two years, on the NEX 5 and then the NEX 7, and it's a fine lens.

Hey Chris. I think the kit lens is pretty good too (for a kit lens anyway). At 24mm it's hard to beat for the cost. Not terrible at 18mm either.

Some early sample photos I saw from the new 16-50 looked very promising. At 16mm I'd say it easily looked better than the 16/2.8.

So the latest interesting development, Zeiss will be releasing a new line of lenses specifically for APS-C mirrorless cameras. NEX E-Mount is included among these, and the lenses will have AF to boot!

Ultimately, this should be awesome. Sounds like the first of them will trickle out summer 2013. Long way off… enough time to get ready for the sticker shock.

http://blogs.zeiss.com/photo/en/?p=2864

I'm considering the rx100 vs. nex 5r and 16-50 for backpacking too, and I came across this comparison of the nex 7 with kit vs. the rx100

http://tashley1.zenfolio.com/p66599906

Obviously the kit lens doesn't do the nex-7 justice, but that there is any comparison is pretty impressive. I opened the files up in photoshop, and some I guessed wrong. Nex with kit has the slight edge at widish angles, but not by much. RX100 has a huge advantage at telephoto.

Now just waiting to see some sample images from the 16-50. Anyone have any links? thanks.

Serge, if your primary interest is using the kit lens, then you're probably best off with the RX100.

The NEX 18-55 is not a bad lens, it's best in the middle of its range and worst at the long end. There were just one or two sample photos I saw from the 16-50 and I don't have a link handy, but at 16mm it looked better than either the 16/2.8 or 18-55 @18mm, in my opinion. By better, I mean much better detail in the corners.

Unless you need high iso (or plan on lifting shadows much in post), thin depth of field, or interchangeable lenses, the RX100 makes a lot of sense.

your talking good sense. As someone who hasn't taken a camera out backpacking for a while, I can see the lighter smaller RX getting brought along more often. I was working as a photographer for a while, but I really like the casual nature of just 'taking snaps' rather than really 'working' a scene, especially on fast and light trips.

Curious to see how that 16-50 works out. Sony is certainly stepping up to the plate. Sort of makes other camera co's look bad.

I just picked up a lens originally designed for security cameras from Amazon for $30. (edit: can't get html link to work, so here it is:)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004WIK6KU/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1789
&creative=390957&tag=kylmey-20&creativeASIN=B004WIK6KU&linkCode=as2

I just got it tonight and, in short, it's amazing! It comes with an adapter for your NEX camera and looks ridiculously small and out of place when it's on. It weighs 4.9oz with the adapter, lens cap, and rear lens cap (not included), so it's perfect for a second lens.

It's performance is really strange and makes for delightful photos, especially wide open. It's sharp in the center and soft on the left and right sides, giving a bit of a tilt-shift look to photographs. If you search the internet for this lens, you can see many examples of really interesting photos that result.

Definitely worth the $30 for a 52mm (effective) large aperture manual focus lens.

I'll second that, I love the CCTV lens on the NEX 5n. I recently got a Canon FD 50/1.4, but before that I rarely took that lil guy off. It's so light! It makes for some interesting shots, and I find the bokeh to be pleasing.