Nex 7 by Thom

Wow, very late to party.  The review was ok, nothing noteworthy, nothing really interesting either.  Kinda rehashed old talking points - both the good and the bad.  I think I could find more to nit pick on the NEX-7 than he could, but that still doesn't stop me from "loving" my NEX-7.

In fact I think most of his reservations about the camera are the reasons why I bought it:

"Well, lenses have something to do with it. The lenses I personally want aren't there or don't perform."

This was a big reason why I bought the NEX-7.  October 2011 Sony came to demo the camera in the store I worked at and I got to spend some time with the NEX-7 and 24mm Zeiss, 50/1.8 and an 18-200 OSS.  After only a few short hours trying them out, I was hooked.  I have nearly everything I need in those three lenses.  (granted the 10-18 and 35/1.8 are quite appealing too)

"Unfortunately, despite finding a number of lenses that are starting to deliver the results the NEX-7 promises, every one of them felt just a little out of place on the NEX-7 body. It's a bit like putting 24" tires on a Toyota Scion: prepare for incongruity. Tiny body, big lenses."

I may have said something similar to this when I used a Nikon 500mm on a D80 a few years back.

I guess it's all relative or at least a matter of opinion.  The 24 and 50mm are perfectly sized, I don't need/want a wafer thin lens - I like having a bit of lens to hang onto.  Especially since I sometimes hold the camera by then lens when I carry it.  Most people seem to think the 18-200 is huge on any of the NEX; I don't think so.  It's smaller than some similar lenses and the best all-in-one lens period.  Since it isn't taller than the camera then it's able to fit in a bag that isn't bulky or sticks out from my side when I carry it.

"For me, however, the mix of things that make up the NEX-7 just don't quite add up to the package I want."

I feel the same about most everything else.  I really like Olympus glass, but I can't stand their cameras.  Apart from looks, I've been disappointed with images shot with them using very good glass (namely the 12/2 and 45/1.8 - 2 of my favorites).  At certain medium shutter speeds I get a slight blur to the photos.  I seems like the shutter actuating is too strong for those light bodies.  So a big seller for the NEX was the Electonic First Curtain Shutter which eliminates blur caused buy shutter slap (for lack of a better word).

Panasonic - the GH3 just got too big otherwise I'd have considered it.  I think it's actually bigger than my old Canon Rebel.  Geez.

Fuji looks awesome, but w/o a 18-200ish lens, I'm not interested.  I generally hate changing lenses, so I stick with 1 unless I know I'm shoot a particular thing e.g. only portraits, only landscapes.  But most of my shooting is rather random and needs the flexibility of having 1 lens to do most things.  So Fuji is not an option for me to consider right now.

Nikon 1, meh.

Samsung NX, Good lenses (not all, but most) but camera lack features I use.

Canon EOS-M, eventually will probably be fine, but not interesting right now due to lacking everything I want.

So to me, everything else out there just doesn't "add up to the package I want".  My NEX-7 does the most and offers the best IQ for what I shoot.  That's why I bought it.  It's not perfect and has lots of room for improvement.  But I enjoy it every time I get to use it.

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NHT
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