What was your former system?

Just wandering what everyones former system was? Or maybe you still run another.

I was an EP2 owner and a little frustrated with some things but certainly loved my 7-14 the most. I like the 20mm but seemed to miss focus more often than I cared for and manual was awkward with several button presses.

I currently run an M system and love a lot of things about it but the focus peaking on the NEX has me intrigued. It seems kind of like a modern type of rangefinder... which is one of the main reasons I love Leica. The biggest draw back for me would be the crop factor but am willing to listen and maybe try it out.

So.. if you don't mind sharing:
What do you like the most about your NEX?
How's the focus peaking thing going?

What is your ultra wide solution? Voigtlander 15m is about 21 on the nex... any prediction for the lens roadmap?
Any former rangefinder folks like the focus peaking better?

I moved up from an Olympus C-5050Z, but I've shot most every type of camera from full manual SLRs in the '70s to every conceivable version of 35mm point-and-shoot and almost every version of the Olympus C-X0X0 digital. I love the NEX-5N with kit lens and am in the process of falling in love with focus peaking and manual lenses.

I run NEX-5 alongside m4/3 (E-PL1). The things I like the most is DR, screen, and body form factor. Focus peaking is a useful feature, but you have to learn when you can trust it. I would use it for anything focus critical only in very specific situations, when you are dealing with essentially uniform objects (like a patch of grass or printed text, for example). Otherwise, it's best to use magnified view or stop down and rely on large DOF.

Nikon D7000. It's up for sale on another web site. Reason for the move was APS sized images of comparable quality with much lighter weight.

Rich

As far as digital I am coming from a Pentax K10D. I originally bought the nex-5 as a camera my girlfriend could enjoy and use to learn about photography. But, this last summer my K10D fell into a small river and although I was able to retrieve it, sadly it is not working anymore . I had planned on getting another K10d used on ebay, but the more I tinkered with the nex-5 the more I liked it (its soooooo much lighter), plus I can still use my pentax glass. The only thing that bothered me about it was the lack of a view finder (I know I'm not the only one), but as time has moved on I have found that for most situations I didn't really need it anyways (it would still be nice though).

I also still shoot film. I have a Pentax PZ-10 (a really easy 35mm), Yashica 24, and a Fuji GA645. Sadly my GA645 has just started having some problems and I can't seem to find any reference of anyone else on the net having the same problem. It started making this sick grinding noise when the film would advance, and now it wont advance the film at all (I think it must have stripped some plastic gears, but I don't know). I don't abuse my gear, I'm actually very protective of it, so this was very much a surprise. Oh, and getting back to the cameras, I also just received a 4x5 view camera that I have not had a chance to play with yet.....pretty excited about that one.

That's a big order, but here goes, -other systems: Murcury 35mm. half-frame, Zeiss Icon 120 film bellows camera (still have), Alpa SLR film camera (still have), Contax 139 SLR (decapitated by playful Wright Whales in Argentena), Fujifilm Super Zoom digial, Hasselblad 500c (still have), Oly 8080 Wide Angle (still have), Leica 6.2R SLR (still have), Leica CM p/s film camera, Fuji F-10 (still have), Sony NEX-5 (traded it in for the pre-ordered NEX-7). I like the NEX's because I can use my Leica lenses very easily but miss the vital rangefinder, -that's why I traded the 5 for the 7.
Peaking is a useful tool but not as accurate as the manual assist at 14X.

How does it compare to the rangefinder?

JPG said:

That's a big order, but here goes, -other systems: Murcury 35mm. half-frame, Zeiss Icon 120 film bellows camera (still have), Alpa SLR film camera (still have), Contax 139 SLR (decapitated by playful Wright Whales in Argentena), Fujifilm Super Zoom digial, Hasselblad 500c (still have), Oly 8080 Wide Angle (still have), Leica 6.2R SLR (still have), Leica CM p/s film camera, Fuji F-10 (still have), Sony NEX-5 (traded it in for the pre-ordered NEX-7). I like the NEX's because I can use my Leica lenses very easily but miss the vital rangefinder, -that's why I traded the 5 for the 7.
Peaking is a useful tool but not as accurate as the manual assist at 14X.

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Panasonic DMC-TZ3. Hehe.

EOS 40D and a bunch on Canon glass. Got tired of the weight, wanted a lighter simpler system.

I moved on from a Nikon L120. Its optical zoom had a great throw but IQ was not consistent- the edges of the photo were blurry and I often had to crop. The 5N is a much better camera, and it's happy to be in iA mode as I learn the means to use the manual settings.

Billy SP said:

EOS 40D and a bunch on Canon glass. Got tired of the weight, wanted a lighter simpler system.

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Same here...sold my 7D and some heavy glass for the same reason...waiting for the NEX 7
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Joe

I bought a Nikon D70 in 2003ish (shortly after it became available, anyway). I acquired various lenses, but it was time to retire it and get a new camera. In the meantime, I bought a Lumix LX5 to replace a TZ5. This was a nice upgrade, but I could see a big difference in quality when going from the LX5 to the Nikon. I decided to sell everything and go with the 5N. I haven't looked back.

First, there was the Olympus E-410 ,

then came the long awaited PEN E-P1 which I liked very much.
The colors are great. And IBIS makes all shots sharper.

However as I moved to legacy glass, the large crop of the sensor went on my nerves, because I didn't like to lose so much of the image circle. So I decided, I have to try to move up on sensor size.

I bought the NEX3 and was very happy. You get so much more depth and 3D from the old glass. The higher ISO was also better, with more color and less noise, as the pixels were bigger.

However, my happy hours ended on the same day as I purchased the NEX. As during the day, everything seemed great with the new camera. But as darkness found it's way, the NEX even with f/1.4 lenses wasn't able to deliver good photos.

(by this I mean HANDHELD SHOTS. I don't use tripods as they interfere with my idea of hobby photography, where I am not supposed to be a slave of the equipment, but the tools have to work for me. And carrying a tripod doesn't fit this image in no way.)

Shocked and frustrated I started doing comparisons with the same lenses on the NEX and the EP1 and sadly have found out, the IBIS on the Oly delivers sharper pictures on lower ISOs with the same lens mounted as I am able to get from NEX3. (nowadays I own also the 5N, which is still worse for low-light shooting than the old Oly).

So, instead of an upgrade or an evolution step, I ended up by being forced to use two cameras instead of one. For daytime shots I use the 5N, however, for lowlight I am forced to use the old small sensor Oly, because the lowlight pictures from it are better.

Those smart ones of you who like to advocate the high ISO on the NEX combined with the hand-held picture stacking modes, please, shut up, if you didn't compare these two technology approaches for yourself.

I did. And if the ISO 800-1600 from the NEX was better than the ISO160-200 that I CAN USE HANDHELD thanks to the IBIS from the Oly, I wouldn't have to keep the PEN, but I had to :

And the CV 15mm is lovely on the 5N - excellent lens.

You could try a 5N alongside your M systems for a while, sharing lenses see how you like it?

As far as manual focus is considered, its not as quick as a rangefinder, but it is extremely accurate. The EVF makes a huge difference for me.

I personally don't care for the focus peaking so much and have my magnify assist technique down pretty fast now.
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http://www.samwaldron.co.nz

Pabloman,

I read somewhere that the Olys could focus a little faster in low light situations but did not expect the image quality to be so different between them and the 5N. In your opinion, what is the problem, worst noise at same ISO or requiring higher ISOs to avoid blury pictures? I have been doing low light pictures with my CZ 50/1.5 Sonnar, even without AF the results where good and surprised me. Way better than my previous EOS 40D.

Hello Bill,

the issue EP1 (with IBIS) vs. the NEX is the inability of the NEX due to the lack of stabilization of the whole system, to take long exposures.

For instance, imagine you use the 35/1.2 Nokton, as I do. On the NEX, you get a fine normal FOV from it, while sadly, on the Oly you get a shorter tele FOV.

But anyway... as the light gets dimmer, you have to increase open up the aperture or the ISO to get shorter exposures to be able to hand-hold it firmly enough for photos not to get blurred.

Now imagine, you have to shoot at least 1/35s but rather even shorter exposures on the NEX to get a sharp shot. I would say that with 1/50s you get more than 50% of the hand-held shots sharp, at least I do. However, as there is only little available light, you have to up the ISO to 1600 in this situation.

But when you take this same lens and put it on the Oly body with IBIS, set the camera IBIS setting of the FL of the lens to 35mm, so it knows, what FL it has to compensate for... You can shoot with 2-3 EV stops advantage... In reality it means, I can normally shoot 5-6 times longer exposures with the same lens on the Oly...

So you can reduce the ISO from 1600 on the NEX to 250-320-400 on the Oly and use 1/8s - 1/12s exposures and GET SHARP PICTURES un-blurred by the camera shake.

Sadly, the Oly's noise is of course a little higher than that of the NEX, so that degrades the advantage effect, also the higher crop makes the pictures flatter and worse looking than that of the larger NEX sensor. Anyway, I have always a higher chance to take sharper pictures with the same lens mounted on the Oly than on the unstabilized NEX. And I don't care how good the high ISO on it looks like, a NEX ISO 800 shot looks still worse than a ISO 160-200 stabilized shot from Oly.

The effect of the stabilization is IMO really underrated by the people, only because they never tried their lenses on an IBIS body... Because it is just wonderful, how much that stabilization improves sharpness even in daylight photos, even with wider-normal FL lenses... You can shoot with higher aperture numbers at slower exposures and still be sure, you don't smear the shot up, which is impossible without stabilization...

These are the main reasons I am convinced, that a FF or at least APSc mirrorless camera with IBIS will be a great success. I just don't care about those new lenses those optics is made from plastic glass, even if they are stabilized. This new plastic junk just doesn't have character, soul, call it how you want. Thats why I just love using legacy lenses...

With regards,

Paul

I have been a Pentax guy since the 1970s, transitioning my 35mm lenses to an *ist DL2. That camera has gotten long in the tooth, so I decided to shop for a newer model. It was a tough decision, but I decided to go with the NEX-5 instead of a Pentax K-r SLR. All my Pentax glass is on eBay, and the proceeds will pay for the 50mm f/1.8, 16mm pancake, 55-210mm zoom, and part of the body with the 18-55mm kit lens. I realize that I may be downgrading in terms of lens quality, but the compactness, versatility and image quality of the NEX-5 has convinced me to go with it as my sole camera. I have even given up on my old HP P&S pocket camera, as the NEX-5 with the 16mm is hardly larger.
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A.L.F.

Used to have a decent Pentax 35mm, that languished in a box when everyone went Digital. Didn't make any "plunge" for years. Used various pocket digital (good quality Lumix/Canon), but always missed how an interchangeable lens system is more flexible.

My favorite camera for size and features until recently was a Canon TX-1. Don't laugh - quite a unit for the size. In fact if Canon had come out with a TX-2 I wouldnt be posting here. I decided to make the the "mirrorless plunge" and compared units. Settled on the NEX5-N. Still learning how to use it, but this is one impressive piece of kit.