Am I the Only Budget-Minded NEX-7 Wannabe?

Having consumed practically every tidbit of information on the internet pertaining to the Nex-7, I feel like I am the only person in the universe who finds it to be a fantastic value for what it is. How can this be when I am neither Sony fanboy nor pretentious, tech-addicted enthusiast with money to burn in place of a sense of self worth?

For me, it simply comes down to legacy optics. I am a humble, hobby photographer and thus will not spend thousands of dollars on lenses, no matter how amazing they are (Fuji). Old, manual focus primes offer me the image quality I'm after without the sticker shock (not to mention the existential pleasure from using a mechanical focus ring). The Nex-7 seems to be tailor made to making these types of lenses not only workable, but downright practical and to me, that sounds like 1200 bucks well spent.

Am I really alone?

No, you aren't.

I am no Sony fan, but since I have TX7,TX9,TX100,HX100,A55,NEX5 I am a Sony enthusiast - waiting for NEX7.

For lower price of course. I am not such a silly guy who pays as "first adaptor".

SONY TD10's price was € 1599 - now you can get it for € 980 ... some months later.

I've ordered my NEX7 body at beginning of December 24% under Sony price. I am glad when I can use it with 27 lenses from 8mm-500mm

Where can you order it for such a discount. It is almost impossible to get at any price at the moment?

--
Peter Sills
Digital Focus
http://www.digitalfocus.net
http://www.focusstudios.com

Knallberto said:

No, you aren't.

I am no Sony fan, but since I have TX7,TX9,TX100,HX100,A55,NEX5 I am a Sony enthusiast - waiting for NEX7.

For lower price of course. I am not such a silly guy who pays as "first adaptor".

SONY TD10's price was € 1599 - now you can get it for € 980 ... some months later.

I've ordered my NEX7 body at beginning of December 24% under Sony price. I am glad when I can use it with 27 lenses from 8mm-500mm

Click to expand...

is that % a typo, and you meant december 24th? or did you get the NEX7 24% off, cause i've never seen any such sale. hell, it's not even in stock yet at many places.

also, are you sure you're budget minded? buying the TX7, 9 AND 100 seems a bit unnecessary as the differences between those successive models aren't that great.

EngiNerd27 said:

For me, it simply comes down to legacy optics. I am a humble, hobby photographer and thus will not spend thousands of dollars on lenses, no matter how amazing they are (Fuji). Old, manual focus primes offer me the image quality I'm after without the sticker shock (not to mention the existential pleasure from using a mechanical focus ring). The Nex-7 seems to be tailor made to making these types of lenses not only workable, but downright practical and to me, that sounds like 1200 bucks well spent.

Am I really alone?

Click to expand...

well, not everyone has a stockpile of legacy optics sitting in their closet, waiting to be used on a modern body. so many people still need to buy new lenses, and if that's the case, that cost needs to be considered, and so suddenly the NEX7 doesn't seem so cheap.

not to mention, the NEX 5N is all that the NEX7 is, with just a mild megapixel downgrade and less physical controls, and at basically half the price. some would argue that's the real budget-friendly model .

I'm actually in the exact same situation as you. I'm not a Sony fan, I'm a born and bred Nikon guy, but the 7 that I have on pre-order is going to be used in the exact same way: superior manual focus lenses with focus peaking and MF assist. What I use right now is a Tokina 80-200 f/2.8 all manual for sports, an old Nikon 50mm f/2 AI, and will be using some of my newer lenses (such as my 18-70 f/3.5-4.5 autofocus) with a special aperture control adapter.

In the future I plan on acquiring a new Nikon 50mm f/1.2. It currently is the most affordable, and sharpest, Nikon prime out there that is build like the old lenses at f/2. That's outstanding.

Indeed, $1200 well spent. At least, as soon as it ships that is...

As of now, I have only the Pentax-M 50mm F1.8 that I bought to see how it worked on the Nex-5N. I got it on ebay for 50 bucks and it absolutely ran circles around the kit lens. I've bought more than a handful of similar Pentax glass over the years and find it can sometimes be easier to find a good copy of these older lenses than native digital lenses.

Despite the beautiful pictures, I returned the 5N as I didn't enjoy shooting manual without a viewfinder and don't think the 5N with the EVF is an acceptable value proposition when compared to the 7 (for me, not everyone obviously).

Just my .02!

EngiNerd27 said:

Despite the beautiful pictures, I returned the 5N as I didn't enjoy shooting manual without a viewfinder and don't think the 5N with the EVF is an acceptable value proposition when compared to the 7 (for me, not everyone obviously).

Just my .02!

Click to expand...

Exactly. When you think about what it would take to get the 5n up to par with being a real serious camera, the 7 provides a better value proposition, ESPECIALLY at the ridiculous prices that Amazon is charging now. Excuse me, not Amazon, the price gougers that happen to be selling via Amazon.

Roger that! I can hardly wait to attach some of my old (mid-1970s era) Minolta Rokkor MD lenses to my NEX-7 ...... if I ever get it from the backorder limbo.

--
Bill McClung (a.k.a. 'NC BILL')
Image galleries at http://www.pbase.com/nc_bill

NEVER BE AFRAID TO TRY SOMETHING NEW.
REMEMBER, AMATEURS BUILT THE ARK.
PROFESSIONALS BUILT THE TITANIC!

Nicely done, deft!

EngiNerd27 said:

I am a humble, hobby photographer and thus will not spend thousands of dollars on lenses, no matter how amazing they are (Fuji).

Click to expand...

--
JohnK
Take a picture, it'll last longer.

EngiNerd27 wrote:

he Nex-7 seems to be tailor made to making these types of lenses not only workable, but downright practical and to me, that sounds like 1200 bucks well spent.

EngiNerd27 said:

Am I really alone?

Click to expand...

If you're talking SLR lenses, yes. If you're talking rangefinder lenses, it looks like the 5N makes more sense.

I think the NEX line in general opens up that possibility. I have the 7 kit on order and have had the 5 for a year now. But I didn't start looking into manual lenses until they added focus peaking and with me anticipating receiving the 7. For instance, I picked up the Fujian 35/1.7 for $40 including the adapter and shipping. With focus peaking, it's really easy to use the lens which gives nice character and a reasonable amount of sharpness considering the cost of the lens.

EngiNerd27 said:

Despite the beautiful pictures, I returned the 5N as I didn't enjoy shooting manual without a viewfinder and don't think the 5N with the EVF is an acceptable value proposition when compared to the 7 (for me, not everyone obviously).

Click to expand...

Depends on what lenses you are going to use. Legacy RF lenses apparently work better on the 5n because of corner/edge problems on the 7. So if you have or are planning on buying any Contax, Zeiss, CV, or Leica lenses 35mm or wider, then the 5n with the VF might be a better deal. If not, I would go with the 7.

Michael

This definitely seems to be the general consensus. The most I will ever likely spend on any given lens will be around 200 to 300 bucks, which tends to rule out all of the rangefinder lenses that people are having issues with. I'm happy to concede a bit on the size front using old SLR lenses.