Switch from Sony NEX to Canon EOS (My story)

Hey guys, I'd like to share a personal experience with you.

About 6 months ago I purchased a Sony NEX-F3. This was my first upgrade from a standard point and shoot. It was a sweet little camera, and the fact that I could use old Minolta glass on it got me really excited. A few months later, I sold the NEX-F3 and bought an NEX-5R. The 10FPS shutter speed and touch screen was a nice added feature. I ended up purchasing the HVLF20S flash for $100 because the built in flash just wasn't cutting it. This flash didn't really improve my photography though.. and I was feeling stuck. About a month after getting my NEX-5R, I really wanted to buy Sony's 50 1.8 lens, but the price was around $350. It was at this point where I was having second thoughts about investing into the NEX system.

After some research and browsing Flickr, I kept seeing these beautiful images that photographers were producing with off camera flash. Right away I purchased a hotshoe adapter for my NEX-5R and bought 2 Yongnuo 460II speedlights and a set of triggers to go with them.

Soon after, I had the opportunity to sell the NEX-5R and purchase the Canon T4i with the 50 1.8, the 55-250, and the 18-55. This meant giving up the ability to use my old glass, but for me, also opened up many more opportunities.

It's been about 3 weeks now that I've had my T4i and it's my favourite camera so far. The camera gives you lots of control. I love the dials and the buttons. The touch screen comes in handy sometimes too, and unlike the Sony NEX, this one is capacitive touch! The autofocus system is very fast compared to the NEX-5R. The lenses are better priced compared to the equivalent Sony ones. The ability to use speedlights and TTL is SO important for me. I was always scared of using off camera lighting, but now I can't imagine just using natural lighting.

The point of this story is not to bash the Sony NEX camera system. I think the NEX has a lot of things going for it. It's lighter, smaller, you can use amazing vintage glass, lowlight performance is brilliant and there was hardly any noise in your photos. None of this is new news, but I'm very glad that I sold my NEX and switched to a Canon DSLR. A DSLR is invaluable for my needs, and IMO, the NEX system can get very expensive. So, as a result of buying my Sony NEX, I am left with a LOT of beautiful vintage glass that was purchased on eBay. After all that I've just said, I'm hoping to find a used NEX in the near future so that I can be reunited with my Minolta lenses.

My personal opinion is that starting out with a compact interchangeable lens camera is a bad idea for novice photographers. It is too limiting and can get very expensive. If I could start my journey over again, I would have just started with the T4i, and then bought the Sony NEX later. The DSLR system (for me) vastly improved my results while doing shoots for people. The NEX would be a great second/alternative camera to use at small gatherings when you don't feel like lugging around a bulky DSLR system.

So here I am. Shooting with a T4i, and patiently waiting for my Yongnuos 568II's to come with matching YN622 triggers. At the end of the day, I have no regrets, and I've learned a lot.

Thanks for reading!