The NEX-7 could have been a fine camera, but it has too many disadvantages.
I tried it for some days and gave it back because of that.
The 24MP are useless when the kit lens just sucks. Even stopped down it produces pics with soft borders. Even at F7.1 or F8(and then diffraction starts to soften the images also).
24MP is just a marketing joke, in fact no affordable and small lenses can use them. You need fast and expensive primes, at the moment mainly only via dapter.
Hell, Sony should give up the E-mount and make it a normal KoMi/Alpha mount.
The 18-200mm also sucks and even the larger NEX-7(larger compared to the sister models) looks like a joke with that trashcan of a lens.
Still no silent shutter in 2011/12. Well, Sony had the R1 in 2005 with a quiet shutter and large sensor, so what nowadays?
The handling also feels strange, the camera ist just too small, feels like a toy cam. I don´t have a problem with small cams but with cams that have bad ergonomics. My fingers don´t find a place to rest and hold it.
The viewfinder caused so much excitement, in fact I don´t found it to be revolutionary or fantastic. I had the Panasonic GH2 before and it´s viewfinder was much better than the Sony one. I think mainly because the distance to the plate of the Sonys viewfinder is too short. It isn´t sharp even with adjustment by the little wheel, it just don´t gives you a good view. And I don´t know what eye to use, left or right? Both don´t feel right with that.
The LCD is fine but the viewing angle could be a little bit better.
The video mode is ok but nothing special. Sony could have made the camera a real competition to the GH2, but they failed. The videos are sometimes plagued by aliasing artifacts, they are sharp but I would say on the level of an middle-class camcorder. Noise is ok due to the large sensor. Full control of shutter, aperture and ISO is nice to have. But this camera won´t be your new VDSLR because of the bad audio.
What I really dislike is the lack of audio options. Yes, you can attach an external mic, I tested the Alpha mic and non-Sony mics with an adapter but the problem was that the camera has a too strong input of audio.
There was a constant hissing sound with attached mic, even when it was possible to regulate the output of the mic. I compared it with my old camcorder and it hadn´t this problem with the mics.
The internal mics records too much background noise and a rather unnatural loud sound. Pretty displeasing.
Overall I see no reasons that justify the high price tag, especially when comparing it to the lower placed NEX cameras. It costs nearly twice compared to the NEX 5N. I think 8MP more and a viewfinder don´t justify this.
Problems:
Summed up:
- lack of good lenses
- different to hold
- audio for video is bad
- too expensive
I tried it for some days and gave it back because of that.
The 24MP are useless when the kit lens just sucks. Even stopped down it produces pics with soft borders. Even at F7.1 or F8(and then diffraction starts to soften the images also).
24MP is just a marketing joke, in fact no affordable and small lenses can use them. You need fast and expensive primes, at the moment mainly only via dapter.
Hell, Sony should give up the E-mount and make it a normal KoMi/Alpha mount.
The 18-200mm also sucks and even the larger NEX-7(larger compared to the sister models) looks like a joke with that trashcan of a lens.
Still no silent shutter in 2011/12. Well, Sony had the R1 in 2005 with a quiet shutter and large sensor, so what nowadays?
The handling also feels strange, the camera ist just too small, feels like a toy cam. I don´t have a problem with small cams but with cams that have bad ergonomics. My fingers don´t find a place to rest and hold it.
The viewfinder caused so much excitement, in fact I don´t found it to be revolutionary or fantastic. I had the Panasonic GH2 before and it´s viewfinder was much better than the Sony one. I think mainly because the distance to the plate of the Sonys viewfinder is too short. It isn´t sharp even with adjustment by the little wheel, it just don´t gives you a good view. And I don´t know what eye to use, left or right? Both don´t feel right with that.
The LCD is fine but the viewing angle could be a little bit better.
The video mode is ok but nothing special. Sony could have made the camera a real competition to the GH2, but they failed. The videos are sometimes plagued by aliasing artifacts, they are sharp but I would say on the level of an middle-class camcorder. Noise is ok due to the large sensor. Full control of shutter, aperture and ISO is nice to have. But this camera won´t be your new VDSLR because of the bad audio.
What I really dislike is the lack of audio options. Yes, you can attach an external mic, I tested the Alpha mic and non-Sony mics with an adapter but the problem was that the camera has a too strong input of audio.
There was a constant hissing sound with attached mic, even when it was possible to regulate the output of the mic. I compared it with my old camcorder and it hadn´t this problem with the mics.
The internal mics records too much background noise and a rather unnatural loud sound. Pretty displeasing.
Overall I see no reasons that justify the high price tag, especially when comparing it to the lower placed NEX cameras. It costs nearly twice compared to the NEX 5N. I think 8MP more and a viewfinder don´t justify this.
Problems:
Summed up:
- lack of good lenses
- different to hold
- audio for video is bad
- too expensive