Ray Sachs
Legend
- Location
- Not too far from Philly
- Name
- you should be able to figure it out...
Hi Norman,Nice comparison review Ray. I can certainly relate to your take on the 2 cameras regarding street shooting. With the NEX series zone focusing with a Voigtlander or Leica adapted lens is probably the best way to go. For those that shoot with a VF then maybe the AF is just about good enough for most shoots but personally I think the 5N AF is dismal and I expect the NEX 6 is only marginally better. I like to be able to just push that shutter home at the right moment rather than wait an indeterminate time for the AF to catch up. There are so many variables to contend with when street shooting it's best to simplify when you have the opportunity. That's why I can appreciate your fondness of the Nikon A. With the E-PL5 I can set no minimum shutter speed so have to either pick a suitably high iso or shoot in shutter priority mode.
You've used the E-PL5 Ray. Can you give me your view on how the shutter button compares with the NEX 6? I find the Sony NEX 5N button a lot less responsive and am sure I sometimes introduce blur into a shot as a result. With both cams I basically have them round my neck and cradle the underside of the camera with my thumb resting on the shutter so I can shoot whenever without arm/hand movements giving away my intentions. I adapted that style with the E-PL5 because it's so damn small and easy to press a wrong button. Now I shoot that way with the Sony 5N too so the shutter responsiveness (or lack of) has only recently bugged me..
Does either the Olympus E-P5 or Panasonic GX7 allow minimum shutter speed when auto iso is set? Both cameras appeal to me as potential upgrades for my E-PL5 next year.
The Nex 6 may be somewhat faster AF than the 5N - they added the PDAF capability to it. Its no speed burner, though, and I don't much like AF for street even with cameras that are because I still have to frame the shot to get the AF target in a specific place, which I don't with zone focussing. I don't remember the EPL5 shutter button specifically, but I didn't have any problem with it. I don't with the Nex 6 either, but it took me a couple of minutes to get used to its location on the downslope part of the grip. Feels really good and natural with the camera to my eye and my finger on the button, but a little weird for waist level shooting using the flip up screen. But it seems responsive enough that I didn't notice it.
I don't know for sure but I doubt that either of those new m43 bodies allow a minimum shutter speed to be set in auto-ISO. Maybe they do but it would be a change for either company as neither Oly or Panasonic has offered that before. I hope to demo both of those cameras soon, but not until the GX7 is available, obviously, and I don't know when that's gonna be. That feature on the Nikon has really messed me up for other cameras. I was shooting both the Fuji and Nex in this comparison the way I've happily shot with other cameras for years, just occasionally having to adjust the ISO for changing light, but just having to THINK about it now seemed like a massive inconvenience. I just got crazy-spoiled by that. The Fuji (XM1 and X100/100s) and a few Ricohs have that feature, but not at high enough shutter speeds for me. Seems like it could be such a quick and easy fix and I'm not sure why they set the limits where they did. Nikon's goes way higher than I think I'd ever use, but it would also have application for shooting sports or BIF with a telephoto on their DSLR's (which I believe use the same system) so I can see it being useful to a number of shooters.
-Ray