Sony Sony NEX-7

[soundimageplus]

It may not be that compact, but it sure looks serious.
Amazon.com : Introducing the Sony NEX-7

All the Sony news at:-
sonyalpharumors | Blog | Continually updated: Sony announces the A77 NEX-7 and lots of other cameras and lenses!

Sony go for broke!

 

[Ghosthunter]

Hmmmmm! It certainly looks good but 24Mega Pixel sensor!! Huge raw files eeek! Looks like something from the 70's also but if the sensor gives as good IQ as the other Nex cameras then it will be pretty amazing. Shame it's still let down by poor lens choice.

 

[Archiver]

I just got wind of it, too. It looks like an absolute beast of a camera. It's Darth Vader's pocket camera. It looks like it's been carved from solid obsidian. Damn, I'm wetting my pants and I already have too many cameras!

The rangefinder-like positioning of the OLED viewfinder cannot be an accident. It can't be. It is an evil trap to lure RF shooters to the Dark Side! Noooo!

I will be very interested to see what the image quality and the look of the files are like. Will this ungodly gearlust never end????????

 

[soundimageplus]

It's Darth Vader's pocket camera.

Excellent.

I will be very interested to see what the image quality and the look of the files are like. Will this ungodly gearlust never end????????

Since it has the same sensor as the A77 I presume the images will look much the same. There are some A77 samples at Dpreview - Sony SLT-A77 Preview: 7. First Impressions and Samples: Digital Photography Review

They are jpgs, with all that entails, and as such look a little soft and seem to be pushing dynamic range quite hard. Unusually for Dpreview there are some nice contrasty landscapes which give a good idea. Assuming that the raw files will improve on the jpgs in the same way that my NEX-C3 files "scrub up" from raw, I would imagine they will look very good. Sony wouldn't do all this to produce bad images anyway, and I'm sure they will be fine.

As a landscape / travel stock photographer its just about my dream camera and I'm scouring the UK sites to see when I can get my order in!!

 

[flash]

Me too. Plus a Leica adaptor. Mmmmmmmm.

Gordon

 

[Ray Sachs]

Looks like a great camera, but having recently sold my Nex 5 gear, I'm not going back. If they ever figure out a way to make really nice lenses size-competitive with m43, I'll give Nex another look, but for now, m43 is just a much better set of compromises for me. The IQ is good enough for me, I like broad DOF at least as much as narrow DOF (so I actually prefer the m43 sized sensor for a lot of uses), the lens choices and scale is great for me, the performance of the new cameras is all I'd ever want, and the UI works for me. I'm sure the Nex 7 will hit on all of those points except for the broad DOF and the lenses and the lenses are the real issue. As great as I know the Zeiss 24 will be, I don't see that combination adding anything to the X100 at nearly twice the price and I already have one of those... And that lens is a lot bigger than I'd want on that size body (which I think will STILL be very nicely small) and I don't see much chance of future lenses being much smaller. So, I'll have a look at the Nex 11 or 15 (guessing they'll skip the 13) after the lens lineup has a chance to mature, but my guess is I'll be sticking with a smaller system like m43.

But I'm REALLY glad Sony is out there pushing the envelope. Unlike a lot of folks, I LIKE what they're doing with the UI, starting from someplace close to scratch, rather than toeing the line to conventions and hitting more than they're missing IMHO. And they're pushing all of the other makers as well. I don't think we'd have an EPL3 without Nex, so I hope they and Nikon and whoever else really gives Oly and Pany a good push for years to come.

-Ray

 

[wt21]

I just can't afford it

Was thinking of trying it out, but it's $500 more than my (I thought expensive) EP3!

I hope it fails miserably, just so Oly and Panny don't get crazy pricing ideas about their next cameras

 

[Pelao]

With their A series Sony had developed a good UI. It was conventional in terms of features, but well laid-out and intuitive. One of the attractions for me in th Nex 7 is that they have brought that interface to a much smaller body. No doubt the IQ will be excellent if the lenses can resolve that much power. I find that attractive, because MFT is borderline for IQ for some of my shooting.

I bet it's a nice camera, but a pity about the system.

1. If the sensor is any good (and I bet it is) then it will take serious lenses to make use of it.
2. The lens range. Odd lengths, lots of bulk.

For my uses it is not versatile enough. I want to simplify and have one, at most two cameras. I do like the VF though.

 

[jonoslack]

As a landscape / travel stock photographer its just about my dream camera and I'm scouring the UK sites to see when I can get my order in!!

Park Cameras - they are excellent and do sensible prices as well (your only problem is that I'm ahead of you in the queue!)

 

[Andrewteee]

Looks like a great camera, but having recently sold my Nex 5 gear, I'm not going back. If they ever figure out a way to make really nice lenses size-competitive with m43, I'll give Nex another look, but for now, m43 is just a much better set of compromises for me. The IQ is good enough for me, I like broad DOF at least as much as narrow DOF (so I actually prefer the m43 sized sensor for a lot of uses), the lens choices and scale is great for me, the performance of the new cameras is all I'd ever want, and the UI works for me. I'm sure the Nex 7 will hit on all of those points except for the broad DOF and the lenses and the lenses are the real issue. As great as I know the Zeiss 24 will be, I don't see that combination adding anything to the X100 at nearly twice the price and I already have one of those... And that lens is a lot bigger than I'd want on that size body (which I think will STILL be very nicely small) and I don't see much chance of future lenses being much smaller. So, I'll have a look at the Nex 11 or 15 (guessing they'll skip the 13) after the lens lineup has a chance to mature, but my guess is I'll be sticking with a smaller system like m43.

My sentiments exactly. I sold my NEX 3. The only NEX mount lens that interests me is the new Zeiss lens, and I'm not going to buy a new camera just for one lens. It would be a long time before other high quality NEX lenses would be available. And you might as well get the X100. And m43s is far more complete and mature. And man, would my hard drive scream at 24 megapixel RAW files!!!

Nonetheless, good to see some fresh thinking in camera design.

 

[Armanius]

The NEX7 looks pretty sweet and so does the A77. The specs sound amazing, although I'm still confused with the 16,000 ISO number.

Can someone explain to me why Sony can't make smaller lenses to match the whole "small package" concept a little better? I know the whole sensor size thing that people talk about. However, Pentax also uses APS-C sensors, and it has a 43/1.9 that is very small and the 40/2.8 that is tiny. The Pentax 70/2.4 is small too. I have an older Pentax 35/2 that can be used for film as well (and hence full frame cameras if Pentax ever makes one) and that's small and light too (relative to the new Zeiss 24/1.8 and the new Sony 50/1.8).

Is it because the NEX lenses are motorized as opposed to the Pentax lenses that are screw driven?

 

[Andrewteee]

Ricoh's GXR A12 "lenses" are small too compared to the NEX Zeiss lens.

 

[Pelao]

The NEX7 looks pretty sweet and so does the A77. The specs sound amazing, although I'm still confused with the 16,000 ISO number.

Can someone explain to me why Sony can't make smaller lenses to match the whole "small package" concept a little better? I know the whole sensor size thing that people talk about. However, Pentax also uses APS-C sensors, and it has a 43/1.9 that is very small and the 40/2.8 that is tiny. The Pentax 70/2.4 is small too. I have an older Pentax 35/2 that can be used for film as well (and hence full frame cameras if Pentax ever makes one) and that's small and light too (relative to the new Zeiss 24/1.8 and the new Sony 50/1.8).

Is it because the NEX lenses are motorized as opposed to the Pentax lenses that are screw driven?

Exactly.

Would be so cool if Pentax were to come to the mirrorless party with an APS-C sensor. The lenses are just sitting there, waiting...

 

[kyteflyer]

Is it because the NEX lenses are motorized as opposed to the Pentax lenses that are screw driven?

I'd say thats a definite maybe. Look at the relative size of the DA*55, the 16-50 etc. Having SDM has made them monsters. (To my mind, anyway. I don't like motorised lenses for that exact reason. )

 

[Michael Penn]

Camera = $1200
24/1.8 Lens = $1000

Me = laughing

 

[davect01]

price

As much as I love the current NEX and love the new design of the NEX-7, I just can not see spending $1200. If you are willing to spend that much, there are some great full to mid sized DSLR's available. This puts this camera out of the range of most point and shoot owners looking for a bit more.

Part of the appeal of the original NEX was the pricing. For just a little bit more, you could step up from the point and shot world. That is what first interested me. I was originally looking at a point and shoot that was $300ish, when I saw the NEX display. For $550.00 it was a bit more than what I had planned, but still within a reasonable budget. The $1200.00 price puts this new camera clearly out of the range of all of those looking for a bit more.

 

[Luckypenguin]

This is what everyone was asking for: an (apparently) high-end, compact bodied, evf-equipped mirrorless camera. Predictably it also comes with a high-end pricetag to match. I guess we find out now how serious this request really was.

 

[thekeddi]

I tried the NEX cameras. Didn't like them then and this one just doesn't look nice to me.

I do like that they have more dials. Something greatly needed. But yeah. At that price point I just don't know?

It's one camera model that just doesn't float my boat.

 

[Steve Noel]

I like the first look. The boxy all business look, appeals to me. Looks more serious than cute. I think it might be very fine with adapted, old, fast glass. It's a moot point, as I can't afford it. But something to watch for when prices fall a bit, maybe.

There's a lot of griping about lens size, but when you take in consideration the thickness of the other cameras it is being compared to, is the overall size from camera back, to front of lens very different? I understand the desire to be more compact, but there are many considerations with the larger sensor. Just thinking out loud.

 

[akulya]

I'm not expecting miracles, but I'm very keen on seeing how Sony have tuned this particular sensor.

We can be confident that it will match the others of the Exmoor line regards high ISO performance (take this as a given) but if it has offest microlenses, and can use the really nice wide/U-wide glass from Leica, Zeiss (and CV) - those with exit pupils very close to the sensor plane like the 25/24 & 21 Biogons and Elmarits - and provide a nice clean file at base ISO. Then the price is quite good. Considering the 3e6 evf is twice the density of the oly VF2 (which is universally lauded) and is built in.

I understand that 24mpix is probably overkill, and people are understandably unsure what compromises have been made to cram all these headline features into a small(ish) body, but it looks like a hightly customisable body layout, and I'm very interested on seeing samples and hearing from the first users.

It might be worth trading down (or sideways?) from the M8 for, you never know.