(SR4) An NEX-7 hands-on report and NEX-5N info
There are two rumors coming from Asia and from sources I know well.
1) Hong Kong Sonysdf (Click here to read the english translation).
According to the source the Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 has a nice Bokeh but corner sharpness wide open is not on very top high level. The NEX-7 feels larger than the Leica M9! It is also rather heavy, whilst it feels extremely solid in hands and is well built. It has direct and professional controls;
UPDATE: I got this info from one of my sources in Hong Kong but I now saw it has been posted at RiceHigh a couple of hours before I posted it (the post was scheduled while I was working). So here is the link to Ricehigh.
2) Thailand Fotorelax (Click here to read the google english translation).
The NEX-5N has a “Capacitive Touch Screen“.
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Reminder: Those are the specs of the new NEX cameras
NEX-7
24,3 Exmor HD sensor
100-16.000 ISO
1200 zone metering
1920×1080 60p/60i/24p AVCHD 2.0 (28Mbit/s) video recording
3 million dot XGA OLED viewfinder
3inch 921k TruBlack LCD display (touchscreen)
10 fps
20ms startup time
Built-in flash
New universal hot shoe
Battery life for over 400 shots
Magnesium alloy body
NEX-5N
16.1 MP Exmor sensor (Same us Sony NEX-C3)
ISO 100-25600
1920×1080 60p/60i/24p AVCHD 2.0 video recording
Shutter 1/4000
10 fps
Can take over 430 shots with one battery
Same AF speed as the GH2
VG-20
16 MPX Exmor sensor
1920×1080 60p/60i/24p AVCHD 2.0 video recording
Can record stills in RAW
3 inch touchscreen (swifel)
audio level control
IR AVR remote
Woodent
2 years ago |omg! NEX-5N _is_ with a touch-screen! Makes me wonder if I actually need NEX-7 when it is also as big as M9 0.0
NEXfive
2 years ago |NEX-7 is for viewfinder fetishists
frosti7
2 years ago |The nex-5N will get an optional EVF, probably lower end then nex-7 thou..
i *heart* viewfinders!
Andrew
2 years ago |Any manual video controls on the NEX5N? That one is looking good value!!
Anonymous
2 years ago |Why is the NEX-7 so big? Might as well get a Fujifilm x100…
Raul S.
2 years ago |Sorry for you but NEX-7 AND x100 are different cameras for different markets. People tend to compare them, but they can’t be matched evenly on the same category since one is a fixed lens and the other, a interchangeable lens camera.
frosti7
2 years ago |Perhaps that hands-on talks about NEX-7 + 24/1.8 lens combination being bigger then M9, which seems true because the lens is rather large
I’m sure that nex-7 body is quite smaller then M9 thou, as M9 is HUGE when compared to nex-5
Eric
2 years ago |I do hope you’re right, but not because I dislike the size of the M9; I don’t. I worry that if the NEX-7 is the same size of the M9 that means the 24/1.8 is even larger than I first thought.
Seems like my interest in the NEX-7 comes and goes. One day I can’t wait to buy it and a few M-Mount primes to go with it (no choice since Sony doesn’t make any lenses I want). Then the next day I decide to stick with m4/3′s until either an interchangeable lens Fuji X100 comes out or Leica comes out with their mirrorless camera (hopefully a modern day Leica CL).
Sony has dropped the ball so badly on the NEX lens line up that they’re giving me pause…and I’ve wanted a digital camera EXACTLY like the NEX-7 for years. Hopefully they’ll release a new lens roadmap soon. If it has at least one standard prime similar to the Samsung 30mm f/2 then I’ll go ahead and get a NEX-7; but if they have no plans for pancakes, then it’s doubtful for me.
john
2 years ago |When I first saw this picture
http://www.mirrorlessrumors.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/nex-5n.png
I figured the Nex 5n had a touch screen.
Woodent
2 years ago |imagine how it can make the camera instantly usable! for instance, in can have “virtual dials” for quick adjusting of various prametrs. Like having aperture control on virtual dial and shutter control – on physical one for fully manual exposure mode. Hope (probably in vain) Sony uses this opportunity to re-work their camer interface to the fullest extent
Sky_walker
2 years ago |“Hope Sony uses this opportunity to re-work their camer interface to the fullest extent” – they better don’t.
Last opportunity they had to create a new interface – in NEX cameras – ended up with throwing in Sony Ericsson guys to do it. Result? Erm… you all know it. Good that at least Sony Imaging folks read reviews and updated software to allow re-assignment of buttons.
Joe
2 years ago |I’m still skeptical. That picture could be someone using a touch screen. It could also be someone just point at how awesome the screen is. The link “confirming” a touch screen looks like some crappy forum thread with some guy just speculating. We have 8 days until we know for sure, I wouldn’t put heavy bets on a touch screen just yet though.
Anonymous2
2 years ago |fotorelax is a ‘Thai’ website
agorabasta
2 years ago |The alleged Nex7 sure is of size comparable to M9. It was always quite obvious from the images floating around.
But the Nex7 body appears to be far more ergonomic.
pancanikonpus
2 years ago |Ho Ho Ho….
Jerry_R
2 years ago |“New universal hot shoe”
What is new?
Jennzhen
2 years ago |What? You want a used one?
Carlos R B
2 years ago |Zeiss not that good wide open? they made it that big and still didn’t manage to make excellent performance?
Dulaney Ward
2 years ago |believe me, it will have top performance
Jennzhen
2 years ago |The wording was not “not that good” but “not on very top high level”.
On the scale of 1 to 100, “not that good” is about 60, “not on very top high level” could be 95.
Tom
2 years ago |Yeah, what’s going on Sony? I can forgive a huge lens if there is a reason for it, but if it is big and still does has significant flaws (or should say if it has significant flaws at this point) then will either be looking for A) different lens or B) different camera system – as there are not a whole lot of E-mount choices at the moment.
Dulaney Ward
2 years ago |No one has said this lens has serious flaw. In fact, the source said that the lens is fully worthy of the Zeiss name. That, my friend, is high praise.
Angus
2 years ago |Hi!
Sonysdf is a Taiwan forum, not Hong Kong …
^^Art^^
2 years ago |Note to Admin : Fotorelax from Thailand not Vietnam. ^^
admin
2 years ago |Thanks! Corrected
AG
2 years ago |Well I read the first link regarding A77 and Nex7 in its original language. It says that the Zeiss lens produces excellent images, worthy to the Zeiss name. It is not as big as it seems but it is really heavy. There is no mention of corner sharpness at all however. It also says that Nex7 is a little bigger than M9, feels solid in hands. The interface design can match up to the professional cameras.
lhkjacky
2 years ago |It mention about the corner sharpness and Bokeh on page 7.
http://www.sonysdf.com/alpha/viewtopic.php?p=637490&f=9#p637490
It said that the Bokeh is very nice and it is best for street photo,
but do not expect too much for the corner quality.
PS: Sonysdf is from Taiwan not Hong Kong
.
knurd
2 years ago |Which f1.8-f2.8 lens has really sharp corners wide open? Every lens needs to be stopped down for full sharpness. As long as the centre sharpness is good wide open then I don’t see why people are getting so upset. Maybe for that price tag of $1000? The only way I’d pay that is if the lens would see through womens clothing.
Bill
2 years ago |I wonder if the NEX-7 will actually look like the mockup I”ve seen on this website. It always had a bit of a CG look about it to me. That body didn’t seem very large and if it is nearing the size of the Leica, then perhaps it will look differently than we expect.
GH
2 years ago |If the pics of the nex-7 that we’ve been seeing over the last month are real, there is no way it is bigger than an M9. It isn’t terribly bigger than the NEX-3 with a leather half-case. The poster must be referring to the size of the NEX-7 w/ the Zeiss lens attached.
Björn Utpott
2 years ago |Thanks AG, for the translation. I’m always a little hesitant about reading too much into machine translations. Given the leaked images, I’m surprised that the NEX-7 is supposedly a liitle bigger than the M9. To me it looks smaller.
Donsantos
2 years ago |He says it’s not as large as the leaked pictures
Donsantos
2 years ago |He says the zeiss is not as large as the leaked pictures
Kizu
2 years ago |Thanks AG for the Translation! is there any mention about af speed of nex 7? is it as fast as nex 5n (GH2)? anything about the touchscreen of the nex7? Thanks again.
lhkjacky
2 years ago |The source said that the LCD on Nex77 will use a new technology.
It reduce the power consumption and rainbow effect which occur in Nex3 & Nex5.
Kizu
2 years ago |thanks alot
Erational
2 years ago |Is anyone else out there like me ?- I need a translation of the translation !
Mikey
2 years ago |Capacitive touchscreen? Is this like the iPad/iPhone? Does it mean it won’t work if you are wearing gloves?
lollus
2 years ago |What a pity if you guys don’t get perfect corner sharpness! I fear we are going to have extra sad geeks..
ben
2 years ago |Hello all read the original text and the translated text is pretty accurate.
The source said that the design of the back of the lens (zeiss 24 1.8) which i assume is the lens mount… shows the future direction of the system…
Oh who knows maybe FF?
Or the Leaf Shutter.
Or just no more weird rectangular cutting you see in the Nex kit lens..
Darn!! I read the thread there but could not find any info on shutter noise. My gut says it gonna be loud sigh…
But to be honest the Nex 7 looks good….
teerawat
2 years ago |fotorelax isThailand web
Jiri
2 years ago |Will the NEX-5N have a metallic body like its predecessor?
Forsberg
2 years ago |FotoRelax website is Thai not Vietnam
There are more information from the same topic saying that the thumb-rest for the NEX-5N is deeper than the NEX-5 and also taking off the rubber. One more thing is that The design of the LA-EA2 is changed by moving the AF module down (which is the same as the earlier photo of the LA-EA2 displayed) and the last thing is the new EVF is compatible with NEX-C3 and NEX-5N (I think this is also mentioned ealier here). Just wanna help translating it.
Wishmaster
2 years ago |New EVF compatible with C3? It was supposed to be compatible only with new 5N. It seems that we’ll have to wait for 24th to know for sure what’s going on with EVF.
Thanks for your help in translation
Marcohard
2 years ago |The first source is from Taiwan, not Hong Kong.
The seceond source is from Thailand, not Vietnam.
merviscouver
2 years ago |Pardon a dumb question. Is the NEX-7 full-frame?
horst
2 years ago |One would think they’d include pics of the cameras, no ?
mochapaulo
2 years ago |lol……excuse me. I can tell you his dream is wrong. I used to hold Leica M9 on hand and I can definitely tell you NEX-7 should be smaller than you expect rather than close to M9. It is far from as big as M9 in size wise. I prefer to said the weight is also lighter than expect until the Zeiss 24mm lens attached. About the spec, it is nothing more different from the rumors. For the 24mm lens, it is certainly a sharp lens but also inherits the obvious CA feature of Zeiss when aperture is widest opened. Don’t ask me how did I know, I just knew it, accidentally.
Jennzhen
2 years ago |You’re suppose to use share button near top-right of the page, to send the rumor directly to admin.
People, please stop spreading rumors here!
It’s not like anyone will believe you anyway
Matt
2 years ago |Seriously… a touch screen? Why Sony, WHY?
When I worked in photo retail, more customers were put off by the Sony touch screens than actually liked them. I was definitely in the ‘hate it’ camp myself. A mechanical button is just so much better in so many ways – it works 100% of the time, 1st time – you can feel where it is if you can’t see it due to bright sunlight, you know when you’ve pressed it without looking…
On the plus side, at least I won’t be wanting to change my 5 for a 5N! The 7? Now that’s a different matter! *Drools uncontrollably*
Mark
2 years ago |Re: Matt, more mechanicial button means bigger body, you dont want a mirrorless 5dm2 size do you?
5N is for people buying new NEX as 3 and 5 will probably discontinue, existing Nex user would probably want to upgrade to 7.
nopt
2 years ago |I like the idea of a touchscreen on newer NEX models. The feature seems really cool from videos I’ve seen of newer micro four thirds cameras. If Sony can have a good implementation I’m all for it. In theory it would also allow you to put more direct-access functionality into the limited real-estate of these bodies by having virtual buttons.
Matt
2 years ago |You are right that this will enable more buttons to be there whilst keeping the body small, which is a good thing – and touch to focus would be nice at times, but I still don’t think it needed it.
Whilst a lot of reviews slate the NEX-5 for its design control-wise, I really like it to be honest. I shoot in aperture priority probably 95% of the time, and don’t feel the need for more buttons now it has the customisable interface – which I’ve set to control ISO.
REVENGE
2 years ago |Only 1 reason needed: touch to focus.
Boo
2 years ago |http://soundimageplus.blogspot.com/2011/04/fuji-x100-user-experience-2-first.html
From the look of it, Nex-7 might be around the size of the M9.
Ettienne
2 years ago |Perhaps I am just not spending enough time trying to stay up to date with all the rumours but wasnt there news earlier on that the NEX 7 would be able to do 720p at 120FPS? What happened to that or what did I miss? Was seriously looking at it for a B camera that can do some slo mo too..
Physica
2 years ago |The translation on Sonysdf is not really correct enough , i’ve roughly translated as below, please see and forgive me if any mis-translation…. (the [* * ] is my remark…)
=================================
As the aura from NDA is too strong, the gods is scruples about it , so the dream is very short this time. [* This sentence said as the NDA restriction , he couldn't leak too much , also using an fantasy feel at the whole post..... the people which not a native speaker will mis-understanding....*]
The most important thing regarding to the dream is talking about the big boss and small boss , the other small potatos around them can be omitted
the big boss has plenty of interesting function on it , or we could said it’s the model which accomplish with all the technology on it. rumors had already disclosed much enought. most of the rumors are correct, i’m not going to talk about it anymore.
The most important things is the smaller boss , This time the aura from NDA is mainly focus on it. [* means the NDA is greatly restrict on NEX-7 *]
The boss is not as small as everyone think about , the size is a little bit bigger then Leica M9 , and it’s heavy. the texture and hand held confort are very very excellent [taking about the ergonomics of hand grip]
The control nearly on-par to some of the professional models. Absolutely not a ILC could compare with.
I could only see the black on inside my dream , GOD didn’t know is there any silvery version exist…. [* GOD...... is him , lol *]
The PQ of the lens which disputed alot are very excellent! [* talking about the E 24mm *] . It won’t let the blue label on the lens down. The lens is design for the casual use and snap shot , not as big as i through , but it’s really heavy.
The lens which look like a standard zoom , is a portrait lens.
Let’s look at the end of the lens, we could predit the design and development direction of the NEX system.
The lens pattern is well planned actually, please put an eye on the future roadmap and see , there will be surprises.
That’s all what i could said , please wait patiently until the day which dream comes true.
Allan
2 years ago |wouah ! a new roadmap !!!
may be new pancakes !! that would be the best surprise !!!
can’t wait to see this new roadmap !!
José Magalhães
2 years ago |Some of the work with A700 and H9 Here
http://atributos-2.blogspot.com/
I work with a A700 and a DSC-H9.
I use the H9 to make Infra Red pictures.
Does any actual model includes night-shot as the H9 does?
JM
Renato M.
2 years ago |it looks like Sony wants so separate a little better the NEX-5N from the NEX-C3 since in the NEX-3/5 it was almost non existent. they could make a better UI.menu for that, one that looked more with a PRO than a Point and Shoot.
right now I’m between a NEX-5N and a G3. the better video manual controls wins! I know that the NEX-5N will have AVCHD 2.0, but it doesn’t matter now, since my aim is the GF PRO/GH3 and NEX-7 and there is not much info about the GF PRO and GH3. but why not wait and buy it then? because I’m with no camera right now and I want/need one. the problem is that I will travel to US in the second half of September and there is a probability that the NEX-5N won’t be available yet.
bad timing for buying a camera.
IHUR
2 years ago |Cant wait to see the comparison with bunch of manual lenses out there (leica, Voigtlander, rokkor etc)
Allan
2 years ago |have you any idea when we gonna see the new NEX roadmap ???
maybe pancakes !!!!
Allan
2 years ago |and when are coming the tamron and sigma e-mount lenses ??
GH
2 years ago |Here is a size approximation between the NEX-5 and NEX-7. That NEX-7 isn’t all that big:
http://i54.tinypic.com/2l9t5za.jpg
Allan
2 years ago |Thank you GH !! I have try to make the same comparison by making the same “photo montage” !!
I think that we will have the NEX-7 better in hand !! and muche more for people like me with big hands !!
GH
2 years ago |Sure thing, although, I don’t want to take credit for the image. I found that on another forum. The NEX-7 looks just a little bigger than my NEX-5 with a leather half-case attached, which is fine by me.
nopt
2 years ago |Hay, I made that pic!
5min job in GIMP. I agree, it really doesn’t seem very big, and not nearly as chunky as a Leica, which is almost like a rounded brick.
horst
2 years ago |I dunno, nothing sounds right about those alleged hands-on experiences.
Mainly the M9 comparison – have you ever held that thing ?
It’s a LOT bigger and heavier than the Nex-5, and the Nex-7 images suggest it won’t be much bigger than the 5, and mainly due to the added height of the EVF .
Mike
2 years ago |What are these guys talking about? I expected to read some specs and not a religious poem.
physica
2 years ago |Actually I didn’t mind NEX-7 is same size or bigger then Leica-M9 , I only mind if the NEX-7is price is same as or bigger(higher) then Leica-M9 , lol ( just kidding )
hope the SD1 Legend will not come again.
Holyfan
2 years ago |Ok I’m a native Chinese speaker and forget all that “dream” talk and go straight to to the point.
1. The new A77 A65 are fully packed with new digital features that are more advanced than the current competitors. Most of the rumros that have already been published in other websites are mostly true, so no need to discuss this further.
2. Nex 7, the camera body itself is slightly larger than M9 and heavier than expected, but feels very nice in hands and excellent built quality. The tested model is black, not sure if there will be a silver model.
3. The lens is heavy and well-built and not as large as the source expcted. It is designed for street photography intended. It performs very well and deserves the Zeiss label. Corner sharpness not superb when wide-open, but contrast color and general image quality is comparable to similar Leica lenses.
4. User Interface of Nex 7 is very professional and high-end, instead of beginner-like point and shoot interface.
5. There will be a surprise when future roadmap is announced. The roadmap looks very complete and well-planned.
Allan
2 years ago |that’s very good news !!
i really want to know what is the surprise in the futur roadmap ! maybe as i said before new pancakes !!
physica
2 years ago |Actually I’ve translate it in full at above.
nopt
2 years ago |You both did a nice job, thank you. :]
jazzroy
2 years ago |I took specs from Leica and added M9 to the size comparison:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1042&message=39134191
definetly Nex-7 is not as big as M9!
Allan
2 years ago |jazzroy very nice job !!