Sony NEX-7 Monochrome by Ken Lee

Sony NEX-7 Images by Ken Lee

As news of the Leica M Monochrom spread the internet, we received an email from Ken Lee sharing his photos from Paris. The monochrome images were produced with the Sony NEX-7 and the 18-55mm OSS kit lens. The images were taken in color in RAW format, then converted to black and white via photoshop. Ken is a large format photographer and found relief in using such a light, pocketable camera.

Great detail, tonality, and clarity show off Ken's skills and the NEX-7's capability. You can see more samples at Ken Lee's Paris Gallery.

Sony NEX-7 18-55mm Kit

Thanks Ken, we hope to see more in the future.

Sony NEX-F3 Pre-Order $599 Kit

Sony NEX-F3 Hands On Video

The Sony NEX-F3 Kit is available for pre-order for $600 with the 18-55mm OSS Lens. The F3 will be available mid June. The video above shows the new features of the Sony NEX-F3:

• 16000 ISO max for low light photos.
• New image processor.
  
• Full HD 1080/60i or 24p AVCHD video
• Auto Portrait Framing
• 180° tilt self portrait lcd,
• Built-in flash.
• Clear Image Zoom.
• 470 shots per charge.
• USB Charging.
  
• Smart Terminal II for FDA-EV1S Oled Viewfinder.
• Comes in Black, Silver, or White.
  

The new Sony 18-200mm OSS LE lens is also available for pre-order. It's smaller than the original 18-200mm lens and is clad in black. It will be available in early July 2012.

Sony NEX-F3 Front, Rear, Iso View

New Sony 18-200mm LE Zoom Lens with OSS

See more Sony NEX-F3 pictures from our previous post.

Sony NEX-F3 3rd Generation Mirrorless Camera

Sony NEX-F3 with 16mm Lens

It's hard to believe that a 3rd generation NEX body is available. The 16.1 mp Sony NEX-F3 continues the lineage from the NEX-3 to the NEX-C3 as an entry level interchangeable lens mirrorless camera. F can either stand for "flip" for the LCD screen, which is a first for the NEX system. F can also stand for "flash", which is now built-in similar to the flagship, Sony NEX-7.

The NEX-F3 introduces USB charging for the NEX cameras. This will make your travel kit smaller since the battery charger is not necessary. A wall socket to USB adapter can be shared with other electronic devices.

The NEX-F3 also introduces Auto Portrait Framing which identifies the model's position and trims the scene to produce a pleasing portrait composition. Self portraits are easy with the new flip screen.

Clear Image Zoom doubles the effective magnification of the lens using Sony's Pixel Super Resolution Technology. Another new feature for NEX cameras.

Video resolution is now 1080p/60i or 24p, up from the NEX-C3's 720p resolution.

The NEX-F3 is compatible with the FDA-EV1S electronic viewfinder for the NEX-5N.

The Sony NEX-F3 Kit with 18-55mm lens is $600 and is available for pre-order for a June 2012 delivery.

Sony NEX-F3 180 Degree Flip LCD

USB Rechargeable Sony NEX-F3

Sony NEX-F3 Built in Flash

Sony NEX-F3 with Black 18-200mm OSS Lens

Broadband Infrared NEX-3 Images by Thor L.

Broadband Infrared Converted NEX-3 Sample

Thor L posted some very interesting shots from his Sony NEX-3. The NEX-3 was modified into a broadband infrared camera. The infrared cut filter on the NEX sensor was replaced with clear glass. The autofocus system was also modified to focus correctly in infrared.

Check out more interesting images from Thor L.

NEX-7 with Contax Zeiss Tilt Adapter

Here are a few shots from the Sony NEX-7 and a tilt lens adapter with a Contax Zeiss 28mm f/2.8 Distagon. The 28mm lens provides an effective focal length of 42mm, very close to the human eye's fov.

The tilt adapter provides fun images, we posted about the tilt adapter in August 2010. It's great on the NEX system with focus peaking as you can see focus band as you "tilt" the lens. We have not shot much using tilt and were wondering if it can make it in our travel bag where space and weight is a premium. Do you have any tips for new users of tilt lenses?

NEX Shift Adapter for Nikon Lenses

NEX Shift Adapter for Nikon Lenses

Here is a Kipon shift lens adapter for NEX cameras. At the moment it is only available for Nikon F lenses. Here is the eBay auction for the Kipon shift adapter for NEX cameras. Let's hope more mounts for the shift adapter will be available soon.

Here is how Canon describes shift:

To explain Shift, the example of photographing a building exterior is an easy one for most to follow. Normally, if you use a wide-angle lens and try to photograph a fairly tall building, you’d aim the camera upward to include all of the building in the frame. The problem? In aiming the camera upward, you introduce a perspective distortion. The sides of the building bow inward, giving a sort of pyramid-like effect. In our everyday photography, we’ve seen this so much that we’re usually acclimated to it and accept it. But to a critical professional, there are times when this distortion is not acceptable. Here is where a shift lens comes in.

With the lens’s movements all set to their centered “zero” position, the camera is aimed carefully at the building, with critical attention paid to insure that the vertical lines and sides of the building are perfectly straight. (Parenthetically, the new Live View feature of current EOS digital SLRs, combined with its on-screen Grid Lines display, is ideal for this type of use.) However, with the sides of the building straight, there’s a catch — the lens is pointed straight ahead, and we can’t see the top of the building. Shift now comes into play. Simply turn the shift knob to raise the front section of the lens upward, and the entire image begins to rise in the finder or on the Live View display. But since the entire camera isn’t being tilted upward to achieve this, the lines remain straight. Of course, tripod mounting is ideal for this type of use, but it can be seen even in hand-held applications.

You can also see shift in action in the Adorama Tilt-Shift Lens video below.

12mm of Shift Adjustment

Tilt Shift Lens Tutorial from AdoramaTV

Check out the NEX Tilt Adapters that we've posted previously.

Thanks Canon, Adorama, and eBay!

Sony NEX-7 with Anamorphic Lens Footage

NEX-7 3.55:1 Ratio Video via Sankor 16D Anamorphic Lens

Check out this footage shot by Dave Dueck with his NEX-7, Fujinon 55mm Lens, and a Sankor 16D anamorphic lens. The NEX-7 was set to shoot video at 1080p/24p and converted to 720p for vimeo. For complete details go to Dave's vimeo page.

shot by Dave Dueck

NEX-5N Twin Lens Bundle Discount

NEX-5N with 18-55mm and 55-210mm Lens

This is the new Sony NEX-5N Twin Lens bundle which includes the 18-55mm and 55-210mm lens. This kit covers an EFOV of 27mm to 315mm - no problems for most shooting situations. Both lenses also offer Optical Steady Shot (OSS). A 16 gb sdhc class 10 memory card is also included. The bundle is offered at $950, $100 less if purchased separately.

Amazon has a similar bundle at $999, but with a 32gb memory card instead and additional accessories.

NEX-7 Lens Resolution Tests via Imatest at LensRentals.com

R.C. at LensRentals.com performed a test on several lenses on the NEX-7. The lenses comprised of the native E-mount lenses from Sony and Sigma. A Leica Summilux was also thrown into the mix since it's done well in previous Imatest challenges.

The numbers below represent MTF-50 at aperture f/4. The NEX-7 was set at ISO 400 and each lens was manually focused and bracketed so that focus errors were eliminated.

from Imatest.

Device or system sharpness is measured as a Spatial Frequency Response (SFR), also called Modulation Transfer Function (MTF). MTF is the contrast at a given spatial frequency (measured in cycles or line pairs per distance) relative to low frequencies. The 50% MTF frequency correlates well with perceived sharpness— much better than the old vanishing resolution measurement, which indicated where the detail wasn’t.

Now let's look at the test results at aperture f/4.

Lens	Max	Avg
Sony 16mm f/4	915	646
Sigma 19mm f/4	920	765
Sony 24mm f/4	1000	795
Sony 18-200 f/4	855	680
Sony 18-55 @20 f/4	855	640
Sony 30mm f/4	940	725
Sigma 30mm f/4	1040	840
Sony 50mm f/4	885	835
Leica 50mm f/4	1020	870

Photo by jerome_Munich

What can we learn from this test? At f/4 most of these lenses, from $4000+ Leicas to $200 Sigmas, will be separated by the technique of the photographer with regards to resolution. Keep the camera still when taking a shot by using a high shutter speed, a tripod, a remote shutter release, etc. If you want maximum resolution, it looks like the Sigma 30mm DN Lens is the best bang for the buck.

Here's a quick quote from the article regarding the NEX-7 vs the Canon 5d Mark III and the Nikon D800.

• (NEX-7) resolution at f/4 with a good lens is about what we see with a Canon 5DII or III (1050 / 800 or so LP/IH) with a good lens, not quite as good as a Nikon D800 (1200 / 1000 LP / IH).

Read the complete NEX-7 Lens Resolution Comparison by RC at LensRentals.com.

Read more about sharpness from Imatest.

Thanks RC!

Penguins and the Sony NEX-VG20 Camcorder

Kings of South Georgia by cotton coulson

Here's a nice video shot with the Sony NEX-VG20 Camcorder in South Georgia Island with National Geographic and Lindblad Expeditions by Cotton Coulson. Here is what he has to say about the VG20:

Using the Sony NEX VG-20, demonstrating what can be shot with this camera in remote regions. All taken with standard Sony lenses, edited with Final Cut X, no grading, wanted to show how the camera performs right out of the box. Remember also that this camera takes beautiful stills.

The form factor is impressive. It's like shooting video with a Leica rangefinder camera. Only negative feedback is managing some of the controls off the LCD screen, especially in harsh weather conditions, but on the flip side, the camera is so portable, making video something fun to do again.

Sony NEX-VG20 with Sony 18-200mm OSS

Thanks Cotton!