Sony NEX Essential Accessories

So you're ready to order your new NEX camera, what else do you need to complete your kit? Here's a list of essential NEX accessories which each kit should have.

What you need in your NEX kit.

1. Class 10 SD Memory Cards - You will definitely need memory cards for you NEX - it will not come with one. We suggest using high speed and high quality SD cards for maximum photo and video performance. It's also a good idea to get multiple cards instead of just one high capacity card in case a problem occurs.
   
2. Extra Sony NEX NP-FW50 Battery - your NEX camera will come with a battery but if you plan on shooting for a whole day, it's always good to have a backup.
   
3. Sony NEX E-mount body cap and rear lens cap - your NEX camera will unfortunately not come with a body cap or a rear lens cap. It's a good idea to have the caps available for storage purposes. You can easily separate the NEX body from the lens and it will make for a very compact package to carry. If you buy E-mount lens adapters, they will not come with rear lens caps so be ready. If you get the twin lens kit, the 2nd lens will come with a rear lens cap.
   
4. Sony NEX Remote - Need a critical shot with minimum camera movement - use a tripod and a remote. Taking pictures of you and your family? Make it easy by remotely triggering you camera by using this remote - no need to run or hand your camera to a stranger. The remote is also handy for bracketing shots for use with HDR photos.
   
5. Mini-HDMI to HDMI cables - be ready to share your NEX pictures by connecting your camera to your TV by using an Mini-HDMI to HDMI cable.
   
6. Camera Bag - So where does all this go? In any bag of your choice. You will need one with lots of pockets for all the little things your NEX needs.
   

What else do you have in your NEX bag? Send us an email with a picture of your kit.

Sony NEX-7 with Rokkor-M Konica and Contax Lens

Sony NEX-7 ISO 800 with 18-55mm OSS @52mm f/5

We posted earlier about our trip to Unique Photo to see the new Sony NEX-7. It was an open house with Sony representatives exhibiting the new Alpha and NEX cameras, Sony lenses, and flash guns.

There was a lot of interest with the new cameras so our time with the NEX-7 was curtailed. The Sony representatives were all very helpful allowing lens changes and personal memory card usage to grab some images of the pre-production NEX-7.

The brief time with the NEX-7 was great. Since the NEX-5 was our main camera, it's been a while since we used a viewfinder. The NEX-7's EVF was a new experience. It felt odd in the beginning putting a small electronic screen up to your eye but we adjusted by the end of the night. We didn't have time to adjust the diopter, which we should have. All the information from the rear LCD is translated to the 2.36 million dot, 0.5" XGA OLED EVF. The EVF and slightly larger body of the NEX-7 made shooting with quite heavy SLR lenses very manageable.

We did not use the two new dials on top of the NEX-7 since we were using manual lenses. The dials felt great when we did play with them briefly. There was an additional button by the Shutter button that we will most likely reassign to a new command.

We learned a few things about the NEX-7. It responded to the same remote control as the other NEX and Alpha cameras. Also in the menu there was a Micro Adjust option for auto focus lenses. Lastly the NEX-7 was considerably lighter than it looks and will make for a great travel companion.

What would we change with the NEX-7 from our brief encounter? Change the Exposure Bracketing to +/- 3EV with a 5 shot option. The extra button by the Shutter button hopefully is customizable. We would set it to EVF or LCD mode only and not rely on the sensor.

We set the NEX-7 to Shutter priority, and Auto-ISO when the light allowed. The camera was set to JPEG output and that is what's posted here. The posted images are resized and 100% crops from each lens. No other changes were made to the file. All the lenses handled great with the NEX-7. The snapshots are not the best but we had a great time playing with the NEX-7.

Sony NEX-7 ISO 160 with Contax Zeiss 85mm f/1.4 Planar - the shutter speed at 1/60 didn't help this shot.

Sony NEX-7 ISO 200 with Minolta 28mm f/2.8 Rokkor-M

Sony NEX-7 ISO 400 with Konica Hexanon 57mm f/1.2

Sony NEX-7 ISO 6400 +1EV with Voigtlander 12mm f/5.6 Ultra Wide Heliar

The CV 12mm Ultra Wide Heliar shot above was not focused and was taken to see if red-shift at the corners was present.

Thanks to Unique Photo, Sony, and the lovely model in the photos above.

Sony NEX-7 Menu and Control Overview Video

Sony NEX-7 Menus and Controls

Here's a video posted by stevehuff1969 showcasing the menus and controls of the Sony Alpha NEX-7 camera. The NEX-7 is shown with the 50mm f/1.8 OSS E-mount lens.

Sony NEX-7 with 50mm f/1.8 OSS Lens

Sony NEX-7 Launch Delayed Due To Thailand Floods

Flood waters has inundated the Sony factory in Ayutthaya, Thailand where NEX cameras are produced. This will affect the overall supply of NEX systems and will delay the NEX-7's release.

from Reuters

Sony, the world's second-largest maker of digital cameras after Canon Inc , said the global launch of its NEX-7 mirrorless interchangeable lens camera would be delayed indefinitely from the previous date of Nov. 11, while the Japanese launch of the Alpha 65 model would also be delayed.

Sony's Thai camera factory, one of three plants it has in the country, is flooded, while production has been stopped at its Thai semiconductor plant due to supply shortages, the company said.

Sony has not announced a new launch date.

Here is an article by CNET when they visited the Sony Ayutthaya Plant last year.

More importantly, 300+ people have been killed by the flooding and countless have lost their homes. Sony has donated 300 Million yen to aid the recovery efforts.

Sony NEX-5 and Galapagos Islands

Galapagos Islands by thkhoo with the NEX-5

Check out these great NEX-5 photos by Teng Huang Koo from the Galapagos Islands. The images were produced using the following lenses:

• Sony 18-55mm OSS
• Sony 16mm f/2.8 Pancake with VCL-ECF1 Fisheye Converter
• Voigtlander 12mm Ultra Wide Heliar
• Voigtlander 50mm f/1.1 Nokton
• Leica 90mm f/2.8 Elmarit

NEX-5 Photos by thkhoo

Here is the underwater camera setup:

• Sony Alpha NEX-5
• Sony 10mm fisheye (VCLECF1)
• Nauticam NA-NEX5 housing
• Nauticam 4.33" dome port
• Nauticam tray and handles
• 2x Sea & Sea YS-110a strobes
• Universal arms and joints
• Light & Motion SOLA600 focus light
• 2x universal float arms

The images demonstrate the NEX system's versatility and in the right hands it's capability to capture beautiful pictures.

See more NEX-5 shots at thkhoo's flickr gallery.

Sony NEX-7 Wireless Flash In Action

Sony NEX-7 with 18-200 OSS Lens and a Wireless Flash Trigger by Litrbooh

Here are a couple of videos showing the Sony NEX-7 wirelessly triggering studio flashes. The NEX-7 has a standard Sony hot shoe and with a FA-HS1AM Hot Shoe Adapter it becomes adaptable with most wireless remote flash trigger systems. We are not sure what the exact system is use in the video. This should answer some questions for those who want to use a NEX-7 with remote flash triggers.

Sony NEX-7 Wireless Flash Trigger by AlexMerk

Sony FA-HS1AM Hot Shoe Adapter

Sony E 18-200 mm OSS Lens

Thanks Litbrooh and AlexMerk!

Sony NEX-5N vs Ricoh GXR Camera System

Sony NEX-5N vs Ricoh GXR (front view)

Here is another APS-C sensored mirrorless camera to challenge the NEX-5N. It is the Ricoh GXR Interchangeable Unit Camera System. The GXR consists of a body and camera units, which contains a lens, an image sensor, and a processing engine. The camera units slide into the GXR body.



There is a dedicated Leica M module, GXR Mount A12, which costs $650. In order to use a Leica lens on a GXR it would cost $1000, while it would only cost $600 with the NEX-5N body plus a Leica M to E-mount lens adapter.

Let's see how the NEX-5N compares to the Ricoh GXR.

Combatants	Sony Alpha NEX-5N	Ricoh GXR
Number of effective pixels	16.1 million pixels	10 to 12.3 million pixels
CCD Sensor	APS-C CMOS Sensor 23.5 x 15.6 mm	APS-C CMOS Sensor 23.6 x 15.7 mm
Crop Factor	1.5x 50mm lens = 75mm FOV	1.5x 50mm lens = 75mm FOV
ISO Range	100 - 25600	100-6400
Lens	Sony NEX E-mount	GXR Camera Units
Image Stabilization	In Lens (Optical Steady Shot)	Camera Unit Sensor Stabilized
Shutter Speed	30s to 1/4000 with Bulb Mode	180s to 1/4000 with Bulb Mode
Continuous Shooting Speed	10 frames per sec.	4 frames per sec.
LCD	Tiltable 3" Diagonal 921,600 Pixels Touchscreen	3" Diagonal 920,000 Pixels
Electronic Viewfinder	Optional OLED 2.4m dot $350	Optional TFT LCD 0.920m dot $220
Video Resolution	1920 x 1080 / 60p-24p	1280 x 720
Dimensions	4.4 x 2.4 x 1.6 in. (111 x 60 x 38 mm)	4.4 x 3.0 x 1.7 in. (112 x 76 x 43.5 mm)
Weight with Macro Lens	14.4 oz (407 g)	17.3 oz (489 g)
Price	$850 with 30mm Macro Lens	$999.95 with 33mmm Macro Camera Unit

Sony NEX-5N vs Ricoh GXR (rear view)

Sony NEX-5N vs Ricoh GXR (top view)

NEX-5N with FDA-EV1S and GXR with EVF VF-2

NEX-3 with 18-55mm and 16mm Lens $499

Sony NEX-3, 18-55mm Lens, 16mm Lens, $499 with Free Shipping

Amazon and Sony teamed up to give us the NEX-3 Twin Lens Kit for $499 insted of $749. Add both the NEX-3 with 18-55mm OSS lens ($499) and the 16mm pancake lens ($249) to your cart and $249 will automatically be deducted from the total price.

Buy a Sony Alpha NEX-3 Camera, Get a Wide-Angle Lens Free
To take advantage of this offer, simply add the camera and Sony SEL16F128 lens from the list below to your Shopping Cart, and we'll automatically apply the discount at checkout.

Offer good through 11:59 p.m. PST on December 3, 2011, while supplies last. Applies only to purchases of products sold by Amazon.com and does not apply to products sold by third-party merchants and other sellers through the Amazon.com site. The eligible lens must be purchased together with the qualifying camera in the same order. Amazon.com reserves the right to end or modify this offer at any time. For additional restrictions, please read our terms and conditions.

If we were starting with a new NEX-7 system, our strategy would be to order the NEX-7 Body Only and the NEX-3 deal from above. This would give us both lenses and a backup NEX body for big discount. The NEX-3 would also be a perfect gift for your significant other.

NEX-5N and Wide Angle Lenses Gallery

Carl S. was generous enough to share his gallery of adapted lenses on the Sony NEX-5N. The lenses used were mostly Voigtlander lenses in Leica M mount. There are also Contax G lenses and a Canon 24mm Tilt Shift Lens.

Check out the Carl's NEX gallery which covers lenses from 15mm to 90mm focal lengths on the NEX-5N shooting the same scene. Make sure to look at the high resolution samples.

Sony NEX-5 with Hasselblad 50mm Distagon FE

Here is didjeridoo_tom's Sony NEX-5 cinema setup. He is using a Hasselblad 50mm f/2.8 Distagon with floating lens elements via a Hasselblad to EOS lens adapter, then an EOS to NEX E-mount lens adapter. The display of the NEX-5 is produced on the Sony CLMV55 portable 5" monitor via an HDMI cable.

The Hasselblad 50mm Distagon FE provides excellent color correction close up and wide open. It was also the preferred lens for NASA space missions.

Check out the photos of didjeridoo_tom's NEX-5 with the Distagon T* 2.8/50 FE and samples from the combination.

NEX-5 with Distagon 2.8/50 T* FE and CLMV55 5" Monitor

Photos by didjeroo_tom from NEX-5 and Distagon 2.8/50mm T* FE

Thanks didjeroo_tom!

NEX-7 10fps Shutter Sound vs NEX-5 7fps

We got to play with the Sony Alpha NEX-7 with the black 18-55 mm OSS lens at Unique Photo in Fairfield, NJ so we wanted to test out the new shutter. Here is a video of the NEX-7 shooting in Speed Priority mode at 10 frames per second then in Single Shot mode. Next is the Sony NEX-5 at Single Shot, then at 7 fps. The venue was packed so the shutter sounds are not isolated.

As you can hear the NEX-7's shutter sound is much gentler and cleaner than the NEX-5. The NEX-7 had the Front Curtain Shutter option ON. This is similar to the NEX-5N, which may affect the sound slightly, maybe someone with a NEX-5N can clear this up for us. We've read that the difference is barely noticeable.

We wish we had more time with the NEX-7. There were a lot of people interested in the 7, 5N, and C3. We will have more posts from our trip at Unique Photo. Thanks Unique Photo and Sony USA.