Sony NEX-7 Dial Wheel Lock Option?

Have you finished reading the 211 page manual for the Sony NEX-7 yet? You may have run into this Dial / Wheel Lock option in the Setup Menu and tried to guess what it was. We had no clue until we ran into the video above by SonyAlphaSupport.

The Dial / Wheel Lock option can be found on the 1st screen (top) of the Setup Menu. It can be set to All, Control Wheel, or Off. When it is set to All, the Tri-Navi controls can be locked by holding down the Navigation Button of the NEX-7 for around 2 seconds. This means that whatever the Tri-Navi controls are controlling cannot be accidentally changed without unlocking them. The unlocking process is the same as the locking process.

Dial / Wheel Lock option in NEX-7 Setup Menu

A more useful option might be setting the Dial / Wheel Lock to Control Wheel. The Control Wheel is usually the ISO dial so it can be locked and unlocked by holding down the Navigation Button for around 2 seconds.

A lock icon shows up on the top right of the screen when the Dial / Wheel Lock is activated. It blinks orange when the dials are moved while they are locked.

Navigation Button located next to NEX-7 Shutter Button

To date we have had no issues of accidentally changing our settings by inadvertent movement of the Tri-Navi dials but this is a good option to have.

Thanks SonyAlphaSupport!

Sony NEX-7 135mm Lens Battle Part 2

The 135mm Lens Battle Combatants Part 1 for Larger Pictures

Here is the second part of our NEX-7 135mm Lens Battle. Part 1 discussed 135mm lens handling on the NEX-7. We tested three prime lenses (Canon 135/3.5 LTM, Konica 135/3.5, Minolta 135/3.5 MD) and two zoom lenses (Canon 70-200/2.8L, Olympus 75-150/4). The zoom lenses were set at 135mm approximately. The lenses tested are around $100 or less with the exception of the Canon zoom.

The shots were taken at wide open aperture (f/2.8, f/3.5, or f/4) and the at f/8. We have labeled each sample a color and a number. The NEX-7 or lens was on a tripod, ISO100, and JPG Fine output. The samples below are arranged as follows:

• One is shot wide open. It shows the full scene with standard editing.
• One Crop is shot wide open with no editing. It is a 100% crop.
• Two is shot at f/8. It shows the full scene with standard editing.
• Two Crop is shot at f/8 with no editing. It is a 100% crop.
• Three is shot at f/8. It shows the full scene with standard editing.

Here are the samples. Please comment on which samples you like best.

Blue Sample

Red Sample

Green Sample

Orange Sample

Yellow Sample

This post will be edited with the answer key.

Here is the answer key for the sets above: blue, green, orange, red, and yellow. These 100% crops of the RAW file developed by Adode Camera Raw with Daylight white balance. Thanks for participating.

NEX Sigma 19mm and 30mm Lenses in Stock at Amazon

The Sigma 19mm and 30mm f/2.8 EX Digital Neo (DN) lenses are in stock at Amazon. These are the first 3rd part autofocus *prime* lenses for the NEX system. The 19mm EX DN translates to 28.5mm equivalent FOV on 35mm and the 30mm EX DN translates to 45mm EFOV. The tests below are by jerome_munich.

Sigma 19mm f/2.8 EX DN on NEX-7 by jerome_Munich

Sigma 30mm f/2.8 EX DN on NEX-7 by jerome_Munich

Check out more photos by jerome_munich.

Sony NEX-7 135mm Lens Battle Part 1

Composite of Four 135mm Lenses at f/8 with the NEX-7

Here is a first part of our 135mm focal length test used on the Sony NEX-7. This gives us an equivalent FOV of 202mm. We don't really shoot much at this focal length but we wanted to see how the NEX-7 and the various 135mm lenses worked with each other. These lenses are around the $100 mark with the exception of the Canon zoom. The lenses tested are:

• Canon 135mm f/3.5 LTM
• Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L EF
• Konica Hexanon 135mm f/3.5 AR
• Minolta 135mm f/3.5 MD
• Olympus 75-150mm f/4 Auto Zoom

First let's rate the handling. The Minolta and the Konica are the lightest of the group. This makes them the easiest to handle. The Olympus zoom is next and is most versatile being a zoom lens but it is longer than the Konica and Minolta. The Canon LTM is heavier than the first three but is the most compact in size. The aperture ring is at the end of the barrel and when adjusted, it also adjusts the focus. The Canon EOS zoom is the biggest and heaviest of the group. We do not have the Conurus EF NEX Smart adapter so we cannot change the aperture.

The NEX-7 was set on Aperture Priority, ISO100, and 2 sec self-timer. The camera or lens was set on the tripod. Here are the pictures of the 135mm lenses with the NEX-7.

Sony NEX-7 with 135mm Lenses taken with NEX-5 with 18-55mm Lens

Canon 135mm f/3.5 on NEX-7 via LTM to M Adapter > M to NEX Adapter

Canon 70-200 f/2.8L on NEX-7 via Canon EOS to NEX Adapter

Konica 135mm f/3.5 on NEX-7 via Konica AR to NEX Adapter

Minolta 135mm/f3.5 on NEX-7 via Minolta SR to NEX Adapter

Olympus 75-150/4 Zoom on NEX-7 via Olympus to EOS adapter > EOS to NEX Adapter

We'll post the images on Part 2 of the NEX 135mm Lens Battle.

The images from the 5 lenses above are posted in Part 2.

Sony NEX-5 with MTO 1000mm Mirror Lens

Sony NEX-5 with MTO 1000mm f/10 Mirror Lens

Here is a 54 year old MTO Grand Prix 1000mm f/10 fixed aperture mirror lens on the Sony NEX-5. It gives an equivalent FOV of 1500mm on the 23.4 x 15.6mm APS-C sensor. The lens is an M39 screw mount lens and is easily adaptable to the NEX E-mount. The lens weighs in at around 8 lbs so tripod shooting is a must unless you've won Mr. Olympia eight times in a row.

The pictures are from eBay where the MTO 1000mm mirror lens is on auction.

500mm Lens FOV

1000mm f/10 MTO Grand Prix Mirror Lens

135mm lens FOV

1000mm f/10 MTO Grand Prix Mirror Lens

Thanks Danno!

Sony NEX-7 Grip by Rewo

Sony NEX-7 ReWo Cage / Grip

Is the Sony NEX-7 too small for you? ReWo of Germany created the grip / cage above to help film makers with the NEX-7. The cage provides mounting points and lens support with full access to the NEX-7's controls. The item is not for sale yet. Contact ReWo if you are interested.

Thanks EOSHD!

Sony NEX-7 vs Fuji X-Pro 1 by EOSHD

It looks like the Fuji X-Pro 1 didn't make a favorable 1st impression with the guys at EOSHD. Here's an excerpt comparing the Sony NEX-7 with the more expensive X-Pro 1.

The NEX 7 has a far better video mode, very good manual controls, better AF and better manual focus. It has an articulated screen of the same resolution, a better EVF, a smaller body, with a wider range of lenses, some with optical image stabilisation (the X-Pro 1 lacks image stabilisation altogether be it in-camera or on the lens), peaking for MF and a wider range of features overall in the firmware.

In my opinion, the optical viewfinder is superseded by the OLED EVF and no amount of hybrid niceness can save it. 5 years ago, it was preferable to have an optical viewfinder because EVFs were rubbish. Now, it is the opposite.

Read the EOSHD Fuji X-Pro 1 First Look.

Thanks EOSHD!

Apple Digital Camera Raw Supports NEX-7

Macintosh owners can now open and play with Sony NEX-7 and NEX-VG20 RAW files thanks to Digital Camera Raw update 3.10.

Version: 3.10
Post Date: March 14, 2012
Download ID: DL1510
File Size: 7.50 MB
System Requirements
Mac OS X 10.6.8
OS X Lion 10.7.1 or later

Supported Languages
Deutsch, English, Français, 日本語, Español, Italiano, Nederlands

Click on the image above to download Camera Raw Update 3.10.

Thanks Apple!

Sony NEX-7 with Voigtlander 35mm Ultron

We finally took the NEX-7 out for a test run with a Voigtlander 35mm f/1.7 Ultron in Leica thread mount. The camera is a lot of fun to use. Here are the JPG images straight from the camera. Only straightened, cropped, and downsized for web upload. Some where converted to black and white.

NEX-7 with Voigtlander 35mm Ultron