** disclaimer ** I am not a professional photographer. I am a regular guy who likes to take pictures. Nothing more, nothing less. Camera discussions are worse than religious ones. This is a nice camera at a nice price. I'm sure the reds came from descendants of Ansel Adams. End of discussion.
zklopman
Senior Member - 1K
posted: Sep. 16, 2012 @ 10:39a
coolbreeze said: Phenomenal camera. I got a black one and will return my open box silver one to BB (got 2 weeks ago). The NIB Sony one is the same price.
The sensor in this thing is breathtaking for the size of the camera. Bokeh with ease. It's an amazing little guy!
As far as I remember photography optics 101, Bokeh (and its brother depth-of-field) depend on the lens, or to be more specific, the proportion between focal length, focus distance, background distanec from the focus and aperture f-stop. The shape of the Bokeh depends on the iris and a few other optical parameters. This basically means that forget getting amazing bokeh or shallow depth-of-field from the 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 lens kit. You would need a nice f/2.8 or larger for that and/or a much longer tele.
coolbreeze
Senior Member - 3K
posted: Sep. 16, 2012 @ 10:45a
zklopman said: coolbreeze said: Phenomenal camera. I got a black one and will return my open box silver one to BB (got 2 weeks ago). The NIB Sony one is the same price.
The sensor in this thing is breathtaking for the size of the camera. Bokeh with ease. It's an amazing little guy!
As far as I remember photography optics 101, Bokeh (and its brother depth-of-field) depend on the lens, or to be more specific, the proportion between focal length, focus distance, background distanec from the focus and aperture f-stop. The shape of the Bokeh depends on the iris and a few other optical parameters. This basically means that forget getting amazing bokeh or shallow depth-of-field from the 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 lens kit. You would need a nice f/2.8 or larger for that and/or a much longer tele. Right, but bokeh is difficult with a small sensor. The APS-C is quite capable with the kit lens (I've shot many creamy bokeh photos with it). I edited my post and mentioned I go the 50mm 1.8 lens as well. That will certainly do the trick. I considered the Sigma 50mm, but the rattling and questionable performance (no OIS) made me get the Sony 1.8. The optics on the Sigma are arguably better, but the Sony lens is made for the camera and takes advantage of the in-camera technology well.
At the end of the day, anyone remotely interested in photography should get the NEX-5N body for $398 (Amazon). It's a steal. Worry about lens hunting later (even though you won't be able to use it with no lens, obviously).
Forget the NEX-6. It doesn't have a touch screen, which is highly useful for spot focusing. It's not a consumer gimmick - trust me!
tuan2
Shopaholic Member
posted: Sep. 16, 2012 @ 3:04p
Dont know what you mean by "nice", my $10 vivitar 28mm 2.8 get me a good enough brokeh. f2.8
zklopman said: coolbreeze said: Phenomenal camera. I got a black one and will return my open box silver one to BB (got 2 weeks ago). The NIB Sony one is the same price.
The sensor in this thing is breathtaking for the size of the camera. Bokeh with ease. It's an amazing little guy!
As far as I remember photography optics 101, Bokeh (and its brother depth-of-field) depend on the lens, or to be more specific, the proportion between focal length, focus distance, background distanec from the focus and aperture f-stop. The shape of the Bokeh depends on the iris and a few other optical parameters. This basically means that forget getting amazing bokeh or shallow depth-of-field from the 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 lens kit. You would need a nice f/2.8 or larger for that and/or a much longer tele.
zklopman
Senior Member - 1K
posted: Sep. 16, 2012 @ 3:40p
tuan2 said: Dont know what you mean by "nice", my $10 vivitar 28mm 2.8 get me a good enough brokeh. f2.8
zklopman said: coolbreeze said: Phenomenal camera. I got a black one and will return my open box silver one to BB (got 2 weeks ago). The NIB Sony one is the same price.
The sensor in this thing is breathtaking for the size of the camera. Bokeh with ease. It's an amazing little guy!
As far as I remember photography optics 101, Bokeh (and its brother depth-of-field) depend on the lens, or to be more specific, the proportion between focal length, focus distance, background distanec from the focus and aperture f-stop. The shape of the Bokeh depends on the iris and a few other optical parameters. This basically means that forget getting amazing bokeh or shallow depth-of-field from the 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 lens kit. You would need a nice f/2.8 or larger for that and/or a much longer tele.
"Nice" is very much subjective. F/2.8 or better is not - and both lenses you mention fit that criteria. I used to have a Vivitar 28mm f/2.5 (35mm film days) which gave a lot of perspective distortion, but some love that "fish-eye" style effect. My perhaps most used lens in a 50mm f/1.7 Minolta lens, which fit my Sony DSLR and cost me less than $100, and I'm pretty sure that if I was not lazy, I could get lots of old non-AF lenses and an adaptor for a song and take awesome pictures with them...
zklopman
Senior Member - 1K
posted: Sep. 16, 2012 @ 3:54p
coolbreeze said: zklopman said: coolbreeze said: Phenomenal camera. I got a black one and will return my open box silver one to BB (got 2 weeks ago). The NIB Sony one is the same price.
The sensor in this thing is breathtaking for the size of the camera. Bokeh with ease. It's an amazing little guy!
As far as I remember photography optics 101, Bokeh (and its brother depth-of-field) depend on the lens, or to be more specific, the proportion between focal length, focus distance, background distanec from the focus and aperture f-stop. The shape of the Bokeh depends on the iris and a few other optical parameters. This basically means that forget getting amazing bokeh or shallow depth-of-field from the 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 lens kit. You would need a nice f/2.8 or larger for that and/or a much longer tele. Right, but bokeh is difficult with a small sensor.
here is a beautiful image which was taken with an iPhone 4s, which has a tiny sensor and an f/2.4 lens.
The APS-C is quite capable with the kit lens (I've shot many creamy bokeh photos with it). I edited my post and mentioned I go the 50mm 1.8 lens as well. That will certainly do the trick. I considered the Sigma 50mm, but the rattling and questionable performance (no OIS) made me get the Sony 1.8. The optics on the Sigma are arguably better, but the Sony lens is made for the camera and takes advantage of the in-camera technology well.
At the end of the day, anyone remotely interested in photography should get the NEX-5N body for $398 (Amazon). It's a steal. Worry about lens hunting later (even though you won't be able to use it with no lens, obviously).
I checked the NEX, and once I found that I could not use the lens I've got for my Sony DSLR without a $200 adaptor (or $400 for the really good one), it kind of lost its appeal, and I bought instead an Olympus E-PL1 (micro 4/3rds) for $250 with lens kit (Ritz store next to me closed). It was a no-brainer at that price for a take-always camera, and it felt better in my hand than the various NEX models, and isn't feeling good in your hand one of the most important criteria?
Forget the NEX-6. It doesn't have a touch screen, which is highly useful for spot focusing. It's not a consumer gimmick - trust me! I'll trust you on that
Took this the other night with my 5N and kit lens. It's no masterpiece, but it works for me. I know you could achieve the identical result with an iPhone. Not my point. So, back to the deal, it's a good deal IMO, photog pissing aside.
zklopman
Senior Member - 1K
posted: Sep. 16, 2012 @ 4:45p
coolbreeze said: Ok, this is a terrible camera and a terrible deal. All you need is your cellphone.
Man, photography discussions always ends up in a fiery crash. There is no shortage of subject matter experts to chime in. I'm out.
Took this the other night with my 5N and kit lens. It's no masterpiece, but it works for me. I know you could achieve the identical result with an iPhone. Not my point. So, back to the deal, it's a good deal IMO, photog pissing aside.
Lovely frog. And yes, the most important part of photography is taking pictures you like.
whodiini
Senior Member
posted: Sep. 16, 2012 @ 8:17p
pretty much everywhere has the same price now, but are selling quickly. They are on sale because the new 5R model is coming out. The R model has better AF with both contrast and phase which addresses the slow AF time of the NEX series. Some places have the 55-210mm for $100 off when purchased together with the camera. Amazon does, but only of you buy it from them, which requires you to pay sales tax in CA now. Had a hard time deciding on a lens. Most posts deride the lens that come with the kit, but the alternatives arent perfect. The Sigma 30mm has great sharpness but no stabilization. Seems like a lens for general photos but not video. The Sony 50 mm has stabilzation but is a bit long (equivalent to 75mm) which means it isnt great indoors where you need to be about 12 feet back to get the right field of view. It almost seems one needs 2 lenses - the sigma for photos and the 55-210 for video, which is $450 for 2 lenses ($200 for the sigma and $250 for the discounted 55-210). Or you can wait for Sony;s new lenses to come out in Jan - the 35mm SEL35F18 for $450 (ouch). That new Sony lens seems to be their reply to the sigma. For double the money, you get stabilization.
coolbreeze
Senior Member - 3K
posted: Sep. 16, 2012 @ 9:03p
Hmm, the 5R looks good, but man, cameras are worse than computers. The instant you buy one, there's a better one in the pipeline. I'm not a lifetime photographer, so this is a relatively new world for me. I've only really had P&S's in the past - never a DSLR (or an APS-C camera) so my apologies if you are thinking "well duh dummy, cameras are always getting better."
Oh well. I'll use the 5N until something REALLY better comes out. I mean honestly, the 5N is perfect for a casual snapper. The smartphone viewfinder feature of the 5R would make street photography great though. There's always e3ay if I absolutely have to have the 5R one day. Cut losses and move on.
This is a good price if the NEX-5N is exactly what you want. However, Sony has just announced some much nicer cameras and lenses (for higher prices). Make sure you check those out so you don't wind up disappointed that the 5N is missing features that would be really useful to you.
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