Camera Labs

Hi all

My D90 is starting to get a bit damaged and am thinking of a Mirror-less camera like the Sony NEX range to replace it.

Because of all my travelling the size of a DSLR is just too big, plus I find myself getting lazy and not wanting to drag it around (or am worried of getting it stolen) so would like something a bit smaller, on the D90 I use my 70-300mm a lot and also need a good landscape lens.
I need something nice and tough so it doesnt follow in my D90s footsteps...

I mostly do aviation and landscape photography.

I see the NEX 7 is a good option but I never use the movie mode or care about microphones, I would like a screen that can rotate.
I do like the idea of the app feature on the NEX6.

I am not stuck on Sony, its just the one that seems to get most attention.

Thanks!
Dara

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Nikon D90 + AF-S 18-55mm + AF-S 70-300MM F/4.5-5.6G IF-ED

The NEX is a good lineup of mirrorless cameras - and I think you'd do well with any of them. They're tough enough for fairly heavy use, and mine gets bumped around and scratched and scuffed and still holds up fine. The sensor is excellent, and image quality is a match for any APS-C DSLR. Moreover, while not pocketable, they are much lighter and smaller than a DSLR regardless of which lens you pair them with, so they will be less conspicuous and easier to carry around with you anywhere without getting too much in the way. I've had them as second bodies to my DSLRs for a few years now, and love them - I can bring both the DSLR and the NEX, or take the NEX in place of the DSLR when wanting to go lighter or traveling in less safe areas, and be a lot less noticeable, but lose none of the image quality or shooting flexibility.

That said, there are plenty of other fine mirrorless cameras also worth a look, just so you can find the one that best fits you...handle them if you can, see if you like a bigger or smaller grip, do you want an electronic viewfinder for sure or could you go with only an LCD, do you like the slimmer compact-camera-style rectangle bodies or the mini-DSLR thicker bodies, etc.

Worth a look would be the Olympus OM-D, which gets good reviews - it is similarly sized to the NEX cameras, has a good selection of lenses available to it, and is at least lightly weather sealed which might help with the durability...and it's stabilized in the camera body which is a nice perk. The new Panasonic GH3 also is getting pretty good word - it likely shares the same sensor as the OM-D, or at least is comparable in image quality. If you don't think you need higher ISO performance as much, and/or do a lot of long-lens shooting where the telephoto advantage might be useful to you, you could take a look at the Nikon Series 1 cameras. They've got a smaller sensor that's not quite the match of the bigger ones for low light/high ISO work, but they do have a bigger crop factor so long lenses have even longer reach equivalence...all depends on your needs.

I started with a NEX3 which I enjoyed, enough to make me want to upgrade to the NEX-5N as I wanted to add the Electronic Viewfinder, which I use most of the time. I like that I can use the camera like a DSLR, with viewfinder attached, longer lenses, etc and yet still be less than 1/2 the weight of a DSLR kit with the same range, and I can also strip it down with no EVF attached, a small pancake lens, and be able to slip it in a coat pocket like a compact. It's a nice, flexible system.

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Justin Miller
Sony DSLR-A580 / Sony 18-250mm / Minolta 50mm F1.7 / Sigma 30mm F1.4 / Tamron 10-24mm / Tamron 200-500mm / Tamron 90mm F2.8 macro / Minolta 300mm F4 APO
Sony NEX5N / 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 / 55-210mm F4-6.3 / Pentax K adapter / Konica K/AR adapter / bunches o' Konica & Pentax lenses!

Galleries:
http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg

Thanks Justin!

PS was in Boca years ago, love it there!

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Nikon D90 + AF-S 18-55mm + AF-S 70-300MM F/4.5-5.6G IF-ED

Noticed the upgrades last week, to the new Nikon 1's. Up to 14MP & no AA filter. Should be able to get some sharp detail I guess. http://translate.googleusercontent.com/ ... pNrZ68zJJQ

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Nikon D700 & D7100 bodies + Nikkor 300mm F2.8 VR11, 1.7TC, 50mm F1.4G, 16-35mm f/4G VR, 105 F2.8 VR macro, 70-300mm lenses. A couple of filters, Giotto tripod & ballhead. Lowepro Slingshot 302 AW

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldcarlos/

FYI Sony doesn't have a native E-mount 70-300mm lens, so you'd probably end up using the A-mount lens (plus an adapter) which would be roughly the same size as your current Nikon lens. Yes, the camera body would be significantly smaller, but that also results in balance issues with a lens that size. However, it would be very portable with, say, the 16mm f2.8 (for landscapes).

But if you want a screen that actually rotates (as opposed to just tilts), you may want to have a look at a Panasonic G5. It's bigger than the NEX 7, but, for the reasons noted above, that may not be a bad thing with Panasonic's 100-300mm lens. And for landscapes, there's Panasonic's 20mm f1.7 "pancake" or Olympus' 12mm f2.0 lens.

Personally, although the Panasonic GH3 does have better image quality than the G5 (and GH2), and is weather sealed (where the G5 and GH2 aren't), I find it too big (and too expensive, especially without the multi-aspect sensor of the GH2). Of course, YMMV.

And finally, if you're OK with an add-on EVF (electronic viewfinder), you may want to give the Olympus E-PL5 a look--tilt (only) screen, similar size to the NEX 7, and can use either Panasonic's 100-300mm or Olympus' 70-300mm lens.

Mark

Thanks guys

Any advice on the kit lenses with the NEXs? Any good?

I see some offers with 2 lenses or better to get the body only a a good lens?

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Nikon D90 + AF-S 18-55mm + AF-S 70-300MM F/4.5-5.6G IF-ED

From what I've seen and from my experience, the 18-55mm kit lens can be a pretty solid performer, while the 16-50mm collapsible seems decent but maybe not quite as good (to be expected from collapsible lenses)...both fine when stopped down a bit, the 16-50mm suffering a little more wide open and suffering a little more when paired with the 24MP sensor of the NEX7. The one thing to note is that there have been some inconsistencies with the kit lenses - the bugs may be out now, but a year ago, there were some people getting very soft, misaligned versions of the 18-55mm and complaining loudly of how bad the kit lens was, while others were happily posting razor-sharp results with theirs...the only conclusion is that they may have had some product control issues and some lemons were getting out of the factory. This was around the time of the great floods of Thailand, and Sony had to switch production of NEX to other factories, so possibly that's to blame, or possibly they just didn't have as good of product control as they should have with some lenses. Similar issues popped up with the 16mm F2.8 pancake - some copies are very sharp and perform fine, others show clear misalignment and soft corners or sides. My advice is if you get a kit lens or 16mm that looks like it's performing badly, exchange it for another right away - virtually everyone who complained about the kit lens performance who got another one found out that they had a lemon.

The other lenses, notably the longer zooms and faster primes, all seem solid. I find the 55-210mm to be the best of the long-reach lenses personally - the 18-200mm lenses are fine, but for me I simply don't need all that range in one lens, they cost significantly more, and the 55-210mm lens seems to perform a touch sharper at the long end of the zoom which is where I need it most. If a deal was good and offering the kit lens and, say, the 55-210mm lens for a good price, I'd take that offer. Also, while the 16mm F2.8 pancake is less useful overall, it's being offered in some packages practically for free, and for that price, it's a no-brainer! I enjoy the 16mm F2.8 pancake when you want to travel with the NEX fully pocketable, for bringing to a dinner or an event where you can slide it in a coat pocket and have noone notice.

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Justin Miller
Sony DSLR-A580 / Sony 18-250mm / Minolta 50mm F1.7 / Sigma 30mm F1.4 / Tamron 10-24mm / Tamron 200-500mm / Tamron 90mm F2.8 macro / Minolta 300mm F4 APO
Sony NEX5N / 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 / 55-210mm F4-6.3 / Pentax K adapter / Konica K/AR adapter / bunches o' Konica & Pentax lenses!

Galleries:
http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg

I think the NEX 6 is looking good for me, anyone have any experience with it?

Also anyone know about this new powered/collapsible lens for it?

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Nikon D90 + AF-S 18-55mm + AF-S 70-300MM F/4.5-5.6G IF-ED