Up front, is [upon testing] a pretty sharp kit lens with a range of 18-55mm [the equivalent of 27-82.5mm] that matches the Magnesium alloy and high impact plastic body. It has more controls over its predecessor NEX brothers with the introduction of the TRI-Navi system. The two knobs at the back simulate the two control knobs usually found on prosumer models that control different aspects of shooting, couple that with incredible customization and assignment of functions to almost all buttons and you have a very versatile camera at your disposal.
Another thing that sets it apart from its NEX brethren is the presence of several items that make things easier for the more adept shooter as well as a few other highlights.
EVF [Electronic View Finder]
• Eye-level fixed XGA OLED, 1.3 cm (0.5" type) electronic viewfinder
• 2,359,296 dot resolution
• Magnification approx.1.09x
• 100% frame coverage
Think of it as a micronized LCD monitor thats very detailed and fast in updating your view, you get a coverage of 100% which for most manufacturers of Optical View Finders [OVF] usually only have up to 95% and a magnification of les than 1 [typical is .8-.9 magnification]. You can also adjust the diopter [eye correction level] so even without your glasses you should be able to use it. To be fair, the Nex-5n has a similar EVF but is optionally attached to where your flash is usually attached. meaning you wont have the abilty to use your flash if you have your EVF there.
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| Pardon the quality, I'm not sure how to capture this type of image [eyeview is not vignetting] |
Pop-Up Flash
• Internal manual pop-up flash
• GN : 6 meters
• Coverage : to 18mm
• Flash Sync: 1/160sec
Never forget your flash when it's already in your cam, this little marvel of engineering is pretty neat, it has bends and curves and fits like a jack-in-the-box coming out and going back in. And yeah, it can illuminate your subject too ^__^
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| It extends on spring loaded hinges, so be careful when its out |
iSO/Sony Hotshoe
Its a very welcome addition on the NEX 7 as it will allow the use of more powerful flashes as well as enable the use of the mount for other things that are mountable, like an external microphone. The new hotshoe cover is pretty slick too, looks like a trident, just covering the essentials without being bulky or adding to the height of the camera. Whats showing is the cover partly removed to reveal some of the standard Sony terminals for the flash.
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| This hotshoe is the TIGHTEST fit on any Sony hotshoe I've tried |
In conjunction with this, I'd have to say BE CAREFUL when you use an external flash, I'm pretty sure its the pre-production nature of the camera but the hotshoe fit is very tight and it can be hard to remove anything [flash, hotshoe, microphone etc] you slide into it, be gentle when removing anything attached on top of it just to be sure.
One of the more typical options ported over from prosumer cameras is the AF/MF switch, basically this allows you to change focusing modes from automatic to manual with a press of a button, a pretty useful feature.
Some of the other feature on the camera of note it's is ISO range, on Auto ISO, you can get anything from 100 to 1,600 and user selectable up to 16,000. To the laymen in the crowd, this range means the sensitivity of the camera to light, the higher the number the more sensitive it is but usually at the cost of getting noisy or grainy images. The NEX 7 has little trouble with its range.
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| SOOC: Straight Out Of Cam 16,000 ISO |
You can view the image on my Google Plus page then click on options on the lower left and view image details. It's gonna show some of the exif information and CAMERA: would say "MODEL NAME" since it is a preproduction model, ISO is 16,000, 1/500 shutter speed, f8 and at 45mm range. It was shot on Jpeg Fine with High ISO noise reduction set at low. Pretty decent actually but this image was compressed when uploaded as the file size is significantly smaller, original size was 8megs.
Inside lurks a monster 24 megapixel sensor, the same sensor used on the A77 & A65. And I have to say, it provides this camera with the ability to produce great pictures. You might think you're gonna need high priced Carl Zeiss glass to get the most out of the NEX 7, but even the basic 18-55 can do a great job out of the box.
Here are some sample pics:
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| ISO 100 f/8 1/500s @ 18mm |
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| ISO 100 f/8 1/500s @ 18mm |
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| ISO 100 f/8 1/500s @ 18mm |
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| ISO 100 f/16 1/125s @ 18mm |
Also, given that the image size is greater than most camera's out in the market coupled with the size of the sensor [it's an APS-C or in layman's terms, a pretty large sensor, near the size of a film negative] you can easily get more detail out of your pictures so that if you need to, you could isolate a portion of your image and still be able to use it [somewhat].
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| ISO 100 f/3.5 1/15s @ 18mm |
The scratches and broken parts show easily the age and the wear of years this statue has gone through. Optical Steady Shot [or OSS] helped a lot to get this sharp picture even if the lighting wasn't good for a faster shutter speed.
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| ISO 1600 f/8 1/40s @ 52mm |
People and objects are easily registered on the camera and if you need to...
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| ISO 1600 f/8 1/40s @ 52mm |
You could crop [cut off/isolate] a portion of your very large image to get a smaller image off the main picture like this, this is the above and center relief at the very end of the church. An equivalent of 512mm in lens range! I am quite impressed.
Now for a brief tour of the camera physical stuff via video! NEX-7 Specs are found below the video:
Specs can be found on the SONY US site since it's not yet available here in the Philippines yet.
Tonight I should be able to update a comparison between the A77 and the NEX 7 with regards to ISO and a few more details and tidbits about the cam. Stay tuned and thanks for reading ^^
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