gadgetslab TRIED AND TESTED TO FIND OUT WHAT’S HOT AND WHAT’S NOT
Sony NEX-7
BUY METER
MIRRORLESS INTERCHANGEABLE LENS CAMERA
4.5
/5
By John Nieves
When Sony created the NEX-5 and its successor, the NEX-5N, the line was targeted at people who wanted the power and flexibility of Digital-SLRs but were intimidated by their size and complexity. That niche soon changed, as both amateur and professional photographers saw the value of having a small, flexible camera that could, in most situations, perform as well as a full sized SLR. Sony took note of the serendipitious demand and has specifically created the NEX-7 to address this more sophisticated market.
SPECIFICATIONS: SENSOR: APS-C type (23.5x15.6mm), “Exmor” APS HD CMOS sensor with RGB primary color filters ZOOM AND OPTICS: Depends on lens, uses Sony E-mount lenses PHYSICAL DIMENSIONS: 119.9 P x 66.9 x 42.6mm (without protrusions) pr WEIGHT: 350g (with battery WEI and SD, without lenses) ES ESTIMATED BATTERY LIFE: 430 shots MEMORY USED: Memory Stick ME PRO Duo / Memory Stick P P PRO-HG Duo, SD Memory Card, SDHC memory card / SDXC memory card
WHAT’S HOT: WHAT’ • OLED ie nder • Fast performance • Flexible, has a lot of manual controls • Lots of manual settings • Large, S-C CMOS sensor
WHAT’S NOT: WHAT’ • Expensive
BOTTOMLINE: f you have the cash, the Sony NEX-7 is an excellent mirrorless interchangeable lens camera to get.
The Sony NEX-7 has droolworthy specifications—a large, 24-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor (also found in the larger Sony Alpha A77 DSLR), an electronic view finder (EVF) that uses an 2.4m color OLED unit (the highest for a still camera), and an integrated Alpha flash hotshoe in addition to a builtin flash unit. Physically, the NEX-7 looks intimidating. Its overall size is a tad bigger and taller than the NEX-5N. Other comparisons to the NEX-5N: The NEX-7 has more manual controls as it has two dials for controlling the aperture and the shutter speed, as well as a four-way rotating 36
JULY 2012
wheel at the back that controls navigation through the menus. Its 3-inch TFT Xtra Fine LCD screen is not touch-capable, but makes up for this shortcoming by being able to tilt, giving users better flexibility in framing their shots. The overall size and aesthetics of the NEX-7 are excellent, and particular credit needs to go to the designers, as the big, oversized grip on the right side of the camera really helps in framing and shooting. Other features of the camera include the ability to shoot from 100 ISO all the way up to 16000; fast, 10 FPS shooting; full HD shooting with manual control; multiple
shooting modes; six image layering (the camera takes 10 shots in succession and then combines them); and E-Mount lens capability (with the ability to take other lenses via an adaptor). Handling and shooting the NEX-7 is easy enough, as the two dials on the top of the camera make it easy to change settings without having to go through the scroll wheel (which was what happened with the NEX5N). The dial’s functionality changes depending on what shooting mode you’re on—they control Aperture and EV Compensation when shooting in Aperture Priority, and the Shutter Speed and EV
Compensation when shooting in Shutter Priority. The balance of the camera in our hands felt just right, and the OLED viewfinder was invaluable for framing shots outdoors where sunlight washed out the screen. The NEX-7 ships with an E-mount 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 lens that performs pretty well. There are a variety of other E-mount lenses available for the NEX-7, and it can take other lenses via an adaptor. The camera’s performance can be summed up in one word—fast. There’s no shutter lag to speak of and very minimal focus hunt. Photos that we shot all came back nice and sharp, though
we did notice that the higher resolution sensor of the NEX-7 can only keep noise under control when shooting at ISO 1600, though still bearable at ISO 3200. Avoid shooting anything beyond ISO 6400. Of course, all of those features come at a price, and in the NEX-7’s case, a steep one. Sony Philippines lists the NEX-7 for Php 69,999, which is enough money to buy a full-sized DSLR. Then again, you’ll be getting a compact, interchangeable lens camera that’s able to do a whole host of things that a DSLR can, so the price may be palatable to some.
www.gadgetsmagazine.com.ph