Will I miss my DSLR if I take a NEX on vacation?

Will I miss my DSLR if I take a 24 MP NEX camera on vacation with a good lens or two?

 

You can neglect the issue of supply for now. This might not happen for a while.

 

What's the trade-off in image quality?

Depends - what are you going to be photographing and in what conditions?

<p>I shot with a NEX-7 last month. A very impressive camera, beautifully made and the lenses were fantastic! A really incredible finder. The image quality was top notch. You won't miss a thing...except a sore shoulder. For a vacation/travel camera it would be at the top of my list.</p>

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<p>Will I miss my DSLR if I take a 24 MP NEX camera on vacation with a good lens or two?</p>

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<p>There is only one way to find out. And I wonder which lenses are you taking with you, as lens selection is still somewhat limited for NEX?</p>

<p>If you are really concerned, you can always take a DSLR as a backup and only use it when it is necessary. That will also help you figure it out.</p>

<p>The main problem is the lenses. If you are fine with what's available, it's great. Or you could adapt legacy lenses if you don't mind manual focusing. The Nex's still isn't great with AF tracking, so I hope you don't plan on shoot sport on vacation. From all that I read...IQ shouldn't be a problem, moreover, it should beat out any and all aps-c dslrs and rivals the best FF dslrs.</p>

<p>Sometimes the alternatives can be very attractive.</p>

<p>The only way to tell for sure is to try it and see.<br /> Back in film days, I had some failures of the larger equipment and had to use my little <a href="../classic-cameras-forum/00YZKs">zone-focus Rollei 35</a>, and it took some extra work to convince myself to carry the whole rig after that. I did, but the experience of less being more is very compelling.</p>

<p>Based on your biography, it seems that you will certainly miss your 2 great DSLR cameras that you have.</p>

<p>Why don't you shoot exclusively with your NEX for a while. Then you will know most of its pluses and minuses, and you can make an informed desicion. If this is a family trip, I guess your family would appreciate you bring only a modest amount of equipment.</p>

<p>If you don't know how do we know?</p>

<p>I agree that you should know better. And I agree that it depends on many things. I just want to add that it also depends on which DSLR you have and which lenses come with it. For example, I wouldn't miss a Rebel XTi with18-55mm</p>

<p>So I suggest to change the question to:</p>

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<p>Will I miss my lenses and my 5D II?</p>

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<p>with a list of lenses attached. And the answer is still</p>

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<p>If you don't know how do we know?</p>

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I recently did a swim meet over 500 people using a Canon 5D, L Lenses and also a Sony NEX 5N with an 18-55 Sony emount lens. I shot the action at 3200 and 1600 ISO with the 5D and I needed f 2.8 for some pictures. I used the 5N for head shots and small groups. I posted both sets of pictures on the web @ 1500 pixels on the long side. I defy anyone to tell which camera was which viewing them. I traded a Canon XTi and some other unused Canon parts for the 5N. It is consideraby better in image quality than the XTi. The 5n lens is too slow to use in the varibable light of indoor pools for actual swimming action and shutter speeds around 1/500 even at ISO 3200 and the focusing may be a little slow. However, I used the high speed frame rate of ten pix per second on the 5N that only focuses on the first picture and got some quite sharp action pictures using f8 in good light for DOF. With swimming the 5D has a delay that I have to take into account to get heads actually out of the water. The 5N focusing delay through EVF is a tad longer but I think doable. I think I would have to get good outdoor light to really get a lot of good pictures with the 5N. If I were going on vacation I would leave the big stuff at home if the light was decent. I also upgraded the flash on the 5N. It bounces in one direction. My 5N bag with two lenses, and EVF and flash weighs three pounds. My 5D bag with three L lenses and a flash weighs twenty pounds. I just weighed it. I believe the IQ and ISO 3200 performance of the 5D and the 5N are close to being equal. It's the lenses and lens capabiltiy that make the difference.

>>> Will I miss my DSLR if I take a 24 MP NEX camera on vacation with a good lens or two?

 

What do you shoot and what are your objectives? Is it more about technical purity? Or evocative pull?

 

I take my 8 MP phonecam instead of my 5DII + 35/1.4. Don't miss the latter at all for what I shoot.

 

 

>>> What's the trade-off in image quality?

 

Speaking for myself, technically it's huge. But for me it doesn't matter...

 

 

>>> If you don't know how do we know?

 

Excellent question...

I don't know because I've never used a NEX camera and wanted some feedback from those, like Luis, who have.

 

I would be fine with one or two high-quality lenses in cases where it's important to keep the size and weight of the kit to a

minimum. My photography doesn't rely on fancy AF features or super-thin DOF.

 

Negatives would include:

 

- poor image quality

 

- clumsy, non-intuitive controls

 

- poor high ISO performance (I don't expect the NEX 7 to be a D3s, but I don't expect it to be a noisy D80, either)

 

- optical stabilation that doesn't work very well

 

- a camera that won't perform in bad weather (within reason)

 

 

Questions about what I shoot can be best answered by my website ;-) but if I plan to use the camera on vacation it would probably be for routine travel stuff - places, scenics, architecture, some candids, and the occasional funny sign along the route. The ability to shoot the inside of a church is alway a good test of a travel camera.

Dan. I can only comment from a NEX 5N and for the most part NEX 7 standpoint on your points.

 

 

It has the same 1.5 crop sensor that is in some Nikon DSLR bodies. The image quality is very good. The high ISO performance is slightly better than the NEX 7 by test. It has a 16 MP sensor and the 7 has a 24 MP sensor and is sharpest of course. They both produce really good pictures.

 

 

The NEX 5N, as I said is comparable to my 5D at 3200 ISO and produces a usable picture at 6400 albeit with noise.

 

 

I, and reviewers find the Sony Optical stabilization quite acceptable and it is very quiet. I have it on two lenses.

 

 

I would be leary of taking my 5N in the rain. I get my 5D wet occasionally at swimming meets because I shoot from on deck. I have used the 5n in a pool environment only once and it got splashed a little. It has no weather proofing that I know of. I drowned a Canon on a news assignment and am not likely to do it again. I am careful.

 

 

 

As for ergonomics, Sony has produced a whole bunch of new software features and functions like multiple exposures in low light merged in camera to one picture which does eliminate considerable noise. One has to learn a whole new vocabularly and I find the menus on the 5N to be a nightmare without logic. The saving grace is to assign several most used functions to soft keys. I have assigned picture mode, ISO, flash settings, etc. to the keys and am becoming proficient in bringing them up.

 

 

If anyone is thinking about one of these cameras it would be beneficial to review the many new software innovations that Sony has introduced like in-camera fifty panorama merging, etc. They are too numerous to mention here. I have gone in this direction because I think this is where the future of photograpy lies. My Sony is a prototype not a finished product. All the while I am getting good pictures out of it that blow up at least to 13x19. This is a culture change for me as an over twenty year Canon user. It's good for me to bust a few long held paradigms about my own photography.

<p>Does the 24-MP Sony include the "High-temperature" pause option? This would be a concern if you are going to a warm-environment place; and the camera decides it is time to rest and cool off the sensor. I've yet to see a D-SLR in the Nikon line take this engineering line of camera control in hot weather.</p>

<p>You may try to rent a Sony and see how you like it first...</p>

<p> </p>

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<p> I have it on two lenses.</p>

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<p>Dick, that statement is just how I see the NEX-development. Earlier we talked about SLRs and dSLRs with two lenses, now (and when looking at pictures of the NEXes) it seems more like a large lens with a camera attached. Maybe that also is the start of a "new" trend, which often is told here at PN: The lenses are for keepers, cameras are disposables...</p>

Thanks for the detailed information, Dick. I appreciate the account of your real world experiences with the NEX cameras.

<p>I've been using the already "obsolete" NEX-3 for a few months now. I've made 12"x18" prints from ISO 3200 (raw, using the same noise reduction in ACR that I use for 5D or 5DII shots at high ISOs) that I think look as good as similar sized prints from my old 5D. For me the main issue is the lack of fast, small lenses that are affordable. I can't afford the Zeiss, and putting something too big on it sort of defeats the purpose for me. I've got an adapter on the way to use with some old Nikon lenses I have laying around. It's a different shooting experience. The tiny bag I get to carry is a big advantage, and I like the waist level shooting, but I still work faster with a DSLR. I wouldn't want to have to work with a NEX, but for casual shooting it's wonderful.</p>

<p><img alt="" /><br /> <img src="http://static.zooomr.com/images/9546926_a371bd8f37_o.jpg" alt="" width="700" /></p>

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<p>My photography doesn't rely on fancy AF features or super-thin DOF.</p>

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<p>Good, there isn't much fast lenses avail and AF isn't stellar.</p>

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<p><strong>Negatives would include:</strong><br /> - poor image quality</p>

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<p>The 5n uses the same sensor as the nikon d7000 and pentax K5 while the Nex 7 has a new 24mp sensor. The nex 5 picture above uses an older sensor but it's not too shabby at 1600. Plus, if your pic sucks, no IQ can save it...even with, say, a leica S2.</p>

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<p>- clumsy, non-intuitive controls</p>

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<p>It's (UI) more personal...go try it out yourself. Some love it while some hate it...</p>

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<p>- poor high ISO performance (I don't expect the NEX 7 to be a D3s, but I don't expect it to be a noisy D80, either)</p>

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<p>D80 is quite old in the digitala age...come on, a d80, really?</p>

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<p>- optical stabilation that doesn't work very well</p>

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<p>Like what? Most work from 2-4 stops...are we not being too technical, Dan?</p>

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<p>- a camera that won't perform in bad weather (within reason)</p>

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<p>Unless you shoot in the pouring rain...Again, which camera (p&s or dslr) had failed you in the past in, say, a light shower, Dan?</p>

> D80 is quite old in the digitala age...come on, a d80, really?

 

Not that old, but tech is advancing rapidly. I used a D200 until about three years ago, so I'm familiar with that sensor.

 

 

> Like what? Most work from 2-4 stops...are we not being too technical, Dan?

 

It either works or it doesn't. I'm just asking for opinions on a class of camera with which I have no experience. I hear that

shutter response is very fast which is a big plus.

<p>Well since the NEX7 probably smokes every APS-C DSLR at there at the moment, at least in the image quality department, I'd hazard that the quality of images from your vacation will be the least of your worries. Not that the NEX system is without problems at the moment (thinking a relatively small lens lineup, to name one). </p>

<p>Compared to a D700? </p>

<p>For run-of-the-mill vacation snaps, no you won't really miss the D700. If you start to add things like fast AF, lens selection (tele/macro/wide/zoom), action photos, high ISO, CLS lighting, etc... then you will CERTAINLY miss that D700.</p>

<p>For me, it depends where I'm going... places like Hawaii, Costa Rica, etc... where I need macro/tele, etc..., I have brought my D700. For cities, where I typically like to shoot street photography (using B&W film), I bring the NEX5 to complement my RF camera.</p>

 

<p>Hi<br />I have recently returned from treking/cycling in Chile with a Nex 3, standard zoon and 16mm lens.<br />So good points;<br />1 - Light weight kit, could be carried all day<br />2 - Small kit, I was able to get everything into a small bag which I could attach to the chest strap of the rucksack, so easy to access compared to full a dslr with zoom and prime which would have to go inside the rucksack<br />3 - Image quality was very good (but not 5dii with L lens)<br />Bad points<br />1 - Not having a viewfinder, can be hard to see exacly what you are taking in bright sunlight.<br />2 - Slightly quirky interface if you are used to Canon DSLR menus<br />As far as I am concerned the Pro's vastly outweigh the Cons IF (and only if) you use a mirrorless camera when there is a definate advantage, otherwise stick with the DSLR<br />Nex 7 looks great but it's just that little bit bigger....<br />Hope that's of help<br />Jim</p>