Testing new E mount Sony 50mm 1.8 on NEX 7
Well…My old Minolta 50mm 1.7 kicked the bucket. It no longer changes aperture on my NEX or on my old Konica Minolta 7D. Bummer. With an international trip by bicycle approaching, I needed to get a fast 50 for my NEX so I sold my Nikon 35mm f1.8G lens to fund this one. Last night at my son’s soccer practice, I walked around and took a few photos. So far I am liking what I see. At some apertures the bokeh is a little harsh. It’s just not as smooth as my old Minolta. However, it is quite sharp and has a very nice feel for manual focusing with the Sony’s direct manual focus mode. Anyway, take a look. I’ll be doing more shots as well as a review when I share my fairly small and very nice bicycle travel kit for photo and video shooting. Stay tuned.
Dad, take a picture of this - Shot at f2.8
Brilliant color - Shot at f1.8
My favorite shot of the night - Shot at f1.8
All in all pretty darn impressed. The OSS seems to work well. All of these were shot hand held with the slowest being around 1/80th of a second in photo #2. More to come. Next up, Sigma 19mm f2.8 for NEX.
The results look impressive!
Very nice shots.
When did you get the NEX-7? How is it working for you? My NEX-5 is just about dead after crashing into it on my most recent trip. I have been on the fence about the 7 because of Sony’s inability to deliver lenses… Would love to hear your thoughts.
Glenn, welcome back from your adventure. Can’t wait to hear about it and see your images. I got the NEX 7 last fall after I finsihed my NEX-5N review. Honestly, I never intended to pick up the 5N but due to delivery issues with the Sony, I got the 5N too.
Honestly, other than around base ISO, I prefer the images of the 5N. I however, can’t stand the controls of the 5N. It feels like a toy compared to the 7. In many ways, I wish I had the sensor of the 5N in the 7.
All that said, the 7 is my only nice camera and I’m making it work. It does everything pretty darn well. I’ve gotten around the lens issues mostly by using adapted lenses. Truthfully, though I rarely ever take the Zeiss 24mm 1.8 off. Now that I have the new 50mm Sony 1.8, I have a combo I am pretty darn pleased with. I just want a nice wide and a nice long now. I shot the 55-210 again yesterday and I no longer like results.
I too have considered many times the frustration of lack of lenses with the NEX and many times I have considered doing something else, but I just can’t find that something else.
Great shots. I came across your site and this entry in particular as I was searching for reviews of the NEX-7. I am very close to making a decision on upgrading to this camera from my current Canon T1i. My only hesitancy is that most of my photography these days is of my 2 yr. old son. My concern is the AF speed of the NEX-7. I generally shoot with a Canon 50mm 1.4 so I would get the Sony 50mm 1.8 with the NEX-7. I think it will be sufficient but would like to get your thoughts. I am aware that the continuous AF on the NEX-7 locks focus in Speed Priority mode to get the 10fps. Otherwise it is 3fps in standard continuous shooting. This is still better than my T1i, but the alternative to the NEX-7 that I was looking at is the Canon 60D and 7D. I would love to hear your thoughts.
Michael thanks for the note. The NEX 7 is certainly no speed demon. The DSLRs you mention are wildly faster and more accurate. The bright 50mm lens helps by giving you faster shutter speed capability but again, the NEX cameras are not that great. I have adapted from shooting continuous autofocus on my DSLRs to full manual on the NEX and pre-focusing in continuous mode. This along with anticipating the movement and a little luck still give me some great shots. All that said I was shooting my sons soccer games the other day and I was missing having something faster and with a brighter long lens. Sony really needs to get some faster lenses out for their cameras or I may not stay shooting the NEX long term. All that said I really do love the size and imaging capability of both the NEX 5n and NEX 7. Hope this helps.
Thank you Gnat, this is helpful information.