I posted my first picture using my new Sony NEX-7 on Saturday. I used my Leica 50mm summilux (80mm equivalent) lens and I had a few people inquire about pictures with the Zeiss 24mm f1.8 lens (38mm equivalent). Today’s post includes pictures using the 24mm lens.
So far I’m extremely impressed with the quality of the camera and lens. My previous camera experience includes “point and shoot”, Canon dSLR’s (including the 5D Mark II), and my Leica M9-P. I’ve grown accustomed to shooting with manual focus and forgot how nice it is sometimes to just let the camera do it. Most of the reviews out there will tell you the Sony NEX-7 autofocus is slower than other cameras in its class but acceptable. I don’t have any other experience shooting with other micro 4/3 cameras but so far I have absolutely no complaints about the speed. I think the speed is 100% acceptable and most would not be disappointed.
I use Apple’s Aperture for my camera raw processing and library and currently they don’t support the NEX-7 raw files. I’m trialling Phase One’s Capture One software since it does support it (I actually like the software but unsure if I want to use it in my workflow).
The pictures today are jpegs converted from raw files in Capture One. Little, to no editing was performed.
ISO 100 1/250 f/1.8 Zeiss 24mm
ISO 100 1/320 f1.4 Zeiss 24mm
ISO 1600 1/50 f/1.8 Zeiss 24mm
I’m not critisizing here, I just want to remark that on my screen those pics look pretty unsharp and you could get sharper pics of kids w/ good colors with digicams 1/10 of the price of that Nex-7/Zeiss combo.
Where do you see the need to work with RAW files here ?
Regards, K…
Kashpar, thanks for visiting my site and commenting. These pics weren’t necessary intended to display the quality (sharpness) of the zeiss 24mm in comparison to other camera/lenses. They were just action shots of my baby girl. If you want to see better objective comparisons I would refer you to stevehuffphoto.com, dpreview.com, dxomark.com, and other sites that are known for testing equipment.
The pictures are sized down, and if you see the full-size pics you would probably have a little difference in opinion. Also, the last picture was showing an example of a shot at ISO 1600. High ISO’s greater than 800 typically will not be as sharp.
In regards to your question using RAW files, obviously these are not the “type” of picture necessary to shoot raw files. JPEG would be fine. I always shoot in RAW in the case I need to make any adjustments. Also, if I changed my camera to jpeg mode all the time I would forget to shoot in RAW when I need it to.
One more thing, here is a link http://wp.me/p1vjvV-uS to another shot with the Sony NEX-7 and Leica 50mm noctilux. Huge difference in quality but you would expect it using a Leica lens.
Gage