Sony NEX?

[Airconvent]

Hi Croys

I do have the 18-55mm zoom lens as well and used it extensively overseas but as I bought this primarily as a PnS replacement, the pancake stays on most of the time here. My hands are small, so I prefer smaller form factors. Even a few mm is important to me. I rejected the Panny and Oly EP1 not only because of bigger size and higher cost, but also because one had no built-in stabilisation. Mind you I was tempted to get the EPL1 because it had all the features I wanted and within my targetted budget but when the Sony came out with the same features but smaller size, I opted for it instead. The strange thing is I panned it as ugly when it was first announced but when I finally held it in my hand, it felt so natural.
So now I am pretty happy with it. (Until maybe when the Fuji X100 comes along)


I did a google on the market share and seems the NEX came in 12th in Japan behind the Panny G1 and GF1 but ahead of the Oly. Not too bad for half a year. But with Nikon and even Pentax announcing planned EVIL systems, the competition can only hot up. I don't think its inconceivable that Sony will introduce a feature-packed but bigger-sized NEX in the future. They have that engineering capability and deep pockets.

http://www.digitalphotographywriter.com ... japan.html

And no, the kr does not use the same sensor as the Kx and NEX. I read on one of the Pentax releases on dpreview that the Kr features and improved sensor version from Sony but real life tests indicated the changes was not signficant, if discernable at all.

As for astrophotography, my initial take is that simple imaging should be good due to its low noise (i did it previously using a Nikon pnS) but not for serious long exposures. I could be wrong because I really did not research much on available AP accessories for it. If you do make it, do post some photos here. Would be interested to see what the little fella is capable of in this arena.

Cheers

[orly_andico]

folks are saying the NEX-3 can't take a remote. Hence, no bulb mode..

[Airconvent]

Err.. the Oly EP-L1 is at 8 with 4.6%.

If they come out with some nice lenses and a different body, the NEX could well be far more successful than their alphas. I think the new lenses will be good on the planned video cameras, where Sony already have a good reputation.

Oh man you're right! That's what happens when you read stuff at 3am.
Yeah, the EPL1 does have a well balanced set of features albeit in a chassis not as cool as the EP1/2. Wondering if the rumoured EPL2 will rectify this.
As for the NEX, fret not, Sony has already announced several new lenses for 2011 but of course, at their famous CZ prices.

[msholdenct]

Hi

I found this group while searching for any comments people had made about using the Nex cameras for astronomy.

I recently bought a Nex-5, primarily because I have several Alpa (Swiss not Sony) 35mm lenses, and I can use them all on a Nex with an adapter.

So far, I like it.

My primary astro camera is an sbig st2000xm, and I've got an image source camera for planets, but my first digital camera for astronomy was a Nikon D70 that did pretty well.

For astronomy, my plan is to use the Nex with a Kinoptik 150mm (fl) f2.5 apo lens for wide field imaging of whatever part of the sky I happen to be observing. (Think 60mm f2.5 apo refractor)

For those who are wondering, it has full manual control available, and when you use a non nex lens, if it was set for intelligent auto exposure, it'll change to aperture preferred auto exposure.

With a non nex lens, one of the buttons changes to MF Assist - press it and what's on the LCD display is magnified 7x. Press it again and it's magnified 14x. I've taken a couple of prime focus shots, and they were pretty decent. Here's one I shot of the Moon with it using an Astro Physics 140mm f7.5 apo refractor.

< http://www.holden-insurance.com/Moon-NexC.jpg >

This one is M42 using "auto exposure" but I told the camera to add 2 stops. It has camera shake - I didn't have my remote release with me at the time:

< http://www.holden-insurance.com/m42Nex-w.jpg >

[orly_andico]

how many seconds is that M42?

[msholdenct]

That one was 25 seconds.

Those shots are incredibly crude. I was set up for public outreach, and realized I had everything but the remote release for prime focus so I decided to take a couple quick shots to get a feel for what I could expect.

[orly_andico]

wow that's pretty good. must've been a nice dark sky :-)

singapore haze is so bad this time of year that my prime-focus, guided, 5-minute M42's are nothing like that single shot.