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Before and after, plus some updates.
Well, business is slowing down some now, so I’ll try to update this site more often. I did manage to post a review of the Sigma NEX 19mm lens a few days ago. It works very well at F/2.8, and would be great for people wanting a wide angle lens for street scenes at night without a tripod. I’m almost done with the Sigma 30mm F/2.8 review, so check here in a couple of days.
Matthewdurrphotography has a couple more Nikon lens reviews using the NEX-7, go here for the latest.
Below is a before and after shot of a roof top terrace. Here I used quite a few off-camera flashes, some are visible in the before shot. The plan was to photograph a couple of different views, along with a dedicated shot of the table in the back with the umbrella. It’s a colorful and inviting setting, unfortunately, it was about 110° out at the time, and windy!! We couldn’t even use real food or drinks as planned because of the possibility of the furniture going airborne….that would be a serious mess! The client was very happy the way it turned out, and so was I. I originally wanted to use the Canon G1X for this shoot, but the composition wouldn’t allow it as the starting focal length for that camera is a bit too long at 28mm. I ended up using 20mm which is much wider than I normally like to go, but there was no backing up to get the shot, the camera was on the parapet with a 30′ (10m) drop-off.
Sony NEX 30mm F/3.5 macro samples
If you have nothing but time on your hands, how about checking out some full sized samples from the Sony NEX 30/3.5 macro lens. Included is the usual stamp shot, and a couple of images showing how close(!) you need to be to get to the maximum reproduction ratio of 1:1. The subject is about 5/8″ (16mm) from the end of that goofy hood, and it’s pretty hard to light. The stamp is .87″ or (22mm) wide. Also see the landscape shots taken at F/3.5, F/5.6 and F/8. These were hand-held, so they aren’t lined up good, but you see the results easy enough…
Canon G1 X and Sony A580 RAW comps
Here are a few boring samples from the Canon G1X, placed along side the Sony A580 using the CZ 16-80mm and DT 35/1.8 lenses. RAW really helps out the Sony, it makes the images look as good or better than the Canon, although there isn’t a lot of difference, you have to look very closely and flip back and forth between the two in your image browser.
The photos do not have the exact same coverage because of the different aspect ratios…
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Sony NEX 50/1.8 and Sony AF 50/1.4 comparison
Just for kicks I thought I’d compare two fast 50mm lenses from Sony, the new NEX model, and the old slot-screw focusing (and full-frame) 50/1.4. Obviously, one would normally think the full frame model has several advantages, but this is 2012, and lens technology has come a long ways!
For testing purposed, I started the Sony full frame lens at F/1.7 because I couldn’t get F/1.8 on the consumer grade Sony A580, although you can dial F/1.8 on a full frame camera. The distance to subject was about 7′ or 2.1m. That distance is about the same as a waist-up portrait shot with a 50mm focal length and APS-C sensor, so it has more meaning than a close focus test chart. The Sony AF 50/1.4 images are not exactly straight, however, all images and crops are right out of the camera, saved as jpegs.
If you don’t feel like going through the 24 crops, I’ll sum up the differences for you: the Sony AF 50mm F/1.4…
Samples from the Canon G1X
I’ve posted 11 full size images from the Canon G1X. All are right out of the camera using the default settings.
I’ll show some converted RAW files soon. I had do download a trial version of adobe lightroom 4 to open RAW images for this new camera, apparently photoshop users will get the update next. As a side note; I have the first three versions of lightroom, and I don’t see much difference in the latest, so if you have version 3 you probably don’t need to bother updating; I’m not going to.
So far I’m seeing some pretty sharp images from this camera at all focal lengths and apertures. At the wide end, the centers are very sharp at F/2.8, with the sides lagging just a little bit behind, but look very good at F/4. At the long end, F/5.8 is sharp at the sides, but stopping down…
Sony NEX 50mm F/1.8 OSS samples
Here are a few boring samples from the Sony NEX 50/1.8 OSS lens, using the just recieved Sony NEX-C3 camera. All images were taken in fine jpeg, ISO 200, no changes. I used auto focus, and hand-held the camera, so the images here shouldn’t be considered official, and won’t be part of the review.
So far, the lens seems pretty sharp, even wide open. There may be a little de-centering favoring the left side, so again, this may not actually be the case, as I haven’t really used the lens enough at this point to be able to say for sure. I notice some axial color fringing at F/1.8-2.5, but it’s not bad. There is some veiling haze too, but not really noticeable unless you shoot bright subjects. The landscape type shots shown here would normally be taken at F/4-5.6, not at F/1.8 as you see in the gallery, I did this to show the detail at that aperture. Shooting F/1.8 in darker conditions…
Sony NEX-7 people samples!
For a change I thought I’d take some pictures of people using the Sony NEX-7, along with the Tamron NEX 18-200mm (review), and Sony NEX 55-210mm, (review).
This week I went out to the Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain resort and took some snaps of the Golfers in the Accenture Match play PGA event. My goal was to use both zooms at the maximum apertures, (mostly at the long end), to separate the subject and background, and to see how the relatively inexpensive zooms held up optically. Also important; can the NEX-7 focusing keep up with moving subjects, and how does the jpeg processing handle textures like fabrics and skin….
Tamron 18-200mm e-mount (NEX) samples
Here are a few sample shots from the new Tamron 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 VC lens and NEX-7. All images are right out of the camera, standard creative style. These samples were all hand-held, so they aren’t official. The distances are a little long, and atmospheric issues are present.
So far, the optical performance seems similar to the Sony model, meaning the long end lacks contrast, but the short end is pretty sharp. Focusing on the long end is spotty, just like the Sony.
Good news, the NEX-7 corrects the distortion…
Sony NEX CZ 24/1.8 and Sony CZ 16-35mm F/2.8 samples
Here is probably the last full size sample from the NEX-7 (now available for pre-order) and CZ 24/1.8 that I’m going to post before the lens review comes out. It’s also part of the final review set.
This time the comparison is with the uber expensive Sony A900 and Sony CZ 16-35mm F/2.8 lens, at 35mm, which closely matches the 24mm coverage, although the 16-35 at 35mm covers just a little more real estate than the 24mm.
Both images were taken in RAW, and converted in ACR 6.6, no other adjustments were make other than the conversion to jpegs.
Exposures were the same, at the same F/4 aperture. The Sony CZ 24/1.8 is nearly….
Sony NEX-7 and Sony A900 ISO comps
For those of you wondering about how the NEX-7 handles high ISOs as compared to the A900, look no further. I’ve made some comps of both RAW and jpeg images, cropped from the center, with no changes other than converting the RAW (using ACR 6.6) to jpeg for posting. I shot the scene in RAW+jpeg, and the jpeg is right out of the camera.
The Sony CZ 24/1.8 was used on the NEX-7, the Sony CZ 16-35mm (at 35mm) on the A900. The coverage area is very similar on both cameras.
The NEX-7 seems slightly sharper if you look really close, no doubt due to the excellent prime lens…
