Nauticam NEX-7 housing announced

[PHIL RUDIN]

Hi Bill,

Keep in mind that Sony has two Alpha lens to NEX adapters of their own which both work in auto focus. Version #1 is very slow but works. In the Sony Alpha lens line for the APS-C and full frame DSLR cameras Sony has 30mm, 50mm and 100mm macro lenses all of which are F/2.8 lenses. All of these lenses are highly rated and Nauticam already has a port and gear combo for the 30mm macro with adapter. I would expect that requests for a 100 macro port and gear for NEX with adapter have looked at by now.

Adapters for a number of DSLR and SLR lens brands are made for NEXhem. and I would not expect to see ports and gears for many of them.

A much smaller style 8mm fisheye which is all manual for NEX was announced for March from Samyang/Rokinon. This same lens style is made in 7.5 for M43 cameras now and gets very good reviews. Problem is that it would need both focus and aperture gears for full control.

Phil Rudin

 

[blake7]

Keep in mind that Sony has two Alpha lens to NEX adapters of their own which both work in auto focus. Version #1 is very slow but works. In the Sony Alpha lens line for the APS-C and full frame DSLR cameras Sony has 30mm, 50mm and 100mm macro lenses all of which are F/2.8 lenses. All of these lenses are highly rated and Nauticam already has a port and gear combo for the 30mm macro with adapter. I would expect that requests for a 100 macro port and gear for NEX with adapter have looked at by now.

Phil, do you know if Nauticam will be supporting the LA-EA2 adapter? With that, there would be no we don't have the lenses issue with the NEX series since every A-mount lens would be fully supported. It would also give full DSLR focusing speed and accuracy since it has the Alpha a65/a77 phase detection system build into it.

 

[PHIL RUDIN]

Hi Blake,

I don't think the LA-EA2 would fit the housing but have not heard one way or the other from NauticamUSA. I have been doing some shooting with the E-mount 30 mm macro on an NEX-5 and find it more useful than I first thought it would be. It works much like a 50/55 mm macro on the 35mm format only it can get to 1:1 for the 1.5 X sensor. Coming from film the 50 macro was a lens I used a lot.

Phil

 

[PHIL RUDIN]

The Nauticam NEX-7 housing (left) side by side with the Nauticam NEX-5 housing (right). The NEX-7 housing does not have the "bump" on top and has an excellent control layout. Can't wait to get the camera so I can try it out.

Phil Rudin

 

[a_squeakycat]

The Nauticam NEX-7 housing (left) side by side with the Nauticam NEX-5 housing (right). The NEX-7 housing does not have the "bump" on top and has an excellent control layout. Can't wait to get the camera so I can try it out.

Phil Rudin

Do you have the camera on pre-order ? When do you expect it to arrive ?

 

[blake7]

The Nauticam NEX-7 housing (left) side by side with the Nauticam NEX-5 housing (right). The NEX-7 housing does not have the "bump" on top and has an excellent control layout. Can't wait to get the camera so I can try it out.

Phil, have you played with the Aquatica NEX-5 housing at all to compare to the Nauticam? I have not held either yet, but conceptually, I like that the Aquatica housing has one control for both the four push-buttons and the wheel. The Nauticam breaks out the four cardinal buttons and the wheel is moved to the right/bottom of the housing.

Have you found the wheel easy to adjust while you are using the Nauticam? Have you played with the Nauticam NEX-7 housing to see how it feels to adjust all three wheels? From the videos of people using the Nauticam NEX-5 housings online, it seems that there is a bit of a thumb stretch to reach it. See Nauticam NA-NEX5 Housing for Sony NEX-5 camera on Vimeo for example. I was hoping that for the NEX-7 housing, Nauticam would move the wheel further up.

Then again, separating the buttons from the wheel may be more reliable than the integrated setup that Aquatica has. I really hope that the Aquatica renderings for the upcoming NEX-7 housing come out soon since I will have to make the decision which housing to get in about 3-4 weeks.

 

[Mark Derail]

I have the Sony Nex5n now, next step will be a housing + strobes, looking at options other than the Aquatica, which is more expensive due to it's superior body over clear plastic.

One big plus I find with these Sony cams is the button simplicity. I got one a few weeks before Christmas 2011 and love the pic quality so far.

 

[bvanant]

We just got back from Anilao where we shot the 30 macro (emount) quite a bit. Very nice image quality but very tricky to light since at 1:1 you are just about on the glass of the port. Some pics after the LAUPS banquet tomorrow.
Bill

 

[bfowles]

We just got back from Anilao where we shot the 30 macro (emount) quite a bit. Very nice image quality but very tricky to light since at 1:1 you are just about on the glass of the port. Some pics after the LAUPS banquet tomorrow.
Bill

I look forward to seeing your photos.

 

[PHIL RUDIN]

Hi S-cat,

I had the NEX-7 for a few days last month just to try out above water. I do have one on order and have no idea when it will arrive. The Sony NEX-7 appears to be the most sought after camera on the planet at this time.

For Blake,

I have not used the Aquatica housing yet so I can not comment on the control wheel function but it seems to work well from the review I read on the system. Regarding the Nauticam video some of the still images in the video are mine so I was aware of the video. I don't find the issue of control wheel to be a problem at all with the Nauticam housing. I grip the housing with my right hand so my thumb falls over the wheel which I can turn with the palm of my hand or by moving my thumb. If you hold the housing by the hand grips it is more of a reach to both the shutter and the wheel, this would be true for the Aquatica housing as well. Both Aquatica and Nauticam have support for a righthand wrist strap to help support the weight of the housing and for me the right hand tray grip is just a mounting point for strobe arms and to carry the housing around.

Regarding the NEX-7 it is unlike any other camera when it comes to the Tri-Nav controls. The controls on the Nauticam housing are in the same place as the controls on the camera. This allows you to control the three settings which have created a proper exposure since photography began. In the cameras defalt settings manual mode the two top wheels control F/stop and shutter speed while the wheel controls ISO. Change any of these and you change the exposure. Again if you hold the NEX-7 housing with your right hand your thumb will rest on the top F/stop and shutter control wheels no matter what the size your hand is or if you are wearing gloves. These are the two controls you will most often change when shooting in manual mode. If you want to change ISO that wheel can be turned with the tip of your thumb or by rolling the palm of your hand across the wheel.

The NEX-5n and NEX-7 cameras both provide outstanding image quality, what you get with the NEX-7 is a camera which is every bit as good in every way as most DSLR's in a much smaller package. The Nauticam NA-NEX-7 housing which I own has several extra controls not found on the NEX-5/5n housing and a pickup finder for the OLED viewfinder. The rear window can also be replaced with a reinforced window which allows use of the 45 and 180 degree viewfinders. The OLED finder is already much larger than any of the APS-C DSLR camera optical viewfinders. I will be interested to see how it works with one of these excellent add-on viewfinders.

Regarding the Sony E-mount 30mm macro it has very nice image quality for a $250.00 macro lens but I think that people are expecting it be somthing which is not. This lens has about a 50 degree angle of view and at 1:1 (life size or the size of the APS-C sensor) it needs to focus to 3.75 inches. That number is and has always been measured from the sensor/film plane, so when you add the length of the lens at 1:1 you are about an inch from the lens glass. While this may work well using a tri-pod or rail for photographing stamps or coins it does not translate well for underwater work. The lens is in fact about the same AOV as using a 50mm macro on a 35mm (film/sensor) camera. Most of the old 50mm lenses only went to 1:2 (twice life size) for this very reason. If the lens is used for what it is suited for I think it works very well underwater and has better image quality than the "kit" lens which comes with the camera. From about three inches to two feet is the range I would be shooting in and with a 50 degree AOV this covers a lot of subjects. Adding any close-up lens will only make the 30 macro harder to use because you can't get to 1:1 well as is and the close-up lens requires you to get even closer. I am quite sure that Sony is well aware of the gaps in their lens line and will be coming out with more lenses than they had intended. I also see lenses coming from every third party lens maker for both M43 and NEX designs. If you can't live without super macro I am sure that someone will come out with a macro port to support Lens adapters and DSLR lenses using manual focus.

Attached are two taken with the NEX-5 and 30mm macro.

Phil Rudin