NEX-7 vs dSLR...what would I give up?

[PHIL RUDIN]

For me the issue of NEX-7or Olympus E-M5 is a no brainier. The Olympus has excellent image quality, a1/250th flash sync, better IS, weather sealing, cool art filters, very fast auto focus, but most of all between Olympus and Panasonic the best set of pro quality lenses that are excellent for U/W use. These include the 8 fisheye, 7-14 zoom, 12 mm F/2, 12-35 f/2.8, 45 macro and coming Olympus 60 macro.

The Nauticam housing will be coming very soon and it will take my 45 viewfinder for the EVF.

I already own the NEX-7 with Nauticam housing and now own the E-M5 and will have a housing when it's comes out so I have no axe to grind regarding these cameras. I just think the E- M5 is the better choice and I am not willing to wait till 2015 or longer to get the lenses I want.

Phil Rudin

 

[bvanant]

Is there a port that would allow for manual focus of say an Leica lens with adapter. The Inon Magnetic type focusing that I think Aquapazza has for the NEX-5 or better yet to house the second generation adapter for the alpha lenses?
Bill

 

[Akoni]

For me the issue of NEX-7or Olympus E-M5 is a no brainier. The Olympus has excellent image quality, a1/250th flash sync, better IS, weather sealing, cool art filters, very fast auto focus, but most of all between Olympus and Panasonic the best set of pro quality lenses that are excellent for U/W use. These include the 8 fisheye, 7-14 zoom, 12 mm F/2, 12-35 f/2.8, 45 macro and coming Olympus 60 macro.

What would be a good m43 lens lineup to cover the WA and macro ends that has current port support from Nauticam without killing the bank? I have no m43 equipment at all but the E-M5 is making more sense, especially since the Nauticam housing is just about to release.

 

[PHIL RUDIN]

Hi Bill,

Sony already has an excellent 24mm Zeiss branded lens for the E-mount NEX system. You can read my review of that lens in the July/Aug. issue#67 of UWPmag.com coming out soon. The Lens was shot in a Nauticam housing for the review. Nauticam also has a port for the Sony A-mount 30mm macro using the NEX adapter. I don't know of a Leica lens that would make that is all that wide with a 1.5 or 2X crop and they have no macro that would be of much use.

For Sony they have some excellent A-mount lenses that will work with the first adapter but the second adapter is just to big and would sit where the port attaches to the housing. As a result a housing would need to be designed just for use with the Sony LA-EA2 adapter and I don't think that is going to happen. That leaves manual focus with A-mount lenses and the first adapter or an adapter for just about anyother lens which will fit the port and for which a custom gear can be made. Since the NEX series needs an excellent macro I would start with the 100mm as Acquapazza has using the Inon MRS system. The problem with Acquapazza is that the NEX-7 housing still seems to be sitting on the drawing board and it has no way to see or use the outstandind OLED viewfinder.

I expect to see ports and gears for A-mount lenses from Nautican at some point but I think it will be some time. Within the last two months the four most significant cameras for underwater use (Canon 5D mkIII, Nikon D-4, D-800 and Olympus E-M5) during 2012 have been released. I am sure Nauticam and others manufacturing housings have put everything else on the back burner to work on the release of housing for at lease one of these excellent cameras.

Akoni,

If you buy the E-M5 with the "kit" 12 to 50mm zoom it has a Macro feature that gets you to around 1:2 and Nauticam will have a port for that lens. The Olympus 9-18 zoom is also supported at a lower cost than the Panasonic 7-14.
For a true macro you will need the Panasonic 45 or the Olympus 60 macro coming later this year. Both of these lenses will also be supported. The Panasonic 8mm fisheye is also a very nice lens. The 14-42 Kit zoom will likely have worse image quality on the E-M5 just like the image quality of the Sony kit 18-55 does on the NEX-7 over NEX-5.

Phil Rudin

 

[bvanant]

I was thinking more along the line of the summicron 50 macro with a leica/nex adapter. Best lens I have ever used. I don't much think about wide angle stuff very much but still looking for any kind of macro solution.
Bill

 

[PHIL RUDIN]

Hi Bill,

Not the most steller results for the Leica on the NEX system and that was at 14MP I would think it would be worse on 24MP. Also only goes to 1:14 at .8 meters, hardly in the macro range.

Leica Summarit-M 50mm f/2.5 on Sony NEX - Review / Lens Test Report - Sample Images & Verdict

By comparison look at the review for the Panasonic 45mm macro which goes to 1:1 and rates much higher in the same standard tests.

Leica DG Macro-Elmarit 45mm f/2.8 ASPH OIS - Review / Test Report - Sample Images & Verdict

It is quite nostalgic to want to use great lenses like the Leica and the Voigtlander Ultra-Wide Heliar 12mm F/5.6 Aspherical II on the NEX but tests with these "full frame" style film era lenses have been way less than excellent with NEX system adapter, no fault of the lens it is just not what it was designed for.

Voigtlander Ultra-Wide Heliar 12mm f/5.6 Aspherical II on Sony NEX - Review / Lens Test Report - Sample Images & Verdict

Phil Rudin