kevistopheles
TalkEmount Hall of Famer
Increasingly I have become convinced that the NEX does not actually have AF at all. I think it's just a cruel prank being played on us by Sony by impregnating the camera packing materials with a hallucinogen to make us BELIEVE it actually comes with AF as a feature...which of course it does not. Actually, that's not fair, it's not THAT horrible but it does remind me a lot of the AF on the old Olympus E-P1. I like to call it "leisurely". That said, I don't find that I use it much and I have become quite happy using my 5n as though it were an M8 or some other retro throwback manual focus machine. I have a bunch of MF lenses and I really enjoy the experience I get using it. It is something I have been looking for since I first started shooting digital, a way to reproduce the feeling of shooting my old OM1 without the need to buy film. That alone is reason for me to love the NEX. The lack of speedy AF doesn't hamper me so I decided to sell the last AF lens I had...the very good Sigma 30/2.8 and just have my Rokkors and Hexanons paired up with the 5n. Of course there still remains the small issue of what to do when you want or need AF. For instance if I were traveling I would want AF because I find travel photographs to be a very different thing than the ones I shoot daily for pleasure. So I started down the path of a nice point and shoot. I have an old Panasonic ZS3 mega zoom and for what it is it is still a a very capable camera. It has it's limitations and spends most of its time in my sons hands. After a lot of consideration I picked up a lightly used Fuji X10 from one of the Super Mods on mu-43. It's an orb free (newer sensor) model and it does a few things for me. First it the last piece of gear I get before my self imposed gear diet in 2013. It also gives me a decently quick AF, form what I can see IQ that is quite good for what it is and it's all wrapped up in a very sexy metal body.
I think it'll make a very nice companion to the NEX. I'm not expecting shallow DOF or anything else like that as it's a small sensor camera, but they have their place and I am looking forward to adding it to my image making kit. It's also my Christmas present to myself (I get to double dip because my wife and son are Jewish).
I think it'll make a very nice companion to the NEX. I'm not expecting shallow DOF or anything else like that as it's a small sensor camera, but they have their place and I am looking forward to adding it to my image making kit. It's also my Christmas present to myself (I get to double dip because my wife and son are Jewish).