Sold the 5n and bought the 5

Start taking pictures and post them here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

 

I mainly shoot with Olympus 4/3 DSLRs and m4/3 PEN cameras but I picked up a NEX-3 last year for much the same reason ... I also wanted to see if I would like focus peaking and I wanted to see if I would really get visible benefits in terms of high ISO and dynamic range from the APS-C sensor instead of the smaller 4/3 format sensor. The answer was "yes" to all those questions but I wasn't happy with the lens or accessory selection.

I like the NEX-3 and even had the NEX-7 on pre-order for a while but decided to stick with just the NEX-3 and a few lenses (16mm pancake, VCL-ECU1 wide angle adapter, and the new Sigma 30mm) until more lenses and accessories become available for the NEX system. I also use legacy lenses with the NEX-3 but that novelty got old after a while and now I pretty much stick to the native E-mount lenses.

I might buy more NEX stuff if I start to see this system truly develop into a "system" ... like many more native lenses and more flash accessories for the NEX-3/C3/5/5N and not just flashes and cables for the Alpha hot shoe on the NEX-7). I don't want to spend much more money on NEX gear until Sony and third parties show true commitment to the NEX cameras as a "system."

 

They won't build more expensive flashes or other accessories for the NEX-3/5 smart accessories terminal. It just doesn't make sense spending 300 on a flash you can't use anymore when you upgrade anytime in the future to a NEX-7 or successor.

 

I suspect it would be fairly easy for Sony to make an accessory port extension cable/adapter and flash bracket that connects the accessory port via cable to an Alpha hot shoe adapter. Something like that literally costs pennies to build in China or Thailand and would give Sony a way to "up-sell" Alpha flashes to current NEX-3/C3/5/5N owners.

I'm talking about something like this ... only it would have a connector to plug it into the NEX-3/C3/5/5N accessory port on one end and has a Sony Alpha hot shoe on the other:

 

Well, that's a rather good idea. But you know, if Sony doesn't think it's profitable, they won't build it. They probably think they loose a strong selling point from the NEX-7 if they build such an adapter.

 

It's "possible" that such an adapter cable would impact NEX-7 sales. But it's a "guarantee" that I won't buy a NEX-7 ... and a "guarantee" that I would buy and adapter like I described along with either the HVL-F58AM or HVL-F43AM flash units.

As it stands now I just use a generic digital slave trigger and an Olympus FL-50 when I want to use serious flash with the NEX-3 ... so Sony makes ZERO additional revenue. If they give me something to directly use a fancy Sony TTL flash with my NEX-3 then they get to charge me for the adapter cable and the flash.

In any case, we don't have anything from Sony for "serious" flash use with the NEX-3/C3/5/5N.

 

Hey there fellow mu-43'er...I just went a similar route to you. I just picked up an NEX C3 primarily to use with my MF lenses (haven't got it yet). M43 is definitely my main "system" but I was intrigued by the focus peaking feature and also the fact that my much loved Konica 24/2.8 and 50/1.4 can enjoy some use a little closer to their original focal lengths. I am not even planning to get a native NEX lens, just a Konica AR to NEX adapter (and maybe a Jupiter-8 at some point). I really thought about the NEX5n but for significantly less I decided the C3 was more than adequate for what I wanted it for. I am looking forward to playing with it.

 

The 5 is a nice camera the 5n is just the latest flavor. The NEX is a system that is not mature but getting there slowly.
For myself it's the perfect travel/hiking/biking camera. What was huge for myself was the LA2 and ability to share my legacy A mount lens with my 5n and a65.

Welcome to the forum

 

Hi elandel, since you had the 5n for a while and now using the 5, how is the high iso performance of the 5 compared with 5N? Can you fit the EVF on the 5?

 

Negative on the EVF, not sure about the high ISO difference. From the test shots I saw on dpreview.com, I didn't seen that much difference between the two (although the NEX 5N adds 25k ISO setting, I'm not exactly sure who'd actually use that setting).