Image on top: The hotseller of the moment. The Sony NEX-7 (CLick here to preorder)
There is a new NEX-7 preview at ePhotozine (Click here): “The NEX-7 is an exciting product that gives manual controls, dials, and buttons, on the camera. These are physical, real buttons, that you can press and feel. Even more than this they are customisable to give you the control you want. Without doubt this is the highest specification mirrorless camera available yet.“. Preorder the NEX-7 at Amazon.
And there is also a short NEX-5n review again at ePhotozine (Click here): “The viewfinder is extremely impressive, with stunning detail and colour, although the addition of the EVF does stop you from using flash. Image quality appears to be excellent, and even though megapixels have increased, the camera is still providing low noise levels“. Preorder the NEX-5n at Amazon.
There is also an ISO comparison between the A77, NEX-5n and other cameras ar EosHD (Click here). The NEX-5n.looks like the winner but 1) It has less Megapixels (looks cleaner) and 2) the A77 image quality is coming from a preproduction camera!
And there is a new ISO test posted by Focus Numerique (Click here to read the google translation): “From 50 to 200 ISO, the grain is almost invisible (displayed on a screen at 100%). From 800 to 3200 ISO, the grain goes up gradually, but the images remain excellent!“. Surprise: “the JPEG 3200 is more pleasant than at ISO 1600“. And than: “At 6400 ISO, the images are still usable. A fine achievement for a 24 megapixel sensor APS-C“. Preorder the A77 at Amazon.
ALL Preorder links:
Sony A77 with 16-50mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, Jessops UK and Sonystore.
Sony A77 body only at Amazon, Adorama, Jessops UK and Sonystore.
Sony A65 with 18-55mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto (notification only), Jessops UK and Sonystore.
Sony A65 body only at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto (notification only), Jessops UK and Sonystore.
Sony NEX-7 body only at Amazon, Adorama, Jessops UK and Sonystore.
Sony NEX-7 with 18-55mm lens at Amazon, BHphoto (notification only) and Sonystore.
Sony NEX-5N with 18-55mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto, Jessops UK and Sonystore.
Sony NEX-5N at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto, and Sonystore.
Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 E-mount at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto (notification only) and Sonystore.
Sony 50mm f/1.8 at BHphoto (notification only), Adorama and Sonystore.
Sony 55-210mm E-mount at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto (notification only) and Sonystore.
88 Responses
Nobody ever comments on the NEX-7 lousy exposure bracketing of only +/- 0.7 EV.
Why is that? No serious architecture and landscape shooters can use this camera.
Because it doesn’t target architecture and landscape shooter maybe?
Why the complaints?
Can’t expect to have a one-for-all solution 🙂
You really don’t know what exposure bracketing is, do you?
Targeting, seriously. Even an entry level Canon has +/-2 EV exposure bracketing.
Why exposure bracketing if the metering is accurate?
Exposure bracketing is often necessary in professional interior and landscape shooting where you have to deal with extreme dynamic ranges.
I understand the use of bracketing but shooting with RAW (which is capable of +-1ev adjustment) or using in camera HDR would help?
Leo, +/-1 EV will not cover the dynamic range of shooting a interior against a sunlit exterior. Not even Sonys excellent sensors can cope with that scenario. There is a reason pro cameras like the Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III have a +/-3 EV bracketing option
I see. Thats why A77 have +-3ev bracketing too…
Right, the a850 and a900 as well, in fact most, if not all, enthusiast cameras offer decent bracketing, just not the NEX-7
Eh.. This is not Canon.. It’s not even an SLR.. 🙂
Go get a Canon then 🙂 It’ll be a while ’till they come out with any mirrorless.
Right.. this really is not Canon. How perceptive of you
Oh, and, there’s one obvious answer why: Lack of request.
Priorities, priorities. That’s how the software/hardware world works. What doesn’t sell, doesn’t get in.
If it’s just 1-2 people making a fuss, it’s unlikely to make a dent in the market. If 1000-2000 does, that’s a different story.
Just my 2 cents.
Oh, I see. Damn I didn’t know I had to send in a request. If only someone had told me.
So when virtually all other semi-pro cameras offers better bracketing than the NEX-7, it’s because someone requested it?
Roughly. Mainly the designers. Sometimes the pros. Most often the focus group.
In my case, it’s usually our designers, then quality assurance once it matures more, then first customers. Then we start ignoring the rest because we got confused with priorities. -_-
Funny, my lowly epl2 can do +/-2ev bracketing with variable steps. The mode itself can changed between ae, iso, wb and flash.
Anyway, I don’t think it would be hard for Sony to expand it via firmware, unless that limitation was intentional or hw related, but you expect a +$1000 cam (mirrorless or otherwise) to be able to do it.
are you serious..??? the link above shows it is +/-5…! check the ephotozine link..
The +/-5 EV is exposure compensation, NOT exposure bracketing, ok
+/- 0.7 EV? ROFL! like my GH1! I swear those designers never took a single shot in their lifes lol!
I hear you. They are totally clueless. This is a software-only feature. A serious bracketing solution would cost Sony nothing, yet…
Theres a thing called a firmware update, if enough of us request it to sony it’ll hardly be hard for them to implement it…
Well, hope springs eternal, as they say 🙂
Bu I can’t help but wonder, how they missed it in the first place.
Why would Sony allow their top of the range NEX-7 to be outclassed by a Canon Rebel, at any juncture?
I dont think so. Enough People complaint about the Lack of a useful bracketing Feature in the First nex Series and Sony did Not fixed it with an fw Update. A Sales man from Sony told me that they will Not Adress this issue with an Update because Sony believes that their Build in HDR is more than enough. I had High Hopes that they atleast changed their minds in this pro mirrorless Model 🙁
HDR is a replacement for bracketing? Wha?!
Carl, HDR is not a replacement for bracketing, it NEEDS bracketing to do it right at an enthusiast level.
The NEX-5N’s AutoHDR is well-intended, but it simply can’t produce anything of worth. Three exposures is not enough, antighosting and alignment aren’t good, the JPG is nothing I can work with in post, so there is no creative control at all, which is what HDR is ultimately all about. For this you need AE bracketing over a range of at least 4 EV, better 6, with more than 3 exposures.
If Tobias is right that Sony does not intend to improve on the NEX-5N’s AEB, they really have some product managers to fire. Absolutely unbelievable.
That’s really stupid, it would be as simple as changing a software parameter to broaden the bracketing range. I will bet a chicken though that it’s included in the last update.
Silly comment.
1. This can be easily fixed with a firmware update (complain to sony).
2. Exposure can be bracketed manually, unless you are too lazy — or haven’t figured out how to use a camera in manual mode.
Are you guys serious or what???? The NEX 7 firmware is NOT even out yet! It is currently running on the 5N firmware so leave your judgment for the future.
I think the result is not bad. The ISO6400 is quite usable.
damm, 6sec behind
6min ah..
grab 1st sofa! 😀
Ha. I realized what’s wrong with this site.
Newcomers think of it as a marketing site instead of a rumor site.
So.. wrong..
sad, out of budget 🙁 after few quarters long count down, canoot realize my dream. geez
As a NEX5 User i find the “AE Bracketing” Feature also very disappointing. I too hoped for an increased bracket feature – just like nikon or canon do for a long time now. but i can live without it – right now i use the manual mode and get the results i desire. i will step up to the nex 7 and will customize the rear dials for my bracketing needs 😉
Disappointing indeed. I think I´m going with the new Ricoh GXR Leica-m module instead of the NEX-7. Besides I love the idea of no AA-filter-
Yeah, sounds like NEX-7 is not for you 🙂
I still think A77 jpeg looks not that sharp and its noisy than the rivals? :/
Not on this evidence. The 3200 is pretty good I prefer it to the d7000. but it looks like a good idea to set auto to 100-1600 then manually select 3200 if needed and 6400 if pushed. this is pretty much all I wanted anyway.
A77 IQ info… from http://www.modelmayhem.com/po.php?thread_id=780968
“I launched this camera to the European media in Athens yesterday morning, having used a pre-production SLT-A77 since the end of July. Noise levels are almost non-existant until ISO 12800 ”
“high ISO images over at dpreview show this camera wold not be what I would be looking for or need. I need better low light performance. ”
“The version DPReview has is not the final version of the camera. Early Pre-production models had the silver microphone cover (as the DP Review images show). I had one of these at first and the noise was not anywhere as good as the final a77 body (with the black microphone cover)
I can post you samples at all ISO to show if you like.”
in the mentioned thread the so-called evidence photo of “good image quality” of A77 was proven to be not 12800 but 1600 ISO. So the cheat attempt was not fully successful.
not the worst 12800 but it is more important to be among the best in the more used 1600-3200. low noise high iso is not just about who goes highest its more important to be consistant on the way up as few people will use 12800 on any camera. but plenty will use up to 3200.
It’s gone be a long wait until DxO can give us some answers.
Dynamic range at ISO 50 for A77 I am waiting to see.
The NEX7 should have ISO 50 also.
Are you saying that the 77 is better than what has been initially shown it to be?
Read this thread from top to bottom. Plenty of evidence especially the title test
http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.focus-numerique.com%2Ftest-1292%2Freflex-sony-alpha-77-bruit-electronique-12.html
and read Robby Ticknor’s comment above
ie”“I launched this camera to the European media in Athens yesterday morning, having used a pre-production SLT-A77 since the end of July. Noise levels are almost non-existent until ISO 12800 ”
“high ISO images over at dpreview show this camera wold not be what I would be looking for or need. I need better low light performance. ”
“The version DPReview has is not the final version of the camera. Early Pre-production models had the silver microphone cover (as the DP Review images show). I had one of these at first and the noise was not anywhere as good as the final a77 body (with the black microphone cover)
I can post you samples at all ISO to show if you like.”
yes evidence is building that the final version will be competitive with the likes of D7000. especially if used right and not just set at high iso for sack of it using f2.8 to F5.6 as you probably would when using high iso and generally using the camera as a photographer getting the best shots you can rather than finding how bad you can make a pre-production look will be wonders.
Thank you Terryfried. Yes, Focus numerique states, they have a final version a77 in today, and that up to iso 3200, noise is invisible when viewed full size on an 1080 hd monitor(actually they say that iso 50-200 is ‘pretty sweet’). iso 6400 is useable, iso 12,800 is not good. But iso 50 to 6400 with excellent results is an outstanding achievement, people are worrying and cryin’ about nothing. I’ll be glad to be able to use a camera at iso 3200 let alone 6400. Not to mention the multi-shot noise reduction 25,600.
but please be realistic, the multi shot noise reduction has often very soft details, looks similar to shooting with soft and not that sharp lenses …
Full HD montor is still downscaling, about 1/3 x 1/3.
So of course that looks reasonable.
Yes we have to wait some time before we know for sure about the A77/NEX7 24 MP sensor image quality. Maybe until DxO has tested them both. And remember some people are more interesten only in the low ISO image quality, ISO 50 to 200 or something. I find it a bit odd that Sony release a 24 MP camera with 12 fps… is it a landscape/portrait camera or a sport camera… or both? Maybe they should release two cameras, one 12 MP and this 24 MP so that people could buy the one best fit for their use. But again to early to say anything for sure. It looks like Sony did release these cameras a bit early, the NEX7 not even got a firmware built for all functions it got? I read that somewhere.
I come back in October/November when we know for sure 🙂
imo, sony’s ptoducts are always one suit more.
its camera always share same battery
it dont make different versions of same lenses like canon
steadyshot inside makes every lenses compatible with it
etc…
so makes sense to sony makes a77 for both landscape and sport
I was looking at the sample images. I don’t know if it’s the quality of the lens or the size of the 24MP that is causing the photo to look so pour. I need to see some low light tests under some high ISO settings. Thanks for this blog and all the hard work that is put into this site.
Have you even looked at the Focus Numerique site that started this thread? These images make the A77 look quite good. Final version certainly has improved Jpeg a lot. Let’s hope Raw is as good. DxO aren’t perfect so it will be a good indication but not everything. Remember it may depend on the example camera and lens they test. I have seen multiple tests of same lens with very different results.
It’s days since the announcement, expect rush (p)reviews with non-final versions 😀 Everyone wants a chip in the news.
Remember the store that allows pre-orders for A77 when it’s not even announced yet? 😀
I have the a700 and a900 and love both cams, I’m thinking of holding out for the a99. But would love to use the a77 for a few video projects that I have lined up for October. I love the MarkII5D look of the video but I have to rent it and the lenses. Witch cost about $240 to $400 for the weekend. But I have a nice collection of sony/zeiss/G lenses that would love to utilize this round. When will the shipments go out for the sony a77?
Somewhat unrelated…
Does anyone know what the fastest 64 gig a77 memory card currently available is?
I guess it would be a class 10 SDXC — but the speed of class 10 seems to vary wildly based on brand. What would you recommend?
quite frustrated the a77 only has one card slot… forces me to buy the biggest card i can find. I wonder if 128 gig memory cards come out, if the a77 will be able to use them.
I will be using SanDisk because it’s reliable..
But the largest Extreme Pro is 32GB.
Do you really use 64GB?
I only ever needed something like that twice. I filled up 3 x 8GB when shooting dancing, but the battery ran out 3x also, and these are rare cases.
I’m a believer of bang for the buck. The convenience of large sizes often is not worth the price for me.
Ya, i think i will need 64 gigs… will probably need two of them to be safe (two 64 gig cards will get me the same number of shots as my a550 with two 16 gig cards in it)
because of the size of the raw files, a 64 gig card will hold 1200 images (according to sony website)… I can shoot 1200 images at a long wedding.
I agree about price — was really hoping the a77 would have had two card slots exactly for that reason
Geh.. I don’t shoot RAWs, that makes a big difference in our needs.. If you can survive with a SanDisk ultra, they’re quite reliable, albeit slower, but they have 64 gigs.
Transcend has a lot of reliability issues due to outsourcing.
Lexar’s quite reliable also but their highest is 20MB/s.
Geh, and they say SD is faster than CF. They forgot about availability..
EDIT: If you google “fastest 64gb sdhc” you’ll find some with unrealistic prices 😀 (read: ~$500) They’re in Amazon also.
Card speed is unimportant past 45 MB/s. Canon 7D using CF topped out at 45MB/s when tested with faster cards, and Nikon d7000 got exactly the same times when using sandisk 45MB/s cards as it did with Delkin Elite 633 SDHC 95/80 MB/s cards. Basically the buffer and IO ports on DSLRs top out at 45MB/s. not sure yet about A77 but its buffer does empty a lot faster with 45 than 30MB/s cards. so until someone gets the A77 or any other camera to go faster than 45MB/s. the SanDisk Extreme® Pro™ SDHC™ UHS-I card or equivalent is best for most cameras.
Fastest 64GB i have seen is 60/35MB/s.
http://www.memoryc.com/products/description/64GB_Integral_Ultima_Pro_SDXC_CL10_UHS_1_memory_card-microSDHC_SDXC_USB_card_reader/index.html
If money is no object then you can go with Delkin Elite UHS. They have 64gb and the speed is faster than Sandisk Extreme Pro (80mb/s write vs. 45mb/s).
I have a Transcend 64GB SDXC ( bought it from here : http://www.memoryc.com/flashmemorycards/sdsecuredigital/64gbtranscendultimatesdxc.html ).
Write speed is 22 MB/s read is 24 MB/s.( my own tests).You need to use a build in reader (on PCIe) on a laptop to get the real values as esternal USB readers will top at 20 MB/s.
Don’t forget, A77 supports SDXC UHS-I bus with much higher speeds, but cards are few and expensive for now. As capacity don’t worry, SDXC goes up to 2 TB and ALL devices whic have the SDXC logo must support capacities up to 2 TB.
part of sdxc standard as biger cards arrive A77 will use them. limit is 2TB.
the fastest is from Panasonic, read 95 MB/s, write 80 MB/s its a UHS-I card, but the prices are extreme, 8 GB something like 70 Euro, 16 GB 140 Euro and for 32 GB you get another nice compact camera as an addon 😀
I definitely couldn’t find any Panasonic with an 80mb/s write here in the US. They have only the 25mb/s write UHS version (90mb/s read).
Bye bye Nikon mirrorless.
http://www.techradar.com/news/photography-video-capture/cameras/nikon-we-don-t-need-mirrorless-cameras-1000572
Guess mirrorless will still be at the hands of Olympus, Panasonic, Sony, and Samsung.
EDIT: I news.google it because I was curious, but apparently it’s in nikonrumors.com also.
Apparently Nikon thinks mirrorless are useless even though we have these kinds of news articles:
http://www.twice.com/article/472631-Trends_Go_With_Mirrorless_Mega_Zoom_Waterproof.php
It’s all fine right, a monopoly in the camera market would slow down innovation anyway.
bye bye Panny … lol 😀 this is funny! please see Panny pancake, you will realize what Sony lag 😀 Doesn’t mean Sony incorporate the 28mb video mean dominant mirrorless world.
Maybe Nikon realized that its project with mirrorless and that small sensor was nothing but crap. I highly doubt it could have been competing with NEX-7 and a proper lens lineup.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRVOzwI10Iw
Another NEW hands on preview on the A77. So far so positive 🙂
At 1:49 they have a lot of scenes. More than 17 (At least 35)
I wonder if they held the button all the time, and if so, after 17, what’s the fps?
But looks sufficient for my needs!
For the price the A77 really delivers. The buffer could be a bit larger and we have to wait and see how the image quality is. But I believe low ISO image quality is very good, just the high ISO image quality that some people are so obsessed about. Yes and audio signal level should be possible to adjust, but many people will use external mic and recorder so not dependent of the camera audio recording then.
where is the a56?
Is there a plan for a a55 successor or is the a65 the successor?
Thanks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRVOzwI10Iw&feature=feedu
a preview video of a77 on “what digital camera”
ANY one knows if there is going to be a replacement for the A55 any time soon?
It’s going to be interesting to see the IQ and ISO of the a77 and Nex-7 side by side… same sensor, but one without the light loss of the mirror.
Sadly, I have a suspicion that the IQ and ISO of the Nex-7 will be noticeably better then the a77
Here’s my prediction: the D7000, with Sony’s 16mp sensor, will have better IQ than the A77. If you want Alpha mount buy the A55 or 580. The higher megapixels that Sony is pushing is a marketing gimic. How many of you plan on printing a 60″ wide poster? I’ve printed 36″ wide with 16mp. The D700 has much better IQ and ISO than the A77 and it’s well over 3 years old. Don’t waste your money. And you know what’s the worst? They haven’t even told you how many minutes before it overheats in video mode. My A55 overheated in real-world situations in around 10 minutes or less. Then you’ve got to let it cool down for several minutes and stop shooting. Direct sun, forget about it. Did they fix that? Will they bother to tell us? The 12fps is a gimic too. Ever tried to shoot ball on bat at baseball game? There’s a window of about four-one-hundredths of a second. Timing is everything, the other frames will help you get lucky in capturing the end of the swing. Buy a used A900, don’t waste your money.
In layman term, Sony just used its own hand slap on its own face ~.~ 5N pawn ‘Flagshit’ A77/Nex7! Sony made them a lesson large sensor high poor noise. That is sweat! I am sad for long wait to hear this @@” fainted!
http://www.eoshd.com/content/3802/which-is-best-for-low-light-sony-nex-5n-or-nex-7-and-a77
Is there anyway update FW can turn orange77 from 24mp into 16 or 18mp and get similar IQ like 5N?
People! The final firmware for nex 7 and a77 is not even out yet! Stop panicking! Ignore the previews for now and wait until they produce REVIEWS! @@
But of course people who don’t really care can go ahead and pre order. 😀
The image difference between A77 and Nex 7 should be similar as old A55 vs Nex 5, but will not as the huge difference between A77 vs Nex 5N
Then why 5N have such superior IQ? All are launched on the same date same pre-prod unit. With the 5N IQ in Orange77, that is really rank Flagship! if not, rank as Flagshit due to its overprice compare to 5N.
hopefully there are improvement in new FW. IF not, A700 users might sad after long decade of wait, me2 ^.^
First of all, NEX 5 isn’t 24 megapixels to begin with!
And no, nex 5’s firmware is the latest one. That’s why the shipping starts earlier compared to nex 7 and a77.
“First of all, NEX 5 isn’t 24 megapixels to begin with!”
Who asked for 24 megapixels? Certainly not if high ISO is compromised. I have lately been seeing that people are justifying the noise by either pointing to the firmware or the huge megapixels count. Firmware isn’t going to make that big a difference.
I can tell you one thing. Sony always finds some way to ridicule themselves. The 24 MP sensor is just another way of doing it. The buffer is useless, the noise is worse than their previous generation. The 24 MP bullcrap is just starting to get on my nerves.
I really really wanted to this to be the best camera on the market. Sorry, but I am really disappointed. I am just ranting my frustration.
you are not alone, I.Believe 😀
I agree, I was waiting for the A77 and want IQ and not gadgets gadgets gadgets (nice but just bonus). But when I mention IQ, some people I get blamed for the NR/MP race and pixel peeping (so they agree more or less but use other words to mask that). Even get the remark the pictures may not be A77 ones…
They forget I am not the one who decided it had to be 24 MP.
Would have been far happier with a good performing 16 MP!
The change from v0.58 to v 1.00 of the firmware is quite a big one (I am happy about that). But would need another step like that and I am not sure if that’s possible. I will wait. Maybe even for the A99 when I swore I never want a FF because I like the crop factor too much in many cases. Still if they can use this body (weight issue), increase the buffer and EVF response and inclde an electronic APSC support (I have mixed lenses) and of course better ISO I would go for it.
So what are your basis of frustration when the real, final product is not even out? These cameras WILL NOT be sold in your local camera stores. The cameras which will ship in a few weeks time are the ones that will have the latest firmware, which i believe have better tweaks here and there. It’s called a PREVIEW for a reason. Not a REVIEW. And like some people said here, there are no available high quality RAW converter yet!
So why not go chill for awhile and wait for a few more weeks before the final stuff gets into the hands of the reviewers. If it sucks by then, BY ALL MEANS, RANT ALL YOU WANT.
The problem we are in is that Sony is making very limited SLR/SLT camera choice: if you want 16MP sensor, you got A55/580. If you want better built and usability, you have to go with 24MP and suffer ISO. I am afraid there is no miracle that final FW can fix poor ISO performance. I already did some RAW comparison, A77 is in no way better than A55, and noticeably noisier than K-5/D7000. Now my last hope is waiting for final low ISO result. Anything less than excellent I am getting a used A900 and keep my A55.
Btw, really need to praise Sony 5N, this model ab-so-lute-ly stunning by deliver unexpected result on its segment. olympus EP3, Panny GF3, G3 is in hard time. Good job Sony!
This is ridiculous, comparing the E-P3 decrepit sensor to the NEX-5N at ISO12800… Was there any doubt of what the result would be for stills???
Now this is interesting, the E-P3 trounces the NEX-5N in video, so those initial technical illustrations that mentioned a full sensor binning on the E-P3 must be true after all! And now I’m sure that monster of a sensor that is on the NEX-5N is subsampling on video… 🙁
http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.focus-numerique.com%2Ftest-1294%2Fcompact-sony-nex-5n-bruit-electronique-12.html
Tested SONY Alpha Nex-7. Pleased with the studio shooting. My brief review http://www.photoru.ru/page.php?vrub=eqipment&vparid=0&vid=145&lang=rus