Showing posts with label Sony NEX 5N. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sony NEX 5N. Show all posts

Sony NEX 5N, my compact camera in hiking and skiing with 1-lens

2016-04-21
Some product shots using the A6000 and E 50mm f/1.8
The subject is my NEX 5N with Fujian 35mm f/1.7 mounted

Sony NEX 5N, my compact camera in hiking and skiing with 1-lens
f/2.0, iso 2500
Sony NEX 5N, my compact camera in hiking and skiing with 1-lens
f/2.0, iso 1600
Sony NEX 5N, my compact camera in hiking and skiing with 1-lens

The 5N is a smaller camera than the A6000. Instead of getting a 1 inch sensor camera, I am keeping my 5N and use smaller lenses like the 16-50 kit zoom, sigma 30 and 19, along with manual compact lenses such as my Voiglander 40mm f/1.4 or Fujian 35mm f/1.7. The combo can't beat the size of a Sony Rx100 IV or Panasonic LX100 but it is smaller than any dSLR that I have used. One of my most favorite Pentax is the Kx but the size can't match the 5N with a small lens. I have these comparisons pictures of K-01 and Sony 5N before.
Sony NEX 5N, my compact camera in hiking and skiing with 1-lens
Sony NEX 5N, my compact camera in hiking and skiing with 1-lens

When the 1" sensor camera get closer to < $400, I may consider it but until then, I am using the 5N for those moments that smaller size is better suited on 5N.



This small combo with NEX 5N and 16-50 pancake kit zoom happen to be my most used combination even though I have my A6000 with me. I use the A6000 with a fast prime in Voiglander 20mm f/1.8 for other 1-lens outing in Mammoth Lakes visit last week.
Sony NEX 5N, my compact camera in hiking and skiing with 1-lens
Sony NEX 5N and Voiglander 40mm f/1.4
Sony NEX 5N and Voiglander 40mm f/1.4

Both were taken with Voiglander 40mm f/1.4 and A6000. A nice combo for small and compact size similar to FA 43mm f/1.9. The Voiglander has great character wide open and when paired with a $35 Helicoil adapter for better close up, it is well rounded manual focus lens that is UNLIKE any bigger dSLR lenses.

Mirrorless Pentax with Sony A6000 and Sony NEX 5N

2016-04-20
I have Sony A6000, you can visit my flickr photos and you will see I use a combination of Sony A6000, Sony A7 and NEX 5N. I still shoot Pentax K-5. My usage is most on the aps-c with Sony A6000. It is lightweight and compact. The wonderful lens on the camera will make a lot of difference. The high end lenses series in the G or Zeiss branded lenses of Sony native E mount are expensive. I highly recommend the non-native Sigma (especially the older version1) on 19 mm f/2.8 and 30mm f/2.8. The Sigma 60mm is only available in version 2 and the 60 is the sharpest aps-c lens for Sony that I have used. Well worth the money and you can shoot all wide open and not worry about sharpness. That is especially true on the Sigma 30 and 60.

Mirrorless Pentax with Sony A6000 and Sony NEX 5N
sigma 30mm f/2.8 and NEX 5N @ f/2.8
The Sigma 19mm f/2.8 is the weakest link out of the trio but I like it for landscape and street shooting. It is my DA 21mm replacement on Sony aps-c sensor camera
Mirrorless Pentax with Sony A6000 and Sony NEX 5N
Sony NEX 5N and Sigma 19mm f/2.8



Mirrorless Pentax with Sony A6000 and Sony NEX 5N
Sigma 60 and NEX 5N
The A6000 is a fast and action packed camera. It has its quirks but it can shoot 10 frames per second and it has a Eye-AF where it places the focal point on one's eye and a green square can appear over one's eye for focusing when face detection is on. The A7r2 and A6300 even have Eye-AF and refined lock-on focusing in AF-C and video. Yes, all AF with work seamlessly on video.
Mirrorless Pentax with Sony A6000 and Sony NEX 5N
Shot with a $25.00 Fujian 35mm f/1.7 wide open in f/1.7 and Sony A6000
If you like to experiment with MF lenses on the cheap or the opposite with Leica priced lens, you will be wowed on Sony with range-finder like lenses such as the Voiglander 40mm f/1.4 and Voiglander 21mm f/1.8
Mirrorless Pentax with Sony A6000 and Sony NEX 5N
Voiglander 40mm f/1.4 on Sony A7 -- the combo is tiny, not any bigger than a 43mm f/1.9 on Pentax
Mirrorless Pentax with Sony A6000 and Sony NEX 5N
Voiglander 40mm f/1.4 and Sony A7 likely in f/1.4
And you can reuse your super-takumar (my favorite Pentax MF lenses) on Sony A7 usage such as the Super-Tak 105mm f/2.8 (tiny m42 lens) on hiking
Mirrorless Pentax with Sony A6000 and Sony NEX 5N
Sony A6000 and Super-Tak 105mm f/2.8 and lens turbo that adds 1 stop of light and provide a 0.71 crop factor to offset the 1.5 aps-c crop factor.


Can other mirrorless does what Sony has done, you bet! And I think both Olympus and Fuji have done amazing work on their latest. But Sony has done quite a remarkable job on the senor along with innovative products and the previous problems with lack of lenses are improving and not as bad as before. The big issue on A6000 or the development on aps-c in general lies in Sony putting more emphasis on FF instead of aps-c. It is both good and bad. Bad in customers like me who love aps-c and good for FF die-hard fans who are crazy on resolution or the bigger-the-better camp. When I get A6000 and A7, my take-away is that the smaller camera is more satisfactory for me. The FF is very much hyped up for my usage. FF is great but not as fantastic as what others have hyped up the value of FF for average-joe enthusiasts like me.

I am much happier with a lighter camera when I go hiking or carry my camera bag for outdoor activity. The FF does has its important places and it is worth the trouble and money. Had Pentax gotten K-1 in 2013, there is no way I will get Sony A7. If I go back in time and that Pentax has a solid K-1 in 2012/2013 time-frame, I will grab k-1 for professional work while getting A6000 for weekend and light camera to have with reasonable tracking, frame rate and reliable AF. The A6000 and the Sony E mount excels the most with adapters that you can easily buy a few AF native lenses while using many of your existing lenses with AF support (Canon) or shoot all in MF. Sony excel in focus peeking along with good magnified view on EVF or LCD. The EVF is superb and once you get over the hurtle in adaptation with Evf over Ovf, you can't go back as you see the aperture change and melt your hearts away with the bokeh and rendering effect of vignette right at you view finder.
Mirrorless Pentax with Sony A6000 and Sony NEX 5N
Sony A6000 with Fujinon 75mm f/1.8 @ f/1.8

Chewy with Sigma 60mm f/2.8 and Sony NEX 5N

2014-07-25
I met Chewy last weekend while doing the Smog check for my wife's car. I have my Sigma 60 and nex 5N to do some causal shots on Chewy.

Chewy with Sigma 60mm f/2.8 and Sony NEX 5N
DSC07889 

Chewy with Sigma 60mm f/2.8 and Sony NEX 5N
DSC07894-2

Chewy with Sigma 60mm f/2.8 and Sony NEX 5N
DSC07893 

Not great shots to show off the lens but casual shots with p&s mentality and the lens does beautifully. And a crop to show the eye's reflection 

Chewy with Sigma 60mm f/2.8 and Sony NEX 5N
DSC07894-3 


All shot with Sigma 60mm f/2.8 and nex 5N

Industar 69 28mm f/2.8 for black and white

2014-07-22
Instead of selling this lens, I renew my interest in keeping it as it has an unique character especially for black and white photos. It is a cute pancake and works reasonably well on aps-c.   My copy does not need any modification and focus at infinity is a non-issue for me.

Industar 69 28mm f/2.8 for black and white
IMGP9995 


Industar 69 28mm f/2.8 for black and white
DSC00794 


DSC00796

I have ordered a 24mm to 37mm step up ring attempting to dress it up with a lens hood with 37mm vented Leica style metal hood. I don't exactly know if 24mm will fit the front or if a step-up ring will hinder the aperture adjustment. I will update how it goes in about 3 days.

Industar 69 28mm f/2.8 for black and white
DSC03598 

Aperture ring is in the front of the lens. Lens is prone to flare lowering its contrast. With a hood, this may become a better street shooter in b&w.

Update: It is a shame that 24mm is not the filter thread size but 22.5mm or maybe 22mm is and I don't think I can easily find a step-up ring that can work with a lens hood such as a Leica style vented lens hood in 37mm. 

I just found out the filter size from this blog post and pictures

http://www.lilyandlamb.com/blog/industar-69-28mm-f28

I shot the following in b&w creative with 5N in about f/10. In b&w mode, the peaking focus will help even in strong lit afternoon sun against the LCD. When I shot the following, I was not able to see detail on my LCD because of the Sun and I don't have EVF on my 5N.

I may over-do the processing with Red Hi-Contrast filter on LR.

Industar 69 28mm f/2.8 for black and white
DSC07922 


Industar 69 28mm f/2.8 for black and white
DSC07925 


Industar 69 28mm f/2.8 for black and white
DSC07931 


Industar 69 28mm f/2.8 for black and white
DSC07923 


I want to find the right lens hood so that I can try improving the contrast. When using this lens for color shot, there are scenes that this lens will come up oddly with low contrast and bokeh is not its strength. Size, form factor and ease of use with exception on the aperture selection make up the fondness of this pancake for the budget minded. 

Sigma EX 19mm and 30mm f/2.8 in Academy Of Sciences

2013-09-30
Reproducing

Reproducing by hin_man, on Flickr
1/25 sec, f/3.5, 30mm, iso 800, -1 Ev


Resting

Resting by hin_man, on Flickr
1/320 sec, f/3.2, 30mm, iso 100, -1 Ev
big crop near 1/10th of the original


DeYoung Museum In A Distance

DSC05812 by hin_man, on Flickr
1/500, f/7.1, 19mm, iso 100, 0 Ev


San Francisco Street Scene

Scooter Motorbike by hin_man, on Flickr
1/2500 sec, f/3.2, 19mm, iso 100, 0 Ev

All are taken with nex 5N. I wish to have a viewfinder as in nex 6 as the sun in afternoon really gets in the way of framing when I use 19mm in San Francisco. I have a LCD pop out screen already but when the sunlight is too strong, I can only rough guess on the framing.

I don't know when, the Sigma 60mm will be in my Lowepro Event Messenger bag some day

shot with Sigma 30mm wide open in f/2.8

Related:

Wansen Hotshoe Adapter for Sony NEX 5N

2013-02-20
I want to report recent upgrade with Wansen hotshoe that I got from eBay. It has helped quite a bit to my Sony NEX 5N in strobing. I am not a strobist but I find the flash is quite lacking in the 5N with the proprietary hot shoe. The wansen hot-shoe adapter allows me to use my Cactus v5 through a PC sync cable and I can also have a wired setup like the following that makes use of the center pin in the standard hot shoe to do the external flash triggering through wire.



Wansen Hotshoe Adapter for Sony NEX 5N
Wansen Hot Shoe Adapter, wired with external flash Nikon SB25


Wansen Hotshoe Adapter for Sony NEX 5N
My Wansen hot shoe can't trigger the Cactus v5 transmitter when mounted directly on top. There may be a loose connection between the Cactus transmitter and the central pin in the hot shoe of the Wansen.  I can't figure out after several failed attempts. 



Wansen Hotshoe Adapter for Sony NEX 5N
An added sync cord solves my wireless trigger problem. Picture above shows an added synch cord that connects the Wansen and the Cactus v5 transmitter



Wansen Hotshoe Adapter for Sony NEX 5N
Sync at 1/160 sec


Wansen Hotshoe Adapter for Sony NEX 5N
Sync at 1/200 sec


Wansen Hotshoe Adapter for Sony NEX 5N
black strip at 1/250 sec


I can use my Pentax flash in manual/auto modes. I have tried mostly in manual mode from 1/4 to 1/64 power setting in Nikon SB25 and I do have some good shots with auto mode on the Nikon SB 25 and my Pentax flashes. 

Wansen Hotshoe Adapter for Sony NEX 5N

The Wansen does have a version with the trigger built-in. I prefer to get one without so that I can re-use the Cactus v5 and sometimes I prefer to use a simple wired setup through the standard hot shoe. And I am currently sharing the setup between my Pentax digital and Sony NEX bodies with Cactus v5. The cactus is pretty reliable in triggering but a wired setup can't be beaten as I sometime ran into mistakes in draining batteries in the Cactus transmitter/receiver or have mis-matched channels. It is too-easy to bump the channel setting in the Cactus to mis-match between receiver and transmitter and forget about switching the terminals to off after usage. Hence, I also have a wired setup.


Initial Impressions upon arrival
My copy arrived and I find it quite easy to mount on my NEX 5N body. The big screw takes away the need for the smaller screw driver of the JJC alternative for most cases. With a bigger flash, a small screw driver may be needed but I manage to use it with Nikon SB 25 just using the screw thumb. The build quality of the Wansen is better than my expectation. I have not run through the adapter with 3rd party dSLR lens adapter but it works fine with my Sigma 30 in terms of spacing and I assume it works well with the kit lens and 16 prime.
  • Mounting a flash directly on top fires consistently. When I get unresponsive firing but it is usually a loose connection between the hot shoe and the flash. So I will encourage others who have a problem to ensure proper connection between the Wansen's hot shoe and the flash base
  • Mounting my cactus v5 on top of the wansen fails to fire an external flash mounted away from the Wansen hot shoe. It is either a bad connection between the wansen hot shoe and my Cactus v5 transmitter base or that the trigger from the Wansen hotshoe is not powerful enough to kick off the Cactus v5 transmitter. However, if I connect the Wansen and the Cactus transmitter with a short PC sync cable, the firing of the external flash works consistently through the wireless trigger.
  • With the Cactus v5 and Wansen, I manage to sync at < 1/160 secs and a few times in 1/200 sec with my NEX 5N and it all works as expected. When I try 1/250 and 1/320 sec a portion of the shot is wiped out in black.
  • The only requirement on my part is to change the setting in Menu -> Setting -> LCD Display Effect --> change from ON to OFF.


Field Usage

In my recent travel to visit family in Macau and Hong Kong, I bring my smaller camera with Sony NEX 5N with 16, 30, 50, Kit zoom, UWA converter, Wansen hot shoe along with Nikon SB25.   I used the kit zoom for family gathering and the external flash helps a great deal.


Wansen Hotshoe Adapter for Sony NEX 5N
Sony NEX 5N, Kit Zoom, Wansen hot shoe, external flash with Nikon SB25 in manual mode

5N in manual mode with 1/100 sec, f/5.6, 42mm, iso 400, manual flash in 1/8th power setting and flash head is in bounce reclining position



Related:

Sigma E 30mm f/2.8 and Sony NEX 5N

2013-02-03


Sigma E 30mm f/2.8 and Sony NEX 5N
Product shot with Sony E 16mm f/2.8


Sigma E 30mm f/2.8 and Sony NEX 5N


Sigma E 30mm f/2.8 and Sony NEX 5N


Sigma E 30mm f/2.8 and Sony NEX 5N

Last picture is a big crop from original.



I have been very happy with the prime that Sigma has offered for the Sony E mount. While it is not pancake small, I find it very sharp and surprisingly low cost of ownership. There may be a gripe or two especially in the slower AF but overall this is a lens to get if you want to have a faster prime to compliment with the kit zoom. I now frequently go out with the Sigma 30mm f/2.8 and the Sony E 16mm f/2.8. And I recently add the wide angle adapter and the Sony E 50mm f/1.8. So I will have my choices of prime only or a single prime to go with the kit zoom. Life is sweet especially I find a good prime that is affordable and with AF. The manual focusing with this prime is not as bad as some discussion that I have seen. I find it quite reasonable for manual focusing and I am yet to try a 46mm to 49mm step up ring and use my Cosina matched macro adapter.



Related:



Moon Chasing with Tamron SP 500mm f/8 and Sony NEX 5N

2013-01-30
The lithium grease seems to work well with my ball-head and I manage to try my travel camera with Nex 5N on the same Tamron SP 500mm f/8.0 mirror (55BB). It is another problem and challenge to face as the nex is a thin body and I don't have the expensive L bracket. The setup oscillates even when I try to touch the focusing ring. Unlike the Pentax, my travel camera don't have SR for manual lens and with the setup, I pick a higher ISO 400 to shoot the moon yesterday night to gain for a faster shutter to avoid shaking

Moon Chasing with Tamron SP 500mm adaptall-2 f/8 (55BB) and Sony NEX 5N

Tamron SP adaptall-2 500mm f/8.0 mirror (55BB) mounted on NEX 5N

Moon Chasing with Tamron SP 500mm adaptall-2 f/8 (55BB) and Sony NEX 5N


Having a flip out LCD is a big plus especially when the moon rises more to the vertical above.


Moon Chasing with Tamron SP 500mm adaptall-2 f/8 (55BB) and Sony NEX 5N


Moon Chasing with Tamron SP 500mm adaptall-2 f/8 (55BB) and Sony NEX 5N

Tamron mirror and Sony nex 5N on tripod

All documentary pictures was shot single hand with K-5 and FA 43mm as my left hand is holding a remote for the nex 5N setup. I usually do documentary with DA 35 but the 43 is more suited for night shooting

Moon Chasing with Tamron SP 500mm adaptall-2 f/8 (55BB) and Sony NEX 5N


Moon Chasing with Tamron SP 500mm adaptall-2 f/8 (55BB) and Sony NEX 5N
Moon Chasing with Tamron SP adaptall-2 500mm f/8.0 mirror (55BB) and Sony NEX 5N

Having the fold out LCD is a great help especially when the moon is closer to the vertical above you. And I share the same pain on my first shooting where I have to crouch under my tripod to find the moon with K-5. But in actual shooting in hand-held shots without tripod, the optical viewfinder in K-5 allows me to back myself against a wall and brace with the camera aimed high to the moon. The shooting becomes easier without the restraint of tripod. I am lucky to have the lightweight Tamron SP 500mm f/8.0 mirror as it is quite alright to hand-held the moon shots with the mirror lens in iso 200 ~ 400 and have a higher shutter.

And with a fold out LCD, I find the setup with less restraint and with more freedom to find the moon when used on a mono-pod
Moon Chasing with Tamron SP 500mm adaptall-2 f/8 (55BB) and Sony NEX 5N


This is my mono-pod setup with the Tamron mirror mounted on my nex. I have an inexpensive Dolica WT-1003 mono-pod and a very cheap Manfrotto RC2 like quick release from Amazon. I am thinking of Manfrotto 494 ball head for my next upgrade on my lightweight traveling setup. If any of you have manfrotto 494, please help me if there is better alternative that I can consider in similar price range. My current traveling tripod head is Manfrotto 3229 which works better on mono-pod but falls short on a tripod due to absence of a ball head for more directional control.

Moon Chasing with Tamron SP 500mm adaptall-2 f/8 (55BB) and Sony NEX 5N

My boy helps in holding the mono-pod setup. The Tamron mirror lens is actually quite small in use and it is one of long focal lens that I actually enjoy shooting hand-held. But it is best use on a mono-pod if lowest iso is what you are after. The AF ring is very capable for fine tuning. Sharpness and color is very reasonable for such a long focal length. When time allows, I will try to reshoot similar moon pictures with my 300mm with a 1.7x TC -- Photosniper Tair Phs 300mm f/4.5 or my F* 300mm f/4.5


Related:

 

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Welcome to Hin's Photo Corner, this is my learning blog on photography, blogging and advertising. And I hope you enjoy your visit. For contact, please comment in blog post or email me directly hintheman at gmail.com.

 

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