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Is the NEX-7 "old tech" compared to the a6000?
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 16, 2014 5:09 pm    Post subject: Is the NEX-7 "old tech" compared to the a6000? Reply with quote

I bought a clean used NEX-7 about a month ago for a really good price. I won it at auction on eBay. I bought a kit with the 18-55 zoom because I wanted at least one lens native to the format. Honestly I guess I hadn't been staying current with the latest goings on with Sony's mirrorless offerings because the first I heard of the a6000 was a response to a post I posted about a week or so ago in the "best bargains" thread regarding my NEX-7 outfit. So, I decided to investigate it. To me, the go-to source for new gear is dpreview.com. And I was in luck. The folks there had recently reviewed the A6000, and apparently thought quite highly of it. But they dinged it in one area -- its lower resolution viewfinder -- 1.4M dots compared to the NEX 6 and 7's 2.36M dots.

Hrmmm . . . to me viewfinder sharpness and resolution is important, so this might be a significant factor. I don't know.

Fortunately for me, I bought my NEX-7 outfit at a good price, so I should be able to resell it and get my money back out of it, should I want to. But despite the a6000's improvements, I'm not so sure I'd like it better than the NEX-7.

One of the members here also mentioned more and better FF offerings by Sony coming in 2015. Dunno if I'll be able to afford that, anyway. So, at this point, my feeling is that I should stop looking for something better and just get used to the NEX-7, and enjoy it for what it is. What do you think? If you're planning to buy into the NEX or alpha systems or improve your position within either, what would your move be, if any?


PostPosted: Sun Nov 16, 2014 7:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

hmm, yes, maybe wait a little bit for the coming model, or better another year. On second though rather wait even a little longer as there will be something so much better then... get the picture?

It's all BS, use what you have and use it to the max. Have you already maxed out what you have?? Wink Wink Wink


PostPosted: Sun Nov 16, 2014 7:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The EVF resolution if important, but more so might be the refresh rate. Have you compared that?


PostPosted: Sun Nov 16, 2014 7:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm pretty sure that you will see differences in terms of image qualitiy etc. between new models and that from the last year or the year before only at the test laboratory.

Wink


PostPosted: Sun Nov 16, 2014 8:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I will come out and say it, we all suffer from gear purchasing syndrome, and a better camera will not make you a better photographer, go out and enjoy what you have, The next 7 is in my eyes perfect, great high ISO, built in flash if needed, excellent performance, just go out and use it
I recently started using my old A700 again and love that camera, i have upgraded 2x since that camera and i look back and thats the camera i love still takes great pictures
yes high iso on my others is better but at sub iso 1600 still great


PostPosted: Sun Nov 16, 2014 10:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah, all the points y'all make are good ones. I've managed and made do with photographic tools much less capable than this NEX7, that's for sure.

I had basically two goals that I hoped to meet with my next purchase: 1) at least 24mp, so I could make dupes of my slides and negs with my slide duplicating rig at 4000 ppi (24mp ~ 4000 ppi), which is equivalent to a good Coolscan's output. 2) I wanted an FF digital camera that I could mount my Canon FD (and hopefully Nikon F, Pentax K, M42 and LTM) lenses to. A Sony A7 or A7r would have met both requirements, but its behavior when shooting moving subjects is surprisingly poor, which caused me to decide against getting one at all. The NEX-7 will do about 10 frames per second with no blackouts between frames, which is what I was looking for, and which was why I decided to get it instead of an FF alpha.

Anyway, it occurs to me now that I could still get an A7 or A7r to use for other photographic purposes -- scenics, wildlife, portraits, whatever -- so I'll be able to use all my legacy optics, plus the advantage to that would be a cross-compatibility with the NEX-7. The only drawback that I can think of to this approach is simply a monetary one. It would cost more because I would have to buy two cameras instead of one. Or I could cheap out and buy a metabones or lens turbo to get FF-looking results.

I'm also tempted to just wait and see if Sony releases something with better performance that might actually be cheaper than current offerings. And use this NEX to the hilt if I decide to wait. We've been so busy moving from our old house to our new one -- it's taken us over a month! -- that I haven't had time to do much more than just shoot a few test shots with it.


PostPosted: Sun Nov 16, 2014 11:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The NEX 7 probably would have done for me as an upgrade to the NEX 5K but I saw and had a little play with the A6000 and bought one of those. I'm sure the NEX 7 is extremely capable but the A6000 was almost half the price and just as good. Viewfinder resolution was much better than any EVF I'd seen before and that did it for me. And I'd never seen the NEX 7's.

With the 16-50 lens it replaces my point'n'shoot, with its excellent EVF it replaces my DSLR and with its e-mount it replaces my NEX 5k. AND it has a proper hot shoe, not a dedicated Konica/Minolta/Sony only shoe.

I like it and with no disrespect to the NEX 7.

My only wish is that I can use an external mic with it for video.


PostPosted: Mon Nov 17, 2014 12:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, my NEX is NEX-5, so I am an expert in the old tech Wink

I doubt to be honest that you need that much IQ improvements, whatever they might be in the newer models. Is there something new and exciting feature-wise in NEX land? Electronic shutter? Who's up to date on NEX line-up and plans? Otherwise, I would consider one of the FF Nexes, or be happy with NEX-7.

I hardly touched my NEX-5 after getting Oly P-5 because it has proper dials in right places. NEX-7 is similar in that regards, it has most of the necessary convenience features if I remember correctly. So unless something bugs you in NEX-7, I would just stick to it.


PostPosted: Mon Nov 17, 2014 7:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, right now, my plans are to stick with my NEX7. But there's at least one feature that the a6000 has that the 7 doesn't that I wish it did have -- wireless capability. That is a feature that would save me a few steps in operations I find myself doing more and more of these days. Namely texting or emailing images. Having a wireless function would make the process much quicker. Now, I usually just take the easy way out and use my smartphone's camera if I need to take pix to send. Fortunately, my Samsung Galaxy S4's 13mp camera with flash is a surprisingly capable setup, so it usually serves me well for this, but just for general photography. I'll be able to be much more creative or use a much greater inventory of focal lengths with a NEX.

One other item I find myself missing, more out of habit than anything el.se is having a touch screen. I've got so used to my smatphone's touchscreen and my iPad's touch screen that I find myself touching the NEX's screen to operate its menus before realizing that it doesn't do that. Cool

So anyway, getting back to my original question and speculations, it seems to me that releasing a camera that is as good as the 7 in some ways, better in others, and somewhat deficient in a couple of others, yet pricing it at roughly half the price of the 7, seems to me to be arguing that a much nicer update to the 7 should be revealed soon. Which figures. Seems like if I even buy into a current generation bit of tech, it is soon obsolesced by a newer and improved version. Which, while not altering in any way the effectiveness of the camera I've just bought, it does give its resale value a pretty good hit.


Last edited by cooltouch on Tue Nov 18, 2014 5:01 am; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Mon Nov 17, 2014 1:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great to hear you get a new camera for your FD lenses.

You can buy a eye-fi card to enable you transfer the photo on-the-air.
http://support.eye.fi/cameras/sony/alpha_nex-7


PostPosted: Mon Nov 17, 2014 1:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

the big improvement of the A6000 over earlier NEX cameras is the Autofokus.
It's lower res. EVF is said to be not worse, but possibly even better


PostPosted: Mon Nov 17, 2014 9:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

kuuan wrote:
the big improvement of the A6000 over earlier NEX cameras is the Autofokus.


Aha, that useless tech! Laughing


PostPosted: Tue Nov 18, 2014 5:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

fermy wrote:
kuuan wrote:
the big improvement of the A6000 over earlier NEX cameras is the Autofokus.


Aha, that useless tech! Laughing


Very Happy Smile Cool Very Happy Very Happy


PostPosted: Fri Nov 21, 2014 5:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

kds315* wrote:
hmm, yes . . . . . . .

It's all BS, use what you have and use it to the max. Have you already maxed out what you have?? Wink Wink Wink


How true.
I think `shotgun ` approach is valid - shoot often enough and you will hit something ! ! !
Luisalegria said that with digital - `I have free film`.
As already stated - `Use it .


PostPosted: Fri Nov 21, 2014 4:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have attempted to use the wireless capability and the near field communication on my A6000 and been totally bamboozled by it. I think I must install an app. The A6000 seems to use my wireless hub so a bit useless outdoors.

Perhaps I'm doing something wrong? The wireless capability isn't a selling point for me its just something that may be useful if I could get my head round it.


PostPosted: Fri Nov 21, 2014 6:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Is it "old tech"? Yes, of course!
But who cares?

A great camera such as the NEX-7 does not suddenly get bad, just because a newer model is on the market. It is still as good as it was when it was marketed. Just like a Nikon D700 or a Canon EOS 7D etc.

Is the "old tech" cam still sufficient? Is it still fun to play with? Yes? In both cases? OK, no need for another cam.


PostPosted: Fri Nov 21, 2014 11:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

philslizzy wrote:
I have attempted to use the wireless capability and the near field communication on my A6000 and been totally bamboozled by it. I think I must install an app. The A6000 seems to use my wireless hub so a bit useless outdoors.

Perhaps I'm doing something wrong? The wireless capability isn't a selling point for me its just something that may be useful if I could get my head round it.


I don't know if A6000 works that way (it most likely does), but for me the biggest advantage of wi-fi on E-P5 is that it instantly turns your smartphone into the wireless remote. Indeed, most certainly you need to install an app if you want your camera to communicate with your phone.


PostPosted: Sat Nov 22, 2014 2:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Other than that, Phil, how do you like your a6000?