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PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS: SONY NEX-5N, WHY IT WAS CHOSEN: • PROFESSIONAL IMAGE QUALITY • ULTRA-WIDE LENS OPTION • 1080 60P VIDEO • VIDEO AUTOFOCUS • VIDEO SILENT LENSES • IN-CAMERA LENS CORRECTIONS • COMPACT SIZE • UNDERWATER HOUSING PROFESSIONAL IMAGE QUALITY dpreview ISO 6400 JPEG comparison shows NEX-5N's high-ISO JPEG image quality actually rivals the professional full-frame dSLR cameras. dpreview ISO 6400 RAW comparison shows the high-ISO RAW image quality is among the best APS-C dSLR cameras.  The scene above taken at ISO 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400, 12800, and 25600 can better demonstrate 5N's high-ISO image quality at nighttime and the performance of the 16mm F2.8 pancake prime with the wide-angle conversion lens. KIT LENS PERFORMANCE dpreview reviews show that the NEX 16mm F2.8 and the NEX 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 OSS deliver better overall performance than similarly priced Canon 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 IS and Nikon 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 VR with the two Sony lenses achieving much higher center sharpness throughout the aperture and focal range. The NEX 16mm, being a little sharper than the kit zoom, reaches its maximum overall sharpness at F5 while the NEX 18-55mm peaks at F5.6 on the wide end and F8 on the telephoto end. ULTRA-WIDE LENS OPTION  In addition to the 16mm F2.8 pancake lens and the 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 OSS standard zoom, Sony offers a wide-angle conversion lens that turns the 16mm prime into a very useful 12mm (18mm equivalent) ultra-wide lens. Purchased together with the NEX-5N, the three lenses cost less than $300, which is by far the least expensive way to get 12-55mm (18-83mm equivalent) coverage of any interchangeable-lens system. With an A to E-mount adapter, all of the A-mount lenses can be used on the NEX cameras. The LA-EA2 lens adapter adds full-time continuous phase-detection autofocus for stills and videos. Sony's NEX roadmap shows that at least three more E-mount lenses - a wide-angle zoom, 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 OSS Pancake Gold, and a large-aperture prime - will be introduced in 2012 so stay tuned.
AUTOFOCUS 5N's contrast-detection autofocus is generally very quick and accurate. Here's a video, showing 5N's autofocus speed with firmware 1.01. Under low-light situations, the contrast-detection autofocus will generally fail at a little higher light level than dSLR's phase-detection autofocus. Also, contrast-detection autofocus cannot track fast-moving subjects as well as dSLR's phase-detection autofocus. 1080 60P VIDEO This camera has the ultra-smooth and best-in-class 1080 60p HD with full manual control over shutter speed, aperture, and exposure compensation during recording.  Download the original 1080 60p AVCHD videos of the nighttime water fountain (28MB .MTS) and the daytime trees (54.6MB .MTS). Video: Low-light Tests: Most clips were recorded at ISO3200 with Custom White Balance and AF. (Length 0:50, 1080 60p AVCHD, this 1000x562 60p movie requires the latest browsers and Flash player!)  1080 60p vs. 30p vs. 24p: The differences between frame rates are quite noticeable on a large-screen HDTV, especially when viewing panning shots of fast-moving subjects like children running around the playground. Here's a simple panning shot recorded in 60p (F5.6 Aperture Priority, 1/250 to 1/400sec), 30p (1/60sec Shutter Priority), and 24p (1/50sec Shutter Priority) to show how smooth and lifelike 60p really is: Use "Save Link As..." to download the 1920X540 60/30/24p video (26.7MB .mp4) or the original 1080 60p AVCHD clip (54.6MB .MTS). 24p, 30p: 1/60sec or slower shutter speeds must be used to introduce motion blur to lessen, not eliminate, the choppy appearance. Shooting with slow shutter speeds under bright sunlight, ND filters are required to control depth of field and to prevent sensor dusts from showing up prominently at F11 on up. 60p: Since 60fps videos will turn out smooth even with shutter set well above 1/60sec, Aperture Priority can be used to control depth of field under bright sunlight without an absolute need for ND filters. Filmmakers - James Cameron, Peter Jackson, and George Lucas - have all produced 60-frame-per-second projects when they are not required to shoot 24fps - Avatar 2 & 3, King Kong Universal attraction, and Star Wars Star Tours attraction - because they believe 60fps delivers a more lifelike and immersive experience. FYI Mac users: iMovie `11 (version 9.0.4) will not import 1080 60p videos from the camera directly. The easy workaround is to copy the video files onto the hard drive (best done with BootCamp Sony Picture Motion Browser) and then re-wrap the 1080 60p (.mts and .m2ts) videos into QuickTime (.mov) movies, using ClipWrap. To prevent iMovie from transcoding the rewrapped videos during importing, follow these instructions to turn on a hidden ClipWrap feature BEFORE processing .mts or .m2ts files. Re-wrapping AVCHD 2 video avoids the time-consuming transcoding into Apple Intermediate Codec, which can quadruple the video file size and cause slight loss in image quality. To export edited 1080 60p videos from iMovie, go to "Share / Export using QuickTime... / Options / Video" and make sure "Size / Dimensions" is set to 1920X1080 and "Settings / Frame Rate" is set to 59.94. The exported 1080 60p video will play smoothly on Macs fast enough to handle the format. Final Cut Pro X is highly recommended for professional-quality editing and exporting, and best of all - it's easy to learn and use. VIDEO AUTOFOCUS Video: Autofocus Tests: This camera features camcorder-quality, contrast-detection video autofocus that delivers smooth and steady transitions between subjects. Video autofocus area can be selected, using the touchscreen during filming - an extremely useful feature in many situations. However, it will be great if the video autofocus speed is a little faster like the Sony SLT cameras with phase-detection autofocus. (Length 0:45, 1080 60p AVCHD, this 1000x562 60p movie requires the latest browsers and Flash player!) VIDEO SILENT LENSES NEX lenses are video silent so there won't be noise made by Optical SteadyShot and autofocus audible in the videos. IN-CAMERA LENS CORRECTIONS Chromatic aberration, vignetting, and lens distortion can be corrected in camera, which will reduce the need for RAW processing. Lens distortion correction is set to OFF by default so users need to enable it in the "Setup" menu. COMPACT SIZE With the 16mm pancake lens, NEX-5N is a miniature take-everywhere camera with professional dSLR image quality. My wife loves it because it fits perfectly inside her purse. UNDERWATER HOUSING  The $200 NB waterproof case has build quality similar to the OEM housings from Canon, and the setup is considerably smaller, lighter, and less expensive than comparable ones for dSLR. This modest kit is perfect for travel and all types of water sports like kayaking, white-water rafting, snorkeling, scuba diving... etc. However, an aluminum housing will be a better solution for frequent scuba diving. The main complain with this housing is the rear wheel doesn't turn easily so the simple workaround is to set the Aperture Priority to F4 for both stills and 1080 60p HD to avoid using the wheel underwater. It's not much of a problem since 60p HD will turn out lifelike smooth even with 1/400sec shutter. Sony's NEX roadmap shows that a wide-angle zoom will be introduced mid-2012, which should be great for underwater use. Our purchasing decision on the aluminum housing will be based on the port availability for this lens. FOCUS PEAKING & MANUAL FOCUS ASSIST Both features will be on when AF/MF Select is set to MF or DMF. DMF = AF (Autofocus) + MF (Manual Focus). The Focus Peaking function highlights in real time all of the in-focus edges or objects in the scene to make it much easier to verify and fine tune focus. To take a macro shot in the DMF mode, simply autofocus first, hold focus, and then either turn the focus ring or move the camera slowly in and out, and the intensity of the highlight will indicate precisely when maximum focus is achieved. These two features are extremely useful, especially when light level drops below auto-focus capabilities.  Manual Focus Assist enlarges the screen image to 460% whenever the focus ring is turned. Use the Bottom key to enlarge the image to 950% and then cycle back to 460%. PROGRAMABLE KEYS Seven functions can be assigned to three programmable keys for quick access. Our seven most-used functions are: Center Key (5 programmable functions): (1) ISO (2) RAW / JPG (3) Autofocus Area (4) Autofocus Mode (5) Dynamic Range / HDR Right Key (1 function): Autofocus / Manual Focus Select Bottom Key (1 function): White Balance  WHITE BALANCE With White Balance assigned to the Bottom Key, press the B button once to bring up the White Balance Select menu - screen shot above right. Press the B button again to bring up the White Balance Graph. Then use the Left, Right, Up, Down buttons to fine tune the screen image to match the scene.   Adjusting White Balance at the scene is the best way to obtain the most accurate colors under difficult lighting situations - much better than adjusting WB in RAW days, weeks, or months later from fading memory. Since RAW is only available for photos, Custom White Balance must be set properly on the spot before shooting videos. CONCLUSION LOVE THIS CAMERA - great image quality and great video in such a tiny package! Autofocus performance under low-light situations is this camera's main weakness. |
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Copyright © 1999-2012 Albert Yu. All rights reserved. |
