Sony Alpha NEX-7 Review: A Top-Notch Mirrorless Camera Discussion

[Jim Keenan]

When we first encountered the Sony Alpha NEX-7, DCR editor Allison Johnson was putting a pre-production model through its paces under the auspices of Sony San Diego this past September. Allison gave the camera high grades and was particularly impressed with the performance of the viewfinder. Sony announced the NEX-7 in August 2011, with first deliveries to the USA slated for November.

Read the full content of this Article: Sony Alpha NEX-7 Review: A Top-Notch Mirrorless Camera

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[KCook]

I dig that 3 knob control setup. No price yet on the Zeiss f/1.8? How did it's mechanical quality / feel compare to the Sony? The default shots looked low on contrast to me. I'm very glad you included a vivid sample with the contrast and saturation maxed. Still falls short of what I would expect with my Canon. Dunno why Sony is so timid on contrast and saturation, but that was one of my key reasons for switching away from Sony.

old gump

[Jim Keenan]

I dig that 3 knob control setup. No price yet on the Zeiss f/1.8? How did it's mechanical quality / feel compare to the Sony? The default shots looked low on contrast to me. I'm very glad you included a vivid sample with the contrast and saturation maxed. Still falls short of what I would expect with my Canon. Dunno why Sony is so timid on contrast and saturation, but that was one of my key reasons for switching away from Sony.

old gump

The Zeiss is $1000 on Sony's website - heavier than the kit lens which gave it a more substantial feel. Manual focus ring was smooth.

If the contrast looks low on the diner shots the light was pretty flat - as you can see from the background it was a foggy morning and the trees fade into the mist beyond the diner. The Disney shots and the avocado wall at the top of the image quality section are defaults shot in iauto and are really very good representations of the scenes as they appeared to the eye in late afternoon conditions.

Contrast and color saturation can be subjective - I've shot most subjects in the Nikon "standard" palette for years but lately I've been using "neutral" a lot, which is actually a bit more accurate with regard to how I see the scene. Just shooting the NEX-7 on auto it didn't strke me as being too low in contrast, but that's based on my new-found trend to shoot with results that more closely mimic what I see. Certainly if I wanted a punchier, more saturated look I'd go off auto and ratchet up camera settings. Just going off the diner wall in the misty light I think the NEX-7 has a decent range of adjustment for saturation, contrast and sharpness - certainly it can go beyond the actual scene on the stronger/muted ends of the spectrum that would probably work for most folks, but it may not be everyone's cup of tea.

[KCook]

If my eyeballs aren't bleeding, I'm just not happy

Zenfolio | Kelly Cook | Canon 50D Saturation | Photo 2

Kelly