[Christine Tham]

Went to the zoo today - all pictures taken with the kit lenses (pancake 16-50, and the venerable 55-210)





Tasmanian devils (the AF on this camera is amazing):






High ISO lizards

ISO1250:


ISO2000:


ISO3200:


The spiral of life:


Koala porn:

[rawr]

Nice shots. You are lucky to have so many photogenic subjects available. No zoos near me.

Pls tell us more about how the pancake 16-50 performs. It is on my radar due to its compactness. And what are your impressions of the NEX-6 overall?

[Christine Tham]

Nice shots. You are lucky to have so many photogenic subjects available. No zoos near me.

Pls tell us more about how the pancake 16-50 performs. It is on my radar due to its compactness. And what are your impressions of the NEX-6 overall?

I could be accused of bias, or new camera excitement, but quite simply, I think the NEX6 is the best NEX Sony has produced so far.

Everything about the camera feels right. It holds well, it is well balanced, the AF is very good (I was testing the NEX6 and the A99 side by side at the camera shop, and the NEX6 is every bit as confident, quick, and sure footed as the A99). The mode dial and control dial works as expected.

AF tracking across multiple shots is very good - not perfect, but more than adequate. The raw image buffer for continuous mode is quite ample - in fact, I was having difficulty filling the buffer (but then I seldom take more than a few shots even in burst mode) - by contrast the A99 starts stuttering and pausing after a few shots.

The pancake zoom is a good walkabout lens and allows the NEX6 to be used as a pseudo compact camera (roughly the same size as the Nikon 1). Quality is decent - I think the standard kit zoom is possibly sharper and has less barrel distortion at the wide end, but as you can see from the photos it is capable of taking a decent photo.

The camera apps work as expected. It was cool using the iPhone as a remote LiveView and shutter button. I managed to get the phone to upload a photo to Facebook (which I deleted immediately afterwards). But I can't seem to get the camera to use the iPhone as a Wi Fi hotspot.

Niggles? I still can't find a minimum shutter speed setting for Auto ISO. Cmon Sony - if you can do it on the RX100 you can do it on this camera (then again I haven't read the manual, perhaps I should?). The pancake zoom has a fly by wire zoom ring - it seems a bit hesitant - not as smooth as on the RX100.

[Christine Tham]

Actually, I can now reveal (somewhat shamefully) that the real reason I went to the zoo was the see the fabulous animatronic dinasours (Christmas and summer holiday attraction!)

[Clicker]

What are your opinions Sony NEX 6 vs Fujifilm XE-1 if any as i'm deciding between the two?

thanks

[Christine Tham]

What are your opinions Sony NEX 6 vs Fujifilm XE-1 if any as i'm deciding between the two?

What - I dislike Fuji and I am a proclaimed Sony fangirl and you are asking me for an opinion?

Well, not having tried the XE-1, I don't know, but I would guess the NEX6 has better AF, it has focus peaking for MF, a better LCD panel plus Wi Fi and app support.

The XE-1 on the other hand has a more retro look, it looks to have more shooting controls on the body, an innovative sensor with some advantages in terms of image detail, and a mic input socket for video.

Probably apples vs oranges. I think the XE-1 would appeal to the more traditional photographer, where usability in terms of controls and image quality is important, and prefer not to use the LCD. The NEX6 is more for a reboot of what a camera should be, and therefore appeal to a completely different type of photographer.

I'm kind of excited by the App support, and so far the apps I have seen from Sony are good, and hopefully will improve over time. I want to be able to write my own app (for example, something that allows me to input and record EXIF info for M mount lenses) but Sony hasn't provided the tools yet - I hope they will.

[shaolin95]

Beautiful images!
I got my NEX-6 thanks in part to your help and it is an amazing camera that has awaken the photographer spirit in me! I take it everywhere now. Just trying to decide on what lens next.
I am keeping the Pentax 50mm though.

[Jasvox]

What are your opinions Sony NEX 6 vs Fujifilm XE-1 if any as i'm deciding between the two?

thanks

I found this today...

Sony NEX-6 vs Fuji X-E1 video comparison. | sonyalpharumors

Jason

[Emacs]

terms of image detail

It's marketing BS. Maximal IQ (base ISO) is superior with bayer filter (Fuji uses already old but still good Sony IMX071 sensor, the same as on Pentax K-5, Nikon D7000, etc).

Nikon D800E | Sony NEX-5n
------------------------------------------
Pentax K-01 | Fuji X-Pro1

Nikon D800E is downsampled to 16Mp. I used RAWs for Nikon, Pentax and Sony. JPEG for Fuji (it's the best available quality for this camera).

Full size archive

So, it's obvious the NEX-5n is superior over Fuji. The question is what ISO of NEX-5n equals base ISO of Fuji in terms of resolution?
The answer: ISO800. NEX-5n@ISO800 has about the same quality as Fuji@ISO100.
Here are NEX-5n @ 100, NEX-5n @ 400, NEX-5n @ 800 and Fuji @ 100:


Full size archive

High ISO is another matter. First, this link shows Fuji cheats with high ISO. Looking at chart (Measurements section) we see Canon 40D ISO sensitivites are about the same as NEX-5n ones, so the ISO 3200 of Fuji is something like ISO 1800 of NEX and we should compare these sensitivities, not ISO3200 vs ISO3200. In this case NEX seems to be highly competitive. I repeat, we are comparing best available results, which is OOC JPEG for Fuji and we can use any software for Sony RAW. In this case the NEX-5n about equals Fuji from its ISO3200 to 6400 (that is ≈1600 up to ≈3200 for NEX).

The great perception of Fuji images is based on very good OOC JPEG processing. But it can't match great software, like DxO FilmPack, DxO Optics Pro, some Topaz plugins anyway.

[shaolin95]

Christine Tham. are your pictures processes from RAW files or JPGs untouched?

This is a quick panorama I did and a couple of miniatures. Directly from the camera and of course, look much better in full size but still it was my first time shooting with it!

[Clicker]

What - I dislike Fuji and I am a proclaimed Sony fangirl and you are asking me for an opinion?

Well, not having tried the XE-1, I don't know, but I would guess the NEX6 has better AF, it has focus peaking for MF, a better LCD panel plus Wi Fi and app support.

The XE-1 on the other hand has a more retro look, it looks to have more shooting controls on the body, an innovative sensor with some advantages in terms of image detail, and a mic input socket for video.

Probably apples vs oranges. I think the XE-1 would appeal to the more traditional photographer, where usability in terms of controls and image quality is important, and prefer not to use the LCD. The NEX6 is more for a reboot of what a camera should be, and therefore appeal to a completely different type of photographer.

I'm kind of excited by the App support, and so far the apps I have seen from Sony are good, and hopefully will improve over time. I want to be able to write my own app (for example, something that allows me to input and record EXIF info for M mount lenses) but Sony hasn't provided the tools yet - I hope they will.

Thanks that was spot on as i saw the tube posted by Jasvox right after i asked the question and Chris stated pretty much the same.

I found this today...

Sony NEX-6 vs Fuji X-E1 video comparison. | sonyalpharumors

Jason

thanks jason actually saw that right after posting my question, it was an interesting comparison especially the portion where the adapters were used with the same lense...was it a voitglander?

[Christine Tham]

Christine Tham. are your pictures processes from RAW files or JPGs untouched?

This is a quick panorama I did and a couple of miniatures. Directly from the camera and of course, look much better in full size but still it was my first time shooting with it!

My photos are always processed via Lightroom, but I generally do minimal processing, sometimes none. The first two photos posted were probably the most processed (with some cross processing applied in addition to levels).

Your photos are great - at first I thought you must have used a tilt shift lens for the miniatures!

[shaolin95]

Thanks! I love that application with the Tilt option, makes it so easy to take cool pictures!
Yeah I just downloaded the profile for the 16-50 lens for Lightroom. I wish DXO comes out with one too soon.

[Jasvox]

How is that 16-50 lens anyway? I am considering buying it for the size mostly, but dont want to take a step back in IQ from the other kits lens...should I or hold off?

Christine: Have you tried the 16-50 lens on your 5N and if so, does it behave any differently on that body than on your 6?

Jason

[shaolin95]

Well , the opinions are mixes so far. I really like it for its size and based on the fact that the camera fixes the lenses shortcomings on the NEX-6. Also, the profile just became available for Lightroom so to me is a win win situation with that lens and the IQ/Portability ratio.