Night Shooting Handheld with the Sony 16mm Pancake

So far the fastest native autofocus lens for the Sony NEX is  the 16mm f2.8 pancake.  I shot with it one night on the NEX-5 when we were in Niagara Falls this holiday weekend.  The wide angle plus the relatively fast maximum aperture allows shooting of 1/30s or even a bit slower and still get sharp pictures.  I find that the keeper rate is pretty good.  Since it's a wide angle, it does not need to stop down significantly to get good depth of field.  Very happy with this lens.

One of the things I am unhappy with the NEX-5 is that the auto focus system is much worse than the Panasonic G1 or GF-1.  The G1's focus is nearly always fast and sure.  The NEX on the other hand, has trouble focusing evening in very good light.  Most of the pictures I shot had to be focus adjusted by hand before they were taken.    So, it's auto focus system is nearly useless for low light work.

I am happy to find that ISO 1600 is usable on the NEX-5.  It's comparable to the 5-year old 1D Mark IIn.

Skywheel at night -- NEX-5 & 16mm f2.8 Pancake. Click to see larger.

LED Water Fountain -- NEX-5 & 16mm f2.8 Pancake. Click to enlarge.

Dome of the Fallsview Casino's water fountain at entrance -- NEX-5 & 16mm f2.8 Pancake.