Re-acquainted with C-Mount Lenses

Tree & Bench -- Panasonic G1 & Cooke Ivotal 1 inch f1.4 @ f1.4.

Most of my c-mount lenses do not work well on the NEX-5, due to the larger sensor, hence I have not been using them much.  The Panasonic G1 has been my walk around camera for a bit over a week, and I got to use the the various c-mount lenses again.  In particular, this Cooke Ivotal 25mm f1.4 lens will vignette severely on the NEX-5, but not so bad on the G1.  I like the soft, luminous quality of the Ivotal wide open.  With the right lighting, it can produce some interesting pictures.  As with most wide angle c-mount 16mm cine lenses, the image circle is just not large enough to produce sharp corners, but sharp corners are not really that important with this kind of lenses.

Another c-mount lens that's not usable without cropping on the NEX-5 is the JML 25mm f0.95.  I am pretty disappointed.  It's the fastest wide angle lens I have and would produce some nice and unique images on the NEX-5.  Just for this lens, I will probably keep at least one M43 body.

Sony's 24MP Sensor RAW File Samples

Today I read Luminous-Landscapes first impression of the Sony A65 camera, which shares the same sensor with the A77 and NEX-7.  Looking at the RAW converted images, I must say that I am not impressed with the image quality.  This really reminds me of the NEX-5 images, or even a bit worse.  I was expecting nice low ISO quality but instead, it's very noisy, especially when compared to the 3-year old A900.

Well, this is disappointing.  No matter how good the ergonomic of the NEX-7 is, if its image quality is not up to par, nothing matters.

I should use my NEX-5 and patiently wait for the final verdicts when the NEX-7 finally comes out.  But, if prices of the 5D II drops, I might just buy that instead.  It's bigger and heavier, but gives me the quality that I want, with full frame to boot.  On the second thought, perhaps I should stop reading anything about NEX-7 until it's officially available for sale.

Window -- Panasonic G1 & Kodak Cine 102mm f2.7 with Close Focus.

Are We Spoiled?

A Walk at Distillery District -- Panasonic G1 & Kodak Anastigmat 102mm f2.7 Cine Lens.

Since my NEX-5 is still at Sony for LCD screen replacement, I have been using the Panny G1 that I have been neglected for a long while.  This is a love-hate camera for me.  Love the ergonomic of the G1; its flip screen, handling, and most of all, the EVF.  But, it's a relatively noisy camera above ISO 400, compared to the 5D, 1D II, or even the Sony NEX.  Perhaps, I have been spoiled.

More than ten years ago, when I got my first digital, the 3.2 MP Canon G1, it was hailed as the camera with the cleanest images in its class.  DPReview called it silky smooth noisy free at ISO 50.  But, when I look back at the RAW images I captured, ISO 50 on the G1 is at best as good as ISO 400 on my 1D III, and ISO 200 was barely usable.  Advancements in sensor technology just make us crave better and better image quality, forgetting what the images (noise) used to be like before.

So yes, I think I am spoiled.

Are Ultra Fast Lenses Still Relavent?

William -- Canon T2i & EF 200mm f1.8L @ f1.8, ISO 6400. Click for larger.  This picture looks horrible in color, but is actually not bad when converted to B&W.  To me, the T2i/7D ISO 6400 is only usable in Black & White. 

For most people, they need want fast lenses so that they can shoot at low light or have high enough shutter speed to stop the action; some will buy them because they are less common.  A small percentage would buy high speed lenses for the super thin depth of field affect. Of course, others will buy them because they could.  Personally, I like fast lenses for the first three reason I listed above, but mostly so that I can take blurry-free pictures in low light. 

With today's new crop of sensors that are so good in high ISO performance, we can take relatively noise free pictures at ISO 3200 or higher.  Your slow f2.8 lenses are no longer the limiting factor, if you can accept the slightly noisy pictures.  So, if you had a very capable camera that can take clean pictures at high ISO, given a chance, would you still buy that f1.2/f1.4 lens that you have always lusted after?  The price of a Canon EF 24mm f1.4L II and the EF 24mm f2.8 is $1849 vs. $419 CAD (approximate, at Henrys.com as of today). The difference is two stops faster for the f1.4 version over the f2.8, but at about four times the cost.  Well, yes, there is more to an expensive lens than just letting more light through.  The built quality and materials used are better, but under normal use, I doubt there is much difference in logivity.

There are legitimate reason for fast lenses, especially if you are into actions/sport photography. I know that my 200mm f1.8L is often not fast enough for indoor use, so for this kind of uses, we need all the speed we can get.

But, most of the time, for me at least, I often buy stuff irrationally.  For example, the 50mm f1.2 vs 50mm f1.4 Canon lenses.  It's a 1/3 stop faster for the f1.2, but many times the price over the f1.4.  When I bought the lens, I fully understood that under normal use, they practically have zero difference shooting from f2 on.  Yet, I bought the more expensive version.  What justified my decision?   My reason was really simple.  I wanted something less common than most others.  This also explains why I have "made" so many of my own lenses from projection and enlarging lenses, because majority of people would not have these kind of lenses, and therefore, pictures that look different from these kind of lenses.

Of course, all of these talk is nil if money is the primary factor.  I would not be able to do it again today, because my personal disposable income situation has changed.  If I wanted the 50mm lens today, I would be buying the EF 50mm f1.4, not the 50mm f1.2L.  So, I think another factor in buying faster lenses is because we could afford it.

From my point of view, for most people, the faster lenses are no longer a neccesity to take blurry-free pictures, and they would be happy with a slower lens.  For lens junkies like me, we want fast lenses.  In fact, the brighter the better!

NEX-7 It Is

Pretty Flowers -- Panasonic G1 & Kodak 50mm f1.6 Cine Lens. Click for larger.

Thanks to all who have given me your thoughts on NEX-5N/NEX-7.  Today, I took out the Panasonic G1 since my NEX-5 is in the shop, and I can't believe how much I missed the EVF, and how much easier it is to focus manually through it.  The EVF is already very good in the G1, I can't imagine how much better it is in the NEX-7.  Therefore, I have decided to wait for the NEX-7.  Will sell the NEX-5 and get the NEX-7 with the black kit lens and the E-Mount 50mm f1.8.  I would love to get the Zeiss 24mm f1.8 but it's more than a grand.  It will have to be in the next year's toy budget.

I know it will be a torturous couple of month before I can get my hands on the NEX-7, I just hope I won't be disappointed with the image quality.

Gear Thoughts

Lights -- Canon 1D Mark III & EF 85mm f1.2. Those black dots are birds, not dust!

Since I got the 1D III (the second time), I have had used it a few times. I am quite happy with it so far and it seems to be a lot more reliable (in terms of focusing) camera than the Mark III I bought originally.  Focus seems to be very accurate, with the exception of the manual focus is slightly out of whack, possibly due to the shims missing on the focusing screen.  But I really do not use manual focus lenses on the Mark III.  Looking at the ISO 1600 and even 3200 pictures, I am happy to say that it's very clean.  Much better than those from the NEX-5.

Now that we know what to expect from the NEX-5N, which has amazing low light capabilities.  If this camera has a built-in EVF, I would have bought one today, but adding the EVF to the NEX-5N is almost the same price as the NEX-7!  Sony should really make a NEX-6: a camera with NEX-7 body and NEX-5N sensor.  As optimistic as I am, I don't think the sensor in the NEX-7 will be anywhere close to be as good as the one in NEX-5N.

Originally, I wanted a full frame body, and my eye was set on the 5D II, and I will have something like 1D III, 5D II and NEX-5.  But I have really been spoiled by the NEX-5.  I took it with me everywhere I went and took a lot of pictures with it.  You can't beat the portability of the NEX bodies.  Now that the NEX-7 will be out in a couple of months, and it almost has everything I want in an EVIL camera, except the sensor, and unfortunately, it not cheap.  If I buy the NEX-7, I will have no funds for the 5D II.  On the other hand, if I buy a 5D II, I can probably squeeze out enough money to upgrade to the NEX-5N.  And then there is the 50mm f1.8 OIS that I really want too!  Now you can see why I am slowly going insane!

NEX-5 Back to Sony for Repair

Actually, there is nothing really wrong with my NEX-5, in terms of operations and functionality.  It's purely a cosmetic problem: the anti-reflective coating on the rear LCD has all but rubbed off except near the center of the screen.  It looks really disgusting when the screen is turned off although it's not as bad when it's on.  I don't think it's acceptable that the coating comes off so easily.  Sony should either provide a glass cover for the LCD screen or make the coating stay on more permanently.

At the moment, I don't know if it's even covered under warranty until the technician has a look at it.  This is the first time I have had to use Sony's customer service and so far it's been very positive.  The reception and the facility is excellent (although it's hard to find the customer service department.)  I was quoted a turn around time of 1 to 10 business days, depending on availability of parts.  This is a far cry from the Canon service when I regularly had to waiting at least two weeks and most often four weeks.

When the screen is fixed, I will put on a screen protector first thing.

On a side note, I have been really going gaga over the NEX-7.  Today I read the image comparison of the A65 (version 1.02 firmware) versus the the A850 on a Chinese site and I am really impressed with the high ISO performance of the 24MP APS-C sensor on the A65 (and the A77, NEX-7).  Too bad these are all jpg images but the improvement is like night and day in terms of noise reduction, especially chroma noise.  Given the translucent mirror that causes a 1/3 EV light loss on the A65, the NEX-7 image should actually be marginally better.  If the final image quality of the NEX-7 is similar to what I see on the A65, I will not hesitate to buy NEX-7 as soon as it hits the dealers' shelves.

Skylon Tower in the distance, Niagara Falls -- Sony NEX-5 & 18-55mm kit lens.

NEX-5N or NEX-7?

The net is abuzz about the NEX-7 but we have not really seen any sample pictures from it yet.  We can only infer from the A77 samples about NEX-7 image qualities.  On the other hand, the NEX-5N samples are available from many well known sites.  What I have seen, especially the high ISO samples, are nothing less than astonishing.  It almost rivals that of the 5D II.   Sony has finally caught up and perhaps surpass Canon/Nikon on clean high ISO image quality.  I really like what I see and can't help but thinking that if Sony puts the NEX-5N's sensor in the NEX-7, I will have no hesitation buying one, even at $1200 for the body.  Or, if the NEX-5N has a built-in EVF, I will not hesitate to buy one either.  Adding the external EVF to the NEX-5N will almost cost about the same as buying the NEX-7.  Why does Sony have to torture us like this?!?

I will patiently await tests on the NEX-7 when it becomes available.  If the image quality turns out to be at least as good as the current NEX-5 (not 5N), I will most likely buy one, although I really have no need for 24MP.

On the note of EVIL cameras, I think Canon has  missed the boat here.  Even Nikon is rumored to introduce one soon, but we have heard nothing from Canon.  EVIL camera segment is the fastest growing part of the digital camera business, and I don't know how Canon not see that.  By the time to do introduce one, it may be a bit too late to capture the lost market share.

Sony NEX-5 & Kodak Ektagraphic 50mm f1.2 Projection Lens. Click to see larger.

Kodak Projection Ektagraphic 50mm f1.2 Lens

Pricked up another projection lens couple weeks ago.  This one was a Kodak Ektagraphic 50mm f1.2 lens.  Very similar to the Kowa 50mm f1.2 projection lens, but heavier, larger, and seems to have multi-coating which the Kowa does not have.  Due to its larger size, I could not make it part of my 52mm screw on lens for the Vivitar 2x focusing helicoid.  Luckily I have another one which I modified and fits perfectly.

Finally got a chance to tried it out today.  Very happy with the results.  Slightly sharper than the Kowa, and less purple fringing.  However, it vignettes a bit more at infinity focus but at close range, vignetting is not visible.  Strange, because the lens is larger than the Kowa, but vignettes more.

NEX-5 & Kodak 50mm f1.2 Projection Lens. Click for larger.

Depth of field of this lens is of course very thin, being an f1.2 lens.  Unfortunately, there is no aperture control on the lens so very thing is shot at f1.2.  For some situations, this is desirable, but of course you will get fatigue looking at too many of the same kind of pictures with very thin depth of field.

It's a great low light lens, if you could nail the focus.  Definitely worth trying on out if you always wanted to own an f1.2 lens.

NEX-5 & Kodak 50mm f1.2 Projection Lens.

   

Image Quality from the Sony 24MP Sensor

I am excited about the NEX-7, but unfortunately it's pricey and the image quality may disappoint.  I haven't found any sample pictures from the NEX-7, but I looked some from at the A77, which shares the same 24MP sensor as the NEX-7 and probably the image processing engine as well.  What I can see is that Sony is still one of the worst when it comes to jpeg image quality.  The A77 samples don't look very good.  Shadow noise is excessive at ISO 200. Why don't manufacturers understand that most of us want quality, not quantity pixels.  ISO 1600 looks ok, but lacks details.  I hope it's due to the jpeg engine and that RAW files will perform much better.  If not, I guess my NEX-5 will be with me, and I will end up with a 5D II instead.

New Building -- NEX-5 & Vivitar Series-1 28mm f1.9.