tikichris

Reviews of the Sony’s “flagship” NEX-7 compact system camera are generally of the glowing variety. Here’s a thoughtful rev from DP Review, and here’s a good write up from What Digital Camera.

After a weekend getting my grubby hands on one, I’ve gotta say I pretty much agree with what I’ve read online. The only real complaint seems to be about where the “one-touch” video mode button is – and how easy it would be to accidently press. So far, this hasn’t been a problem for me, but the button certainly is in an awkward spot if you’re not planning to use the camera primarily for video recording.

Shooting in manual is a breeze (if, of course, you know the basic of shooting manually) but I was impressed with the “Intelligent Auto” mode and look forward to giving a few of the other modes a go. The 18-55mm standard lens does a fine job (but I’d love to try out some of the other lenses). And, as you’d imagine from a Sony camera the colours pop. And with a suggested retail price of £1130 with the 18-55mm lens included (£1,000 for just the body) they better!

Check the specs:

• 24.3 effective megapixel DSLR-quality images;
• Built-in flash;
• Up to ten frames per second shooting;
• APS-C size HD image sensor;
• 7.5cm LCD;
• Sweep Panorama;
• Auto HDR, Tru-Finder™ OLED electronic viewfinder;
• Light magnesium body;
• Full HD movies with AF tracking and manual control.

Yeah, that’s right. More than two dozen megapixels. Do you ever even need 24.3 megapixels? I dunno but – BAM! – look at how crisp this photo turned out.

New camera? New opportunity to pester my photogenic but reluctant to pose cat! Ha. I’ve gotta say, I’m pretty happy with these shots I took of him. They might be the best pics I have of my fluffy friend. Indeed, the NEX-7’s “best in class” resolution is awesome. On the downside, I must note, such big mammajamma files take a long time to load and obviously sap a lot of the storage capacity of a hard drive, which might remove a bit of the immediate fun of shooting in digital.

Such so called “bridge” cameras like the NEX-7 have perplexed and intrigued me for some time now. Why would I want to rely on something less than my beloved DSLR for important shoots or fiddle with some gadget that’s so much more than my iPhone or cheapo pocket-sized compact just to capture off the cuff fun stuff? After a few days playing around with the NEX-7, I’m definitely beginning to understand the appeal: ease of use … quality of image … won’t break your back carrying it around all day.

I reckon the NEX-7 is an attractive camera for enthusiast shutter bugs, but I can see it coming in handy for some of the pro gigs that come my way. I reckon there’s a good chance it will become my go-to for shooting food in restaurants and other public settings. And I have a sneaky suspicion this lightweight dream will to find its way into my backpack quite often when I’m running around town for whatever reason but still keen to keep an eye on London’s ever shoot-worthy streets.

Check out Sony NEX-7 deals at Amazon.