NEX7 vs. GH2

[jed best]

People are always looking for absolutes. They won't find them from me. Life is a series of shades of gray, and that's how I report things (though usually using colour).

Take the NEX7. It may well the the most fascinating and enjoyable new camera of the past couple of years. It's easy to use, light weight, has great image quality, and can take just about every lens. The EVF is simple awesome, and I can put in it a coat pocket.

But it drive me nuts because it doesn't have a single user customizable memory function. I curse it a dozen times a day as I switch back and forth between shooting indoors, outdoors, action, portraits, video and stills. Combine the lack of C functions and a menu system from hell, and for me at least, it's a real pain in the ass.

But, I love it, and though I have a Leica 9, Sony 5n, a Fuji X100, a Panasonic GH2, Pany AF100, and a Phase One /Alpa IQ180 system all sitting on my desk here in San Miguel, the NEX-7 is the one that walks out the door 8 times out of 10.

If I want to shoot video exclusively though, I'll take the GH2. It's a much better video camera than the GH2, and it also has far superior user customizability as a stlls camera. Unfortunately it doesn't produce as good stills as the NEX-7. And if I want to shoot "serious" video, I'll use the Panasonic AF100, which is a far better "real" video camera.

There is a brand new camera system to be announced next week. I expect to get it for review not long afterward. It will likely be my camera of choice for a few weeks, if not longer. I'll tell you all about it here.

Will it be better than the GH2, or the NEX-7? Maybe, in some ways. Well it lack certain valuable features? Likely. In fact I already now of two biggies. Will this make it a winner or a loser. Probably neither. Just a real world product that some people will value and some won't.

All I do is shoot what I like with what I like and tell you as honestly as I can what works and what doesn't. You the reader can extract from that what you will.

Michael

Well said. We all have a responsibility to do our "due diligence" regarding which camera is best suited for our needs.

[henk]

If I may put my 2 cent, or how do you say this in proper English?, tot his thread.
Let me explain my situation.
I own a D5 with quite some good glass (wide angle to 400 mm ). Everything in the bag , including cables, filters, flash, cleaner stuff and all the gear a photographer needs, is about 12 Kilo! We all know about airplane regulations for hand baggage!
That is one. The other is that I feel let down by Canon because I need to upgrade (better AF, cleaner images, speed etc.) and apart from the 5D II, whose autofocus is not up to the standard including speed and HDR possibilities, it seems that only in the far future there is a possibility for a 5DMK 3! Or something alike. 

With MR’s reviews I get an insight for what is new and innovative on the market and yes I read a year ago his “ review” of the GH2 and now the Nex-7.  And yes I am sick and tiered of carrying 12 kilo, half in my photo vest and the other half in the bag.  So what to do is my question to my self. Write off my investment in Canon and go for something state-of-the-art. Difficult, because there will be a huge price tag.  I am also not sure if the weight, going Nex-70, will be less because of the glass.
Yesterday I was reading a Dutch photo magazine ( Foto Magazin) in which they stated that in the next 7 months there will be a GH3 and Sony will bring new E glass, which will be much better.
So I am totally confused and run in circles. I also realize that yes there will always be some thing better in the future and if you wait you never take a picture!
So I want to make the decision before mid this year before I go to a once in a life time adventure, Antarctica, at the end off the year. I am 71 and have not much time left!
Any hints?

Henk

[leuallen]

Henk, being 71 also I've got this to say. We don't have too many years left! Enjoy them. I am not rich but well enough off now in retirement that I can afford most of what I want. So my motto is if I want it I get it. I have a GH2 and most of the dedicated lenses plus a ton of legacy glass to play with. Having a ball. At this age the size and weight becomes a big factor as we don't have the strength and stamina of the young boys. It's nice going out with a manageable sized kit that covers everything from 18mm to 600mm (35 equiv) that give decent quality images.

Larry

[stever]

i shot Pentax film cameras for many years and have never been happy with the weight and bulk of Canon bodies and lenses - but have generally found the results to be worth the trouble.  about 80% of my images are travel and of those 80% are with 5D2 - 7D for backup and action.  even though a small percentage of what i shoot justifies large prints, i can't predict when these opportunities will occur - and won't give up full frame (and will probably have a 5D3 sooner or later).  if i'm shooting action, the available mirrorless cameras do not have the autofocus or frame rate to do the job even though i'm convinced (after a brief Panny G3 test) that the opinion of Michael and others that the Panny GH2, G3, and GX1; and Sony NEX 5N and 7 have IQ comparable to the best APSC DSLRs - so the 7D stays as well.

however, i really want a camera when i can't or don't want to take the DSLR, that can produce printable images of to 13x19 under most conditions including reasonably low light.  so i've got a GX1 with pancake zoom on order.  if this works, i may add a couple lenses so it can replace the 7D as backup/ second camera when appropriate.  i chose Panasonic because the lenses as well as the bodies are compact and light and already cover a wide range of situations (unlike Sony) and cameras do not appear to have some of the shortcomings of Sony such as limited bracketing.  i expect a lot of development over the next 3 years and think it's still early for me to make a heavy investment.

the mirroless cameras are now a reasonable alternative for many applications, but have quite some way to go before replacing SLRs in many others 

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi,

Enjoy retirement, and enjoy your lenses, and please share your experience like you did with the article on using SNS!

Best regards
Erik

Henk, being 71 also I've got this to say. We don't have too many years left! Enjoy them. I am not rich but well enough off now in retirement that I can afford most of what I want. So my motto is if I want it I get it. I have a GH2 and most of the dedicated lenses plus a ton of legacy glass to play with. Having a ball. At this age the size and weight becomes a big factor as we don't have the strength and stamina of the young boys. It's nice going out with a manageable sized kit that covers everything from 18mm to 600mm (35 equiv) that give decent quality images.

Larry

[hasselbladfan]

Michael,

Did you try the NEX 7 with M lenses?

Anybody else experience (good or bad)?

[David Watson]

DigiLloyd has extensively tested the Nex-7 with Leica lenses.  His web site is a subscription site but the information and commentary is first class.

http://www.diglloyd.com/index-dap.html