Cross Posted on MF and Small Camera forums. NEX7 and Pentax 645D experience today:
Today was one of those magical days here on Long Beach Island, NJ. Yesterday/Last night was stormy; typically, next day we get blue sky, with a bunch of lovely, fast moving clouds. They start over the main land, blow over the bay, reach the island and sometimes do not dissipate over the ocean (most times they do). Today was such a day. I grabbed by Pentax 645D with 35mmA, 75mmA, and 120 Macro (also manual focus version). I only used the 35mm. Camera on tripod, mirror lock up, manual exposure, circular polarizer. Mirror lock is a breeze: turn a switch on the body. Setting ISO, shutter speed and F stop likewise a breeze. I have been doing it for 55 years. I have not processed the images yet, but think I have some keepers. I also took the NEX7 with 4 lenses, but only used the Zeiss 24mm f1.8. The others stayed in the trunk of the car. I put it around my neck to make any "grab shots" that I may encounter. There were several opportunities to use it. Beautiful sky, beach, waves, and a man came along walking his tiny daughter (with a RED coat). There were several more opportunities to use the NEX. I wish I could tell you I had a good experience. I did not. First trying to view through the finder and rotate the polarizer to see the affect is impossible for a left eyed shooter. Several shots were screwed up, because I wanted to shoot at f13, and they ended up at F20 and F22...the dial changes too easy. Then several more were screwed up (happened 3 times): I grabbed a quick shot, and the ISO changed from 200 to 16,000!!! For left eyed shooters, my nose must rub the round dial on back that changes ISO. It is MUCH too free spinning. My next adventure with this camera, I plan on bringing masking tape and taping all the dials. The final problem, is that towards the end of the day, I must have turned a dial, or pushed a button that turned on the big distracting level in the viewfinder. I sat in the car for 15 minutes going through endless menues trying to turn the GD thing "off". I still have not found it.
Thank God for my 645D and Sony A900.
Good luck to all and good shooting!
Dave in NJ
