Sony Alpha NEX Cameras and E Mount Lenses

Sony NEX-7 with Speed Booster vs Nikon D600 TheCameraStoreTV posted their hands on video with the Metabone Speed Booster for NEX cameras. They used the Canon EOS to NEX Speed Booster lens adapter on the NEX-7. In the video they compare the NEX-7 and the Nikon D600 , a full frame camera, to see if there are perceptible differences. They used a Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM lens on both cameras. The exposures were set to be equal at ISO 200 and aperture set at f/8. The NEX-7 with the Speed Booster registered and aperture of f/5.6 due to the full stop of light from the adapter. The D600 registered f/8. The image above is a side by side comparison at 400% enlargement. Would you be able to tell the difference? Check out the full hands on video with the Speed Booster below. Metabones Speed Booster Review by TheCamaeraStore Thanks Jordan and TheCamerStore ! The Metabones Speed Booster can be found here .

Leitz Wetzlar 35mm f/2 Summicron on a Sony NEX-6 Leica M 35mm Summicron Lens Autofocus via Contax G Adapter MxCamera posted their video of a Leica 35mm f/2 Summicron lens from 1960 on the Sony NEX-6 from 2012. The 52 year gap is bridged by a Contax G 28mm lens housing which has been modified to allow autofocus on NEX cameras. If only Dr. Mandler can see what his Summicron can do now. Thanks MXcamera HK!

Here are a few shots from Old Sturbridge Village using our newly acquired Leica 60mm f/2.8 Macro Elmarit-R on the Sony NEX-7. The Leica 60mm Macro is said to have "excellent image quality at close-up range..." and "superb results at greater distances" when stopped down. We used the Macro Elmarit-R wide open all day at f/2.8 and only stopped down to f/5.6 when the depth of field was needed. The NEX-7 was set to Aperture Priority and ISO 100 outdoors or Auto ISO indoors. A basic Leica R to E-mount lens adapter was used. NEX-7 with Leica 60mm at f/2.8 ISO 100 The NEX-7 with the Leica 60mm is a nice match in good light. We had no problem of keeping the shutter speeds up at f/2.8 in snowy New England. NEX-7 with Leica 60mm at f/2.8 ISO 800 to 1600 The Leica 60mm Macro Elmarit-R has a long focus throw and focusing indoors takes some practice with moving subjects. The focus ring is well damped and provided nice feedback for critical focus.

Canon 50L Sample on NEX-7 with Metabones Speed Booster (effective 35mm f/0.9) LensRentals posted their review of the Metabones Speed Booster. The Speed Booster lens adapter tested was a Canon EOS to Sony E-mount variant mounted on a Sony NEX-7 . The lenses used were all Canon EF autofocus lenses, 14mm f/2.8 L II, 50mm f/1.2 L, and the 135mm f/2.0 L. The Speed Booster promises a one stop light improvement and a 0.7x focal length conversion. The lenses are effectively converted to 10mm f/2, 35mm f/0.9, and 95mm f/1.4 as seen by the Sony APS-C sensor. So what was their conclusion after their test? I think it was pretty obvious that I came armed for battle, ready to slam this product as some marketing overhype. I was wrong less correct than I might have been. The Speed Booster does what they claimed it would do, much to my shock and surprise. It creates a wider-angle, greater aperture lens while retaining resolution and acutance. Read the whole Metabones Speed Boooster review wi

NEX-7 with Voigtlander 21mm f/1.8 Ultron via Novoflex Leica M to E-mount adapter . TechTalk with Ron Sheffler tested the new Voigtlander 21mm f/1.8 Aspherical Ultron against three other Leica M 21mm lenses on the Leica M9. He also used the lenses on the Sony NEX-7 and found that the Voigtlander 21mm f/1.8 the best at farther distances and large apertures. The Leica 21 f/3.4 Super Elmar-M came in second, the Zeiss 21mm f/2.8 Biogon in third, and the Leica 21 f/1.4 Summilux at the back of the pack. At f/4 all the lenses performed equally well on the NEX-7's APS-C sensor. Here are some samples from the NEX-7 and the Voigtlander 21mm wide open at f/1.8. You can see more samples at TechTalk. Sample Images from NEX-7 with Voigtlander 21mm f/1.8 Check out TechTalk with Ron Sheffler for an extensive review and comparison between the four 21mm Leica M mount lenses mentioned above. There are also plenty of sample images from the Leica M9 with the lenses. Voigtlander 21m

NEX-7 with Metabones Speed Booster Lens Adapter with a Canon 50mm f/1.4 USM Lens Metabones Speed Booster Sony NEX Lens Adapter Test by James Miller So what does the Metabones Speed Booster NEX lens adapter do? Increase aperture by 1 stop. e.g. f/1.4 becomes f/1.0, which means more light to the sensor. Increases MTF, which means better resolution all across the frame compared to a standard lens adapter. Provides a focal length multiplier of 0.71x, NEX's APS-C 1.5 * SB 0.71 = 1.065, a 35mm lens = 37.7mm equivalent focal length. Metabones Speed Boost Sony NEX Lens Adapter The EF E-mount Speed Booster Lens Adapter shown above also provides automatic electronic aperture control, image stabilization with IS lenses, EXIF information, and autofocus (albeit slow.) Read more about the Metabones Speed Booster from the Metabones web site and white paper . It's pretty amazing what the NEX has spawned from the third party manufacturers.

DEO Techart Contax G to E-mount AF Adapter by MX Camera. Contax G rangefinder fans take a seat. Your autofocus lenses have been brought back to life with an upcoming Sony NEX E-mount autofocus adapter. The video above from MX Camera shows the NEX-7 controlling the Contax G 45mm f/2 lens in autofocus mode. We hope to discover more about this adapter soon. We'll have to wait two weeks. We have the manual focus adapter for Contax G lenses and we love the images that come from the lenses by Carl Zeiss. Taken with a Contax G 90mm on Sony NEX-7.

All shots are from the Sony NEX-7 with a M-Rokkor 28mm f/2.8 and a close-focusing Leica M mount adapter. Happy holidays everyone and thanks for following the blog.

NEX-7 with Voigtlander 15mm, Sigma 30mm, and Fujinon 50mm lens Here is a set of pictures by Emmanuel C. taken in Turkey with his Sony NEX-7. He brought along a pair of adapted manual focus lenses: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 Super Wide Heliar and the Fujinon 50mm f/1.9 lens. He also used the native E-mount autofocus the Sigma 30mm f/2.8 DN lens. This provides a nice set covering 22.5mm, 45mm, and 75mm equivalent field of view. Check out Emmanuel's website at EmmanuelChampagne.fr .

NEX-5N Images by Dinito1980 Here are some sample images from Dinito1980 of flickr. The images are created using the Sony NEX-5N and a Sony 100mm f/2.8 macro lens . We love the colors from the Sony NEX sensor and Dinito1980 makes good use of that. Sony 100mm f/2.8 Macro used for the images above. See more of Dinito's work at DINITO1980's flickr Gallery .

32mm f/1.8 Zeiss Planar Autofocus Lens on the Sony NEX-7 (rendered) Here is more good news from Photokina 2012. Zeiss will expand their line of E-mount autofocus lenses from 1 to 4 by summer of 2013. Here is what we know so far about the new Zeiss lenses: Optimized for APS-C sensors and made in E-mount. Focal lenghts to be offered: 12mm f/2.8 Distagon (18mm efov) ø67mm filter 32mm f/1.8 Planar (48mm efov) ø52mm filter 50mm f/2.8 macro (75mm efov) Zoom lenses are being considered. Autofocus with manual override. High quality and lightness are driving factors. Each lens will be comparable in price to the Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 ZA E lens , around £1000. Made in Japan. We were off by a few mms on the focal lengths when we posted about this a ten days ago. The prototype lenses will be on display at the Zeiss booth at Photokina. Here is the interview with Carl Zeiss' Dr. Pollman with respect to the new Zeiss lenses for Sony NEX cameras. Video from Zeiss booth at Photokina

The new Leica M This is the new Leica M camera and this is where the NEX system should be headed. The Leica M has technologies proven in NEX cameras such as focus peaking, detachable and tiltable electronic viewfinder, accepting other lenses via adapters, and a movie mode. The Leica M adds the following to the NEX system: a full frame sensor, rangefinder focusing system, a weather proof body, and a GPS accessory. The Leica M will be around $7000, around 6x the cost of the Sony NEX-7 . Kudos to Leica.

Voigtlander 21mm f/1.8 Ultron Here is a new Leica M mount lens from Voigtlander. It is a fast f/1.8, 21mm wide angle lens. This translates to 30mm (effective FOV) for the Sony NEX sensor. The big question is, will it play well with the APS-C sensor? We are hoping that it does and give us a fast, wide angle lens similar to the Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 ZA E . The manual focus and aperture, Leica M mount, Voigtlander 21mm f/1.8 Ultron will cost £1149. It is almost twice the weight of the Zeiss 24mm. 21mm f/1.8 Ultron Specs from Voigtlander Germany: Due to its large diameter elements, you can shoot with available light even in severe light condition, and also shallow depth of field and super wide angle, this mix of features offers you a chance to emphasize main things with great bokeh. Any kind of aberration is corrected properly by the construction of 13 elements 11 groups with Aspherical element. 13 elements in 11 groups with Aspherical lens Full Metal Barrel with high stiffness and durabi

Panorama Photos by Keijo Karvonen Here are some beautiful panoramas from Keijo Karvonen. Keijo used his Sony NEX-7 in sweep panorama mode to create these expansive images, no stitching necessary. The NEX-7 can produce up to a 12,416 x 1,856 (23M) file, which equates to a 41.4" by 6.1" print at 300 dpi. The Sony 18-200mm OSS lens was mostly used and a few were with a Canon 35mm tilt / shift lens in FD mount. NEX-7 Panoramas of Namibia and Botswana Here is Keijo's full panorama gallery . Here is the Sony NEX-7 with the 18-200mm OSS lens attached. This provides an equivalent field of view of 27mm to 300mm on the APS-C sensor. NEX-7 with 18-200mm OSS Lens from maa1

Canon 50mm EOS Lens on Sony NEX-7 with Autofocus Here is a second video showing a NEX camera controlling the autofocus drive of a Canon EOS / EF lens. The lens used was the Nifty Fifty, Canon 50mm f/1.8 on a Sony NEX-5 and a NEX-7. The new NEX-5R with a hybrid autofocus system (Phase Detection and Contrast Detection designed for speed and accuracy) should improve the autofocus speed shown in the video. Canon's EOS-M mirrorless compact camera uses the same hybrid autofocus system. Our assumption was wrong - the Canon stepper motor (STM) lens is not necessary for the NEX to control the Canon autofocus drive. The Canon EOS to NEX adapter with AF drive shown can control a standard EOS lens. The Canon EOS-M requires an EOS M Mount adapter to drive the same lens. If you have Canon EOS lenses and want a light, compact camera to use them on - this seems to be the best option so far. Canon 50mm EOS Lens on Sony NEX Autofocus Drive from MX Camera It's only a matter of time when