Question Suggestion about buying a Camera?

[statickid]

and then we fall back to the true master of the camera lines, the lenses, the more I research upon this, the more I get the impression that Sony actually have excellent sensors, with mediocre lenses, while Nikon have just the opposite in the mirrorless category, and in fact, the best out there is the macro four third system used by Olympus and Panasonic, ah... just what I need, another field which have to have great deal of consideration and compromises, well I do still have another month or two to decide, let's just let all of this sink in for awhile and think.

These are the types of subtle difference I was talking about that crop up out of the histories of the company.

A little insight into my previous negative impression of the N1 in the store:

Basically I picked it up, oogled the pretty form and simplicity, focused around the store at max and min zoom, and snapped about 3 pictures. I wanted to see if I could clearly read the text on a distant sign. I opened ONLY the zoomed in pic and zoomed in on the sign as far as i could, it was blurry with what looked like compression artifacts. "eww" then I opened the menu and flipped through thinking that being a floor model, maybe it was on low quality setting, actualy it was on all the highest settings. disappointed, I set it down and felt better about my old camera, which though is only 6mp, litterally every pixel will be a clear and distinct color, giving photos that look sharper than casual-user 8 and 10mp photos. This was in fact one of the first things i noticed when i first got my dslr, every pixel is distinct information at the focus. This was especialy noticable and impressive when photographing things like grass and leaves or fine textures.

 

[Eccentrus]

which is why, as far as mirrorless go, I am now more inclined to buy Sony's APS-C sensor NEX rather than the N1 system, and I've read more and actually there's a whole aftermarket of Sony lenses which performs graciously, perhaps I shall look more into it. the NEX F3D comes with two lenses, the 18-55 which many have testified to be "crappy" and an excellent wide angle 18 mm that everyone said bringing the full potential of the APS-C sensor out.

---------- Post added at 02:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:27 AM ----------

and blow my head, there are aftermarket Nikon F to Sony E mount adapter after all

---------- Post added at 03:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:47 AM ----------

and just pinch my ears search on google for "Nikon F lens on Sony NEX 7" and the result, is just, magical :blink:

 

[csanders]

When, sooner or later, you'll buy a "fast" lens, take your camera and try it with it. I didn't.
I mean, do it always, but DO IT when the lens must perform what it was made for (yes...I know it sounds obvious).

I have a Nikon D90 and a Nikon 50mm 1.4G (DPReview), and they simply don't like each other, at f/1.4 there's a nasty front-focus problem. When I shoot with the max aperture (which is why I bought it in the first place), the viewfinder says that the focus is someplace (veeeeery little depth of field), but it's not. It's a little towards me.

If I close it down a few "clicks" it's as sharp as a knife, but that totally defeats the pros in having a not-so-cheap "fast" 1.4 prime (which is not so prime, since my body is DX...)!!

:beathead:

Are you sure your camera (or lens) isn't front focusing all the time, but it only becomes apparent with the thin depth of focus at 1.4?

Or am I just restating what you said?

I've never used Nikon. Canon's always focus wide-open (unless you hit this one button, but I'm not sure they focus with that button pushed).

 

[Eccentrus]

and now I've read somewhere that Sony is planning for a full frame NEX, damn I'll just invest in this series, as there are virtually adapters for every kind of lens in the world for this camera, coupled with APS-C size sensor, I can flexibly use any kind of lens that I would want to use later in my dSLR, and vintage lenses as well.

 

[statickid]

That's incredible!

 

[Eccentrus]

but if you take an interest to invest in the Sony NEX, be reminded that it supports no autofocus for all non-Sony lenses, except for Canon (somehow a third party is able to make a translator between E and EOS AF)

 

[Ripley]

Are you sure your camera (or lens) isn't front focusing all the time, but it only becomes apparent with the thin depth of focus at 1.4?

Or am I just restating what you said?...

I have 4 different lenses and my camera only front-focuses with that 50mm f/1.4, set at its widest apertures.
Of course, at f/1.4 it is more than evident. I honestly don't know if it also front-focuses at, say, f/8...Even if it did, I wouldn't see it.

...I've never used Nikon. Canon's always focus wide-open (unless you hit this one button, but I'm not sure they focus with that button pushed).

Sure Nikon always focuses wide open, to let most light through.
About the "button", if you intend the DOF preview (press it, and watch how the focused shoot will look like), D90 has it of course at the front of the body.
It's the bottom-most button in this picture, so you press it with your right pinky.

 

[Eccentrus]

ok so some bookkeeping mistake means that I accidentally put my next month's allowance into the calculation, therefore I'm set back for about $200 and will have no way to buy any ILC except for the J1 in the reasonable timeframe, and so, if I have to choose now, I'd rather think about Fuji X10 or its new version X20, as both gives you manual focus and exposure control and manual zooming and the capability for 1cm macro is just perfect, so thoughts about this perhaps?

---------- Post added at 10:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:55 PM ----------

and then I found another store which sells the F3D at the same price with Fuji X20, now we're talking!

 

[statickid]

I don't know if its just the retro geek in me, but that x20 looks like a really fun camera, I'm definitely going to look into those

 

[Eccentrus]

just go to flickr and search for x10 & x20 group, the results from both cameras are simply amazing, and not to mention that both are capable of bokeh, of course with quality still subpar to RX100, but $100 cheaper and more of a style if I have to say . I think I'm going for X20 after all, with that price it already have a lens which is excellent and will work for most of my need, and the manual zooming and focusing, and the exposure dial gives me much of a control over the camera easier and quicker than a lower-end NEX would, which have to be done from inside the menu, hell if anyone's experience to be trusted, I should then later save for NEX-6 rather than F3 for more bang on the buck .

 

[Eccentrus]

So after about a month or so of deliberation and finally get to feel some cameras, my choice ultimately went down to Canon G15. I was aiming for Lumix LX7 which was $100 cheaper and have a faster Leica lens, but unfortunately everybody's sold out because it's not such a well-received brand here. So basically at the same price of $440 the contenders was the G15 with f1.8 or the new Samsung EN2X which have Schneider-Kreuznach f 1.4 and I tried both in the store. The X20 was paired with the G1X at $580 pricetag here and are simply not affordable due to my budget. I also shoot much more in lower light situation so I suspect the f 1.8 in the G15 will satisfy me more than the f 2.8 in G1X although I also lost the advantages of larger almost APS-C sensor on that one.

So back to the Samsung an the G15. The Samsung was, well, plastic, and quite light and whatnot with WiFi and articulating screen and also quite the pleasing OOF/bokeh results, but the G15 ultimately wins because of the build quality and the fact that for both 1/1.7" sensors, the 0.4 f difference is not that much, and the Canon brings out a much more pleasing color rendition as well, and the Aluminium body also contributes a lot to that decision, if not all the bells and whistles in the body which are reminiscent to the X20 or even dSLR bodies. I'll have some night adventure with my cousin next week and I hopefully can post the results over in the photography thread