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Sony NEX with Leica Optics


Washington

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I have been shooting with a NEX-5N body with a Novoflex adapter for M lenses.

Today I used a 50mm Summicron with a 75mm optical finder above.

The picture quality is superb but there are many drawbacks using manual mode.

Some of them will be corrected if I get the electronic finder from China.

It’s terribly hard to focus from the rear screen even though I programed one button

enlarge the image for manual focus.

Actually, the dial and buttons on the rear that are needed for exposure compensation

are just too easy to press while using and put the camera into an unwanted mode.

Not too user friendly as one has to be so careful.

Never-the-less, it’s an interesting contraption with a great sensor and excellent

high ISO quality.

I do look forward to the NEX-7 where I hope dials will replace these dopey buttons.

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The Ricoh GXR with A12 M-mount module works pretty well with my M and (adapted) LTM lenses. If you can find one to try, you should give it a whirl. I haven't tried the NEX 5 but others who have used it say that the ergonomics and IQ of the GXR are superior.

 

Regards, Jim

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Thanks Jim,

But, you know, I have the Ricoh with the zoom module and I like it.

However, I do believe I will be putting my money into a Sony NEX-7.

I really like the Ricoh just as it is…. and use it with the electronic viewfinder!

I’m just blown away by these Sonys!

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Hi Washington!

 

I find it very interesting to follow your experimentation with your Sony Nex camera and various adapter-customized lenses.

 

Sony Nex-7 seems to be a really great camera for hiking and traveling.

But to get such a camera, which is 100%, suited to the Leica optics, it may be worth waiting for Leica's own new EVIL camera.

I do not think we should exclude the possibility that it may become quite similar to Sony's Nex-7 model.

Such a camera will also of course have some sort of focus confirmation intended for Leica M lenses.

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Guest Holy Moly

The M mount from Ricoh is the only third party lensholder with sensor which is very close to the given specifications for M lenses and equiv.

 

The NEX7/5 might be spectacular in terms of technical datas but the M specs are very delicate......

Adapted SLR lenses from Leica ® and others might be ok due to their wider distance to the sensor but we have to wait and see......

 

The GXR mount with it's very conservative 12 MP sensor AND missing AA filter plus shifted microlenses is the long awaited and requested upgrade-program from Leica in terms of sensor change.

Sony doesn't care about the side effect of lens adaption - they want to sell their own stuff which is ok.....

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I am not knocking my M-9….I love using it.

But nothing is better than focusing directly through the lens mounted.

With the mechanical linkage on my Leica there are some lenses just perfect and

others not so. I use the ones that are spot on because this adjustment stuff throws

other lenses off. This electronic viewfinder makes all my Leica lenses perfect.

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HOLY MOLY….. is exactly what I am saying now as the electronic viewfinder

arrived today and makes using Leica glass a breeze!!!! More later.

 

Rip, I'm anxious to hear more about your NEX and the EVF. I have pre-ordered the NEX7 so I can have a compact camera with good IQ and video that can also mount my M lenses as a complement to my M9. I would wait for the EVIL, but I don't know how long that wait will be and I do know it will be expensive as it will undoubtedly have a red dot on it. I am guessing $3,000-$4,000 ... the price of an M lens.

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I know this thread says Sony but as someone also mentioned Ricoh, I wonder how easy it is to focus Leica M lenses manually on other bodies, eg Panasonic and Olympus? For me, I find AF is a lot harder than RF where I can choose the point of focus, especially someone's eyes. I find AF is a bit hit and miss -- but MF on a nominally AF camera also looks somewhat fiddly.

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David, I can only speak of my experiences with the Olympus E-P1 (rubbish) and the Ricoh GXR (good). Note that I say "good" rather than some more hyperbolic term. That is because a) I am English and B) the technology still has a long way to go to catch up to the clarity and ease of use of my M2 ;)

 

Regards,

 

Bill

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Thank you Bill, I have just found you GXR pictures and findings. "Good" is subjective. Reminds me of Rolls-Royce, which would describe horsepower as "adequate". ;) I think

you have some excellent results, but it seems focusing can be fiddly. My impression is that all these APS ILC cameras (or whatever you want to call them) offer an interesting alternative way of using Leica M glass, but are still something of a compromise.

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