Sony NEX 5n vs Sony NEX 3n

A few months back I advised my father in law to buy a Sony NEX 3n, which we found for, at the time, an amazing deal of $299 with the 16-50mm power zoom lens.  He loved it, but it unfortunately was dropped lens first onto something hard, and the lens wasn't fixable.  It turned out that it was cheaper to buy a whole new kit than buy the lens, which is what he did, so I ended up with the Sony NEX 3n body.

 

It has though given me a chance to try them both out side by side, an interesting comparison given that they have the same sensor.  However, the do differ; the 5n has the 900k dot touchscreen, while the NEX 5n has a 460k dot non touch screen, and it is significantly better. It also has a double hinge, unlike the 3n, which makes overhead shots much easier.  The NEX3n has a built in flash and is over all a bit larger.  Unfortunately the NEX 3n subscribes to the Nikon theory of haphazard fill in flash, rather than the brilliance of the Fujis.

Control wise, the cameras are very similar, both lacking the wheel controls of the NEX 5t and NEX 6, though the touch screen makes it easier to navigate screens.

All in all they are pretty similar, and I think you would be hard pressed to find a better deal than a NEX 3n out there right now.

Pole Posters and the Sony NEX-6

A few weeks ago I found myself in Ottawa with a couple hours to kill in between some meetings.  I decided to go for a walk downtown around Bank Street and visit a little camera store that specialised in older photo equipment.  In the couple years since I had last come down this street, it looked like the store had closed down, but I did get to take a few shots of some posters stuck to lamp poles, which were quite fascinating.  All the shots below were taken at ether f2 or f2.8.

I did though get to visit Henry's and got to take a good look at both the Sony NEX-6 and the Sony RX-100.  The NEX-6 is an impressive camera, but I wasn't as impressed with the view finder as I thought I would be.  However the tiny 16-50mm kit lens is a tiny piece of zoom pancake beauty.  

The RX-100 is also impressive, with the sales person saying he actually purchased one for himself.  Interestingly the depth of field does not vary greatly wide open across the zoom range, between 24mm f1.8 and 100mm f4.9.  The RX-100 is pretty cool, but I have to admit I am lovin' the red leather on the closely matched rival, the Fuji XF-1.

Photokina Countdown

There's so much great photographic gear about to be released in the lead up to Photokina, I'm on the edge of my seat!  The Fuji XE-1 has already been announced, the Sony RX-1 full frame compact has been previewed and Sony is also likely to release a NEX-6 - a NEX-7 with a NEX-5n sensor.

Of course, and the one I am most interested in, is the Nikon D600.  Canon may also release a competitor at the same time, but I predict that this will be later.  Other predictions include a Leica M10 to replace the now 3 year old M9, and a host of Sony D-SLRs.

What I am hoping for is a Pentax full frame DSLR, and I know that would certainly be very interesting for my father.

We all shall see, but exciting times lay ahead this week.

On another note, this sculpture at the Distillery District is as fascinating as it is creepy.  Definatley worth a few shots!!