Sony Nex 5 as a Street Shooter

Update! Attention all hands!

The 16 arrived and I've been giving the camera a good workout.
The hood from the 18-55 fits the 16 and no issues with light fall off in the corners.
I had 12 prints made and they are spectacular.
The camera delivers.

On the street I am very comfortable. The camera never misses focus. Sometimes it hunts if the contrast is bad but slight movement gets focus right a way.
I have a high success rate and that pleases me.
 
Don, it is time for you to post some of those new photographs here. Please? Inquiring minds need to see!

I have to admit that this NEX5 felt very good in my right hand as I carried it and took a few photos. Actually, I took more photographs in a short period of time than I ever have. I will see if I can add some pictures here tomorrow. But Don, you do have some photos I took of our gathering here the other night - I never did get to download those. Perhaps we can argue about who took what.:tongue:
 
BB, I'll get caught up shortly.... in the mean time....

The Nex does a few things very nicely. The AF doesn't get fooled by reflections to easily.
See the image...



This is a very complicated setup. I wanted everything to be in acceptable focus. The camera saw thru the window and locked fast. I will not comment on comparing the Nex against other cameras, only against itself.
So what happens on the street is like this....
You see something that activates your trigger mechanisms. When you decide the time is right to make the image, there is no extra time to fiddle with settings, AF, anything. The only thing that you need to do is to frame with the camera. At this point, the camera can't interfere with the process. The Nex doesn't interfere at all. Of course you have to know where things are set but the camera should just do it's job and record.

Next image...


Here, this was a found setup. I didn't move anything. I just waited for the exact right time to release. The key thing about the Nex is.... there is virtually ZERO lag time. If there was, this image wouldn't exist.
I saw the bars on the paper and the man in the background. Then in a fraction of a second.... I could see the girl coming... I needed her and him to be in the exact spot that I saw in my mind....
The timing of the camera was critical.... sure enough, no lag made me happy again.

Things on the street happen fast most times. The camera has to be able to respond as fast as your vision. It has to be a part of your vision. It is whether you like it or not. I've been doing street sooo long that I know what it means to have a camera be a part of what I do and not just be a recording device.

More later.... please add to the thread....thanks
shooter
 
You'll get no argument from me! I've never felt so immediately comfortable with a camera. I don't even miss the AEL/AFL button as much as I thought I would. The LX-5 in manual focus technically has less lag than the Nex, but the difference is so small it doesn't matter. And with the Nex you can use the AF without missing a beat. This is partially because you can look down to frame and I'm almost never shooting blind so its easy to nail the AF. My only issue is with the lens and its a mixed type thing. I like the compositions I get with the 16 a LOT, but my shots with it don't feel as intimate as with something closer to a classic 35mm focal length (23-24 with Nex or X-100, 17 with m43, etc). So I'm looking forward to the Zeiss 24 f1.7 to really turn it into the ultimate street camera. You don't seem to have that problem with it Don. You seem to adapt really fast to whatever you're using because your shots with the 16 feel just as intimate with the folks you're shooting as your stuff done with the 20 or 17 from your m43 days. Good instincts, I guess!

But I'm having too much fun with the 16 to worry about it much - the 24 should be great when it gets here, but until then, no worries with the 16...

-Ray
 
Don is this camera a real streetshooter camera in your opinion, better then any other camera?
Your shot of a newspaper and a black girl is fabulous, great work!
 
Herman,
There is no perfect street camera except 1.
That is my trusty old Black Lac M4.

So, realizing that all cameras will have issues in one area or another, I use cameras and adapt to their method of operation.
Why? My subject matter has not changed all my life.
I tune into what I tune into the way I always do.

The camera is the denominator that changes things.
The answer to your question is simply.

The Nex 5 is the camera I am currently using.
It is a great camera for those that do not need an EVF.
Cheers. Don
 
I have used the moveable AF points and it doesn't slow it down noticeably, but you really don't know what the camera's brain is going to decide to focus on. Unless you use face recognition, but I don't trust that except in fairly low speed situations like hanging out with the family. So I pretty much always keep it in the center as well. But if you like the moveable AF, it doesn't slow it down that I could tell.

-Ray
 
Seems to me that the moveable AF points would be good on a tripod. Maybe it has uses I don't know about. Most of my previous cameras had that feature but I never used it....
 
Don, how about the X100 ?
Fujifilm Holland told me that the X100 will be available here (Holland) in April.
Pre order is possible, I don't know it's price.
 
Herman,
Any camera is good. It's what you have with you that captures the moment.
My beloved M4 is sleeping for years already.
The X100 will no doubt get a workout from me but at the moment....

Hold on.... Wow...click ... Another great Nex image....

Sorry, what were you asking....?
 
More from the railway station.
5898700983_07223b2636_b.jpg
[/url] DSC00882 by heather_t_vet, on Flickr[/IMG]
 
It does have the in camera option, but I did it PP in iphoto. It was before I had updated the firmware to include the peaking function, so it was a bit of a struggle to get the manual focus right along with all the other trials of people moving and so on, but it's all a learning process!

Thanks :)
 
It was before I had updated the firmware to include the peaking function, so it was a bit of a struggle to get the manual focus right along with all the other trials of people moving and so on, but it's all a learning process!
Firmware to upgrade the peaking function? Please tell me more about this as I'm a relative newbie to this camera. Got any linkage pertaining to this please? :)
-Bruce
 
I picked it up from here somewhere, I'll see if I can find it. Whatever version I had didn't have the peaking function on it. Peaking highlights the area in focus when you're using manual focus. I use a Canon FD lens most of the time so I find it very useful.I use the peaking to get close, then 7x or 14x magnification to fine tune exactly what I want. Or try to anyway!

Streetshooter is your man for the questions, he's good at all that stuff. I'm just a fumbling thumbed enthusiast! :)
 
I picked it up from here somewhere, I'll see if I can find it. Whatever version I had didn't have the peaking function on it. Peaking highlights the area in focus when you're using manual focus. I use a Canon FD lens most of the time so I find it very useful.I use the peaking to get close, then 7x or 14x magnification to fine tune exactly what I want. Or try to anyway!

Streetshooter is your man for the questions, he's good at all that stuff. I'm just a fumbling thumbed enthusiast! :)
Thanks, That's more than I knew a few minutes ago. :cool:
Still, I'll also await a reply from Streetshooter. :)
-Bruce
 
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