Sony NEX-5N Newbie

After years as a Canon SLR users, I jumped from the Canon ship.

I needed to upgrade my old Canon 300D -- the original EOS Digital Rebel. Its age was undeniable: 6.2 megapixels, 2.5 frames per second, and an image buffer that capped out at 4 shots often leaving me standing there staring at it waiting for the "Busy" message to leave the screen.  I now have small children, and trying to catch them in the act of doing something cute with a slow-to-respond camera was nigh on impossible (although I got a few lucky shots from time to time).

I thought I wanted to go big -- I had my sights set on the Canon 5D Mark II.  That's about a $2500 camera.  I wanted the big sensor (low-light performance), the uncropped frame (wide landscape photos), and the cinematic high def video (because it looks great).

However, the price of that camera puts it out of reach for many who are not professional photographers (including me). I looked at lower models but felt that the 7D was still way too expensive; the 60D was too expensive and didn't seem to offer huge improvements over my camera; and I was worried that the 600D (essentially the current version of my existing camera) would be disappointing in low light -- a spec bump for a camera that would still set me back 6 or 700 bucks.

I had been hearing about the new breed of mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras.  Micro four thirds sensors are all the rage, and the quality that these cameras cranks out is very impressive. I started doing a little bit of reading on the mirrorless ILCs and some of the specs of the Sony NEX line honestly shocked me.

The Sony has an APS-C sensor, the same size as used in Canon's line of DSLRs all the way up to the highly regarded 7D.  That alone impressed me, but the NEX-5N also boasts an ISO range up to 25,600 (similar to some new higher-end Nikon DSLRs).

For comparison, my Canon 300D offered ISO settings all the way up to 1,600.  And the noise in my Canon was, in my opinion, unacceptable at either 800 or 1,600 ISO.  Here's a shot of my daughter at 1,600 ISO.

Shot of my daughter taken with my Canon 300D at 1,600 ISO.

Reviews of the Sony all unanimously seemed to say that noise was impressively low all the way up to its maximum 25,600 setting.  So, I should be able to take snapshots at night in my living room without a flash, and without unacceptable image noise.

Oh, and it can blast through 10 frames per second.  It has a shutter lag of .02 seconds.  That's the amount of time between you pressing the shutter release button and the photo being taken. So if I couldn't catch my kids in the act of cuteness, it's no longer the camera's fault.

Numbers are just numbers, and reviews can only tell you so much.  I had to get my hands on one.  I jumped in with both feet and bought it.

In 1997, I bought my first film SLR at local shop Jack's Camera.  It was used -- a Canon FTb.  Came with a nice 50mm f1.4 prime lens (I didn't know how nice it was at the time).  I used that camera for my 3 photography classes while a college student, and for several years afterward. I loved it and wish I still owned it. However, when the 300D was released as the first sub-$1000 DSLR on the market, I had to have it.  In March 2004 I traded in my FTb for the 300D at Jack's Camera.

So, I thought it only fitting that 8 years later, in March 2012, I should trade my 300D in at Jack's for the Sony NEX 5N.  I did that 2 days ago.

So far, it has lived up to the hype and the numbers.

More details to come.