Product Listing

Sony Alpha NEX-7 - The Best There Is

By Ng Chong Seng - 9 Dec 2011

Conclusion

Near Perfect

We’ve had a smashing time using the NEX-7. The body is solidly constructed, the handling is great, the OLED viewfinder is gorgeous, the responsiveness is impressive, and the list goes on. It’s an awesome camera for both professional work and for play: during testing, we were shooting technical shots at one moment, and having fun with the 15 picture effects (especially Toy Camera, HDR Painting, and Miniature) and panorama modes the next. This frictionless transition is testament to the good work Sony has done with the Tri-Navi interface.

Image quality-wise, we’d rate it as excellent. So too for video quality; the LA-EA2 really opens up a lot of creative possibilities. In the resolution department, the NEX-7 is unmatched by any in the mirrorless, interchangeable lens compact camera category. Ironically, for low light performance, its closest competitor is the NEX-5N. Then again, the difference in noise performance of both cameras, while present, is hardly discernible in most real life shooting scenarios unless you print real big and compare both side by side (and unrealistically up close), or if you do a lot pixel-peeping on the monitor. In our opinion, if money isn't an issue, we'd pick the NEX-7 over the NEX-5N any day.

Due to the terrible floods in Thailand, it'd be a while before the NEX-7 would be available in any meaningful quantity in the market.

 

Versus the Rest

Of course, for every reason that goes in favor of the NEX-7, one can probably find another against it. In our Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1 review, we brought up one that by now should sound like a broken record: that is, despite the feat of making the NEX camera body really thin, the choice of an APS-C sensor inevitably meant that the E-mount lenses are going to be bigger than comparable Micro Four Thirds lenses. Case in point: take a look at the image below of the NEX-7 mounted with the new 55-210mm lens. Conversely, one could argue that this package is still much smaller and easier to handle than a DSLR.

Versus the Olympus Pen E-P3, the NEX-7 is the outright winner in terms of feature set. However, the E-P3 focuses just a split second faster. The Micro Four Thirds camp still holds the advantage in terms of first-party lens lineup; but to be fair to Sony, the new Carl Zeiss 24mm F1.8 and 50mm F1.8 are pretty sweet lenses. When the NEX system is launched in 2010, there were three E-mount lenses (excluding the two converters); now, this number has increased to seven. And let’s not forget the LA-EA2 A-mount lens adapter: it’s not only innovative, but it actually works very well.

The S$1,699 Fujifilm FinePix X100 is perhaps the closest in price to the NEX-7. The latter’s 18-55mm kit has a suggested retail price of US$1,399, so we expect local price to be just under two grand. That being said, both are very different cameras. The X100 has an equivalent 35mm F2 lens that can’t be changed. While not as high-res as the OLED EVF on the NEX-7, the X100’s hybrid viewfinder is still very unique by all standards. But we’d posit that the NEX-7 with its Tri-Navi system trumps the X100 in the usability department. We still like the X100 (as well as the X10) despite its quirks, and we believe many do too. As the saying goes, it’s best to try them yourself before making a decision.

Here's a side profile of the NEX-7 mounted with the new E 55-210mm F4.5-6.3 OSS telephoto zoom lens.

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9.5
  • Performance 9
  • Design 9.5
  • Features 10
  • User-Friendliness 10
  • Value 8.5
The Good
Extremely high resolution (24.3MP)
Best-in-class OLED viewfinder
Innovative Tri-Navi controls
Full HD 50p and 25p video recording
Great shutter responsiveness
The Bad
ISO 3,200 and beyond unsuitable for large prints
Pricey
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