James Shackleton's Blog

I have been using an NEX-5n for a few months now, so it feels time to write a little more about my experiences with it.

I love the size and weight of it compared to a DSLR. Walking all day with a bag containing the NEX and a few lenses holds little fear for me. My 50D with a few lenses is a different proposition.

The NEX has a great sensor. 3200 isn’t really a problem – 1600 is fine for everyday use. With my 50D, 1600 is as far as you could really go – and then things were getting messy. I did quite a lot of auditorium photography in the past and the only way to get descent results was to use fast prime lenses, like a 50mm f1.4 or my 85mm f1.8. And that isn’t always practical.

With the NEX I have been able to use the 55-210 at f5.6 at concerts and most of the time come away with reasonable results. Incidentally, I am quite happy with the 55-210, it is a really useful lens and I love its light weight and range, but it isn’t even close to my 70-200 L USM optically. But it is a fraction of the size and weight.

The other thing I don’t like about the NEX-5n is the lack of a PC socket, which (at the current time) means you can’t use off-camera flash without some pretty impressive Heath-Robinson work.

I don’t really write product reviews because despite what I read online, there really is no “best” camera and with that out the way, you are left with what is an essentially personal choice, which explains why people get so up-in-arms if you dis their puppy.

Ok. I used to own an NEX-5 and for what I do (mostly people and “found” photography), it was very good. The focusing wasn’t mind-blowingly fast and no I didn’t think the standard lens was L-glass, but it packed quite a punch in a very small package.

That last part is important,’cos to be honest most “enthusiast” type DSLRs are too big and bulky to carry slung over a shoulder all weekend or for a trip to the park.

Ok, so I’ve had the NEX-5N for a couple of days – how is it so far?

Well, the good news is that it bangs out beautifully detailed images even at high ISO. The files look very clean – obviously cleaner than from my 50D.

The not so good news is the autofocus, which seems fine with close-up objects, but struggles with infinity. I will do a scour of the manual and see if I can work out what is going on.

The other issue (here in China at least) is getting your hands on one.

Well, so far, I am pleased with mine. It is a lovely piece of kit.

I will update later.

I thought I would write about the lenses I own and use on my Canon 50D.

1.  Canon 50mm f2.5 – Quite small and light weight. Inexpensive. Very, very sharp. I also own a 50mm f1.4 (and used to own a 50mm f1.8) and it is sharper than that at any aperture. But it doesn’t go to f1.4 and it doesn’t have USM.

2. Canon 24mm f2.8 – Again small. Inexpensive. Fairly sharp. Sometimes gets a bit of blue fringing on white highlights, which is fixable. If I could only take one lens on holiday, this could well be it.

3. Canon 85mm f1.8 – A lovely chunk of glass to look at. Fairly inexpensive. A bit soft wide open, but stopped down a touch and it is beautifully sharp. USM focusing, which is fast.

4. Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 VC – After only using prime lenses, this feels huge. Wide open, the centre of the frame is sharp, stopped down, the rest is. I have had a few occasions where the results on a tripod haven’t been as sharp as I would like. I forgot to turn off the VC. Could that be it? Maybe.

5. Canon 55-255mm IS EFS – This lens is a chatroom hero. Lots of people post about how it is much better than lenses several times more expensive. It is quite good. It is definitely excellent value. The IS works well. The lens is quite sharp. Not amazingly fast focusing though. But it is super light, you could carry one all day and not really feel it.

6. Canon 70-300mm IS USM – A bit better than the 55-255mm in just about every way. But heavier and more expensive. And still not very fast at focusing.

7. Canon 50mm f1.4 USM – Rather soft wide open. Much better stopped down a bit. Quite compact. Fairly inexpensive.

8. Sigma 30mm F1.4 – Big and heavy for what it is. And quite expensive (I think). But gives an equivalent to 50mm in 35mm format. And f1.4. For general use I wish it focused more closely.

9. Canon 100m f2.8 USM macro – Quite big and heavy. Very sharp, possibly too sharp for portraits. Mid-priced.

10. Canon 10-22 USM EFS – Quite big and bulky. Expensive. Good quality though. I wish it wasn’t variable aperture.

11. Canon 24-105 IS USM – Big, bulky, expensive. Good quality. An excellent studio lens, allowing you to quickly change from full length portraits to head and shoulders close-ups easily.

12. Canon 70-200 USM – Quite big and bulky (though nothing like the f2.8 versions). But really, really sharp! This lens really shows how good a zoom can be. Mid-priced though.

13. Canon 135mm F2 USM – Quite big and bulky. Expensive. Beautifully sharp. Honestly I thought I would use this more, but I tend to find that the 70 -200mm is more useful. But. But. This is a very good lens.

14. Canon 35mm F2 – A tiny lens. Pretty sharp, even wide open. Inexpensive. The other lens which I might choose if I could only take one on holiday. Unimposing. But very good.

In the Distance

This is a recent painting I did. None of it is really “right” – but I do like the colours.

View from Hong Kong International Airport

This is part of a much bigger picture which I stitched together using Photoshop.

I keep thinking that I should take more pictures in airports, ‘cos they are places I spend quite a lot of time. And it would give me something to do while I wait for my own departure (interesting phrase there).