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.

As you can see, last night I was at Tango, which is a venue in Beijing. It was a good night. Death Cab For Cutie were very good, playing a mix of old and new tracks.