Sony NEX 7 Review

 

The new top model of Sony’s mirrorless system cameras is the NEX-7. It offers the finest equipment: the new 24.3 megapixel resolution CMOS in APS-C size is used as the image sensor. Its ISO sensitivity ranges from 100 to 16,000. Like the NEX-5N, the NEX-7 should have a shutter release delay of just 0.02 seconds. The serial frame rate reaches ten frames per second, a record for non-reflecting system cameras. Videos are captured in FullHD with 50p as AVCHD 2.0 on the memory card, either an SD/SDHC/SDXC or a MemoryStick Duo. Of course there is a permanent autofocus tracking, but also manual focusing can be used for photos and films. Video sound is recorded in stereo.

Short evaluation

Pros

• Very high continuous shooting and release speed
• Very good electronic viewfinder
• High-quality, ergonomic housing with full-fledged system flash shoe
• Superbe image quality (but only with very high quality lenses

Cons

• Lens assortment continues to be severely restricted
• Wheels and buttons not adequately secured against incorrect operation
• ISO automatic fixed at ISO 100-1.600
• Range of functions does not meet professional requirements

When Sony appeared on the stage of mirrorless system cameras with the NEX-5 and NEX-3 almost two years ago, the goal was clear: the handy cameras should from now on deliver the image quality of a classic DSLR to climbers of a compact camera, while remaining as handy, easy to use and compact as possible. With the NEX-7 last autumn, Sony extended the NEX family with a camera that leaves the original concept behind and is clearly aimed at ambitious photographers. Is that enough for the NEX-7 to complement or even replace a classic DSLR? We investigated this question intensively in practice and in laboratory tests.

The NEX-7 has a sturdy magnesium alloy body and still weighs only 291 grams without a lens. Considering that the NEX-7 has both a built-in pop-up flash and an electronic viewfinder, this is quite remarkable. The EVF offers a 0.5 inch OLED panel with a resolution of fine 2.36 million pixels, i.e. 1,024 x 768 pixels. Optional grid lines and a digital spirit level can be displayed. The rear screen measures three inches diagonally and has a resolution of 921,000 pixels. It can be folded up 90 degrees and down 45 degrees. The operating concept is characterised by the Tri-Navi control system. The camera has three control wheels, two on the top and one on the back, which, according to Sony, provides intuitive control over camera settings. Picture effects and panorama are also part of the basic equipment of the NEX-7, as is the case with the NEX-5N.

The NEX-7 is the first NEX to feature a system flash shoe so that both the system flash units and the large CLM-V55 LC display can be used with the camera. From November 2011, the NEX-7 will be available from specialist photo retailers and Amazon at a price of EUR 1,200. In the set with the 18-55 OSS the price rises to 1,350 EUR.

Ergonomics and workmanship

Sony announced the NEX-7 months ago, but it’s only gradually becoming widely available. The flood in Thailand in the summer of last year also hit Sony production facilities hard, so that the delivery of the NEX-7 has been greatly delayed. The fact that the NEX-7 is currently Sony’s top model among the mirrorless system cameras, it already conveys when unpacked from the elegant box. Its matt black aluminium-magnesium housing nestles cool in your hand. The fact that the back and underside are made of plastic is initially not noticeable at all. Compared to its smaller sister NEX-5N, the NEX-7 grows mainly in width and slightly in height. This gives room for a pronounced handle that lets the camera lie perfectly in the hand. This handle holds the battery, its capacity is enough for about 350 photos with activated EVF or about 430 photos via display.

But the NEX-7 also stands out from its smaller sisters with its two additional, freely configurable selector wheels. The setting wheels milled from solid material can be conveniently operated with the thumb of the right hand. Several functions can be assigned to them, with a small switch to the right of the trigger you can change the function levels. If the switch is held down for a few seconds, the selector wheels are locked against unintentional adjustment – a small equipment detail that proves to be very helpful in practice, as the rotating wheels adjust all too easily. In addition to the smart multifunction selectors, Sony has found room for a small on-board flash. This makes the NEX-7 the first and currently only NEX model with an integrated light dispenser. It has to be unlocked manually and then jumps surprisingly far out of its parking position. On the top of the NEX-7 there is also room for a full-grown system flash shoe in the proprietary Minolta/Sony layout.

The back of the camera is dominated by a lavishly dimensioned three-inch display. It has a fine resolution of 921,000 pixels and can be folded up to almost 90 degrees and down 45 degrees – touch-sensitive as the NEX-5N is not. However, this display will not be used as extensively as with the smaller NEXes for the image design. Sony has equipped the NEX-7 with a very high-resolution electronic viewfinder. It is ergonomically cleverly placed in the left corner of the housing. So you don’t squeeze your nose flat on the display as soon as you look through the viewfinder – at least not as long as you look into the viewfinder with your right eye. With more than 2.3 million subpixels, the EVF resolves extremely finely, displays the viewfinder image 100 percent and, with a viewfinder image magnification of 0.73 (based on 35 mm viewfinder), offers an extremely generously dimensioned image. The sharpness of the image can be judged almost as well as with a good optical viewfinder.

The color rendering of the viewfinder image also looks very natural. In addition, the electronic viewfinder takes camera settings such as white balance or exposure correction into account and therefore indicates possible incorrect settings even before shooting. However, the refresh rate is likely to be somewhat higher. In high-contrast subjects, the viewfinder image flickers in dark areas of the image. And if the camera is panned quickly, the viewfinder image follows a bit – but it only takes a blink of an eye until it is fixed again. Sony has equipped the viewfinder with diopter compensation, a very useful feature for spectacle wearers. As with the first generation of SLT cameras, the exit pupil of the NEX-7 is too close to the eye. With glasses it may therefore be impossible to view the viewfinder image in its entirety. And even with a camera pressed directly against the eye, some practice is required. The EVF compensates for this with an eye sensor – it is automatically activated as soon as the photographer raises the camera to the eye.

Also new on the NEX-7 is a push-button that serves as a standard exposure memory or for switching between autofocus and manual focus. The small pushbutton can be configured in a wide range. If desired, it can also be used to activate the viewfinder magnifier for manual focus. Or you can use it to turn on the autofocus and decouple the AF from the shutter release button. But that’s not all: From its smaller sisters, the NEX-7 has inherited the setting wheel on the rear, as well as two multifunction switches that can also be freely configured for P, A, S and M modes.

The two new multifunction selector wheels are undoubtedly the highlight. New functions can be assigned to them as well as to the thumbwheel on the back. The functions you call up depend on the recording mode you have selected. For example, in “A” mode, the left wheel sets the aperture value, the right wheel controls the exposure compensation, and the thumbwheel is used to enter the ISO value. If you now press the small navigation button next to the shutter release button, the dials are given new functions. In the factory settings, the left wheel now sets the AF mode, while the other two are used to select the focus field, for example. However, these settings can be changed to suit your taste, with a total of nine functions that allow Sony to place the dials – from the choice of creative styles and white balance to file size and format. In addition, there are two freely configurable switches which can be assigned further functions that cannot be assigned to the selector wheels. Together with the Olympus OM-D E-M5, the NEX-7 is currently advancing to become the mirrorless system camera that can be adapted as far as possible to the wishes and needs of the photographer.

The other side of the coin, however, is that the functions must be assigned to the numerous wheels and buttons from various positions in the menu. This can by no means be done during the coffee break in the office, but requires instead an intensive occupation with the possibilities of the camera. Especially because Sony has adopted the menu navigation of the NEX-7 almost unchanged from the smaller models. And so the NEX-7 also offers beautifully designed and very clear menus that break with the usual conventions of sophisticated cameras. Which ambitious photographer, for example, suspects that the ISO sensitivity is hidden under the menu item “Color”? Thus, despite all the improvements and extended configuration possibilities, the NEX-7 still gives the impression, compared to the previous models, that Sony has mainly built on existing features. The old and the new do not always harmonize perfectly with each other.

All in all, however, the NEX-7 is easy to operate. Among other things, a dedicated trigger for video recordings also contributes to this. All external connections (for HDMI and USB as well as the microphone jack) disappear on the left side of the camera under neat spring flaps. Sony has also placed the stainless steel tripod connector where it belongs: in the optical axis. In addition, the tripod thread is far enough away from the battery compartment – despite the handy camera dimensions, an attached quick-release plate does not block access to the battery and memory card.

Equipment

Compared to its smaller sister NEX-5N, Sony has expanded the hardware of the top model NEX-7. With the software it remains essentially with the already known possibilities. Although these are rich, they leave the one or other wish of ambitious photographers open. The NEX-7 offers the novice or less experienced photographer a multitude of automatic functions. Sony doesn’t rely on a confusing multitude of motive programs, but rather complements them with extremely practical special functions. These include noise reduction through multiple shots, HDR exposure bracketing, which the camera instantly combines into an image, or the panorama function, which allows panoramic photos to be taken by panning the camera. Face recognition is also on board, as are the currently popular creative programs, which allow the photos to be distorted as soon as they are taken.

Those who don’t want to leave their picture results to the automatics for better or for worse have to live with some limitations with the NEX-7. For example, although the camera records bracketing shots, it only records three shots at a time, with the largest possible spread being 0.7 f-stops (EV). This is not enough for real HDR series, where five or more shots with an exposure difference of 1 EV are often required. So it’s all the more annoying that the NEX-7 can be triggered via an optional remote control, but then does not record image series or exposure bracketing. The functions for ISO selection are similarly limited. The sensitivity can only be set in whole EV steps, the ISO automatic is fixed to the range from ISO 100 to ISO 1,600 with semi-automatic exposure control – the upper and lower limits cannot be changed. Fully automatic and motif programs do not allow any intervention, the excellent setting wheels are then out of order and, at best, display an error message on the screen.

So even with the NEX-7 it is still possible to divide the setting options into two: The automatic systems allow practically no intervention, as it has always been the concept of the NEX system. Ambitious photographers will therefore mainly use the camera in PASM mode, only then will the NEX-7 unfold its full potential. Newly added here are some image styles such as “bright” or “clear”, which allow quick recordings with corresponding tone value curves.

More interestingly, the NEX-7 integrates with the flash system of Sony’s Alpha DSLR and SLT models. Equipped with an appropriate flash unit, the camera even serves as a control centre for wirelessly connected system flashes. Too bad that the integrated on-board flash cannot control any external flash units. The configuration options for the flash light, on the other hand, offer everything your heart desires: whether flash on the second curtain, long-term synchronisation or flash exposure compensation – the NEX-7 doesn’t bother you here. The internal flash, however, is quite weak on the chest with a guide number of 6.4. But that’s something one likes to miss, as the NEX-7 is the only mirrorless system camera from Sony that can even come up with an internal flash.

The HVL-F20AM is recommended for those who want to call up more flash power. The very compact flash unit fits perfectly to the NEX-7, offers sufficient power with guide number 20 and can also take over the role of a control flash in wireless flash setup. The decision for the proprietary Alpha flash shoe on the NEX-7 also means that special NEX accessories such as the ECM-SST1 microphone cannot be used with this camera. The NEX-7 compensates for this with a socket for an external microphone. The camera also records video sound with the internal stereo microphone. If necessary, a filter for wind noise can be switched on, but Sony has also denied the NEX-7 the possibility of manually adjusting the film sound.

The NEX-7 is the first camera in the NEX family to feature an electronic first shutter curtain. If this option is enabled, the NEX-7 achieves an impressively short trigger delay of ten to a maximum of 20 milliseconds. This is possible because the mechanical shutter does not have to be closed first to take the picture, the sensor is initialized purely electronically. A positive side effect is a very low trigger noise. However, the new technology does not affect the shortest flash sync time, it is a minimum of 1/160 second. However, with a suitable flash unit, the NEX-7 supports significantly shorter exposure times in flash mode via high-speed synchronization.

The NEX-7 is also extremely fast when it comes to continuous shooting: It records around 10.5 shots per second, but after a very short sprint of less than two seconds or 17 series shots, the camera is already puffed out. With RAW recordings, the buffer memory is already full after 14 recordings and the NEX-7 falls into a leisurely continuous run with only 1.9 photos per second with JPEG or 0.8 RAW recordings. But the NEX-7 only manages to achieve this breathtaking speed with one trick: it freezes the exposure and distance setting on the first image of the high-speed series. If focus and exposure are to be tracked during continuous shooting, the NEX-7 still takes a decent 3.2 photos per second. The speed with which the NEX-7 can process large amounts of data can also be seen in video recording: the camera records 50 full frames per second at full HD resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels. The result is a data stream compressed by AVCHD at around 28 megabits per second. The NEX-7 also allows the choice of lower video resolutions and/or lower data rates.

Lens

Sony introduced the e bayonet with the NEX system about two years ago. It impresses with a very short back focal distance of only 18 millimetres. This makes it possible to adapt almost all SLR and rangefinder camera lenses to the NEX-7 – more about that. The NEX-7 is offered as a set together with the SEL 1855, which is exclusively available in black to match the camera in this set. The zoom lens covers a focal length range from 18 to 55 millimeters (27 to 82.5 millimeters for 35mm). Unlike the DSLRs of the Alpha series, the NEX cameras have no image stabilizer via sensor shift. The SEL 1855 is equipped with an optical image stabilizer – but this does not apply to every E-lens.

Even though the set lens is largely made of plastic, it still cuts a pretty neat figure. The focal length ring still runs smoothly, the lens also spoils you with a wide focus ring. As a rule, focusing is left to the autofocus of the NEX-7. He completes his task extremely quickly, the NEX-7 has already focused and triggered in the test laboratory after approx. 0.25 seconds – a very good value. But even under difficult practical conditions, the autofocus of the NEX-7 proves to be convincingly fast. The fact that the NEX starts the autofocus as soon as the camera is lifted to the eye will certainly also help. By turning the focus ring, the automatically determined distance setting can be overridden at any time – unfortunately, the focus magnifier does not work with “Direct Manual Focus”. Autofocus divides the viewfinder image into 25 focus points in the Multi default setting. Alternatively, the AF point can be set to one of 17 x 11 positions or centered on the center of the image.

Even two years after the introduction of the E bayonet, Sony’s lens range for the NEX system is still very manageable. Currently, there are three zoom lenses with low light levels and four fixed focal lengths – including the new, high-quality Carl Zeiss 24/1.4 ZA wide-angle lens. But thanks to the very small flange focal length of the E bayonet, practically all 35 mm lenses can be adapted to the NEX without losing their ability to focus to infinity. The very compact lenses for the Leica-M bayonet prove to be ideal partners for the NEX-7. Although these lenses can only be focused manually, the NEX-7 assists to the best of its ability. On the one hand, the camera offers a focus loupe that shows the central image section in 7.5x or 12x magnification as soon as the focus ring is rotated. On the other hand, the NEX-7 can color contrast edges that lie within the focal plane. This makes manual focusing child’s play, especially since M lenses with a long focus screw travel are optimized for manual focusing.

To adapt Minolta and Sony lenses with A bayonet to the NEX system, the LA-EA2 adapter is now available. This adapter uses SLT technology, has a phase autofocus and a semitransparent mirror, and Sony has even included a motor for lenses without integrated focus drive in this adapter. This means that practically all A bayonet lenses can be adapted to the NEX-7 without any restrictions. However, this adapter is quite misshapen, especially it protrudes a few centimeters beyond the lower edge of the case. With this adapter and lens, the NEX-7 becomes quite top-heavy and takes up almost as much space in the photo bag as an SLT Alpha 55.

 

Picture quality

The Sony NEX-7’s APS-C sensor resolves 24 megapixels – no other mirrorless system camera currently offers such a high resolution. Whether and how this immense number of pixels can be converted into a corresponding image quality, the NEX-7 equipped with the set lens SEL 1855 had to show extensive practical use in the test laboratory.

The NEX-7 does well when it comes to measuring resolution: at an optimum aperture of F8, it achieves a resolution of a good 45 line pairs per millimeter (lpmm) with the set lens. However, cameras with a lower sensor resolution paired with a correspondingly high-quality lens are hardly worse. In addition, the SEL 1855 shows a clear loss of resolution of around 25 percent towards the image edges. Even the high-quality Carl Zeiss E24/1.8 does not manage to reproduce the edges of the image with nearly as much detail as the centre. This is where the short print run of the NEX system, coupled with a very high sensor resolution, takes its toll, both measurably and visibly.

The set lens is not very convincing when it comes to distortion: Especially at the short end, the SEL 1855 shows an unusually barrel-shaped distortion, but also the cushion-shaped distortion at the telephoto end is clearly pronounced. Sony should have taken a little more trouble in correcting chromatic aberrations, color fringes on contrast edges are quite pronounced with the SEL 1855 and on average remain just acceptable. The NEX-7 can correct color fringes, distortions and edge shading in e-mount lenses via software. By default, however, only the vignetting correction is switched on, so it remains at an uncritical edge shading of about a half f-stop.

The NEX-7 therefore demands very high quality lenses, only then can it show its full potential to advantage. Even at ISO 6.400, the NEX-7 still processes a contrast range of about ten f-stops, a very good value. Despite the high pixel density, Sony also has sensor noise firmly under control: noise pixels are barely visible up to ISO 1,600, up to ISO 6,400 the noise remains inconspicuous. The internal noise reduction perfectly maintains the balance between noise reduction and image details – only beyond ISO 6,400 do fine details visibly drown in noise or fall victim to noise reduction.

The output tonal range of the NEX-7 is pleasingly high, between ISO 200 and 400 the camera differentiates almost the theoretical maximum of 256 tonal value levels per channel. The tone curve is tuned quite crisply as standard, and the NEX-7 also delivers very vibrant colours. The photographer thus receives photos optimized for print output. For those who prefer to optimize their shots individually on the PC, the default “Neutral” delivers images with flatter contrasts and restrained saturation – or they shoot directly in RAW format.

Bottom line

The NEX-7 has the potential to replace a classic DSLR. The camera can deliver a fantastic picture quality – if it is equipped with adequate lenses. It doesn’t even shy away from high ISO numbers, at full resolution it can be used up to ISO 6,400 with acceptable losses. The NEX-7 can always be considered as a compact addition to a DSLR; in particular, it is the only NEX camera to integrate seamlessly into the Alpha system. The unusual operating concept of the NEX-7 is logical in itself; after some training, all relevant functions of the camera can be reached quickly and conveniently. The functional range of the NEX-7, however, remains too much tied to the NEX family: On the one hand, the top NEX also relies on automatic functions, whereby it achieves quickly usable results even without in-depth previous knowledge. On the other hand, it is stingy with professional equipment features that have long been standard features in a DSLR in the same price segment. This as well as the still very small range of suitable lenses results in the bottom line: As a replacement for a DSLR, the high-quality NEX-7 is hardly suitable, but as an – expensive – addition.

Sony NEX-7 Datasheet

Electronics
Sensor	CMOS sensor APS-C 23.6 x 15.8 mm (crop factor 1.5 )24.7 megapixels (physical) and 24.3 megapixels (effective)
Pixel pitch	3.9 µm
Photo resolution	4.240 x 2.832 pixels (3:2) 4.240 x 2.832 pixels (3:2) 3.008 x 2.000 pixels (3:2)
Panorama	Swivel panorama 12.416 x 1.856 pixels 5.536 x 2.160 pixels 8.192 x 1.856 pixels 3.872 x 2.160 pixels
Picture formats	JPG, RAW
Metadata	Exif (version 2.21), DCF standard
Video resolution	1.920 x 1.080 (16:9) 50 p 1.440 x 1.080 (4:3) 25 p 640 x 480 (4:3) 25 p
Video format	MPG4 (codec MPEG-4)
Lens
Lens mount	Sony E
Focusing
Autofocus mode	Autofocus working range from 0 EV to 20 EV, contrast autofocus with 25 measuring fields
Autofocus Functions	Single autofocus, continuous autofocus, manual, AFL function, AF Assist Light
Focus control	Depth of field control, Live View
Viewfinder and Monitor
Monitor	3.0″ TFT LCD monitor with 921,600 pixels, anti-glare, with touch screen
Video viewfinder	Video viewfinder available, diopter compensation (-4.0 to 1.0 dpt)
Exposure
Exposure metering	Center-weighted integral measurement, matrix/multi-field measurement over 1,200 fields, spot measurement
Exposure times	1/4,000 to 30 s (automatic ) bulb function
Exposure control	Fully Automatic, Program Automatic (with Program Shift), Aperture Priority, Aperture Priority, Manual
Bracketing function	Bracket function with maximum 3 shots, step size from 0.3 to 0.7 EV, HDR function
Exposure compensation	-5.0 to +5.0 EV with step size of 1/3 EV
Sensitivity to light	ISO 100 to ISO 1.600 (automatic )ISO 100 to ISO 16.000 (manual)
Remote access	Remote tripping
Motives	Auto, Landscape, Macro, Night Scene, Night Portrait, Portrait, Sports/Action, 0 more scene modes
Picture effects	Miniature Effect, Toy Camera, High Key, High Contrast (Black and White), Contour Effect (Color), Contour Effect (Black and White), Partial Color (Blue), Partial Color (Yellow), Partial Color (Green), Partial Color (Red), Pop Colors
White balance	Auto, Cloudy, Sun, Fine tuning, Shadow, Flash, Fluorescent lamp, Incandescent lamp, Manual
Color space	Adobe RGB, sRGB
Continuous shooting	Continuous-advance function max. 10.0 fps at highest resolution and max. 10 stored photos, max. 7 fps with focus on first image, max. 14 JPEG images, max. 7 RAW images
Self-timer	Self-timer at intervals of 2 s, special features: or 10 s (optional)
Shooting functions	AEL function, AFL function, live histogram
Flashgun
Flash	built-in flash (hinged )flash shoe: Sony Alpha (also Minolta)
Flash range	Flash sync time 1/160 s
Flash number	Guide number 6 (ISO 100)
Flash functions	Auto, Fill Flash, Flash On, Flash Off, Slow Sync, Flash On Second Shutter Curtain, Red-Eye Reduction, Master Mode, Flash Exposure Compensation from -3.0 EV to +3.0 EV
Equipment
Image stabilizer	no optical image stabilizer
Memory	Memory Stick (Duo Pro)
second memory card slot	SD
GPS function	Internal GPS
Microphone	Stereo
Power supply	Power supply connection
Power supply	1 x Sony NP-FW50 (lithium ion (Li-Ion), 7.2 V, 1,240 mAh )335 images
Playback Functions	Red eye retouching, crop images, image rotation, protect image, highlight / shadow warning, playback histogram, playback magnifier with 12.0x magnification, image index, slideshow function, zoom out
Face recognition	Face Recognition, Face Recognition (8 faces), Smile Recognition
Picture parameters	Sharpness, Contrast, Saturation, Noise Reduction
Special functions	Electronic water level, orientation sensor, Live View
Ports	Data interfaces: USBUSB type :USB 2.0 High Speed
AV connectors	AV output: HDMI output Micro (Type D)
Supported direct printing methods	PictBridge
Tripod socket	1/4″
Features and Miscellaneous	BIONZ Image ProcessorSensor Cleaning Function (Antistatic Filter and Ultrasound) Dynamic Range Optimizer (1-5 Steps) PtP Transfer ProtocolMagnesium Die Casting HousingPercentage AccurateBattery Capacity Display Automatic Brightness Adjustment of Screen, Additional Sunlight Adjustment
Size and weight
Dimensions W x H x D	120 x 67 x 43 mm
Weight	350 g (ready for operation)
Other
included accessories	Sony BC-VW1 Charger for special rechargeable batteriesSony NP-FW50 Special rechargeable batteryUSB connection cableRiser strapPicture editing softwarePicture Motion Browser for Windows
optional accessory	Sony GPS-CS3KA Universal ProductSony NP-FW50 Special Battery Pack AC-PW20Removable Memory CardOpticalViewfinder (FDA-SV1) IR Remote Control (RMT-DSLR1 ) Stereo Microphone (ECM-SST1) Camera Case