Being a 11x zoom lens I didn’t expect a lot, when I first put it on the Nex, but to say the least: I’m quite impressed of the image quality of this lens.
On a Nex this lens is big, of course. Its build quality seems very good, though zooming is not really smooth and easy. It takes some strength to handle the zoom ring. (Maybe I’m just a weak nansy-pansy 
)
Since so many of you asked, here’s a quick review of the quite affordable Voigtlaender Super Wide Heliar 15/4.5 on the Sony Nex. On the used market you get this lens for about 250 Euros. The newer P-Type lens, where you can even use filters on it, can be had for about 480 Euros new. I use a Kipon adapter to get M-mount lenses on the Nex, so the lens performance may vary among different adapters.
On the Sony the Voigtlaender becomes a 22,5mm lens. So you get a nice wideangle for landscapes or things.
I’ve been very impressed with this little lens on the Leica M8. It was brilliant, sharp and pretty much free of distortion. You got some dark corners, but that was easily fixed in post processing.
To give you an impression of the very nice performance on the M8, here are a couple of shots from a trip to Trieste in Italy last year (continue after the break!).
Just a quick look at this very nice lens, mounted on the Sony Nex with a Kipon adapter. It handles great on the Nex, though the smaller Summarit-M 35/2.5 is handier, but then it’s not a 24mm. Eventually I really hope for a nice, small and fast 24mm from Sony or even Zeiss for the E-mount.
When it comes to a compact combo, this is the way to go. The small leica lens feels great on the Nex, it feels much better than any other lens I’ve tried on that camera.
When I first heard of the Sony Nex and the ability to use lenses of different manufacturers on it via adapters, I was thrilled. The original Sony lens choice for the Nex cameras is really small. And since Photokina was a big disappointment – Nex owners only got a lens plan, but no actual lenses – we have to rely on the offerings of other manufacturers for the time being.
BUT, after testing a couple of more and less expensive lenses with Nikon- and Leica-M-mount I didn’t feel all that thrilled anymore: I got more flexibility, but not that much of a quality improvement over the kit-lens.
(I still owe you my Leica M-Summarit 35/2.5 on the Nex, but that’s only, because I wasn’t amazed by the performance of this combo.)
That has definitly changed recently. I got the chance to use the now “old” Nikon AF-D 60/2.8 Macro on the Nex. To say the least, my hopes were rather modest. But this time I was proven wrong.
Here’s the master of the Nex! (Read on after the break.)
Since I got my Kipon Sony E-Mount to Nikon lens adapter I was eager to try out different lenses on the Sony. I did so recently with some Nikon lenses and basically felt pretty much disappointed (see for yourself here).
For a couple of days now Lightroom 3 is supporting the RAW files from the Nex and so I thought I’d give it another try.
This time I wanted to know how these lenses are performing on the Nex – Kipon combination at different aperture settings and how they compare to the Sony kit-lens, the 18-55/3.5-5.6 OSS:
Since I got my Sony Nex-3 a couple of weeks ago I have been eager to try lenses from other manufacturers on it. I really love using fast lenses and the original Sony E-mount lens selection didn’t serve me well in this respect.
A couple of days ago I eventually got two Kipon adapters: One to use Nikon AF-lenses on the Sony and the other to use Leica M-mount lenses on it.
After doing a couple of shots with my Nikon lenses (Nikon AF-D 35/2, AF-D 50/1.4 and AF 85/1.8), I was sort of disappointed, especially shooting wide open. So I decided to do some testing, not on test charts, but using a real world subject – the view from my living room.
Here are the results. I let you form your own opinion.
I will do some testing with “real good” Leica M-lenses in a couple of days and see if it gets better – I really hope so. So stay tuned and follow me on twitter to get informed as soon as the new test is online!
All pictures are from JPG:
First there’s a 35mm comparison between the Nikon AF-D 35/2 and the Sony 18-55/3.5-5.6 at 35mm setting.
Click here to download the 100% comparison at 35mm.
Then there’s a 50mm comparison of the Nikon AF-D 50/1.4 and the Sony Kit zoom at 55mm.
Click here to download the 100% comparison at 50/55mm.
Finally here’s a 85mm comparison of the Nikon AF 85/1.8 and the M-mount Konica Hexanon 90/2.8.
Click here to download the 100% comparison at 85/90mm.
I know neither the three Nikon lenses nor the Konica lens are the best lenses in the world. But the Nikons worked quite well on the Nikon APS-C and Nikon FX-cameras I’ve used. I never saw this sort of bad behavior wide open before. I guess it might be the Kipon adapter.
Ein sehr unfairer Vergleich in der österreichischen Mittagshitze:
Die arme Sony Nex-3 muss sich mit ihrem 18-55/3.5-5.6 Setobjektiv mit der Olympus E-PL1 mit dem fantastischen Panasonic 20/1.7 und mit der Nikon D700 mit dem ebenso fantastischen AF-S 24-70/2.8 messen. Hinzu kommt, dass Lightroom noch immer keine RAWs der Nex verarbeitet, womit sie hier nur JPG- gegen RAW-Qualität der anderen bieten kann.
Nachdem ich aber morgen auf eine 1-wöchige Reise gehe, wollte ich wissen, ob ich die große, schwere Nikon mitnehmen soll oder mich getrost auf die beiden Mirrorless-Kameras beschränken kann. Sicherheitshalber kommt die Nikon mal mit, man weiß ja nie…
Blende-Belichtungszeit-Kombi habe ich annähernd entsprechend der Sensorgröße gewählt, womit sich eine ähnliche Schärfentiefe ergeben sollte. Aber hier geht’s vor allem nur um Detailauflösung.
Aufs Bild klicken für 100%-Ansicht!
