Panasonic Lumix GX1 vs. Sony nex-7

I invested in a m43 system, whilst it was easy to use, good IQ and light weight, something to consider is the cost of lenses plus ports. Each lens required a port specifically for that lens and the costs/investment I found was very expensive. If money is not an issue, then it's a great choice, however for me I need to sweat the asset and had to re-consider my options.

I use my SLR on land, with a decent lens collection already, I have now housed that and I have found it a much cheaper option and it has dual use for me. The m43 camera was v nice, but It still couldn't compete in many ways that were important to me than my d90.

M43 is a great choice, but i've read people say total cost of ownership will be a lot cheaper than SLR, I think this is far from the truth in my experience and i'd look at the type of lenses you 'might' like in the future. The 'used' market is quite small also, so buying new all the time is also quite costly. I'd way it all up before diving in.

Hi, I'm Ruth, a newbie to this forum. Watched this for a while, but never posted before. Started with housed film cameras in the 90s, then to DSLRs and now I'm seriously considering the Sony NEX-7. I love the high res, small size, ability to carry on. I'm worried about what I will give up going from DSLR to this. I'm considering getting the nauticam housing with the ports for the 18-55 lens and the 30mm macro. The wide angle looks interesting, but I am a little worried about the image quality of the 16mm pancake with the fisheye converter and I can't seem to find the lens for sale ANYWHERE (except on ebay)! Does anyone know any rumors about why it has been backordered for so long? Regardless I am not totally convinced of its optical quality. Also what do people think about the future longevity of the NEX line? I don't want to invest in one that stops being supported the minute I dump a pile of money in it. Many thanks for any replies!

Hi, I'm Ruth, a newbie to this forum. Watched this for a while, but never posted before. Started with housed film cameras in the 90s, then to DSLRs and now I'm seriously considering the Sony NEX-7. I love the high res, small size, ability to carry on. I'm worried about what I will give up going from DSLR to this. I'm considering getting the nauticam housing with the ports for the 18-55 lens and the 30mm macro. The wide angle looks interesting, but I am a little worried about the image quality of the 16mm pancake with the fisheye converter and I can't seem to find the lens for sale ANYWHERE (except on ebay)! Does anyone know any rumors about why it has been backordered for so long? Regardless I am not totally convinced of its optical quality. Also what do people think about the future longevity of the NEX line? I don't want to invest in one that stops being supported the minute I dump a pile of money in it. Many thanks for any replies!

I am no expert nor do I have the Nex-7. From the reviews that I have read, only the Zeiss 24 mm for E-mount is equal to the resolving power of the Sony 24 mp sensor. Of course, proper down sizing the images can reduce this problem. I like almost everything about the Nex-7 except the ambitious 24 mp sensor for APS-C format, lens size, and the most critical is the lack of lenses. Just my $0.02.

Bob

... I'm seriously considering the Sony NEX-7. I love the high res, small size, ability to carry on. I'm worried about what I will give up going from DSLR to this. I'm considering getting the nauticam housing with the ports for the 18-55 lens and the 30mm macro. The wide angle looks interesting, but I am a little worried about the image quality of the 16mm pancake with the fisheye converter and I can't seem to find the lens for sale ANYWHERE (except on ebay)! Does anyone know any rumors about why it has been backordered for so long? Regardless I am not totally convinced of its optical quality.

Sony will announce a few E-mount lenses this week and I'm really hoping one of them will be the wide-angle zoom. In fact I'm holding off getting an aluminum housing/port for my NEX-5N, waiting to see which manufacturer will come out with a setup for this upcoming lens. We'll know in a few days I do have the 16mm/WA converter and have some full-resolution images and 1080 60p videos here.

The reasons why so many NEX lenses are out of stock is because Sony is unable to keep up with demands as the NEX system has been selling better than projections.

Also what do people think about the future longevity of the NEX line? I don't want to invest in one that stops being supported the minute I dump a pile of money in it. Many thanks for any replies!

IMO, Sony is very serious with the NEX line and the long-term outlook is very promising. The line now consists of several consumer cameras camcorders all the way up to a $10,000 professional camcorder that delivers 1080 240p - one of the most talked about cameras in the entertainment industry right now since none of the offerings from Canon, Nikon... in the same price range can even do 1080 60p at the moment.

The NEX system is only two years old, while the FT has been around since 2003, MFT since 2008, and the Nikon one since 2012.

Hi Ruth.

Welcome to wetpixel.

For me, the nex system does not have enough lenses, even to support the nex5 resolution, for underwater use.

The nex7 is such high resolution that most of the existing lenses do not do it justice.

The latest micro 4/3 camera, the olympus omd, has a sensor only 20% smaller than the apc, and IQ just as good as the APC cameras.

Plus there is a full range of lenses from panasonic and oly, and sigma, now, that fully cover the underwater photographers wishes.

You cannot just buy a sensor, or a camera. The system for micro 4/3s is ready now.

The olympus omd has the fastest auto focus of any mirrorless camera so far, which is something reviewers are saying is not so good in the nex7..

Good luck.

Don

I have been considering the NEX-7 and the GX1 or OM-D for a while now. Just ordered an OM-D.

I played with the NEX-7 and really loved the camera, but was not thrilled by the lenses. There are some good lenses for land, the Sony Zeiss 25mm, the Sigma 30mm, the Sony 50mm, but none of these really are that suitable for uwp. The 30mm Macro seems like a good lens but focuses so close that its a bit difficult underwater. The high m pixel sensor on the NEX-7 seems to really need the higher end, expensive, bigger lenses. The Nauticam housing is beautiful though.

I liked the GX1 but really decided I wanted a viewfinder (for land use mainly, but would be nice underwater as well if its as usable as the NEX-7 is in its Nauticam housing).

I went with the OM-D after all the review and comparisons to other mirror less and DSLRs but most important due to the great lens selection.

Housings from multiple manufactures should be out in the coming months.

This is a great thread for me as I am struggling trying to decide between the NEX7, the GX1 and the new Oly OMD. I have a trip mid June - so I think the Oly is out of the contest.

I am concerned about the lack of in-camera image stabilization for both the NEX7 and the GX1. Am I making too much of it? Is in-lens image stabalization just as good? Which lenses would you recommend for both the NEX7 and GX1 (I'll probably get one for each wide angle and one for macro)?

I hear Sony is coming out with a new crop of lenses - anybody know when orr what?

Finally - do you know who - if anyone - might give a student discount on the purchase of a complete system?

I have been considering the NEX-7 and the GX1 or OM-D for a while now. Just ordered an OM-D.

 

I played with the NEX-7 and really loved the camera, but was not thrilled by the lenses. There are some good lenses for land, the Sony Zeiss 25mm, the Sigma 30mm, the Sony 50mm, but none of these really are that suitable for uwp. The 30mm Macro seems like a good lens but focuses so close that its a bit difficult underwater. The high m pixel sensor on the NEX-7 seems to really need the higher end, expensive, bigger lenses. The Nauticam housing is beautiful though.

 

I liked the GX1 but really decided I wanted a viewfinder (for land use mainly, but would be nice underwater as well if its as usable as the NEX-7 is in its Nauticam housing).

 

I went with the OM-D after all the review and comparisons to other mirror less and DSLRs but most important due to the great lens selection.

 

Housings from multiple manufactures should be out in the coming months.

Hi Holloways.

What camera system do you have now? I forget.

The sony nex lenses coming this year, are not looking very good for underwater photo use.

And for the price of the nex7, you could buy a fantastic nikon d7000, and inexpensive ikelite housing, and have a great, though heavier system.

The only system that is lower weight, with nearly as good image quality, is micro 4/3. The sony nex system has the same size sensor as every DSLR, so it needs lenses that are just as big around, and fat and heavy.

I would be very surprised if the gx1 housings will be out in time for june. The panasonic implementation of Aperture priority exposure mode, does not let you adjust the slowest shutter speed it will use, when the flash is on. It uses 1/60 second, which is slow enough to blur fish that dart out of the way. So, you will be forced immediately to use full M - manual exposure mode. Maybe you already are..?? The panasonic auto ISO is not allowed to be used in M mode either.

All of these problems are handled nicely, with the olympus A mode and M mode w auto iso.

You could get an olympus epl2 or epl3 system, right now, very cheaply, and keep most of the ports and lenses, if you even want to upgrade later on.

Hi Holloways.

 

What camera system do you have now? I forget.

 

The sony nex lenses coming this year, are not looking very good for underwater photo use.

 

And for the price of the nex7, you could buy a fantastic nikon d7000, and inexpensive ikelite housing, and have a great, though heavier system.

 

The only system that is lower weight, with nearly as good image quality, is micro 4/3. The sony nex system has the same size sensor as every DSLR, so it needs lenses that are just as big around, and fat and heavy.

 

I would be very surprised if the gx1 housings will be out in time for june. The panasonic implementation of Aperture priority exposure mode, does not let you adjust the slowest shutter speed it will use, when the flash is on. It uses 1/60 second, which is slow enough to blur fish that dart out of the way. So, you will be forced immediately to use full M - manual exposure mode. Maybe you already are..?? The panasonic auto ISO is not allowed to be used in M mode either.

 

All of these problems are handled nicely, with the olympus A mode and M mode w auto iso.

 

You could get an olympus epl2 or epl3 system, right now, very cheaply, and keep most of the ports and lenses, if you even want to upgrade later on.

Getting a PEN now with an Olympus u/w housing could be a stop gap solution if you what the EM-5 later (uses the same M4/3) lenses. As Don about shooting with a PEN. I didn't know you can't use TTL with S or M in the GX1.

Bob

Bob, the limitation is not with TTL, but auto iso, in M mode, (which all the olympus micro 4/3 cameras can do).

And the gx1 has no user adjustment for the slowest shutter speed used, in A mode, with flash on. It just defaults to 1/60 which will blur too many shots, in my experience.

All the oly micro 4/3 cameras let you set the slowest shutter speed in A mode, to what ever you want.

Of course, all the 'pros' around here, will tell us to grow up and use full M mode and Manual strobe. Maybe Holloways is ready to take that step...??

Of course, all the 'pros' around here, will tell us to grow up and use full M mode and Manual strobe. Maybe Holloways is ready to take that step...??

Thanks Don. I'm OK with not being a pro. I like iTTL for "most" of my macro work, but have to "man up" and use manual setting for w/a. Faster than 1/60 shutter speed syncs are really desired. OBTW, I can set my Nikon for M and get iTTL for the strobes.

Bob

OM-D has 1/250 shutter sync. Just got the camera and really loving it.

Glad I went with this over the NEX-7.

Thanks Don. I'm OK with not being a pro. I like iTTL for "most" of my macro work, but have to "man up" and use manual setting for w/a. Faster than 1/60 shutter speed syncs are really desired. OBTW, I can set my Nikon for M and get iTTL for the strobes.

 

Bob