Sony Alpha hotshoe
Sony
alpha hotshoe, twin input dials, slim design, and pop-up flash
Sony’s proprietary hotshoe mount can
restrict the amount of accessories available to you
Twin input dials
Unlike most cameras the NEX-7 has both
input dials at the rear of the top plate to be operated by the right thumb
Slim design
At just 43mm deep, the NEX-7 is quite
literally pocket-sized
Pop-up flash
A fantastic piece of design which wouldn’t
look out of place on a robot
Electronic
first-curtain shutter, resolution, pronounced finger grip, and Sony e-mount
resolution
Electronic first-curtain shutter
Quieter and quicker than a DSLR shutter,
but no optical viewfinder
Resolution
In case you’ve missed it already, the big
draw of the NEX-7 is the 24.3MP CMOS sensor
Pronounced finger grip
The NEX-7 has one of the largest grips is
this small-market segment making it much more comfortable to use
Sony e-mount resolution
The 24.3 megapixel sensor produces images
rich in detail
Electronic
viewfinder, rear input dial/ multiselector, three-inch tilting LCD screen,
shooting speed, and bottom option button
Electronic viewfinder
The viewfinder is crystal clear thanks to a
market-leading resolution
Rear input dial/ multiselector
Not only is it the third input dial but it
also acts as a multi-selector pad and offers shortcuts to options too
Three-inch tilting LCD screen
The screen is crystal clear an can be
tilted up or down
Shooting speed
At 10fps, the NEX-7 offers an above-average
speed in its class – even more impressive when resolution is much higher
Bottom option button
A customizable button which has many
applications depending on which mode you are in
Features
Kit lens
The E-mount 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 has a solid
and classy feel to it, although it does produce large amounts of distortion if
the in-camera correction setting is used.
Sensor
The APS-C, 24.3MP sensor is key to grasping
the camera’s raison d’être. The results are excellent and produce massive
4000x6000 pixel images.
Lens adaptor
If you have an existing Sony A-mount or old
Minolta lens, you can invest $525 in the A-mount adaptor, allowing you to add
additional lenses.
EVF
In the NEX-7 the optical viewfinder is
substituted with an electronic viewfinder (EVF) with a pin-sharp resolution ò
2.4 million pixel.
Sony E16MM F2.8 pancake lens
The NEX-7 is a small camera so you will
probably need a small lens to go with it, this ultra-slimline 16mm (24mm
equivalent) is a good addition for a day out.
16000 ISO
With a maximum ISO setting of 16000, you
can shoot hand-held at extreme low-light. The results are still a little noisy
but useable for the majority of purposes.
Menu functions
Main menu
The menu looks basic and consumer-aimed and
the headings really aren’t clear – Flash Mode is in ‘Camera’ but Flash
Compensation is in ‘Brightness/Color’.
Camera shooting settings
You can find some settings in this menu,
but it’s frustrating that items such as flash are split between here and
‘Brightness/Color’.
Camera fun features
In the same menu as the Drive and Flash
modes you’ll find some features like Smile Shutter which takes a picture as
soon as s smile is detected.
Image size
There are only four options available in
total and only two JPEG modes, Fine and Standard. Though luck if you wanted to
shoot straight for web then.
