I have a soft spot for using manual focus lenses but my native lenses are the best match with my m43 bodies. I've never been a big fan of the NEX cameras but I saw one on the Buy/Sell area and figured I'd give it a go. See...that's the problem with having a PayPal balance.

Anyway, I have no plans to leave m43 as it is really coming into its own with some terrific native glass and bodies like the E-M5. BUT...I am a big fan of using legacy glass and while I have gotten some terrific images using them on my various m43 bodies I have always found it a bit of a chore using the LCD and EVF. Having read so many folks talk about how great focus peaking is I thought I'd try out a NEX body as my legacy lens body. I'm not looking to move to an NEX system so I decided the NEX-C3 looked like a good way to go. I think it's going to primarily have my Hexanon 24/2.8 on it. I am looking forward to the Hex24 being a bit more WA with the 1.5x multiplier on the NEX as opposed to the 2x on my GF2 and GH2. I also think it would be a nice match with a Jupiter-8 or Industar 61L/D.

It should be a nice new image making tool.

Like you, I adapt MF lenses on both m43 and NEX. I've got good result for macro/close-up on both. For lenses with FL <= 35mm especially the 24mm, they are on my NEX more.

Some examples of using Minolta MD 24mm/2.8 and 50mm/1.4 on NEX in the following album:

https://picasaweb.google.com/1062360...E&noredirect=1

Enjoy your C3.

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Panasonic G1/GH2/G3/GX1; Sony NEX 5N; Nikon D200/D600
P14, P20, PL25; 14-45, 45-200; Various Adapted Lenses

Here in the UK you can get a brand new (from a camera shop) Nex C3 body for £240 - at that price I think it's a great value digital back for legacy lenses.

My favourites inexpensive legacy lenses on the Nex are probably the Yashica ML 50mm 1.9 and the Minolta MD 35-70 zoom.
This is taken with the Yashica on a Nex 5:

Please post your experiences! I tried the 3, 5 and 5n. I just don't "click" with NEX (maybe a pun intended there), but would love to hear how you get a long.

I find the colors overcook, though, with orange being the worst. Always had to fix in post.

Good luck, and post some examples here or on SC.

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EM5; 9-18, PL25, 100-300 and some others.
(also, 6D + RX100)

Will do...I am looking forward to experimenting with it and seeing what I can come up with.

Got the C3 today. My first impression WOW followed by...damn that thing is tiny. It really feels pretty good in hand and as a digital back for my Hexanons it is light years ahead of my m43 gear. The focus peaking alone is worth the price of admission. I'll report back after the battery charges and I have some time to play with it.

What little I did play with it was pretty fun. If Sony a lens like the P20/1.7 I think m43 would be converting a few folks.

Yes, I also think the Nex cameras make better digital backs for legacy lenses than the m43 stuff. As you point out though, the biggest problem with them is the current lack of decent e-mount prime lenses.

I've thought of doing the same thing, maybe finding a good deal on a NEX-5n to use legacy lenses with. If Olympus were able to add focus peeking (peaking?) to the OM-D via a firmware update, I'd feel like I wasted my time and money, though, so I haven't yet acted on my idea. I'm curious to see how your experiment works out.

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OM-D E-M5 || O12-50 | P45-175 | P100-300 | PL25 | O45
Adapted: Minolta MD 28/2.8 Celtic, MD 35/1.8, MD 50/1.4, MD 85/2.0, MD 200/2.8, Nikon 100/2.8 E
Wish List: GH3, 12/2.0, 17/1.8, 75/1.8, Oly ZD FT SHG 300/2.8
Pentax K-5, K-01 || 18-135 WR | Sigma 30/1.4

I'm not terribly familiar with the NEX cameras - is focus peaking available on all NEX cameras or only certain models?

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Olympus PEN E-PL1 | M.Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 L | M. Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f4-5.6 R | Zuiko Auto-W MC 28mm f2.8 | G.Zuiko Auto-S 50mm f1.4 | Zuiko Auto-T 135mm f2.8 | Fujian 35mm f1.7

As far as I know the F3 adds 1080 video and a built-in flash. Since I almost never use flash (and the C3 comes with a detachable one like the E-PL3/PM1) and I use my GH2 for video the C3 seemed like a good deal. As I understand it all the NEX models including the NEX3/5 have focus peaking. The oder models got it form a firmware upgrade (are you listening Panasonic and Olympus?).

So far after a bit of playing with it I am still very impressed. The controls are all pretty straight forward for using legacy glass with very little (if any) menu diving. There is even a "sunny" setting for the LCD that really cranks the brightness up. Now all I need is actual sunny weather to see how it works. I have the Hex 40 attached and am taking it with me today instead of my normal m43 body.