If I was doing only MF on a budget, I'd probably pick NEX. Peaking works great with the 1.5x crop sensor. Saying that, I ended up sticking with M43 due to the AF lens selection. You got the 7.5, 8, 12, 14, 17, 20, 25, and two 45s in the M43 prime lens line-up. It's a tough selection to beat.
Probably none at those apertures. But due to larger sensor on Nex you don't need to use legacy lenses wide open. E.g., it's fair to be comparing f2 (on Nex) vs f1.4 (on m43), etc. If I'd be interested in using legacy lenses I would definately get some Nex 3 body which costs less than a lens but since I prefer fast AF and small native lenses I have no interest in Nex as a system. If lens selection is not taken into consideration (using legacy lenses only), sensor quality becomes that much more important, IMO. Don't we all want better DR and low light. Just my two cents.
Probably none at those apertures. But due to larger sensor on Nex you don't need to use legacy lenses wide open. E.g., it's fair to be comparing f2 (on Nex) vs f1.4 (on m43), etc.
Wha-? That's only if shallow DOF is your only purpose to having fast apertures. "Fast" is the operative word for me. I like fast lens speed because I want fast shutter speed! The size of the sensor has nothing to do with that. That's why we call them "fast lenses" instead of "shallow lenses". Some of us are more concerned about our in-focus areas than our out-of-focus areas.
As far as DOF goes, the majority of the time I wish for more DOF for better focus, not less. For a lot of photographers, gaining more DOF is WHY we stop down... because we NEED more DOF.
To make a blanket statement that all photographers are after is shallow DOF and that all lenses can perform "better" on a NEX because it achieves shallower DOF is, well... just wrong. Sorry.
Probably none at those apertures. But due to larger sensor on Nex you don't need to use legacy lenses wide open. E.g., it's fair to be comparing f2 (on Nex) vs f1.4 (on m43), etc.
It depends on the final output aspect ratio. If you're displaying at 4:3 ratio or printing 8x10, the difference in stops based on sensor size is about 0.5 stops, eg f/1.4 vs f/1.7. If you're printing at 3:2, it's ~0.9 stops difference. Comparing native to native aspect ratio, about 0.7 stops.
Also from a practical standpoint, those shooting in limited light will often choose "wide open". Certainly this is true for autofocus lenses in P mode, where the camera will default to wide open. It's not like anyone thinks to themself, "my camera sensor is 50% bigger than the other guy's so I'm going to stop down X amount". I personally enjoy a lens more if it performs well from wide open and would generally choose an f/2 lens which is great wide open over an f/1.4 lens which is a bit larger/heavier, equally great at f/2, and has poor performance at f/1.4.
Regardless, I have not seen adapted lens performance (sharpness, lack of color fringing, etc) on NEX match up with those lenses you mentioned on MFT, even accounting for the slight difference in how far you can stop down to achieve the same depth of field (and diffraction).
As you know, better overall sensor performance can help offset the speed loss from using a slower lens. It doesn't make the lens faster, but it helps you get a better picture with less light intensity provided by the lens to the sensor.
It is not a given that a bigger sensor will perform better than a smaller one. For example, I think my E-P3's sensor compares well to my brother's 4X larger Leica M9 sensor when both are shot at ISO 2500. Note that we rarely hear the Leica criticized for poor high ISO performance! However, current NEX sensors perform well enough to give those cameras a ~0.5 to 1 stop shutter speed advantage (depending on the output aspect ratio and particular ISO) over current MFT sensors for a given lens f-number setting.
The more I shoot my E-P3 and NEX-C3, the more I realize that this sensor performance disparity is pretty much a non-issue for me (improvements to Lightroom have gone a long way towards making high ISO performance better for all my cameras), whereas the lens selection makes a big difference. A recent ISO 2500 snap with my E-P3 and 45/1.8 wide open:
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I think that changed somewhat with the firmware updates that allowed more customization of the controls. It's now pretty easy to configure the camera to have quick access to whatever controls you want, whereas the original firmware made you go menu diving for everything.
Perhaps, I have not tried one with the FW update, mostly because the original UI was so bad that I have a hard time believing 2 customizable soft function buttons would fix it.
Wha-? That's only if shallow DOF is your only purpose to having fast apertures. "Fast" is the operative word for me. I like fast lens speed because I want fast shutter speed! The size of the sensor has nothing to do with that.
You can get your shutter speed by using higher ISO with larger sensor. And you can get more DoF as you wish. As Amin pointed out the difference in DoF between APS-C and m43 is about 0.7 stops (both in native aspect ratio) but noise advantage of Nex sensor is more than that.
You can get you shutter speed by using higher ISO with larger sensor. And you can get more DoF as you wish. As Amin pointed out the difference in DoF between APS-C and m43 is about 0.7 stops (both in native aspect ratio) but noise advantage of Nex sensor is more than that.
It depends on the specific cameras. If talking S/N from RAW at high ISO, it is a bit more than 0.7 stops between Panasonic G3 and NEX-C3 but less than that (closer to 0.3 stops depending on ISO) between G3 and NEX-3/NEX-5. MFT cameras using the G1 sensor (most of them) will do a bit worse. As an aside, I'm convinced the NEX-5N sensor is just the C3 sensor plus on-chip NR (personal observation having owned both cameras).
This type of generalized analysis based on sensor size falls apart in practice because sensor technologies are not all equal.
Yup, and this is exactly why I didn't bring up ISO sensitivity in the first place, because the technology of the manufacturer has more to do with that than the sensor size (as demonstrated by your comparison of the E-P3 with the full-frame M9). No one system is inherently better than another, and while specific models might be better that lead changes quickly with each new generation of cameras produced by each manufacturer.
I would go for Panny GF2 and add Olympus 45mm , GF2 has more buttons and userinteface is quite friendly but that again depends upon what do u like. Moreover there are some great Panny and Oly lenses in the pipeline and u will have much better selection at some stage.I had NEx 5 for a brief period and I didn't like the UI but they have updated firmware and I haven't tried that. Having said that I just bought a Nex 5 with 16mm lens for USD269 from B&H just to keep in my car all the time. I dont intend to buy any other lenses for NEX I think I will be okay with my purchase .
Cheers
For legacy lenses both systems have their advantages (discussed above) but as an overall system to buy into. It sounds like budget is an issue for you so go with the GF2 because the Micro43 system is getting better and cheaper lenses every month.
Bhupinder2002 is exactly right that the best combination on the market right now for price would be a GF2 and 45mm Olympus. You'll be shooting with stunning quality at a practically point-and-shoot price.
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