Paris

Many of the recent photos show here have been taken with a Sony NEX-5N and a 15-55 mm zoom lens. A few were taken with my iphone, e.g., Rothko on the Hudson. I hesitated before buying this camera. The reviews I had read criticized it for Byzantine menus. I was worried about having an LCD-only viewfinder. In fact, the menus have not bothered me, nor has the touch interface, of which I was also skeptical. The LCD viewfinder works in most situations. However, on can also buy a screw-on optical viewfinder. I used it at a party under low light conditions and was delighted by its performance.

About low light performance. I find it to be excellent. I’ve used primarily the default “intelligent-auto” shooting mode. At the party in question I got some beautiful photos for which I would ordinarily have used my canon EOS 40-D on aperture priority, a large aperture, and large ISO. I do use the aperture priority setting on the NEX 5-N on occasion, and so far am happy with it. Even at f 5.6 I can get a shallow-enough depth of field in a a close shot to adequately blur the background.

A great feature of the NEX-5N is the almost imperceptible shutter lag. Large lag is a show-stopper for me.

On the whole, I love this camera. I needed something small for travel which was still capable of taking good photos. The camera is light enough to comfortably carry on daily walks in the city. As a result, I get shots that I would ordinarily have to forego because I am too lazy or tired to lug the EOS 40-D with me. I’ve found dusk to be a wonderful time to shoot, as any photography book will tell you. Also a great time to be outside!

Photography