Brian's Notebook

Sony NEX-5 vs NEX-5N ISO/Image Quality Test

2011-11-09T17:53:00.000-05:00

I wanted to see the difference in the ISO capabilities and image quality of the NEX-5 and NEX-5N, so I set up a tripod and shot a series of shots from each in RAW+JPEG to see the differences. I chose a scene in my house to show color reproduction and detail that also had some straight lines to also show distortion from the 18-55mm kit lens. I used Program mode and just adjusted the ISO. I left the lens at 18mm for each shot.

First, is the NEX-5's Auto JPEG. I corrected for lens distortion in Lightroom. The NEX-5 chose ISO 800, 1/30 at f/3.5.

From 5 test

Here's the 5N's Auto JPEG. I didn't have to correct anything since the 5N has built in distortion correction on JPEGs. The 5N chose ISO 2000, 1/60 at f/4.0.

From 5n test

Just to show the barrel distortion, here's the auto JPEG from the 5 without lens correction.

From 5 test

I did the lens correction for the remaining shots.

Here's the 5's Auto shot in RAW.

From 5 test

Here's the 5N's Auto shot in RAW.

From 5n test

ISO 100 JPEG from 5N. The 5's ISO sensitivity starts at 200, so nothing to compare here, but I just wanted to include it.

From 5n test

ISO 100 RAW from the 5N.

From 5n test

ISO 200 JPEG from the 5.

From 5 test

ISO 200 JPEG from the 5N.

From 5n test

ISO 200 RAW from the 5.

From 5 test

ISO 200 RAW from the 5N.

From 5n test

ISO 400 JPEG from the 5.

From 5 test

ISO 400 JPEG from the 5N.

From 5n test

ISO 400 RAW from the 5.

From 5 test

ISO 400 RAW from the 5N.

From 5n test

ISO 800 JPEG from the 5.

From 5 test

ISO 800 JPEG from the 5N.

From 5n test

ISO 800 RAW from the 5.

From 5 test

ISO 800 RAW from the 5N.

From 5n test

ISO 1600 JPEG from the 5.

From 5 test

ISO 1600 JPEG from the 5N.

From 5n test

ISO 1600 RAW from the 5.

From 5 test

ISO 1600 RAW from the 5N.

From 5n test

ISO 3200 JPEG from the 5.

From 5 test

ISO 3200 JPEG from the 5N.

From 5n test

ISO 3200 RAW from the 5.

From 5 test

ISO 3200 RAW from the 5N.

From 5n test

ISO 6400 JPEG from the 5.

From 5 test

ISO 6400 JPEG from the 5N.

From 5n test

ISO 6400 RAW from the 5.

From 5 test

ISO 6400 RAW from the 5N.

From 5n test

ISO 12800 JPEG from the 5.

From 5 test

ISO 12800 JPEG from the 5N.

From 5n test

ISO 12800 RAW from the 5.

From 5 test

ISO 12800 RAW from the 5N.

From 5n test

That's where the 5's ISO sensitivity tops out. The 5N continues though.

ISO 25600 JPEG from the 5N.

From 5n test

ISO 25600 RAW from the 5N.

From 5n test

I hope this is helpful to someone!

I just want to take this opportunity to thank Amin Sabet from the Talk NEX forums for the NEX-5N giveaway that allowed me to have the NEX-5N. I really love the camera and the community of those forums!

Georgia National Fair 2011

2011-10-16T19:13:00.000-04:00

We went to the Georgia National Fair Friday and had a mini Photowalk. These are all from my NEX-5 and most from the 18-55mm kit zoom.

From 2011 Fair Day

My half eaten pork chop sandwich. It was awesome.

From 2011 Fair Day

Random Catch Up Post

2011-10-06T15:57:00.005-04:00

What's been going on?

Ami and I shot a wedding! You can check out our photography page here. We'll be posting pictures and projects we tackle together there. We've got some more projects coming up, so like us on Facebook if you want to keep up with us!

I've been playing with my NEX-5 and Industar-61 a bit. The combo makes for some great images.

From Sony NEX 5

The color reproduction and contrast are outstanding on that lens. The focus peaking is really helpful with these manual focus lenses. I'd really like to get a couple more old Russian lenses to play with.

We're going to the Georgia National Fair! I'm actually looking forward to that for the first time since I was a teenager. We're doing a mini photowalk there and I think it's going to be a lot of fun. I'll post pictures here!

The time has come for me to try to find a new camera bag. The one I'm using is coming up short, which isn't too much of a surprise, since it isn't designed as a camera bag. I'd really like to try some bags out, but I don't have a dealer around here that sells the kind of bag I'm looking for.

I'd really like to try out a ThinkTank Retrospective 5 bag or a Domke F2 bag. I really wish I could handle one before I buy it, but I can't do that around here. I'd like to be able to carry my NEX-5 setup and also a rangefinder or two sometimes and some film. If I could try one out, the decision would be simple, but I can't do that without driving a couple of hours.

Memorial Day Weekend at Andersonville National Historic Site

2011-08-06T17:17:00.003-04:00

I'm just getting around to catching up on blog posts. We went to The Andersonville National Historic Site on Memorial Day weekend. Here are some of the pictures I took. Click on pictures to see them bigger.

From Memorial Day weekend at Andersonville

Quick Trip to Rose Hill Cemetery

2011-08-06T17:10:00.002-04:00

We went to Rose Hill Cemetery to get a picture for a photo scavenger hunt that Ami is in and I took some pictures, too.

From Quick trip to Rose Hill cemetery

Most of these were taken with the High Contrast Black and White setting on my NEX-5. I love it!

Miracle

2011-05-20T18:48:00.005-04:00

We currently have kittens (that are up for adoption!) from the feral colony at our house. There was a small miracle involved with them over the past two days. The kittens have been making it a habit to get underneath our car and actually climb up onto the frame and body. We don't leave very often, so it hasn't been too much of an issue. I would crank the car up and they'd scatter or I'd shake the car and they'd bolt into the woods. They did this up until yesterday.

Yesterday, we went out in the morning, after taking all the precautions, and as we were going down the road a kitten fell out from under the car into the middle of the spillway at the lake! We turned around as fast as we could and came back. A family had already picked up the kitten and thought that we'd thrown it out! I explained what happened and they were relieved.

Yesterday afternoon we left again, doing all of the precautions and then some. We almost got to the Peake Road neighborhood exit and a kitten fell out from under the car! She ran off into the woods. I turned around as fast as I could and we went after her. It is a tabby kitten so it's really hard to see and she's feral, so she wants nothing to do with us. We searched frantically for three hours and only caught sight of her once. She bolted as soon as I got close and we didn't find her again.

We went home and got our Have-A-Heart trap and set it with food and water. After that, we went to our neighborhood security and told them what happened and let them know to please let us know if they heard anything. The woods the kitten was in butts up against an assisted living facility, so we went in there and let them know what was going on as well. By this time it was getting dark, so we went back home.

This morning, we went and checked the trap. No kitten in sight. We went back home and fretted and worried. When I took my lunch break, we went back to check it again and refresh the food and water in the trap. The trap hadn't been sprung so I refreshed the food and water and moved it. While I was doing that, something odd happened.

I heard a bird behind me. I looked around and it was close to me, closer than birds usually get. It started making a noise like a cat and spreading out its wings and tail feathers and flapping them around. She kept making that noise and putting on a display until I heard a little "mew". I knew that wasn't a bird, so I started calling the kitten and heading in that direction. I saw her just as she sprinted toward a deep, narrow ditch. She balled herself up into a little niche behind a tree that was growing out of the ditch and almost disappeared. If I hadn't seen her go in there I'd have never found her. I can't get over that bird showing me where that kitten was!

I jumped down in the ditch and scooped up the hissing and spitting little kitten. Ami came over and held her while I climbed out of the ditch. We rushed her back to the car and took her home to her mama as fast as we could. We gave her some water and put her down. She ran as fast as she could to her litter mates and mama. We keep checking on her and she's out there playing with her siblings now.

It was a miracle that we found that kitten. We had resigned ourselves to never knowing what happened and always carrying that with us. The fact that we found her renews my faith that prayers are sometimes answered. We've decided to call her Miracle.

NEX-5 Panoramas

2011-05-09T17:33:00.003-04:00

I took a few panoramas with my NEX-5 with the 18-55mm zoom lens and I liked how they turned out. I really can't wait to do some more. Click on the pictures to see them bigger!

From Panoramas

More thoughts on my NEX 5

2011-04-27T19:08:00.005-04:00

I've gotten to use the NEX 5 at the Easter get together at Ami's parents' house over the weekend. I have a better feel for the camera now, having used it in situations from shooting quick or miss the shot to having someone pose for me to taking macro shots of flowers. Before handling the NEX 5, I would've opted for shooting with a viewfinder in all of those situations. Now, though, I'm pretty stuck on this vari-angle (I think that's what they call it) screen.

From Sony NEX 5

I wind up shooting it like a lot of people do, by folding out the screen to face upward and I shoot it like a TLR, at chest height. That comes in real handy when you're going for candid shots that people don't know you're taking.

From Sony NEX 5

I got caught here.

From Sony NEX 5

Also, the video is very, very good. I'm shooting in the MP4 format just to save space and I still get video like this.

13 Year Cicadas or Magicicada from alowisney sleemtoe on Vimeo.

I'm loving this camera. I can't wait to try my hand at street photography with it!

My new Sony NEX 5

2011-04-21T18:24:00.004-04:00

I've succumbed to the siren call of digital photography again. Well, I never really disliked digital. I've always thought that digital was good and that film was just fun. I'm still going to be shooting film from time to time and I still love my film cameras. This camera was just calling to me because it does a lot of things very well.

From Sony NEX 5

First, it's small. Really small. Like the size of a point and shoot. People don't notice point and shoots like they do dSLRs, so that will come in handy when I do some street photography.

Second, it has an APS-C sensor, the same size as the sensor in most dSLRs. That makes for good low light performance, really good ISO sensitivity, and good dynamic range.

Third, video. This camera does 1080i video, which is light years above my iPhone and our old point and shoot. Here's a sample.

Sony NEX 5 Test from alowisney sleemtoe on Vimeo.

Fourth, this camera works very well with adapters so you can use all kinds of manual focus lenses. I'm looking forward to getting a Leica thread mount adapter so I can use my Industar-61 on it. I'd also like to get a few more Former Soviet Union lenses to play with on it. The adapters are around $20 for the cheaper ones, but that's just fine with me.

Fifth, this thing takes pictures with great image quality. Here are some samples.

From Sony NEX 5

This is Fuzzy Wuzzy. He's Oliver's brother.

From Sony NEX 5

All of these shots are straight out of the camera JPGs. I'm really loving this camera and can't wait to use it at Easter this weekend!

Wee Kitten

2011-04-13T17:59:00.004-04:00

I talked about Wee Kitten before but never explained what happened. Wee Kitten came inside and became Oliver. I know, I thought Wee Kitten was a girl, but I was way off. He came in on 1/15 and has been rip-roaring though the house (in the cutest way possible) since. When he first came in, he was about Trudy's size. Now, he's much bigger. He's getting to be Black Kitty's size and he's only 8 months old!

He's pretty adorable. Ami took all of these, by the way.

From Oliver

Oliver and Trudy are like peas and carrots.

From Oliver

Massee Lane Gardens

2011-04-07T18:57:00.003-04:00

We took Trudy to Peach Vet Care in Fort Valley, GA to get her surgery and while we were waiting for her we went to Massee Lane Gardens. It's a gorgeous place and if you're in the area, you should visit! Here are some pictures taken with our old point and shoot Canon A560 we got in 2004.

From Massee Lane Gardens 3-29-2010

The Japanese Garden. Ami and I want to live there.

From Massee Lane Gardens 3-29-2010

The prettiest flower in the garden!

From Massee Lane Gardens 3-29-2010

A bird's lunch.

From Massee Lane Gardens 3-29-2010

We can't wait to go back!

Andersonville, GA

2011-04-07T18:34:00.004-04:00

I've been neglecting my blog! I'm sorry, Blog, I'll try not to do that again.

We went on a photo walk with the Macon County Georgia Photo Walk Group in Andersonville, GA. We toured the National Historic Site and spent a little time in town. Here are some of the pictures I took. All of these were taken with my Fujica AX-3.

From Andersonville Photowalk

Ami and I (and the majority of the photo walkers) grew up close to Andersonville and had visited it many times. Ami and I went on a candle lantern tour of the cemetery that night and we gained a profound appreciation for what the site means and a small glimpse of what some of the poor souls who perished there went through.

Photographers I like

2011-03-20T17:29:00.003-04:00

I decided to do a list of photographers that I like and that inspire me.

First up is Mark Tisdale. I went to high school for a little while with Mark and he is a friend of one of my best friends, but back then I didn't know he was a photographer. Mark has a great eye and is exceptionally talented behind the camera and in post production. His photographs really become art.

Next is Vivian Maier. She was an undiscovered talent in her lifetime and there's been a lot of hype about her and some people are turned off by that. I like her work a lot and it inspires me to start shooting street photography.

Then, there's Henri Cartier-Bresson. His images are all over the web. His eye was simply amazing and his ability to capture just the right moment was uncanny.

I also really like Bruce Gilden. His work is extremely interesting to me. His style is very in-your-face street photography with a handheld flash. I thought he was crazy at first, but I love his results.

Bruce Gilden: 'Head On' - Trailer from Olivier Laurent on Vimeo.

That's just a few. I'm also influenced and amazed by the good folks over at Rangefinder Forums. Check out the gallery there.

Museum of Aviation at Robins Air Force Base

2011-03-02T22:56:00.002-05:00

I took these at the Museum of Aviation at Robins AFB on 2/9, but I've been lazy and I'm just now getting around to posting them. If you ever get a chance to go there, you should! It's a great museum with a friendly staff and great exhibits and planes. All of these were taken with my Fed-2 and Industar-61 on Fuji Superia 400 X-Tra film.

From Museum of Aviation

These are pictures of a Mig-17 that was manufactured in the 50s, just like my Fed-2!

From Museum of Aviation

Fourteen Years Ago Today

2011-02-08T08:00:00.001-05:00

Fourteen years ago today I married the love of my life. On the first night that I met Ami, I told my Mom that I was going to marry her. I knew that I would somehow. Something deep down told me and the feeling never wavered. As we dated, we became best friends. Since we met, the longest we've been apart was a week when I had to go out west for work. I can't imagine my life without her. She's my world.

Happy anniversary, Ami! I love you with all my heart!

Happy birthday to the love of my life!

2011-02-01T20:50:00.002-05:00

Today is the birthday of the most important person in my life. Ami and I have been together almost 18 years, but it feels like just yesterday that we met. I can't get through a day without her and I'm so grateful that our circumstances allows us to spend every day together. My life is so much better with her in it.

I love you, Ami!

From Oldies

Fed 2 Test Roll

2011-01-26T23:29:00.004-05:00

I got the test roll from my Fed 2 developed tonight! You might remember this camera as the one that I bought from The Ukraine and had to send to Fedka in New York City to have repaired. I think it (and I) did pretty well. This camera is fully manual and I used the "sunny 16" rule to take the pictures.

From Kroger, before they told me to stop. I love the color reproduction the I-61 does.

From Fed 2 test roll

Target

From Fed 2 test roll

From Sam's

From Fed 2 test roll

The love of my life with some flowers

From Fed 2 test roll

Ice on the trunk

From Fed 2 test roll

I like taking pictures of these chairs to show how a lens/film handles red.

From Fed 2 test roll

Oliver before he came inside.

From Fed 2 test roll

I'm really loving this camera!

You can't take pictures in Kroger

2011-01-15T14:54:00.003-05:00

Today I found out that you can't take pictures in Kroger. I had no idea, but an assistant manager told me it was forbidden. Sorry, I thought your produce looked fresh and inviting! I was just shooting a test roll in my Fed 2. This was the first time I have ever been told I couldn't photograph somewhere. I just shrugged it off, but it does make a milestone!

I took a picture with my Yashica GSN in Kroger a while back doing a test roll in it. I just love the way things that are put on display take on a pattern. I think patterns, man made or in nature, can be very beautiful and fruit is so colorful and inviting I like to take pictures of it. Oh well. I'd like to go to a farmer's market and take pictures. I don't think they'd mind so much.

From Yashica Electro 35 GSN Test Roll 2

Keep your booger hook off the bang switch!

2011-01-13T16:09:00.004-05:00

I've seen a lot of people in pictures online lately with their fingers on the triggers of guns. This is the way accidents happen and people get hurt or killed. I know it's probably the fault of TV shows and movies where the actors aren't trained in gun safety so they just run around with fingers on triggers and people get the idea that that is what you're supposed to do! There are notable exceptions, and those make me happy. It's also comfortable for your finger to rest on the trigger when you pick a gun up. They are designed for your finger to go there, but not until you're ready to actually pull the trigger. If you follow these rules, written by the incomparable Jeff Cooper, you are very unlikely to have an accident with a firearm:

RULE I: ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED
RULE II: NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO DESTROY
Rule III: KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET
RULE IV: BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET

When someone says "The gun just went off!" someone's finger was on the trigger. The only time guns go off without the trigger being pulled is when they're in bad mechanical shape (oftentimes because someone modified something) or it's a Japanese Nambu type 94.

Look who's back

2011-01-12T17:20:00.005-05:00

After a pretty brief trip to New York City my Fed 2 is back!

From Fed 2

I sent it to Fedka for a CLA. CLA stands for Clean Lubricate and Adjust and it's pretty normal for these cameras to need it. Mine was made in 1959 and probably sat on a shelf for years before being put on eBay by a Ukrainian seller. While it was there I got a new set of shutters put in as well. I'm currently shooting a test roll through it which will be the first roll I've been able to shoot in this camera.

Fedka was extremely fast with this service and Yuri kept me in the loop on what was going on. If I ever need any more service on a classic camera I'll be sending it to them. If you want to get a good Former Soviet Union camera, I'd get it from Fedka rather than eBay.

This camera has no light meter so I'm having to learn about the Sunny 16 rule. It makes a lot of sense, it's just something new to learn. It's not perfect, but neither are meters, even the expensive ones and ones inside of digital cameras. Even if I was just shooting with my Yashica GSN, that has a built in meter, it's a good technique to know.

Good mail day!

2011-01-05T19:23:00.003-05:00

I got a new camera bag, a Leaper's UTG Tactical Messenger Bag.

From Camera bag

It's normally used for "tactical" things, like as a range bag. I think it would be great for that but that's not what I'm going to use it for. I cut all the zipper pulls off of it since they make a TON of noise and replaced them with paracord.

I stuffed my Yashicas in there, the LM and the GSN and they fit just fine with a microfiber cloth between them just to keep them from banging together.

From Camera bag

It's also got a water bottle pocket and I was able to stuff eight rolls of 35mm film into various pockets with room to spare. I also got some Arista Premium black and white film that's short dated but it'll keep a long time in the freezer.

From Camera bag

I'm glad I got some more black and white film since I also got a developing tank!

From Camera bag

I just need to get some chemicals and I can get started developing my own black and white!

My New Year's Resolutions

2011-01-01T17:11:00.002-05:00

This year, I resolve to:

Eat better
Sleep more
Exercise more
Appreciate every minute of my life
Let people know that I love them
Learn something new as often as I can
Do what I love
Play ukulele more
Photograph with film more
Procrastinate less
Stay in touch with people better
Show people that I really care
Help someone
Teach someone
Write more
Appreciate what I have

12/31/2010

2010-12-31T22:41:00.002-05:00

Wow, I can't believe my Photo365 is over. It's hard to believe it's been a whole year. I only messed up and left off a day when something bad happened, but I made up for it later. I'm not doing it again next year. It's been hard to think of something to take a picture of every single day. Sometimes inspiration just isn't there and you aren't feeling it. Sometimes the day just slips away from you or life just gets in the way. I'm not saying I won't do it again, but I am saying I'm at least taking this year off. I'll still be taking pictures and posting them here but it won't be every single day. If it works out the way I want it'll be about once a week.

I plan on using the creativity I won't be squeezing out on writing. I plan to submit some of my stories to publications this year and try to become published. I have a couple of flash fiction stories that are ready to go and I know where I'll be submitting one of them, I just hope it gets accepted.

Here's my final picture for the year. We have a tradition to eat snacky stuff on New Year's Eve and this was some good stuff.

Brian's Notebook

Sony NEX-5 vs NEX-5N ISO/Image Quality Test

Georgia National Fair 2011

Random Catch Up Post

Memorial Day Weekend at Andersonville National Historic Site

Quick Trip to Rose Hill Cemetery

Miracle

NEX-5 Panoramas

More thoughts on my NEX 5

My new Sony NEX 5

Wee Kitten

Massee Lane Gardens

Andersonville, GA

Photographers I like

Museum of Aviation at Robins Air Force Base

Fourteen Years Ago Today

Happy birthday to the love of my life!

Fed 2 Test Roll

You can't take pictures in Kroger

Keep your booger hook off the bang switch!

Look who's back

Good mail day!

My New Year's Resolutions

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