The girlfriend and I wanted to put some money into a good camera. Cell phone is nice, but in 10 years when all we have is a bunch of cell phone pictures, I think we'll be disappointed. I didn't want to get a huge DSLR, but we wanted something we could do a little "creative photography" with. Norm wouldn't stop talking about this camera, so we checked it out, and ended up going with it.
One of the things I like most about it is how user friendly it is to the novice photographer... you point and shoot, hit the "tips" button and it sorta guesses at what you're trying to do, and gives you tips to make your shot better, and they're actually good.
The effects, and pre-sets in the camera are also nice when you want to take something a little more artsy than a regular shot.
The video is better than anything else I've ever had which is also a plus.
My first project is gonna be to try to get the International Space Station similar to the post Tested made about a week ago. I picked up a Joby Gorillapod Hybrid and plan to head out to a quietish area tonight and get a shot of it streaming through the sky.... having no idea what I'm doing, I expect it to fail miserably... but at least I'll be outside :D
You might want to check that the NEX-3 has a "bulb" setting (or equivalent), and that someone makes a compatible remote shutter release. Without that feature, long exposures such as the Space Station shot are going to be difficult. I don't know for sure, but I suspect you may have to go with the NEX-5 for that kind of photography.
You might want to check that the NEX-3 has a "bulb" setting (or equivalent), and that someone makes a compatible remote shutter release. Without that feature, long exposures such as the Space Station shot are going to be difficult. I don't know for sure, but I suspect you may have to go with the NEX-5 for that kind of photography.
It has the bulb setting, the problem is that it doesn't seem to have any sort of remote shutter accessory... I suppose I could make something that presses the button, add a 2 second delay and away I go... alternatively, I could take 30 second shots or the pass, the camera has a setting that seems to leave the shutter open for about that length of time. Messing around from my balcony, I took this shot the other day.
@sw0rdfish: That's a nice shot! I've got a soft spot for long exposure pictures, but I could see blowing that up to a nice wallpaper size and using that on my desktop.
If you get any more good results, post `em here or start up a photo thread (I don't think we have one) as I'd love to see more.
Hey duder, i believe the nex camers can use any IR remote to open and close the shutters. The sony one is about $30, but apparently any IR remote will work.
I have a 5n, I need some help shooting a night sky. I have a an old 50mm prime set to infinity and this is the best I have gotten so far.
http://i.imgur.com/wgjYi.jpg?1
I just want to maximize the possible number of stars. This was shot on the southside of Chicago so definitely not a good place just because of light pollution to shoot. Next weekend if it is clear enough I want to go stargazing and see if I can get a better photo.
The Nex series is great, this photo was shot with that same 50mm prime at about 2am. The camera was set on a surface so it was stabilized but it was like pitch black in the alley.
apparently the NEX-C3 doesn't have a remote shutter at all. Pretty bummed ( http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/support-info.pl?template=&info_id=636 )
That second shot is pretty cool. I like it.
I don't know the answer to the stars one, maybe someone with more experience can help. All I know is you need to turn up the ISO and decrease the aperture fo like f3. I'm probably wrong.
Would the 18-55mm lens that comes with the camera be sufficient for landscape photography?
How long does the battery usually last on these? I'm headed to Alaska for 2 weeks and wouldn't have much time to charge, would 2 batteries support around 800 pictures?
The girlfriend and I wanted to put some money into a good camera. Cell phone is nice, but in 10 years when all we have is a bunch of cell phone pictures, I think we'll be disappointed. I didn't want to get a huge DSLR, but we wanted something we could do a little "creative photography" with. Norm wouldn't stop talking about this camera, so we checked it out, and ended up going with it.
One of the things I like most about it is how user friendly it is to the novice photographer... you point and shoot, hit the "tips" button and it sorta guesses at what you're trying to do, and gives you tips to make your shot better, and they're actually good.
The effects, and pre-sets in the camera are also nice when you want to take something a little more artsy than a regular shot.
The video is better than anything else I've ever had which is also a plus.
My first project is gonna be to try to get the International Space Station similar to the post Tested made about a week ago. I picked up a Joby Gorillapod Hybrid and plan to head out to a quietish area tonight and get a shot of it streaming through the sky.... having no idea what I'm doing, I expect it to fail miserably... but at least I'll be outside :D
You might want to check that the NEX-3 has a "bulb" setting (or equivalent), and that someone makes a compatible remote shutter release. Without that feature, long exposures such as the Space Station shot are going to be difficult. I don't know for sure, but I suspect you may have to go with the NEX-5 for that kind of photography.
@frytup said:
It has the bulb setting, the problem is that it doesn't seem to have any sort of remote shutter accessory... I suppose I could make something that presses the button, add a 2 second delay and away I go... alternatively, I could take 30 second shots or the pass, the camera has a setting that seems to leave the shutter open for about that length of time. Messing around from my balcony, I took this shot the other day.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Mho6zcKBo1A/T5oadRbcCLI/AAAAAAAAA1k/m6j5MOgTMc4/s1038/DSC00331.jpg
@sw0rdfish: That's a nice shot! I've got a soft spot for long exposure pictures, but I could see blowing that up to a nice wallpaper size and using that on my desktop.
If you get any more good results, post `em here or start up a photo thread (I don't think we have one) as I'd love to see more.
Hey duder, i believe the nex camers can use any IR remote to open and close the shutters. The sony one is about $30, but apparently any IR remote will work.
I have a 5n, I need some help shooting a night sky. I have a an old 50mm prime set to infinity and this is the best I have gotten so far.
http://i.imgur.com/wgjYi.jpg?1
I just want to maximize the possible number of stars. This was shot on the southside of Chicago so definitely not a good place just because of light pollution to shoot. Next weekend if it is clear enough I want to go stargazing and see if I can get a better photo.
The Nex series is great, this photo was shot with that same 50mm prime at about 2am. The camera was set on a surface so it was stabilized but it was like pitch black in the alley.
http://i.imgur.com/GsZPO.jpg?1
apparently the NEX-C3 doesn't have a remote shutter at all. Pretty bummed ( http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/support-info.pl?template=&info_id=636 )
That second shot is pretty cool. I like it.
I don't know the answer to the stars one, maybe someone with more experience can help. All I know is you need to turn up the ISO and decrease the aperture fo like f3. I'm probably wrong.
You could try the 2 second timer and do 30 second exposures and stack them in Photoshop or something like the free app below:
http://www.startrails.de/html/software.html
anyone ever bought camera stuff from fumfie? they have this for $469.99
http://www.fumfie.com/product/680.4/shoppingcom-0?