Is the Sony NEX 7 good for wide angle architecture shots? Let's find out in DIA...

I would give the NEX 7 a 7 out of 10 for wide angle architecture shots - I would have given a higher rating if I could use a really wide angle lens on this camera (eg. 12mm). Unfortunately, the widest lens available to the NEX system is only 16mm... somewhat still inadequate for architecture. 


Under low light conditions, the noise level also becomes more obvious... generally, I find that ISO 800 and above on the NEX system generally lends itself to much noise on the photo... I tried taking a few shots using the RAW function in the camera. I realised that in order for me to open and edit Sony's RAW format... I need to use their proprietary program called "Image Data Converter v4.0". This program is one of the worst in picture processing - it's slow, slow and slow!


Surely after putting out such an outstanding product Sony would have thought about ensuring that its RAW format can be processed on more common programs like photoshop! Honestly, this Sony RAW format is a big turn-off for me! I like to shoot in RAW but I cannot process the image directly in Photoshop.


After a painful 30mins of waiting... here are the end results...

This image was processed in Nik's Silver Efex Pro 2

Noticed that the lens is just not wide enough! SONY - You need to do something about the lens variety & fast! 

 

I found a gem in Detroit - the Detroit Institute of Arts (Part 1)

The city of Detroit is rather confusing... before I came someone tried explaining to me that the city is like a "donut". Honestly, this "donut" concept never really gel with me until today. Like the shape of a donut... the centre of the city is empty. And by empty, I mean while there are buildings... blocks and blocks of them, but these buildings are unoccupied. They are empty. You really cannot tell from a distance, it is usually not until you are near these buildings that the broken windows and locked doors become apparent.

Outside the donut is where the activities are. And one such place is known as the "mid-town" - where a little gem is housed - the Detroit Institute of Arts (or more commonly known as the "DIA" by locals. From the outside, the building structure is somewhat lacklustre ... but once you go pass the ordinary facet, you'll find a little gem. The entrance is only $8 for adult (and all Singaporean say "cheap cheap"). This is a place where you can spend hours strolling up and down the galleries & hallways - engrossed in the exquisite exhibits.

Mind you, this place is not small - I spent about 2.5 hours and only managed to cover about 50% of the exhibit. After 2.5 hrs, I felt that my sensory is a bit overloaded & so I decided to leave the remaining 50% for another day - hey, the $8 is worth every bit.

In the spirit of trying out my newly acquired Sony NEX 7 - I decided to bring the camera into the museum to try out its low light capability. Note - none of these photos was taken with a tripod, simply because tripods are not allowed in the museum.

Honestly, the Sony NEX 7 does a very good job of delivering sharp photos.. the fact that this shot was taken with a kit lens... really blows me away. I did apply some de-noise adjustment to this shot, but the noise did not really bother me for this shot.

Look at this low light capture... the dynamic range is really amazing on this camera. This is a in-camera HDR shot - I did some cropping in photoshop.

One more shot of the NEX 7 - again no photoshop

Sony NEX 7 - real-life photos

It's a 90F day... I just returned home from work & decided to take a walk with my newly acquired Sony NEX 7. Along the way, I took the following photos. Without the exception of the black & white photo, the rest have only been cropped without doing any other touch up on photoshop.

This shot above was taken using manual focus - peeping function in the Sony NEX 7 is quite helpful for manual focusing. It's not perfect when close-up... but it'll do 90% of the job.

Well it is a 24mp camera after all... I am amazed that I can actually can see the reflector in the words... a lot of details from this camera!

This shot was taken using the kit lens. I had to crop the photo to bring out the subject... still the 24mp camera did not disappoint! 

Camp Ticonderoga

It was a cold Saturday (45F). I had a strong urge to go golfing & I thought having been in USA for about 2 months now... it's high time to give my dusty clubs a nice whack! So off to Sylvan Glen Golf course I went... the course was quiet as it was a cold & cloudy day. There were no more than a dozen people on the greens, so the marshall allowed me to play on my own.


After finishing the first 9 holes, I caught whiff of BBQ food... "heavenly" I thought! For the remaining, 9 holes I was constantly distracted by the thought of having dinner at Camp Ticonderoga. I have heard from friendly neighbour that it's famous for its roast & ribs!!! Wow... perfect, I was definitely in mood for a nice succulent (slightly charred) roast rib.

I could wait for the last hole before I made a call to the restaurant... ok, reservation was fixed at 730pm - table for one person! 


My first impression... very well-thought decorations. The restaurant definitely has a "camp" (like a hunt club) feel to it. Lighting decorations were made out of deer's antler - very cool.

There were heaps of diners around - I usually judge a restaurant by the number of patrons... clearly I have found the right place! The smell of BBQ meat in the air was clearly to much... I have to order something fast - my belly demands! And it needs to be appeased.

All in all - it was a wonderful dinner. The roast beef definitely lived up to its name - moist, soft & favor-some.