Nex Hints and Tips

In June 2010, Sony released the Nex-3 and Nex-5 cameras. These cameras appear to bridge the gap between smaller "point and shoot" cameras and advanced DSLR cameras. There used to be more choices in the "bridge camera" category, but this market looked like it had dried-up, perhaps because of the availability of inexpensive entry-level DSLRs. Now, one can get a Nex camera with a DSLR-sized sensor, but a small, handy body.

Below are collected some pieces of information that may not be obvious and may not even be documented officially.

Here, you can see the Nex-5 contrasted with the Sony DSC-V3. With a smaller lens, the Nex would be a more compact package. The feature sets of the two cameras have some differences, but they are basically in the same category (with several years between the two as well).

Panorama mode

Use vertical panning (holding the camera 90 degrees) to gain a bit more resolution. In one test, I was able to achieve a result 2160 pixels high, as opposed to 1856 pixels in a normal horizontal pan.
Use the smaller size combined with vertical panning for a wide-lens look.
The smoother you pan, the better the result.
When light is really low, the shutter can drop to 1/60 sec. with the kit lens. With an A-mount adapted lens, it does not drop below 1/500!

3D Panorama mode

No 3D HDTV handy? Can view on the computer using StereoPhoto Maker. (Also, can convert photos to other formats for sharing.)
Maximum height is only 1080 pixels, presumably to fit HDTV screens exactly. This may be sufficient for printing as long as you don't get too ambitious about the size.
The vertical panning option is not allowed in 3D Panorama mode.
Rotating on the tripod point still preserves the 3D effect (and probably would result in fewer stitching errors).
Panning rather than rotating may give more stitching errors, but may enhance the 3D effect; I have not tested this to confirm.

Video

The creative style is in effect while recording video. This means you can record directly in black and white!
You can achieve AE (Auto Exposure) Lock by holding the shutter button half-way or all the way. Also, it will cause it to refocus on a subject. This is handy when panning across varying light sources, like a window, without changing the exposure of your subject.
As of firmware version 3, you can set the camera to Aperture mode to control the aperture for video as well.

Other Notes

HDR mode requires that the subject remain still. Can be combined with creative style options? (An increase in contrast might be useful.)
To avoid artifacts such as "halos", use sharpening at 0. I noticed occasional halos even with only +1 sharpening on high-contrast edges, although a little sharpening may be desireable.
To achieve AE (Auto Exposure) Lock (for creating panoramic photos manually on the computer, it's best to use the same exposure for all photos that are to be stitched together), after taking each photo, ease up on the shutter, but remain half-pressed. This will preserve the settings and focus. (I find that this is a better solution than a dedicated AEL button with which I will forget to reset.)

Flash

Turn on the "fill flash" option, and fold down the flash when you don't want it. It's like having a custom button to turn the flash on and off!
The Nex will not control the (Alpha) F42 flash unit wirelessly. Third party flash units might be triggered, but I have yet to test.

With a hook-and-loop fastener, I attached a "softbox" to the flash. This gadget is designed to attach to large flashes with an elastic band, so it just falls off of the Nex flash. However, I found that I could loop a fastener strip around the bottom of the flash and attach to the bottom of the softbox, and it seems secure enough so far. Edges of objects are definitely softened, with an expected slight loss of flash power. A fair trade-off, I think. Note that wide angles will not work with this setup.

UI Quirks

If you switch from AF mode to DMF, AF-C mode will be disabled (forcing use of AF-S). If you want to use AF-C mode, you'll have to turn off DMF first.
If you use RAW or RAW+JPEG mode, you cannot select the HDR mode, which is annoying as you have to switch to another part of the menu system to change the file "quality" setting then go back to the HDR setting. But, if you turn HDR on while in JPEG-only mode, then when you switch to RAW+JPEG, HDR is automatically switched to DRO. Now you only need to change one menu item -- the file quality -- and the HDR setting will flip on and off automatically.

Jagged Edge Artifacts

Others have noted jagged artifacts in some Nex photos. In the below photo, on the right, you can see a JPEG with stairstep effects on some diagonal lines on the leaves. This photo is unmodified from the camera, with sharpness set to +1. On the left, you can see the same photo (from RAW+JPEG mode) processed with a raw conversion program, with sharpening applied and brightened a bit to approximate the JPEG's results. While overdoing the sharpening effect can cause a bit of stair-stepping, I don't think that accounts for all of it; the RAW conversion (in the camera) is probably more the cause for this. In camera, the processing has to occur very quickly as it creates a JPEG file; you should be able to obtain better results using a RAW conversion tool on your computer. Even so, considering all of the lines in the photo, it does not seem particularly objectionable, but once again, if you want the best results, use RAW mode (or RAW+JPEG, and at least you have instant results if you don't feel like processing the RAW immediately).

Nex-6

Some misc. Nex-6 notes.

The updated (as of January 2014) timelapse app does not display correctly with the earlier firmware release (1.01). Update to 1.02.

To use HSS flash with an external flash, not only does the flash unit need to be HSS-capable, but the flash unit may need to be aimed forward (not in "bounce" orientation).

The 3D Panorama mode has been removed from the camera software.

The new PDAF (phase-detect auto focus) does not function in certain situations; the camera falls back to CDAF if PDAF is not available.

Neither Digital zoom nor CIZ support PDAF.
Normally, the selected aperture needs to be f6.3 or wider (smaller f-number) for PDAF to function. However, in P-mode, you can select any available aperture (using the P-shift feature), and the camera will still utilize PDAF (by quickly changing apertures temporarily to gain focus).
(This is still in some dispute -- test for yourself and see.)
Prior to firmware update 1.03, some lenses would not support PDAF. After the 1.03 update, many of these lenses appear to support PDAF, with the grid displaying during autofocus. For example, the Sigma 30mm lens.

CIZ (Clear Image Zoom) will not be enabled (it will default to normal digital zoom) if you have the Continuous shooting mode enabled -- select single-shot mode. (This is not mentioned in the manual.)

Last updated: May 4, 2014

Initial date: Aug. 8, 2010