Lense advice for Sony NEX 5

Hi all, I have a 18-55 lense on my NEX 5 at the moment but it's a big old lump (about 200g) and probably not best suited to AP, can anyone suggest a better lense as I know a few people are using this camera.
 

Droider

Drone Enthusiast
The 16mm is the baby.. I use it for everything now.. I have to 18-55 but have only used it once or twice when I could not get close enough to the subject for the 16mm.
 

Any particular one to get Dave, I don't know much about camera's, is a Sony lense the way to go or are there cheaper alternatives.
 




ZAxis

Member
I'd agree with Droider, go for the 16mm. I bought mine on ebay for just over £120. It was an unwanted lens from the camera+zoom+16 kit and totally unused.
 

Emowillcox

Member
I also heard that 16mm is a great lens for this camera. I have been hearing and seeing alot of good stuff about this camera for aerial video. Did you guys see that post last week from Bart about the NEX 7
coming out? Wonder if anyone has any opinions about the NEX 7 vs the Nex 5? I hope to have a rig shooting video in the very near future and figure i’ll probably be in the market for a camera that will shoot good video.
 

RTRyder

Merlin of Multirotors
I also heard that 16mm is a great lens for this camera. I have been hearing and seeing alot of good stuff about this camera for aerial video. Did you guys see that post last week from Bart about the NEX 7
coming out? Wonder if anyone has any opinions about the NEX 7 vs the Nex 5? I hope to have a rig shooting video in the very near future and figure i’ll probably be in the market for a camera that will shoot good video.

I bought my 5N as a package deal from B&P Photo in NYC, you can add the 16mm lens for $99 when buying the NEX through I think mid-Novemeber, regular price is either $250 or $350 I forget which they list on their site. I used the 16mm once and since have been using the 18 - 55 that comes with the camera mainly because I find the added weight helps steady the camer platform and takes out the last little bits of jumpiness that I still see when I have the GoPro mounted instead of the 5N.

As for the Nex7 the 24 megapixel resolution sounds nice but at 2X the cost of a 5N will you get results that are 2X as good? Probably not when you're flying it on a multi, by necessity you have to let the camera have control of the majority of functions when in flight so there really won't be a lot of difference in that use case. If you plan to also use it in-hand then it's probably worth it. My biggest thing is flying a camera that costs over $1000 gives me the heebie jeebies thinking of what would happen to it if the multi had an unintended landing event so I tend to keep to the less expensive equipment for use on multis.

Ken
 

Emowillcox

Member
Ken I agree with you.. probably not worth the money unless i was going to turn my photo into a BillBoard :dread: extra cost probably hard to justify.. Interesting point you made about the extra weight helping
out on the camera mount
 

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