NEX Body and Rear Lens Cap Available

The unicorns have arrived at the Sony Style store. The Sony NEX Body Cap, part number ALC-B1EM, and the Rear Lens Cap, part number ALC-R1EM, are now available at Sony Style. These are necessary if you are using lens adapters since those do not come with any caps.

Hopefully the Sony NEX-3, NEX-5, and NEX-VG10 kits will have both caps included in the box.

Of course you can also search on eBay for third party Sony NEX E-mount caps.

Sony NEX-VG10 Sigma 50-500mm Bigma Video

Here is some footage that Steve N shot with his NEX-VG10 and the Sigma 50-500mm ultra zoom lens aka Bigma. The Bigma used is a Nikon mount so it does have an aperture ring but focusing is all done manually. Steve points out:

...Sony hasn't equipped the VG10 with focus confirmation or focus assist: there is no peaking or image enlargement which would help immensely when working with MF lenses...perhaps a firmware update can address this!

Sony stated at Photokina that they will be working with third party lens makers so we can expect focus confirmation, and aperture control on adapted lenses.

Sony NEX-VG10 with a Sigma 50-500mm Zoom aka Bigma

Click here for more pictures of the combination above.

Sony NEX-VG10 with Sigma 50-500mm Bigma

Here are Steve N's pictures of his Sony NEX-VG10, a Nikon F mount to Sony E-mount lens adapter, and a Sigma 50-500mm f/4.5-6.3 APO Ultra Telephoto, aka the Bigma. This would give an equivalent of 90mm to 900mm zoom lens on the NEX-VG10 with it's 1.8x crop factor. We'll post videos soon...

Check out Steve N's work!

Sony NEX-5 7 Frames Per Second Burst Shooting

Davide C. emailed us to show how to use the Sony NEX-5's 7 frames per second burst shooting mode. He set the Drive Mode of the NEX-5 to Speed Priority Continuous and used Photoshops "load into stack" function to finish the image. The lens used was the Sony E-mount 16mm f/2.8 pancake - a guess from the EXIF.

He mentioned that the NEX-5 buffer fills up after 15 large JPEG shots, we were wondering if using a faster card like the Sony Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo HX would be a remedy. The shots turned out very well even with this minor setback.

This is what the shutter looks like at 7 frames per second burst.

Check out more of Davide C.'s photos.

Sony NEX-VG10 Firmware 02 Update

Sony NEX-VG10 Camcorder with LA-EA1 Lens Adapter and Carl Zeiss 24-70mm f/2.8

Sony released the Firmware Version 02 update for the NEX-VG10 Camcorder. This update allows the NEX-VG10 to autofocus Sony SSM and SAM lenses via the LA-EA1 lens adapter. The LA-EA1 lens adapter has to be updated to firmware version 02 as well. Use the links below to get the US versions of the firmware and instructions of how to perform the update. Please make sure you use the correct firmware and read the instructions carefully.

Microsoft Windows NEX-VG10 Firmware Version 02
http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-download.pl?mdl=NEXVG10&upd_id=6231&os_id=45

Microsoft Windows LA-EA1 Firmware Version 02
http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-download.pl?mdl=LAEA1&upd_id=6248&os_id=7

Macintosh OS NEX-VG10 Firmware Version 02
http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-download.pl?mdl=NEXVG10&upd_id=6243&os_id=50

Macintosh OS LA-EA1 Firmware Version 02
http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-download.pl?mdl=LAEA1&upd_id=6250&os_id=50

Sony NEX-5 gentLED Auto Intervalometer

Sony NEX-5 Time Lapse Video using gentLED Auto Intervalometer by xironmonkyx

Here is another intervalometer for the Sony NEX-5 for creating time lapse videos. It is a gentLED Auto infrared trigger. Here are the main features of the gentLED Auto:

• Variable delay from 2 seconds to 30 minutes
• Built-in on-off switch and battery (included with unit)
• RED LED indicator when the unit has triggered the camera
• Weighs only 0.6oz, 18g (including battery)
• Comes complete with velcro pads, and Operating Manual - all you need to take picture

Here is the operating manual for the gentLED auto. Check out Gentles Limited for more info on the gentLED auto.

Unfortunately the NEX-3 does not have an IR receiver.

Sony NXCAM Handycam NEX with Larger Sensor Announced

The newest NEX in development is the NXCAM Camcorder. It uses the same E-mount as the NEX-3, NEX-5 cameras, and NEX-VG10 camcorder but it has a slightly larger sensor. The CMOS sensor in the NXCAM is a Super 35 format which is 0.980 x 0.735 in (24.89 x 18.66 mm). The current Sony NEX sensor dimension is 0.92 x 0.61 in. (23.4 x 15.6 mm). The NXCAM will shoot AVCHD at 1080p at 60p/30p/24p and 50p/25p. Since NXCAM uses the same lens mount as the other NEX cameras we can expect more lenses to be in development.

Sony NXCAM Camcorder with E-mount Lenses

Here is the official Sony NXCAM HD press release from Sony EU:

NXCAM HD camcorder under development, featuring E-mount lens system
17 November 2010

Sony to expand 35mm large format sensor camcorder lineup

Sony Corporation announced today that it is developing a new type of E-mount interchangeable lens camcorder for professional use that is equipped with a Super-35mm equivalent large format CMOS sensor. This new addition to Sony’s professional “NXCAM” line will be available in the middle of 2011.

Already a key player in the 35mm digital cinematography business with the highly acclaimed “CineAlta” F35 and SRW-9000PL for high-end digital cinema production, Sony has just strengthened its lineup in this category with the recent PMW-F3 announcement. In addition to this, with this new “NXCAM” HD camcorder now (still under development), Sony looks to further strengthen its position in the entry-level segment by providing an affordable yet highly capable professional solution for many applications including independent film, music video and corporate communications all looking for the cinematic look.

This “NXCAM” HD camcorder under development will be equipped with a Super-35mm equivalent sensor, a widely used film stock size in the film industry that is perfectly designed for capturing motion picture. This new sensor will have extraordinary performance in terms of picture quality and sensitivity, and is able to create rich “Bokeh” effect (beautifully defocused image) that is perfect for artistic story-telling in motion picture.

Thanks to the adoption of the E-mount interchangeable lens system that is identical to the “α” series NEX-5, 3 and “Handycam” NEX-VG10, the E-mount lenses will be compatible with this new professional camcorder. In addition, a very short flange back distance (the distance between lens mount surface and sensor surface) let various “α” A-mount lenses be mounted via a mount adaptor (LA-EA1). Furthermore, it is also possible to attach many other lenses using third-party mount adaptors*1. With such flexibility, users will be able to experiment with various creative expressions by exploiting the characteristics of different optics.
* 1: Not all types of adaptors and lenses are guaranteed.

The recording format for this new HD camcorder will be AVCHD, a widely supported format by many non liner editing software vendors and the same format as HXR-NX5 “NXCAM” camcorder.
There is also a plan to implement 1080p (60p / 30p / 24p*2 or 50p / 25p) recording modes.
(MPEG4-AVC/H.264 compression will be used for these modes.)
*2: 59.94p / 29.97p / 23.98p respectively.