here<\/a>, including macro lens, fisheye lens, 7-14mm ultra wide angle zoom lens, a 9-18mm lens perfect for travel and landscapes, and a nice super telephoto zoom (100-300mm) which gives an incredible, hand holdable telephoto reach of a 600mm lens.<\/p>\nThe main advantage of the Sony NEX-5 <\/strong>is that, even though it has a larger sensor with marginally better image quality from the sensor at present, it is relatively cheap and small (excluding the larger lenses) while including a tilting LCD, 5-7fps burst rate, HDR, and sweep panorama modes, but it has many problems of its own which may well outweigh these advantages.<\/p>\nSo lets start with the problems that may be a show stopper for you with the Sony NEX-5:<\/strong><\/p>\n\nvery limited range of autofocus lenses<\/strong> which are designed for it – currently only 3 lenses – 16mm f\/2.8 pancake, 18-55mm f\/3.5-5.6 IS and 18-200mm f\/3.5-6.3 IS, the later two dwarfing the camera and impacting the ergonomics of holding the kit.<\/li>\nat f\/2.8, the pancake is going to have very limited ability<\/strong> to blur backgrounds, unlike the Micro Four Thirds 20mm f\/1.7 which not only allows a LOT more light in, but allows a much better chance of blurring backgrounds, and if used on an Olympus camera, you also get image stabilisation.<\/li>\nvery limited ability to use Sony A-mount lens<\/strong> is limited by very slow AF, if AF is possible at all.<\/li>\nno electronic flash hotshoe <\/strong>– you cannot use your existing flashes, but must buy a proprietary Sony flash designed only for this camera which is also difficult to screw on – now that is a crazy design<\/li>\nvery limited video modes<\/strong> – my favorite video mode is 720p but the NEX-5 does not support any 720 mode – you get HD at 1080 or resort to tiny VGA 640×480 video. The cheaper NEX-3 does have 720p but no 1080i video.<\/li>\nvery limited exposure compensation<\/strong> – only +\/- 2EV compared to the usual +\/- 3EV, but even worse, no exposure compensation available in the iAuto mode!<\/li>\nperhaps the worst menu design<\/strong> of the models listed here<\/li>\nno electronic viewfinder (EVF) option<\/strong> to allow placing camera at eye level to minimise camera shake, better viewing in sunlight, and more discrete use in situations where a bright LCD screen may be distracting to others.<\/li>\nhigh ISO is not available in iAuto mode<\/strong> – maximum is ISO 1600.<\/li>\niAuto tends to over-expose<\/strong> and worse, you cannot correct this<\/li>\npoor battery life<\/strong><\/li>\npoor shot-to-shot times<\/strong> if you preview shots<\/li>\nlive histogram unavailable<\/strong> when you need it most<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nThe advantages of the Panasonic GF-2:<\/strong><\/p>\n\nMicro Four Thirds standard and compatibility<\/strong><\/li>\nlarge range of dedicated AF lenses<\/strong> and many of the Four Thirds lenses work well in AF<\/li>\nEVF capable<\/strong> – the ability to attach one of the better EVFs although not as good as the optional Olympus EVF.<\/li>\ntouch screen interface<\/strong> makes use much easier and allows one to easily select a subject to AF on<\/li>\nthe fastest AF available<\/strong> in this genre of cameras<\/li>\nthe best video capabilities<\/strong> in this genre of cameras (although not as good as the larger Panasonic GH-1 and GH-2)<\/li>\nbuilt-in flash<\/strong> (albeit only GN 6m and there is unfortunately 2nd curtain sync, and worse, no flash exposure compensation – you will need an external flash for this – but at least a hotshoe is provided, unlike the Sony solution)<\/li>\nbuilt-in stereo microphones<\/strong> for video<\/li>\nfull support for Panasonic’s 3D video lens<\/strong><\/li>\nslimmer with pancake lens attached<\/strong> than the Sony with pancake and thus more pocketable (in a jacket pocket)<\/li>\nLumix 14-45mm 3x zoom lens sharper<\/strong> across the whole image wide open than the Sony equivalent.<\/li>\nLumix 20mm f\/1.7 is as sharp<\/strong> in the corners as the Sony 16mm f\/2.8 wide open, even though it is f\/1.7, and is considerably sharper at f\/2.8 than the Sony.<\/li>\nUnfortunately you cannot buy the GF-2 bundled with either of these preferred lenses – you will have to purchase these separately at a higher price, or better still via the internet.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nThe advantages of the Olympus E-PL1:<\/strong><\/p>\n\nMicro Four Thirds standard and compatibility<\/strong><\/li>\nlarge range of dedicated AF lenses<\/strong> and many of the Four Thirds lenses work well in AF<\/li>\nbuilt-in image stabiliser <\/strong>which works on all lenses including legacy lenses<\/li>\nbuilt-in flash<\/strong> (GN 12m) which is pop up bounce-capable, and hot shoe for external flashes<\/li>\nthe best flash control <\/strong>of these models<\/li>\nEVF option<\/strong> – one of the best EVF’s available – also works on the higher end model, the Olympus E-P2<\/li>\nArt filters<\/strong> for special effects<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nConclusion:<\/strong><\/p>\n\nif money was not an issue, the Panasonic GF-2<\/strong> with 20mm f\/1.7 lens<\/a>, a 3x zoom lens (the Lumix 14-45mm lens<\/a> is a lot sharper than the newer budget 14-42mm lens<\/a>, but a little heavier and larger, and appears to be sharper across the whole image wide open than the Sony 18-55mm lens<\/a>)\u00a0 and an external flash such as the Olympus FL-36 (buy it 2nd hand from Ebay) would make a great compact kit and allow nice bounced flash at parties, etc for flattering portraits, as well as providing the fastest AF and best video in the slimmest kit.<\/li>\nif you would prefer more manual controls instead of using the LCD touch screen to change settings, then consider the Panasonic GF-1<\/strong> or the Olympus E-P2<\/strong>.<\/li>\ncheapest price goes to the Sony, but I think there are too many issues with this camera and buying into it at this stage seems a false economy – I would rather go with the Olympus E-PL1<\/strong> unless there was a specific Sony feature I had to have – and currently there is no such feature that would entice me.<\/li>\nif your prime aim is to use electronic flash or legacy lenses, then the Olympus E-PL1 is the way to go, and hand held in low light, the image stabilisation plus f\/1.7 of the 20mm lens will easily beat the Sony with its f\/2.8 pancake lens for stationary subjects.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nPost-script:<\/strong><\/p>\n\nluminous-landscape hands on first impressions of the GF-2 vs NEX<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Time to have a brief interlude from my European holiday posts, and look at some potential Christmas presents \ud83d\ude42 Most of us want a compact digital camera which gives dSLR level of image quality, ability to blur backgrounds, and use different lenses as needed – this is where the compact styles of the new mirror-less […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,3],"tags":[18,14,15,56],"class_list":["post-4032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cameras","category-photography","tag-four-thirds-micro","tag-olympus","tag-panasonic","tag-sony"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t