Moab With The Sony NEX-5N

[Photo-John]

I had my first outing with the Sony NEX-5N, this weekend. I had a new mountain bike to test and there's not enough snow to bother with here in Salt Lake a four hour drive to Moab seemed like a great idea. Sony sent me the NEX-5N with the 18-55 and 55-210 lenses. I made the trip alone so I mostly just took landscape photos. So far I am impressed with the camera. The controls took me a few minutes to get used to but they aren't too difficult. I'm not as impressed with the kit lenses. The Micro Four Thirds cameras definitely have the edge with the entry-level lenses. But the NEX-5N camera performance and image quality are both very good. I can definitely tell the difference with the larger APS-C sensor.

[Photo-John]

It gets pretty cold in Moab in the winter and the Colorado River and Green River both come out of the mountains. So I guess it shouldn't be any surprise that there's ice in the Colorado right now. I wasn't expecting it, though. It made for an interesting and unexpected photo opportunity. And I think this is one of my favorite photos from the weekend.

I can't help but wonder how much ice the river gets. Does it have full ice flows on it by late January?

[Photo-John]

The beautiful La Sals are the backdrop to almost everything you do around Moab. It's been dry so far this winter but they do have some snow and I love the way they look against the slickrock formations.

[Photo-John]

You didn't think you were going to get out of this thread without looking at some mountain bike photos did you? You should know me better than that by now

I went alone and rode alone so I only have a couple to share. The first is of the bike I was testing. Moab is a great place to do beauty shots of mountain bikes.

The other photo is of a couple of guys who passed me, heading out on Sunday morning - well noon, really. This time of year you don't start riding in Moab until afternoon, when it's warmed up a bit.

As far as riding with the camera goes, it's great. I did two three-plus hour rides carrying the NEX-5N with the 18-55mm and 55-210mm lenses. They provide an excellent range for shooting almost anything and they were a lot smaller and lighter than the equivalent DSLR gear I would normally carry. As I said earlier, I'm not really impressed with the optical quality of the lenses but they got the job done. If I were to buy this camera I'd probably get the Sony E-mount 18-200mm zoom instead of these two lenses. I haven't used it but I'd bet the image quality is better plus it means I only have to carry one lens. I love the Canon and Nikon APS-C 18-200mm zoom lenses.

[GrizzlyAdam]

John, I love those shots of the La Sals. They are one of my favorite mountain ranges. And i didn't realize it before I looked at these photos... but I miss Moab.

[Photo-John]

John, I love those shots of the La Sals. They are one of my favorite mountain ranges. And i didn't realize it before I looked at these photos... but I miss Moab.

I think the La Sals are aesthetically perfect. They have a beautiful shape, it's a small, easy to photograph range, and you can't beat the foreground scenery

I didn't realize I missed Moab till I got there. I kinda didn't want to go. I didn't feel like driving. But I need to review the Marzocchi stuff on the new bike and felt like I had to take the opportunity. Now that I've made the quickie trip I'm kind of hankering to do it again. If we don't get some good snow, I'm inclined to make the trip again ASAP. I am by no means done messing with that suspension

[armando_m]

Questions about 2 subjects:
Bike: Amazingly small sprocket at the pedals !! it's smaller than 1st gear ???
is it an uphill dedicated bike? if such thing exist ? it's been a long time since I read anything about MBs

Lens /camera:
What is it that you didn't like about the kit lens ?
I think the OSS is amazingly good and optics are ok , I can ge amzingly sharp shots
Distortion at 18mm is more than the nikon 18-55 or the nikon 18-200
Bokeh is kind of funny, sort of like crayon painting, but i' not sure if it is my post processing or ... ?

About the nex5n, I'm still getting used to the camera, navigating the menus I'm slow, I think I will setup the custom buttons to :
1. set iso
2. set AF / MF - not to sure about this one yet

I'm waiting on an adapter , can't wait to use some faster glass even when it will be manual focus

[Photo-John]

Questions about 2 subjects:
Bike: Amazingly small sprocket at the pedals !! it's smaller than 1st gear ???
is it an uphill dedicated bike? if such thing exist ? it's been a long time since I read anything about MBs

It's actually a "freeride" bike, Armando. It's got 7-inches of really plush suspension and it's a bit on the heavy side so that small sprocket - a 28-tooth - is so it can be pedaled uphill. And there's only one ring in front so that I can dispense with the front shifter. Really, this bike is about the downhill. Sometimes you just get off and push

Lens /camera:
What is it that you didn't like about the kit lens ?
I think the OSS is amazingly good and optics are ok , I can ge amzingly sharp shots
Distortion at 18mm is more than the nikon 18-55 or the nikon 18-200
Bokeh is kind of funny, sort of like crayon painting, but i' not sure if it is my post processing or ... ?

Your assessment of the lens is about the same as mine. And the 55-210mm is about the same as the 18-55mm. It's the bokeh that I really dislike. It's pretty funky and distracting. But they have other lenses. This is just what they sent me for review. So I'm not going to judge the camera system based on these lenses.

[mattb]

Cool, and wow, the La Sals look pretty lean too.
If we don't get snow soon I'll probably be heading down there soon myself!

The pics look pretty nice! If I could somehow have AF on my Pentax glass (at least the new AF lenses) with one of these I'd have one by now.

The bike looks fun too as long as the climbs aren't too bad. I usually ride more XC oriented bikes (Spec. FSR & Surly 1x1) but I do love the freeride performance on the DH, I just don't like pushing all that back up the hill!

[Photo-John]

The bike looks fun too as long as the climbs aren't too bad. I usually ride more XC oriented bikes (Spec. FSR & Surly 1x1) but I do love the freeride performance on the DH, I just don't like pushing all that back up the hill!

I've got a Bionicon Golden Willow for an XC / light trail bike. The Canfield is a sub-35 lb freeride DH bike. And it actually climbs surprisingly well. I didn't build it for that, but it's just fine for Moab climbs. I wouldn't wanna do a high-altitude fireroad grinder on it, though

Let me know if you head for Moab. The snow still sucks here and I'm game for another trip. Motels are cheap there right now and the new bike needs to get ridden!

[mattb]

Let me know if you head for Moab. The snow still sucks here and I'm game for another trip. Motels are cheap there right now and the new bike needs to get ridden!

Will do. I actually skied some nice pow at Wolf Creek last Wednesday. But it just makes my local skiing seem that much worse in comparison!

[Photo-John]

Sweet! You gotta work on the processing, though. Overcast ski photos are really tough. But I've got a lot of tricks up my sleeve

No good snow here yet. I did a snow ride on Saturday and then went and skied ice and crud yesterday just to keep the legs in shape. Hoping for some snow Wednesday and Thursday. I took Friday off, though. So I probably jinxed it.

[mattb]

Sweet! You gotta work on the processing, though. Overcast ski photos are really tough. But I've got a lot of tricks up my sleeve

No good snow here yet. I did a snow ride on Saturday and then went and skied ice and crud yesterday just to keep the legs in shape. Hoping for some snow Wednesday and Thursday. I took Friday off, though. So I probably jinxed it.

Yeah, just an example of good snow, not necessarily a good shot! I know it's a little dark even though I think I was shooting at +1 ev. Could still be brighter for sure. It was absolutely nuking snow so I just snapped a few as quickly as I could to keep the camera dry. And I just wanted to ski!

We may get some snow tomorrow since I have to drive to Montrose and back...

[Photo-John]

Processing is key for photos in those conditions. If you get the exposure bright enough you're not going to have any detail. But you can *pull* the detail. It's there