Sony's UWA (SEL1018)

 Before I went on my overseas holiday trip, I took these shots of the festive decorations around Melbourne City Square. I only had the NEX-7 and SEL10-18 and my Sony RX1.   I know that the SEL1018 and NEX-7 is not the BEST combination as with any other wide angle lenses on the NEX-7.  

Out of Focus SEL10-18 @ f/4.0 

More photos of the NEX-7 and SEL1018 all at f/4.0

SEL 10-18 @ 10mm

SEL 10-18 @ 12mm

SEL 10-18 @ 14mm

SEL 10-18 @ 16mm

I am bringing this lens with me on my holiday and will post more photos when I get back.  From memory, at f/8 the issue seems to have disappear.  And also, I have tried using a more greenish-color temp/filter as my WB instead of AWB and this seems to do a better job on the sides for my liking.  Maybe its just me but I am happy with this lens and the NEX-7 combination. 

The SEL1018 works flawlessly with the NEX-6 (which I also have).

NEX-7 and the SEL1018

I currently used the NEX-7 with the 16mm/2.8 + Fisheye converter with my NEX-7 so when Sony announced the SEL10-18/4 lens, I pre-ordered it.

I must say that when I took the first couple of shot, I was disappointed with the magenta cast.  At least there's no smearing of details or colour-shifting problem.

Here is the first photo I took with my NEX-7 + SEL10-18/4.  Sorry its just a quick snap outside as weather hasn't been really good here in Melbourne, Australia (and it should be summer!).

1/1600 @ f/4 - 10mm ISO 100

As you can see from the photo, there is some magenta casting but not that much and post processing (ugh!) will be able to minimise this issue.

Now to find a way to minimise this magenta cast;  first suspect was the AWB of the NEX-7. Why the white balance? I've noticed that when I converted the files to DNG in Adobe LR4.3 the Temp is around 5450 and the Tint always has a +3 towards the magenta side.

I went into the NEX-7 White Balance setting and instead of shooting AWB, changed it to Colour Temp/Filter, and dialled in the following setting;

• Temp: 5400 
• Filter : A-B:B1 and G-M:G1

1/4000 @ f/4.0 - 10mm ISO 100

You can still see some slight magenta cast but its not as 'bad' as the first one.

This is NOT a SCIENTIFIC test as I still am trying to find the best setting to at least reduce the magenta cast.  

This however highlights another 'weakness' of the NEX-7, the ability to save your setting :(  Come on Sony, at least give us one memory option to store our setting.

Using the lens indoors; the magenta cast is a non-factor.  Here is a quick snap sample (sorry as the photo is not that interesting).  

1/15 @ f/4/.0 - 10mm ISO1600

All I can say personally is that I can work with the NEX-7 + SEL10-18 combo.

I will be doing more testing on the SEL10-18 NEX-7 combo during the holiday period.   For now, I will be keeping my NEX-7 and the NEX-6 and decide which one to keep after the Christmas season.

Keep shooting! :)

a Busy weekend and week ahead - STAY TUNED

Hello everyone.  Sorry I haven't been updating this blog as much as I want to. 

But that is all about to change.

Yesterday my NEX SEL10-18 and the Sony RX1 :) was waiting for me on the front door.  Can't contain my excitement to be honest and there's more on the way..

I am still waiting for the NEX-6 from Sony Australia and hopefully it will get here by Friday (fingers crossed) as I have two Christmas parties to attend to on the weekend.

I will keep this short for now but here are the things that I will be testing (not scientific testing but more for what I need/want from a camera).

1. NEX-7 with SEL10-18
2. NEX-6 with SEL10-18
3. Sony RX1

But before I go, I want to say a big thank you to Sony Australia. Appreciate everything and getting the RX1 to me a week ahead and the other things ;)

And now, here's a side-by-side pic of the Sony RX1 and its little brother, the RX100.

Finally together!