GAS – Gear Acquisition Syndrome

They say the equipment is not important but how you use it, and to be honest there is a degree of truth to that.

Most of us would be better of using our current equipment more and dreaming of the latest, newest equipment less.

Still new equipment is exciting and can help inspire us to take better photographs. While a artist should not blame his equipment it is true some equipment is easier to use then others.

So what inspired me to write this blog post today, well I made the mistake of visiting my local camera store today and managed to get my hands on the new Sony NEX-6.

Like the NEX-7 it has a build in electronic viewfinder (EVF) and decent handling. It many respects the handling is better then the NEX-7: the biggest problem I have with most none DSLRs can be summarised by three things.

  • No Viewfinder
  • Tiny sensor
  • Poor Ergonomics

Over the last five years we have gone from having no decent small cameras to a large number that our very close.

The one camera I currently own that ticks all of my boxes is my 40 year old Leica M4, stunning large optical viewfinder, perfect ergonomics and class leading lens available. The down side for most people is that it takes film, and running a film camera now a days is not cheap, unless you develop and scan your own results, and then it’s the time factor to do all of this.

So it was with a great deal of interest that I tried out the NEX-6. I don’t know if the viewfinder is the same as the one in its big brother or not but it certainly seemed better to me. The menu system of the NEX is still one of the worst going. My Nikon V1 has a very simple menu system that’s quick and easy to use, then it has to be as the external controls are poor in comparison to the NEX-6 & 7. Sony should really think about porting the menu from the Alpha Range to the NEX.

It was a very brief play but I have to say I was even more impressed with the NEX-6 then I was with the NEX-7, currently the two cameras are very similarly priced so the NEX-7 is the better value but it certainly made me think.

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