NEX5N ergonomics problem

[Jim Evidon]

It seems that the NEX5N, which I own along with the suburb OLEV eye level finder and find an amazing package has one real ergonomic problem which I find really annoying. It is too easy to inadvertently push the exposure compensation located at the bottom of the wheel while gripping the camera. I lost several pictures to under exposure.
I see no way to avoid doing this unintentionally, although using the 1/2 case seems to help by partially shielding the lower half of the wheel from an intrusive thumb. I believe that a simple third party attachment to the camera body just below the wheel that would shield the exposure compensation would probably solve the problem.

Have any other NEX5N owners experienced this problem?

[CNNY]

The ergonomics on the nex are not great. I have a number of times pressed the video record button with my thumb while I was raising the camera for a quick shot. There are too many buttons, and nowhere to put your thumb.

[jsrockit]

Made for consumers more than photographers is what I think everytime I hold one. I want to love these cameras (because they are actually pretty good), but I just can't get into them.

[cincyMAT]

I'm trying this to keep my right thumb from inadvertently pressing the control wheel:

Support the camera body with my left hand. It rests across my palm diagonally from my left thumb to my little finger. Grasp the camera with my right hand with my right thumb under the camera. My right hand makes a backwards C with my index finger on the release button and my right thumb under the camera body.

I'd post a picture but my third hand is at the cleaners........

[boomguy57]

Agreed. I tried one, and had to return it. On paper it seems great. Then you actually pick one up and try to use it...

Yeah

Originally Posted by jsrockit

Made for consumers more than photographers is what I think everytime I hold one. I want to love these cameras (because they are actually pretty good), but I just can't get into them.

[fbf]

I use a cheap body case. Works well.

[Jim Evidon]

So far, the body case is the only defense against this error.

Mark, your humor is not lost on me. I knew going in that Sony had tried to hard to emphasis "small" notwithstanding the fact that with the kit lens, it is not so small at all. My GF1 admittedly has better ergonomics. I had decided to give the NEX5N a pass until I read the Luminous Landscape and Reid Reviews. Their assessments are right on and I don't regret the purchase. I just wish that Sony didn't try so hard to build in ergonomic difficulties for anyone with hand larger than a child's.

I'll put up with it and get used to it because it is such a great camera, but Sony has made it difficult. Perhaps Mark has the answer. I do already cradle all of my cameras in the palm of my left hand. I learned long ago that it makes the most stable platform short of a tripod. As for the right hand reverse "C", I'll give it a hand (chortle).

[Bimjo]

I'm kinda like Mark, I've found that with how little the 5N weighs I can support the camera with my left hand and use my right thumb to just stabilize my trigger finger. The tough part is remembering that this isn't a dslr w/grip & hand strap.

Conversely when I'm shooting at waist level I use my thumb on the go button and my fingers just naturally curl in front of/under the camera.

I still manage to hit the right side of the wheel just picking the camera up quite frequently though.

[Jim Evidon]

We'll just have to put up with it. Sony. are you listening?

[CNNY]

Originally Posted by Jim Evidon

I'll put up with it and get used to it because it is such a great camera, but Sony has made it difficult. Perhaps Mark has the answer. I do already cradle all of my cameras in the palm of my left hand. I learned long ago that it makes the most stable platform short of a tripod. As for the right hand reverse "C", I'll give it a hand (chortle).

For me a big part of the attraction of a body as small the nex is that you can use it one-handedly. It is a very different kind of camera from regular full sized body, and I would like to use it in different kinds of situations. Having to revert to holding it as if it were a regular body is fine, but to me the Sony is not playing to it's strengths. It must be equally frustrating for the consumers that these are aimed at to be pressing the wrong buttons all the time as it is for picky people like us. It is just bad design.

[dnk512]

I have changed settings inadvertently, but not consistently. The more I shoot, the less of those issues.

[cincyMAT]

It's a brilliant little camera. The picture files are very clean up to ISO 1600. With a CV Nikon F adapter and a Hawk's helicoid M adapter I can use all my lenses with one camera. It does look a bit odd on my Sigma 120-300 F2.8 zoom though. Not having a mirror seems to help give more keepers with this lens than I've ever got with my D700 or D2x.

I can live with the handling until I adapt to the camera.

Jim, I appreciate you seeing my humor. Very few do........

[Paddy C]

I find the video button more of a pain as I inadvertently hit it regularly. But, overall, I like the camera quite a bit and don't have many issues with it.

I do wonder if I'll have to break down and buy the EVF as the LCD is useless in sun.

[burancap]

Originally Posted by Paddy C

I find the video button more of a pain as I inadvertently hit it regularly.

I never had much of an issue until someone mentioned that in another thread... now I hit it all the time!

I seem to have the most trouble finding the A & B soft keys when using the EVF. I am planning some sort of "nubbification."

[craygc]

Just checked my own Nex 5n as to how I hold it as I never see this issue. I didnt bother putting the EVF on but unless Im trying to change something with the controls, my thumb is across the screen and out of the way. If I had to have an issue it would be that I often struggle to feel the 'A' and 'B' buttons for magnification usage without looking - they are just too flush with the body.

[Jim Evidon]

Paddy,
The EVF is one of the several reasons I opted for the NEX5N. I have a GF1 and have been very satisfied with everything but the EVF which is pretty lousy but better than trying to shoot using only the LCD screen and manual focusing; finding that my Leica M8 does a much more accurate job rather than depending only on a magnified image to manually focus. So when I found out about focus peaking and the new OLEV finder, I bought the lot.

In short, the focus peaking feature is much more intuitive and accurate than using the Leica or Zeiss style coinciding image rangefinder. And it never requires adjusting.

Also, I find that the OLEV viewfinder is essential and really amazing. I really recommend that you get one. You'll never leave home without it, unless you need to use the flash. Why Sony produces a camera that requires that you choose between using a flash or EVF is really beyond my comprehension. Score a big point for the NEX7 that has both on that point.

[ddutchison]

My main difficulty with the ergonomics is that I often accidentally put the viewscreen into zoom mode.

On the 5n, if you have both Manual Focus Assist and Touch-Screen enabled, touching the screen anywhere will zoom-in on that point. I love this feature, but on a camera this small, it's hard to keep your digits off the screen. Fortunately a half-press on the shutter release restores the full view.

I have also amassed a collection of bizarre and meaningless videos courtesy of the location of the movie button. I'm making a small indented cap to cover the thing until Sony provides a way of disabling it (I've read lots of complaints about this one, so I imagine they might. Video should be on the virtual shooting mode dial IMHO)

Warts and all though, I love this camera. Last night I was doing some hand-held night photography (ISO 6400, f1.4 and be there!) This is a completely new experience for me - and I've been shooting since 1970.

[Pablito]

i too hit the wrong button every so often but it makes images as good or better than my D300s bodies yet it's SO much easier to carry around.

I never understood those folks who would try a camera for a day or two and decide it does not work for them. No camera is perfect; sometimes you just have to live with the imperfections and it can take quite a while to get used to new cameras.

btw, the EVF is what makes this camera an option for me at all.

[Jim Evidon]

On the GF1, the movie button was adjacent to the shutter release and was even easier to turn on inadvertently. The good news is that you can go into the menu and disable the movie feature. I suggest that Sony incorporate a firmware update that will allow this same disabling feature.
As for the inadvertent pushing of the wheel which is what caused me to start this thread in the first place, I an considering a visit to the hardware store to find a suitably sized "o" ring that I can afix to the body surrounding the wheel that can allow me to purposely use it's features without accidentally activating it.

[vidgamer]

On my Nex-5, I don't have problems with the wheel, just the movie button. Everyone has trouble with that movie button! That aside, I think the ergonomics are fine. I love the grip and the small size. Even with the kit lens, the Nex is much smaller and lighter than a DSLR, but it may be worth cross-shopping with other mirrorless cameras, but for raw IQ, I think the Sony sensors are just fantastic. YMMV.

[Ken Ford]

I spent some time looking at the NEX-5 when it first came out and several people here were singing it's praises, but I just didn't care for the ergonomics (and other things, too). I now own a NEX-7, and it's amazing what a little extra height and slight button layout tweaks have done for the ergos - the only complaint I have is that @%@$ video button.

[Bimjo]

Originally Posted by Ken Ford

I spent some time looking at the NEX-5 when it first came out and several people here were singing it's praises, but I just didn't care for the ergonomics (and other things, too). I now own a NEX-7, and it's amazing what a little extra height and slight button layout tweaks have done for the ergos - the only complaint I have is that @%@$ video button.

You and nearly everybody else!

[Lss]

Originally Posted by vidgamer

Everyone has trouble with that movie button! That aside, I think the ergonomics are fine.

Well, we are pretty much the complete opposite then. The UI, the button layout, and the overall ergonomics of the NEX-5N simply do not work for me. The fact that it produces good video quality (in addition to good still image quality) is what saves it for me. However, having direct access to video recording is really mandatory to use the camera in the field. Otherwise, I would have sold it by now.

[sevo]

Originally Posted by Lss

However, having direct access to video recording is really mandatory to use the camera in the field.

Well, it should be possible to disable that button - by now I must have lost a dozen or two shots because video was running when it should not...

[Ken Ford]

There is supposedly a firmware update due for the NEX-7 - if this isn't addressed at that point, I have a few nonpermanent mechanical ideas to fix the problem. I have zero interest in video with the NEX at the moment, so totally disabling it wouldn't be an issue.

In the ideal world I'd like to see an option to move the video start over to the shutter release after you select video mode and be able to remap the video button to something else - MF assist would be my first choice. I'm constantly diving into setup to change the assignment for the AF/MF button between AF/MF for use with AF lenses and MF assist for MF lenses. It's a pain.