[Zig]

Er, I see the hype continues, this time bigging up the Sony NEX-3 and 5. I've waded through all the stuff, the HD vid stuff, pseudo HDR stuff...can someone quite simply tell me before I fall off my perch with boredom, are these things micro 4/3, or yet another format and another sensor-size and another lens mount?
(...There's going to be more of this, isn't there...?)

[matthew]

It's yet-another-format, like the Samsung cameras - making three competing lensmounts for people looking for smaller cameras.

Like Nikon, there are actually two completely different companies making Sony cameras. There's the version of Sony that put out the A700, A900, and A850. Then there's the company that put out everything else. The "NEX" series cameras are firmly in the main Sony universe.

(as we all know, Nikon makes great SLRs, but their Coolpix line is pretty much uniformly and inexcusably crap. Of course, in this case it is literally another company (companies) making Nikon's products, but that's still no excuse.)

[Zig]

Thank you Matthew, you are a planet-sized resource; I salute you sir.
I had no idea of this "outsourcing" approach; logical and predictable, now I think of it.

[matthew]

Never a problem, Zig - I'm always happy to give an opinion loosely disguised as information. But you brought to mind Utah Phillips' brilliant quip, talking to schoolchildren:

"You are about to be told one more time that you are America's most valuable natural resource.
Have you seen what they do to valuable natural resources?"

[Zig]

Ouch! Excellent!

[shuttertalk]

Yet another sensor format - I wonder if it's going to be a betamax vs VHS thing....

I guess in its favour - micro 4/3 has a head start and quite a reasonable following already...

[Toad]

Yet another sensor format.....

Not really. The NEX uses APS-C sensor format

[matthew]

Yet another lens mount...

(And remember that Beta was the superior format, but failed in the marketplace anyway.)

[shuttertalk]

Not really. The NEX uses APS-C sensor format

Oops, you're right Mr. T.

Good point matthew...

[matthew]

I got to play with one of the NEX models today, and was moderately impressed. It has a nice feel to it, and is smaller than the GF1 but with a grip that makes it easier to hold. I was using it with the 18-55 lens, which was too big for it; I wanted to see the 16mm (24mm-e) prime, but they've all been pulled for some 'preproduction' issues.

It's undoubtedly the nicest point-and-shoot I've ever used.

As a camera, though, the GF1 and its friends are leagues ahead of it. They're built to different expectations, and while the Sony has some interesting ideas, it's not meant to be anyone's baby SLR.