Fail
Fail
Pass
I only managed to get it right on the third shot and that’s coz I flipped the LCD screen 180 degrees so I could see myself and frame the shot. I was aiming for a dSLR look with a heavily defocused background. I’m really bad in self-portraits – I think the technical term for this is camwhoring. 😉
That’s the most famous Protestant church in Dresden right there. I travel around quite a bit – I just came back from Germany and I went to Jakarta before that. I couldn’t make it to another one this month due to a conflicting date but I’ll be heading to Nepal and the Philippines next month.
I’m what the industry call a FIT (Free and Independent Traveler). Basically, what that means is that you’re the adventurous trailblazing type who tends to go backpacking alone. That perfectly describes my two previous trips to Europe. This is the third.
I’ve had no problems with people running away with my camera, not even in the slums of Sri Lanka (don’t ask) or going on a totally badass adventure in Georgia with strangers. You need someone to take your photos when you’re traveling alone and while I’m not a huge fan of camwhoring, I concede that it’s very useful sometimes.
The picture above is of the Sony Center in Berlin – the only one that has a cinema which shows English movies without subtitles. I brought the Sony NEX-F3 to Germany. All the photos in this post was taken using that. I wanted to see if it would make me take better shots. I have a dSLR but I wanted a more compact camera that I can stuff into my windbreaker pocket. You can try that with a dSLR – but be prepared to get tackled by the London Metropolitan police. 😉
The Sony NEX-F3 uses a large, high performance Exmor APS CMOS sensor that allows it to capture dSLR quality photos even in low light. It has interchangeable lenses and it’s very easy to use.
Let me show you my awesome photos!
This is a view of Dresden late at night. I was surprised at the low noise and incredible detail. I used this as my Facebook cover photo. Heh.
Old school cash register. Appropriately shot in Retro mode. I normally wouldn’t get a good photo in the lighting conditions of the restaurant but this turned out very well.
Hotel Taschenbergpalais Kempinski in Dresden – a view from my room. President Barrack Obama also stayed here when he visited. I doubt it’s the same room though.
I like how you can set manually adjust the Background Defocus, Brightness, Color (compensate for Warm or Cold), Vividness or just let it go on auto in Superior Auto mode. It usually gets it right.
There’s also scenes presets and settings inside to let you easily shoot in a wide range of picture effects with the full time continuous auto focus:
Pop color. Flowers in summer. It was unusually cold for the first few days, which was why I had a windbreaker on and just a shirt for the last few days.
These are all shot on the Autobahn from a fast moving vehicle to demonstrate:
Partial Color: Red
Partial Color: Green
Partial Color. Blue
Partial Color: Yellow
Back-light auto compensation of a faux stained glass window. There’s also a built in flash that pops up if the scene is too dark! 🙂
Videos are shot in HD and you can use the modes available – this is shot using Retro mode. 🙂
Schloss Charlottenburg (Schloss means Palace) in Panoramic Mode. You can also do this in 3D (it saves in an MPO file) and display it on a 3D TV.
Automatic scene detection and Auto HDR makes skin tones amazingly natural. I literally shot this from the hip so you can get a sense of how fast the auto-detect works:
Imagine the stuff you can do with this! There’s lot of customization possible. You can make the sky bluer for example.
Please…tell them, I am God. 😉
Do you want your very own Sony NEX-F3? Join The Ultimate F3 Photographer Contest and get a chance to win one of 3 cameras! It’s very simple – all you need to do is drop by any of the 10 participating Sony Outlets on a Saturday or Sunday, take your own photo using the Sony NEX-F3 and upload it (the promoters will assist you). Click on the link above for the Sony Outlet closest to you.
I love it! The Sony NEX-F3 makes me look like a better photographer than I really am. 😉
the nex3 is a damn fine camera for the price, the gf just bought one. 😀
Yeah, it’s great!
I’ve been using the NEX-F3 in Sibu and Germany and the photos I took are amazing. 🙂
Pretty nifty eh. But I still prefer how huge ass canggih camera feels.
Very nifty!
I love the features and it’s very easy to use too – makes taking good photos easy. 🙂
Well, I have a dSLR too but using the NEX-F3 is so easy that I brought that around instead. 😀
I myself am not a big fan of camwhoring, but practice does makes perfect. ~.~
I presume you didn’t attend the Mass in Dresden? It’ll be a pity if you hadn’t; at least you would be able to compare the difference. From what I can see in the pictures, the Sony NEX-F3 sure looks like it’s more worthy than its predecessor CyberShot. …
Heh! I’m not a huge fan of camwhoring too. 🙂
Nope, alas, we didn’t have time to attend the mass. It would be interesting to see though. I’m more interested in the service of the Protestant church though since I was raised a Methodist (though I’m not practicing now).
Yeah, it’s a lot better, the NEX-F3 shoots dSLR quality photos easily. 😀
Next time, bring me along…so I can take your photos for you… LOL!!! 😀
Haha! I’ll love to if I could.
Hey, I’ll happily take your photographs when you go to the US. Haha! 😉
camwhoring fail! ahhah.. but i really like the antique cash register. It’s so beautiful.
Yeah, have to flip up the LCD 180 degrees so I can see myself. Haha!
That’s the good thing about the NEX-F3 – awesome photos easily too.
The restaurant that features the antique cash register also has a real still from a distillery as part of the bar. It’s amazing! 🙂
Hey hb nice photos. i thought the autobahn would be bigger? like a huge highway.
Thanks Diana! 🙂
Yeah, that’s what I thought too. Heh.
Actually “autobahn” just means “motorway” in German. It can be big or small. 😀
cool cam bro. nice photos.
Thanks bro!
Yeah, I really like the camera, it’s awesome! 🙂
Effortless good photos.
Huai Bin!!! The video is fab! You can use all the pre-sets for photos to record videos too?
That. is. so. awesome.
I am using a normal digital camera and want to change to a 4/3 system because I’m not pro enough to use a d-SLR and I want a camera like this that can take super cool shots easily.
How much is the Sony Nex?
P/S – I like camwhoring. :p
Hey there Joanna! 🙂
Thanks, it’s really cool to be able to shoot videos using the modes available.
I’m actually seriously considering getting a four thirds system to replace my dSLR too – it’s very easy to use, compact and yet retains a lot of dSLR features.
The Sony NEX-F3 starts from about RM 1,999, depending on where you buy it and the lens you want.
I really want one too but I can’t afford to get one right now coz I just bought a Sony Xperia S. 🙂
It’s really pretty the way you photographed them! LOL. Ur self portrait skills still level 0 XD
Haha! I know I’m not good in taking self-portraits. It’s much easier with the NEX-F3 though.
Thanks! It’s actually the camera, it makes me look like a better photographer than I really am. 😉
It really produces wonderful photos with the pre-sets. 😀
Thanks for this post! You made me want a NEX-F3 for my future travels. I was looking into buying one (in the US) and I wondered what accessories you have?
I love the partial color shots and the Panoramic Mode!
P.S. I think you make a fine camwhore. 😉
Thanks for the kind comments mate! 🙂
I don’t have any accessories at all, just the kit lens – just borrowed the camera for two weeks to review it and see the features. I really wanted to take it to Germany coz it takes awesome photos. 🙂
Yeah, the partial color shots is interesting, the 3D panoramic mode is awesome if you have a 3D TV.
Cheers and hope that helps!