Sony α NEX-7 w/18-200mm OSS LE Test Shots

I am considering replacing my bulky, heavy Canon 5D Mark II and lenses, which I have owned and loved for about 3 years, with a Sony α NEX-7 w/18-200mm OSS LE (27-300mm effective on the APC-S sensor). I primarily hike with my gear and the Canon, while an awesome piece of equipment, is just too freakin big and heavy. The Canon body, wide angle lens, and telephoto lens, come to around 8 pounds. The Sony and its lens come in at 1lb 13oz.

Over the past 2 days I have taken some shots with the Sony, which I rented. There are a few usability issues that the Canon definitely does better, but overall, I'm very happy with this Sony especially considering the size and weight reduction it'll offer, not to mention that selling my Canon gear will easily pay for the Sony.

Most of these shots are from the St. Elmo ghost town in Chaffee County, CO, which is about a 45 minute drive from me (well, it took a lot longer today because of the snow, but was fun!). Other are from the drive there and back.

For those who might care, here are the usability issues with the Sony (compared to the Canon, at least).

1. On the Canon it's dead simple to select an autofocus point , something I do a lot, without having to move your hand from the natural position of holding the camera, or removing your eye from the eye piece. On the Sony, a few button presses are required across 3 different buttons, and for at least one (actual point selection) you can't do it with you face on the camera. I have yet to find a custom button setting that'll let me jump straight to point selection, and using a button that doesn't require me to lift my face from the view finder. UPDATE: I just determined there's a different dial I can use to select the auto focus point, which doesn't make me take my eye from the view finder. So, that's the biggest issue here, handled. It would still be nice to shortcut the process a bit more like the Canon does, though.

2. Sometimes at low f/stops, possibly also while the lens is long (not entirely sure yet), the camera has trouble focusing even if I have selected a point. The times this happens are not times when I'd expect it to. I need to research this more, but it might just be a quirk with the camera. It might also be the Canon silently compensating for me not understanding something about focus, lens length, and f/stop, and the Sony demanding more (which would be fine). UPDATE: I may have just figured out that this was due to the AF Illuminator being set on Auto (vs. Off) and the camera getting confused sometimes. Not totally sure yet, will require more testing, but so far so good.