Sony NEX-7 In-Depth Review: Digital Photography Review

NEX-7 Menus

The NEX-7's menus are based on the original NEX-5's, just adding more options on top. Which is another way of saying that they haven't had the best start in life, and haven't really got any better. The overall result is a rather confusing mashup of options, with little appreciable semblance of organization.

Pressing the 'Menu' button first brings up this entry screen. The menus are divided into six sections, but it can take quite some time to familiarise yourself with where each option lives - the ordering isn't entirely intuitive.	If you prefer, you can switch the menu background to black in the Custom menu. This has the advantage of being less obtrusive in low light conditions.

The NEX family's most annoying characteristic is the labyrinthine interdependency of the available menu options. Depending on your current settings, certain options will appear greyed-out and unavailable - for example you're not allowed to configure focus peaking in the Custom menu unless the focus is set to MF in the Camera menu.

To its credit the NEX-7 will generally tell you why options are greyed out, but it still forces you to navigate to the conflicting option, modify it, then return to the setting you wanted to change in the first place. And, in some cases, it will sullenly inform you 'This function is currently disabled', offering no hint as to why. Mercifully once you've worked out how you want to set the camera up for everyday shooting, and have configured the soft keys and Triple-dial-control setup to your satisfaction, you can ignore the menus almost completely.

One neat feature you won't find described in the manual is that, while the rear and left dials scroll down the menus an item at a time, the right dial jumps a screen at a time. This helps speed up navigation, which is particularly useful in the immense Setup menu.

Shooting Mode Menu


Option	Values / Actions	Notes
(Exposure Mode)	• Intelligent Auto • Program Auto • Aperture Priority • Shutter Priority • Manual Exposure • 3D Sweep Panorama • Sweep Panorama • Anti Motion Blur • Scene Selection Portrait Landscape Macro Sports Action Sunset Night Portrait Night Scene Hand-held Twilight	'Virtual Dial' shown on-screen with explanatory notes for each option. Exposure mode can be changed using any of the three dials (or the up/down keys).

Camera Menu

Most options set via the Camera menu use a 'virtual dial' on the live view display, with options set using the soft keys. Exiting these takes you directly back to live view, rather than to the menu itself.


Option	Values / Actions	Notes
Drive mode	• Single • Continuous • Speed priority continuous • Self-timer 2 sec 10 sec • Self-timer (Cont.) 10 sec / 3 image 10 sec / 5 image • Bracket : Cont. 0.3 EV 0.7 EV • Remote Commander
Flash Mode	• Fill-flash • Slow Sync. • Rear Sync • Wireless • Flash Off • Autoflash	Wireless control not available using built-in flash, only with external unit. Auto only available in iA/Portrait/Macro modes
AF/MF select	• Autofocus • Direct Manual Focus (DMF) • Manual Focus	DMF mode is autofocus, but allows manual focus adjustment too
AutoFocus Area	• Flexible Spot • Multi • Center
Autofocus Mode	• Single Shot AF • Continuous AF
Object Tracking	• Off • On
Precision Digital Zoom	• Off • On 1.2x - 10x	Zoom amount set using rear dial
Face Detection	• Off • On • On (Registered faces)	Face detection can be set to work with registered faces only, with the camera ignoring strangers.
Face Registration	• New Registration • Order exchanging • Delete • Delete All	"Shoot with fitting into the face frame" - Decide who's your best friend - Defriend an ex-friend - Defriend the world
Smile Shutter	• Off • On Normal Smile Big Smile Slight Smile	Smile shutter can be configured according to the habitual sullenness of your friends and acquaintances
Soft Skin Effect	• Off • On Low Middle High
LCD Display (DISP)	• Graphic Display • Display All Info • Big Font Size Disp • No Disp. Info • Live View Priority • Level • Histogram • For Viewfinder	The options available here are contingent on those selected in the 'DISP Button (Monitor)' Menu (see below)
Finder Display (DISP)	• Display Basic Info • Level • Histogram
DISP Button (Monitor)	• Graphic Display • Display All Info • Big Font Size Disp • No Disp. Info • Live View Priority • Level • Histogram • For Viewfinder	Allows you to select which display modes are available on the rear screen

Image Size menu


Option	Values / Actions	Notes
Still	• Image Size L: 24M (3:2), 20M (16:9) M: 12M (3:2), 10M (16:9) S: 6.0M (3:2) 5.1M (16:9) • Aspect Ratio 3:2 16:9 • Quality RAW RAW + JPEG Fine Standard
3D Panorama	• Image Size 16:9 Standard Wide • Panorama Direction Left Right
Panorama	• Image Size Standard Wide • Panorama Direction Left Right Up Down
Movie	• File Format AVCHD 60i/60p MP4 • Record Setting 60i 24M (FX) 60i 17M (FH) 60p 28M (PS) 24p 24M (FX) 24p 17M (FH)