I recently read somewhere, "Photography is a disease for which there is no known cure." ( - Author Unknown)  I know I'm afflicted by it and I sure hope it isn't fatal . . . . . aside from my wife wanting to kill me for exceeding my photography budget! :-) 

A couple of days ago I "reacquired" the Sony NEX-7. There's a lot to love there:  A beautiful, black, metal body; 24 Megapixel APS-C sensor; 10 frames-per-second; Terrific EVF (Electronic ViewFinder); and the Tri-Navi control system to give you almost instant access to many of the camera's functions. This camera is very customizable with several buttons that can be re-configured to setup this camera to work the way you work.

So, many of you may not want your camera setup exactly like I do and that's okay. We're all individuals and approach photography with different goals and techniques. But, if you're new to the NEX-7 or maybe just struggling with the overwhelming customization options, maybe this will help. Here's how I have mine setup, at least for now.

First, in the Main Menu, go to Setup and about halfway down you'll find the Function Settings. These are the settings that are accessible using the Navigation Button (next to the shutter button) and adjustable with the two top Control Dials and the Control Wheel (Tri-Navi Controls).

• Function Settings 1 > Custom Settings (we'll set these in a minute)
• Function Settings 2 > Picture Effect Settings
• Function Settings 3 > Creative Style Settings
• Function Settings 4 > White Balance Settings
• Custom Settings 1  > Metering Mode
• Custom Settings 2  > DRO/Auto HDR (Having Auto HDR and Quality in Custom Settings means they are both accessible at the same place. And since I often shoot in RAW, this makes it easy to quick change to JPEG when I want to use Auto HDR.)
• Custom Settings 3  > Quality
• Function Settings Start > Previous (this just takes me back to whatever I had last changed)

Next, with Soft Key A, go back into the Setup Menu, and select Custom Key Settings. These will change the function of several of the buttons on the back of the camera.

• AF/MF Button > AF/MF control
• Right Key Setting > Flash Comp. (flash exposure compensation)
• Soft Key B Setting > Shoot Mode
• Soft Key C Setting > Custom
• Custom 1 > Autofocus Mode
• Custom 2 > Autofocus Area
• Custom 3 > Flash Mode
• Custom 4 > Smile Shutter
• Custom 5 > Face Detection

With this configuration, I almost never need to go into the camera's extensive menu system to make a change while I'm shooting. Please comment and share with us how you have your NEX-7 setup - and why - so we all have the chance to learn another way of doing things.

In a recent blog post, I mentioned that I'm working with Gary Friedman (www.friedmanarchives.com) to put out a comprehensive manual about the new Sony NEX-5R and NEX-6, shipping respectively in October and November. I got the NEX-7 so I could stay current on the various features that all of these NEX cameras share and to reacquaint myself with the EVF that is going to be on the NEX-6. If you would like to be notified when this book is released, just go to Gary's website and click on the F3/5R link. (I'm sure it will be updated soon to reflect the 5R and 6.)

I really like the NEX-7, but it's not perfect. In 3 short days of use, I've unintentionally activated the movie button at least 10 times! Sony, PLEASE give us a firmware upgrade so we can deactivate this poorly placed and overly sensitive movie button!

The EVF is wonderful in "most" cases. It's seems to be just a bit on the contrasty side and in very low light is almost useless. If you want to shoot the stars, it's mostly a guessing game. The viewfinder is filled with red noise to the extent that you might only be able to make out a very few of just the brightest stars in the sky. For normal lighting though, I love the WYSIWYG display showing almost exactly how the image will look after the shot. Now that's something that an optical viewfinder just can't do.