There was a time when buying a camera was a simple affair. If you favoured quality over convenience, you bought an SLR; if you wanted quick, simple snaps, a compact was the order of the day. Now, there’s much more choice, with mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras becoming more and more popular.
Sony is the most recent big company to join the new wave of SLD (single lens, direct view) cameras with its NEX range, and we have the top-spec model on review here. The first thing you’ll notice about the NEX-5 is its size. It’s by far the smallest of the SLD cameras we’ve come across so far, the body measuring a mere 19mm at its thinnest point.
It has the effect of making the camera look faintly ridiculous with the large 18-55mm lens mounted, but a chunky grip makes it easier to handle than you might expect. Incredibly, Sony has also managed to squeeze in an articulated screen offering 80 degrees of upward and 45 degrees of downward tilt.
It’s more compact than the Micro Four Thirds cameras from Olympus or Panasonic, then, and it also beats those cameras in other ways. The sensor is bigger, for starters. As with the Samsung NX10, it’s the same APS-C size that’s used in mid-range DSLRs, with the potential for lower noise at high ISO that larger sensors bring. In the Sony NEX-5 it produces 14.2-megapixel images and allows you to shoot from 200 right up to 12800 ISO.
Another area where the NEX-5 beats the competition is in its handling of video recording. It’s able to shoot AVCHD footage at 1080i with continuous, near-silent autofocus and aperture control, and with very impressive image stabilisation too.
Elsewhere, it’s typical solid Sony fare, with a hatful of ingenious features. We particularly liked the direct manual focus mode, which combines auto and manual focus modes for maximum speed and accuracy. And there are a number of clever in-camera assist modes that can be applied. Sweep panorama takes a series of quick-fire exposures as you rotate the camera, and then combines them to produce a panoramic photo. The Handheld Twilight mode shoots many exposures and combines them together in an attempt to produce sharp handheld shots in dark conditions.
Lenses is one area in which the NEX-5 comes unstuck. Not in terms of quality – the 18-55mm kit lens that came with our review sample is perfectly decent. Build quality in particular is exceptional; the smooth, heavy action of the zoom and focus rings contrast nicely with the light, stiff, magnesium-framed body. Image quality is generally good, too, with little chromatic aberration to speak of and good sharpness, though there’s some some barrel distortion at wide angles.
Instead of employing the existing Alpha mount from its range of SLRs, however, Sony has chosen to introduce a new E-mount with the NEX range. Adapters are available for Alpha lenses, but autofocus doesn’t work – a missed opportunity to capitalise on the existing Alpha user base. The only other lenses available right now, aside from the kit lens that came with our review sample, are a 16mm f/2.8 pancake lens (£219 inc VAT) and a rather expensive 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 (£699 inc VAT).
And while the NEX-5 is an excellent choice for novices, with pop-up tips and easy-to-understand on-screen explanations of what the various features do, enthusiasts will find the controls and menu system a cumbersome compromise. The rotating five-way control lets you navigate options quickly, but with buttons elsewhere relatively thin on the ground, adjusting ISO, metering or focus modes can be done only by diving into the menus. Worse, the features you’re looking for are more often than not two clicks or more deep, and with context menus changing from one mode to the next, it can all get rather confusing.
So there are niggles, but luckily none surrounding performance or image quality. Power-on time isn’t anything special – it takes just over four seconds from cold to first shot – but once you’re there, the contrast autofocus system is snappy and shot-to-shot times are good. In standard continuous mode the NEX-5 fired off ten frames in 7.6 seconds, and in its Speed Priority mode it managed a highly impressive seven in a fraction over two seconds before hitting the buffers.
Image quality is excellent, with good dynamic range and plenty of detail capture, but it’s the low-light performance of the Sony NEX-5 that really impresses. Noise becomes noticeable at ISO 3200 and above, but shots are reliably printable at both ISO 1600 and 3200 and even 6400 at a pinch. A detachable flash is included with the NEX-5, and it’s a very good one at that, but as the low-light performance is so good you’ll find yourself leaving it in its plastic case most of the time.
Video capture isn’t quite as impressive, but still ranks as the best movie mode we’ve seen on a camera in this price bracket. Autofocus is continuous and almost silent (you can just about hear it if you listen through headphones), and the SteadyShot stabilisation is effective. It isn’t for video enthusiasts, though, lacking advanced features such as subject tracking, 5.1 audio and a 3.5mm microphone input (Sony offers a proprietary external mic).
Manual controls are limited and the internal mic isn’t very directional, picking up a little too much background noise for our liking. But the NEX-5 shoots in AVCHD format at 1080/50i and all the films we shot on it looked crisp, smooth and well balanced, with realistic colours, even in low light.
That makes the Sony NEX-5 the most accomplished SLD camera we’ve yet seen. Its stills are on a par with good mid-range DSLRs and better than the Micro Four Thirds cameras we’ve tested at high ISO, build quality is sumptuous and the HD video capture is far better than that of its main rivals. And with a price of fractionally under £500, it’s a bargain. If you’re in the market for a do-it-all camera with interchangeable lenses, this is our current pick of the crop.
Author: Jonathan Bray
PCPro