NEX-5 Early Impressions
It’s been a week since I’ve had my baby camera, i.e. the Sony α NEX-5 and I’ve been enjoying it so far. Here’s a quick low down of the ups and downs I’ve encountered with the camera.
The Good
- Outstanding IQ in any shooting conditions that can only be trumped by careful, deliberate shooting with a DSLR equipped with high quality optics
- Small enough to fit in my laptop bag, if not the jeans pocket
- Excellent iAuto mode for quick snapshots
- Fairly easy to use controls, esp. with button customisation offered by Firmware v03
- Auto HDR and Hand-held Twilight Modes really work!
- Sweep Panorama works really well for hand-held shooting. You can’t do better with a DSLR until you mount it on a tripod.
- Focuses almost as fast as an AF-D type Nikkor with D80/D90 body
- Optical Steady Shot (OSS) on the 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Kit Lens is outstanding
- Movie making is super easy and fun!
Top Left: ISO 12800 shot. Top Right: “Hand-held Twilight” shot @ ISO 6400. Bottom: Sweep Panorama