Sony NEX-3 / NEX-5 Review

June 2010 (Updated October 2010) | Richard Butler (lens section by Andy Westlake)

Review based on a production NEX-3 and NEX-5, updated to reflect firmware v3

Ever since Panasonic and Olympus created their Micro Four Thirds mirrorless system, all the talk has been about what the other players in the market will do. Micro Four Thirds has been steadily building its market share, seemingly without response from the three companies that account for over 80% of DSLR sales (Canon, Nikon and Sony), to the extent that 'Micro' risks becoming the generic term for these mirrorless systems ('When will Brand X make a Micro camera?' has become a fairly common thread title on our forums).

The waiting is now over as, following the showing of some mock-ups at PMA and a torrent of teasers and leaks, Sony finally officially announced its NEX system last month. The details are exactly what you'd expect - HD video capable APS-C sensors in small bodies. What might take you by surprise is just how small the bodies are - the NEX-5 in particular being tiny. In fact the cameras are too small to include in-body image stabilization units, as found in Sony's SLRs, and instead use lens-based 'Optical SteadyShot'. These NEX cameras will come under the Alpha brand but do not make use of the Alpha lens mount, instead using the completely new all-electronic E-mount.

Sony has made clear that it is aiming for compact camera users who wish to upgrade (a market it estimates at around 10 million potential buyers), rather than trying to offer a second camera for existing DSLR users. And the NEX models have more in common with compact cameras than DSLRs - including very few buttons and a resolutely unconventional interface.

As part of this interface it offers not only the standard Sony option of showing a small description of each selected option, it also has a full user guide built in to the camera. Relevant sections of this guide are available in each shooting mode to give hints and advice about everything from how to hold the camera to how to achieve an out-of-focus background.

The company told us that it felt its competitors had merely miniaturized, rather than revolutionized, so it's no surprise that the NEXs are more than just the company's SLRs with the mirrors removed. Instead you get a wholly new system with metal-bodied kit lenses (something we didn't expect to see again in a mainstream product), and an accessory port instead of a conventional flash hot shoe.

As with Samsung and Panasonic, Sony's background is electronics (rather than cameras) so the incentive to move away from the optically complex DSLR design to one based more around electronic displays makes sense. Sony's situation is a little different in that it bought the respected Minolta brand and know-how but, despite plenty of new models, it has only been able to make a big impression on the DSLR market in a few selected regions. Consequently, it's understandable that it might want to combine its DSLR knowledge with its electronics expertise to establish some compelling competitive advantage.

The NEX series will initially comprise two cameras - the NEX-5 and NEX-3. In terms of specifications, both cameras are essentially identical - the NEX-5 gets a slightly smaller magnesium alloy body, an infrared remote receiver and 1080i AVCHD movie recording, but in every other respect they're the same.
The thing that's immediately apparent about both NEX cameras is how small they are. Despite having sensors 50% larger than the Micro Four Thirds format, the cameras are smaller and thinner than either the Panasonic GF1 or Olympus E-PL1 compared here.

NEX-5

There's very little to the NEX-5's body beyond the handgrip and the flip-out screen but, despite its small size, it is easy to hold and encourages a stable two-handed grip. One of the only distinctions between the NEX-5 and its less expensive sibling, the NEX-3, is its magnesium alloy construction, which gives a really solid feel. The metal-bodied lenses further enhance this sense of quality.

NEX-3

The NEX-3's grip is flatter and wider than the NEX-5's, and overall we found it slightly less secure to hold than its pricier sibling. Your comfort may vary, of course, but in general we think the NEX-5 has the ergonomic edge. The NEX-3 may not have the magnesium alloy construction but it still feels solidly put together.

Lens compatibility

Three E-mount lenses are being announced alongside the cameras - an 16mm F2.8 pancake, a standard 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 stabilized kit zoom and a stabilized 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 superzoom. Although the company talks a great deal about shallow depth-of-field, none of the lenses initially offered will offer a great deal of control in that respect. Being based around an APS-C sensor as used in the majority of DSLRs, the NEX cameras are subject to the same 1.5x 'crop factor' as them, so a 16mm lens will give the same field of view as a 24mm lens would on a 35mm film cameras.

Three kits are available: the 'snap' kits which include the 18-55mm zoom, the 'go out with me' kits that feature the 16mm prime lens and the 'go out and snap' kits that include both. And, while we think a 24mm equivalent prime lens will make sense to somebody and are quite able to look beyond the comedy potential of calling a product 'go out with me,' we cannot make any sense of the decision to bundle such a potentially challenging lens with what we're told are point-and-shoot cameras.

The majority of people walking into camera shops will be very badly served if they leave with a camera and nothing but an ultrawide angle lens. And, still more disappointingly, despite its F2.8 maximum aperture, the 16mm lens will not offer much scope for blurring backgrounds, so shouldn't be sold on that basis either.

NEX-5 with 16mm F2.8 pancake	NEX-5 with 18-200mm F3.5-5.6 OSS

Sony is also taking the unusual step of offering adapter lenses for the 16mm F2.8 pancake, which attach via a bayonet mount on the front. In a manner familiar from compact cameras, it will be possible to adapt the lens from its usual 24mm equivalent field-of-view using either an ultra-wide adapter to take it to 20mm equivalent, or a fisheye that gives a 16mm equivalent view.

VCL-ECF1 16mm equiv. fisheye adapter, which attaches to the bayonet mount of the 16mm F2.8 pancake lens.	VCL-ECU1 20mm equiv. ultrawide adapter which attaches to the same bayonet.

An Alpha mount adapter will be available, giving the ability to use Sony and Minolta SLR lenses. The LA-EA1 adapter has a motor to control the lens aperture, but nothing to drive the autofocus though, following a firmware update, is able to autofocus 14 SSM- and SAM-designated lenses. This allows only single, not continuous, AF and, in common with most attempts to use contrast-detection AF with lenses designed for phase-detection, is a fairly slow process. It does allow the use of some Alpha-mount lenses until Sony can start to provide the impressive-sounding E-mount lens lineup it has set-out.

LA-EA1 Alpha-mount to E-mount adapter

	Sony proposed E-mount lenses: • Wide fixed focal length CZ (2011) • Telephoto zoom (2011) • Macro (2011) • Portrait (2011) • High performance standard zoom G (2012) • Wide zoom (2012) • Mid-telephoto (2012)

If you're new to digital photography you may wish to read the Digital Photography Glossary before diving into this article (it may help you understand some of the terms used).

Conclusion / Recommendation / Ratings are based on the opinion of the reviewer, you should read the ENTIRE review before coming to your own conclusions. Images which can be viewed at a larger size have a small magnifying glass icon in the bottom right corner of the image, clicking on the image will display a larger (typically VGA) image in a new window. To navigate the review simply use the next / previous page buttons, to jump to a particular section either pick the section from the drop down or select it from the navigation bar at the top. DPReview calibrate their monitors using Color Vision OptiCal at the (fairly well accepted) PC normal gamma 2.2, this means that on our monitors we can make out the difference between all of the (computer generated) grayscale blocks below. We recommend to make the most of this review you should be able to see the difference (at least) between X,Y and Z and ideally A,B and C.

This article is Copyright 2010 dpreview.com and the review in part or in whole may NOT be reproduced in any electronic or printed medium without prior permission from the author. For information on reproducing any part of this review (or any images) please contact: Phil Askey

Sony NEX-3 and NEX-5 specifications

	NEX-3	NEX-5
Price (with 18-55mm zoom lens) (with 16mm F2.8 pancake)	• $599.99 / €549.95 • $549.99 / €499.95	• $699.99 / €649.95 • $649.99 / €599.95
Body material	• Polycarbonate	• Magnesium Alloy
Sensor	• 23.4 x 15.6 mm Exmor APS HD CMOS Sensor • 14.2 million effective pixels
Image sizes	3:2 • 14 MP (L) • 7.4 MP (M) • 3.5MP (S) 16:9 • 12 MP (L) • 3.6 MP (M) • 2.9 MP (S)
File qualities / formats	• RAW • RAW + JPEG Fine • JPEG Fine • JPEG Standard
Movie	• MP4: 1280 x 720p 29.97fps (9 or 6 Mbps) 640x480 29.97fps	• AVCHD: 1920 x 1080i 60/50fps (17Mbps) • MP4: 1440 x 1080p 30/25fps (12Mbps)
Dust reduction	• Coating on low pass filter • Sensor-shift
Lenses	• Sony E-mount • Sony Alpha lenses, Minolta and Konica Minolta AF lenses via adaptor (MF only, exclude power zoom lenses/tele-converters)
Image Stabilization	• 'Optical SteadyShot' system on selected lenses
Auto Focus	• Contrast AF • 25 multi-point • Centre-weighted • Flexible Spot
Shooting modes	• Intelligent Auto • Program • Aperture priority • Shutter priority • Manual • Sweep Panorama • Anti-Motion Blur • Scene modes (below)
Scene modes	• Portrait • Landscape • Macro • Sports Action • Sunset • Night view/portrait • Hand-Held Night Shot
Sensitivity	• Auto (Range varies depending on shooting mode) • ISO 200 • ISO 400 • ISO 800 • ISO 1600 • ISO 3200 • ISO 6400 • ISO 12800
Metering modes	• Multi-segment (49 segment Honeycomb pattern) • Center-weighted • Spot
Exposure compen.	• -2.0 to +2.0 EV • 0.3 EV steps
Shutter Speed	• Electronically controlled, vertical traverse, focal-plane type • 30 to 1/4000 sec • Bulb
Aperture values	Depends on lens, 0.3 EV steps
White balance	• Auto • Daylight • Shade • Cloudy • Tungsten • Fluorescent • Flash • Color temperature/filter (2500 - 9900 K) • Manual (Custom) • Manual (Custom set)
Dynamic range optimizer	• Off • DRAuto • HDR Auto
Color space	• sRGB • Adobe RGB
Color modes	• Standard • Vivid • Portrait • Landscape • Sunset • B&W
LCD monitor	• 3.0 XtraFine TruBlack LCD • 920,000 pixels • Angle adjustable 80 degrees up/45 degrees down
Flash	• External flash (supplied), attachable to Smart Accessory Terminal • GN : 7 meters • Flash Sync: 1/160sec
Flash modes	• Auto • On • Off • Fill-flash • Slow Sync • Rear Sync. • Red-eye reduction on/off selectable for Autoflash and fill-flash mode
Drive modes	• Single-frame • Continuous • Speed Priority • 10 sec 3 images • Bracket Cont 0.3 EV	• Single-frame • Continuous • Speed Priority • 10 sec 3 images • Bracket Cont 0.3 EV • Remote CDR
Continuous shooting	• Approx: 2.3 fps • Speed-priority mode: max 7 fps • Varies according to shooting conditions and memory card used
Self-timer	• 10 sec • 10 Sec, 3 images
Connectivity	• HDMI out (with PhotoTV HD and BRAVIA Sync) • USB 2.0 Hi-Speed
Storage	• Memory Stick Pro Duo • Pro-HG Duo • SD/SDHC/SDXC
Power	• NP-FM500H Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery (1650 mAh) • Battery charger included • Optional AC adapter • Batter life Approx 730 shots with viewfinder, 410 in Live view mode (CIPA standard)
Battery Life (Cipa)	330 shots approx.
Dimensions	117 x 63 x 33mm	111x 59 x 38mm
Weight (with batt and card)	Approx. 297g (10.5 oz)	Approx. 287ｇ (10.1 oz)
Supplied accessories	Shoulder strap; Battery; Charger; USB cable (miniB); CD‑ROM; Flash Controls The NEX-5 and 3 might well win an award for the lowest number of external controls of any camera. The scarcity of buttons seen on the mock-ups shown at the PMA 2010 exhibition were interpreted by many people to mean the cameras would have a touch screen, but this isn't the case. In fact, Sony has taken an unconventional approach, and three of the six buttons on the body do not have a fixed function. Instead their functions are context-sensitive - changing in relation to which mode you're in and what you've just done. It's an interesting idea and one that particularly suits the NEX cameras' unintimidating, easy-to-use philosophy. The effect is initially impressive, particularly in the camera's automated modes. Sony has added the ability to manually configure the actions of the central and lower buttons when shooting in the manually controlled PASM modes, allowing the assignment of up to four key shooting parameters. This, along with the features already offered on the four-way controller, gives a high degree of rapid access to key functions, despite the small button-count. E-mount The Alpha NEX-5 features an all-new, 100% electronic E-mount. Sony has managed to reduce the flange-back distance (the distance from the front of the mount back to the sensor), to an incredible 18mm - 2mm shorter even than the Micro Four Thirds system. This allows the camera to be extremely narrow. Cleverly, the lens mounts of both the NEX-3 and NEX-5 extend a little way forward from the bodies, making the already thin cameras seem slightly thinner than they are, but even ignoring this optical illusion, it is clear from this diagram that Sony has made impressive size reductions with the NEX-3 and 5 compared to a conventional Alpha DSLR. To facilitate the shorter flange back distance that is necessary to keep the NEX-3 and NEX-5 as compact as possible, Sony has designed a new lens mount, which it is calling the E mount. Apart from the mechanical locking pin on the bayonet, the E-mount is 100% electronic, and represents a complete break from the semi-mechanical coupling inherited from the old Konica-Minolta Dynax mount used by Sony in its Alpha DSLRs. Losing the physical AF motor and aperture actuator has allowed Sony to reduce the size of both the NEX bodies and their lenses. Interestingly, one of the consequences of Sony's drive to make the NEX-3 and NEX-5 as small as possible has been to remove the space required for a sensor-based image stabilization system. The NEX-3 and 5 are the first Sony Alpha cameras, in fact, not to feature a variant of Sony's Super SteadyShot stabilization system. Instead stabilization is supplied by Optical SteadyShot units inside some E-mount lenses, including the 18-55mm kit lens, and the forthcoming 18-200mm superzoom. Flash The NEXs don't feature a built-in flash, but do come supplied with a tiny external unit, which draws its power from the camera's main battery - bolt-in, if you like. The HVL-F7S screws into the camera and plugs into the accessory socket above the lens. Its Guide Number of 7m (at ISO 100) puts it on a par with the built-in units on cameras such as the E-PL1 and GF1, significantly lower than that of the Samsung NX10 and most DSLRs, and a world away from the sort of power you usually expect from an external flash. This is the supplied flashgun for the NEX-3 and 5. Unusually, it screws into position in the accessory socket on the top of the camera using a rather awkward knurled wheel. While the NEX-5's accessory socket cover fits fairly neatly into the back of the flash, the equivalent on the NEX-3 is larger and doesn't marry up with the flash at all. It is also worth remembering that with the flash attached, the accessory socket is taken up, and cannot be used for anything else, like (for example) the optical viewfinder for the 16mm pancake, or an external microphone. The NEX cameras are also the only interchangeable lens cameras we can think of that don't offer a hotshoe, so there are currently no options for more powerful flashguns or flash triggers. Body elements With the lens removed, the lens mount dominates the front of the camera - a side-effect of the large imaging circle required to cover the APS-C sensor All control of the camera is via the combined four-way controller/jog dial and the three 'soft' buttons (whose functions change depending on what you're doing and can be configured in PASM modes) The screen can be hinged upwards by 80 degrees or downwards by 45 degrees for waist-level or overhead shooting. This allows a more stable hold for movie shooting in particular; however because it's only hinged in one dimension, there's no benefit when shooting stills in portrait format. Because of its 16:9 aspect ratio, the viewing area when shooting stills in 3:2 is relatively small; and perversely the camera doesn't by default use the whole screen for 16:9 either (it's a menu option). Both cameras have tripod mounts directly in line with the axis of the lens. To keep the size of the NEX-5 down, Sony has whittled-away the area around the mount, reducing the contact area to a bare minimum. We can envisage this causing problems in some instances, for example twisting with heavier lenses in portrait format. That said, there are no large or heavy lenses for E-mount yet and the Alpha adapter has its own tripod mount.