81
Sony α NEX-5
8.0
final rating

reviewed on
this review has been viewed 150 times

Criteria Comments Rating
  • Image quality Overall, great pictures. Low light also very solid! good
  • Video quality Shoots 1080i. Can't complain about video quality. great!
  • Battery life Horrible battery life was very annoying while travelling when lots of photos were taken during long stints between charging opportunities. so-so
  • Design and form factor I suppose I have to mark this down for not using the four thirds standard mount, but uses Sony's E-Mount. Otherwise, this camera is superb, not to mention sexy! great!
  • Durability I don't treat my camera with the best of care, but after a 3 month period of travelling and the associated knocks that come with, only the screen saw damage. good
  • Speed (start-up time, lag) I found that the camera did lag sometimes when waking it up from battery saver mode. Shutter and start up times were great though. good
  • Ease of use If you set it to Auto and use as a point and shoot, this is easy as pie! If you want to use the more advanced setting, this was a bit more challenging. good
Detailed review
I had high expectations after purchasing this camera, and it certainly delivered! It produced great looking snaps and is one of the more slender and less bulky of the "four thirds" variety (even though it uses an E-mount).

The user interface was pretty solid for basic point and shoot happy snaps. However, I found the software menus and navigation pretty difficult to navigate to adjust a specific aspect.

The biggest draw back for me was the battery life. Yes, I did tend to forget to switch it off between shots, but even considering my mistakes, it did not last long at all. Also, I found that when the camera went into battery saver mode, it took quite a long time to wake up and be ready to shoot. I came across this a lot, and sometimes I thought it would have been quicker to turn it off and switch it on again.