Sony NEX-5R: First Look

Sony Alpha NEX-5R: First Look

The NEX-5R is the newest camera in the highly popular series NEX of mirrorless interchangeable lens camera systems from Sony, the seventh model of this line. After recently having a look at the new mirrorless release from Fuji, I thought it’d be good to check out another similar product, although the NEX is quite a different beast to the Fuji in many ways

The NEX-5R sort of sits in between the high-end NEX-7 and the lower-end NEX-F3, and replaces the current NEX-5N. It’s not a huge upgrade, but there are a few things that people will notice, and enthusiast photographers who go for the NEX-7 for some ‘pro’ features might be thinking of the NEX-5R now. Possibly

The lovely Sony NEX-5R. Image from Sony

Like all the NEX series, the 5R uses the Sony E-mount, which has a pretty good selection of primes and zoom lenses – and its body takes the shape that the NEX series has become famous for, and is obviously most similar to the 5N model that it is replacing – sleek, compact, and cool!

You can get yours now from Amazon or from the awesome B&H Photo:

Sony NEX-5R: Specifications

• Body: Compact-style mirrorless, interchangeable lens
• Resolution: 16 mega pixels
• Sensor Size: APS-C (1.5x crop factor)
• Sensor Type: CMOS

• Lens Mount: Sony E-Mount
• Image Stabilization: No

• Shutter Speeds: 1/4000 sec maximum, 30 sec minimum
• ISO Range: 100-25600
• Video: 1280×1080 (60fps) and lower resolutions
• Video format: AVCHD

• Metering Modes: Multi, center-weighted, spot
• Exposure Modes: Auto, P, A, S, M, Scene Mode
• Built In Flash: No
• Hot Shoe: No – but includes a Sony accessory port for external flash etc

• Autofocus: Contrast Detection/Phase Detection Hybrid
• AF Modes: Single, multi-area, selective point, continuous
• AF Points: 25
• Manual Focus: Yes

• Screen: 3” LCD (920k dots) articulated touchscreen
• Optical Viewfinder: No
• Electronic Viewfinder: Optional – not built in

• Max Drive Speed: 10fps
• File Formats: RAW, JPEG

• Connections: USB 2.0, HDMI (mini), Wi-Fi
• Memory Card: SD/SDHC/SDXC, Memory Stick Pro Duo/Pro-HG Duo

• Dimensions: 111x59x39mm
• Weight: 276g (with battery)

First Thoughts

Although this is a rather minor upgrade to the NEX-5N, there are some pretty interesting and noticeable improvements that make the NEX-5R desirable to NEX-5N users, and if you were previously thinking of the NEX-7, you might want to look at the new 5R – you never know, some of the features you want from the NEX-7 might be over here

One of the biggest and most important additions here is the autofocus system, a hybrid of phase detection and contrast detection – I expect this to drastically improve autofocus performance…both speed and accuracy. Even the more expensive NEX-7 uses contrast detection. The 5R should definitely have noticeably better AF performance with this new hybrid system

Another key addition is the control dial on the top panel – this might not seem like a big addition but it will really enhance the operation of this camera. This dial will be fully customizable, and along with the control wheel on the back panel, it’ll really improve the ease of use, especially when you need to adjust multiple settings manually. There’s also a Function button that will be customizable, and I expect it to work like the Fn button on the RX100. Oh and it’s got Wi-Fi built-in too, along with Sony-made camera apps

And as you can tell by the pictures, the camera remains compact, and very good looking! Looks much better than the NEX-7 if you ask me. However, as with all NEX cameras, it’s not ‘compact’ compact, if you get what I mean…with a lens attached, it’s not pocketable – however, it’s much smaller than a DSLR, and it gives similar quality, so…yeah. Price-wise, it’s good to see that the RRP is around $750 for the 18-55mm kit, which is not too bad considering the NEX-5N is still going for around $600. It costs more, sure…but in my opinion it’s a worthy upgrade!

Controls

If you’ve used a Sony Alpha before, the controls should be very familiar…especially if you’re a NEX user. Having used the RX100 I find the controls very familiar already, so yeah – it’s good to see the standard layout being maintained

On the top panel, there’s the shutter button with the power button around it…then there’s the Playback button, the Function key, the dedicated Movie button, and the new control dial. This is probably the only area that’s rather different to the NEX-5N. Simple, smart layout. Note the lack of a hot shoe, though

The top panel of the NEX-5R. Image from Sony

On the back: the 4-way directional controller/control wheel, with the Up/Down/Left/Right buttons controlling Display, Exposure Compensation, Drive/Self Timer and ISO respectively

It also has three ‘soft keys’, as on the NEX-5N – two next to the LCD, and one in the middle of the 4-way controller. On the 5N, one of the two buttons next to the LCD is customizable…the second button acts as a menu button…and the third, in the middle of the 4-way controller, is customizable too. No reason to suspect things have changed on the 5R. The left and right buttons should be customizable too, as on the 5N and the RX100

The rear panel of the NEX-5R. Image from Sony

If you’re thinking that the buttons seem very limited, well…it’s a touchscreen interface. A lot of stuff is done directly via the screen. So yeah, pretty easy to use – shouldn’t be anything new or different to previous NEX stuff. Cameras like the Fuji X-E1 have a far more comprehensive control layout, and as I’m not a fan of cameras with touchscreens, I definitely prefer the Fuji layout to the NEX. But that’s just me

The articulated touchscreen of the NEX-5R. Image from Sony

The front just has the lens release button, AF illuminator, and a sensor for the wireless remote

Performance

It’s a newer camera; the general operation of the camera should be good. It’s not the first touchscreen camera that Sony has come up with, so I’m expecting the touchscreen to perform well – no lag, no stuttering…nothing special, just no substandard stuff

But when talking about performance of this camera, I think the key point will be how the AF speed and accuracy is. With this new hybrid of phase detection and contrast detection, the AF speed should definitely be improved, and reduce focus hunting, even in low light. I can’t comment on this yet, but it has the potential to be very good…let’s hope it is

Drive mode states 10fps, which is the same as the NEX-7…pretty impressive in this aspect too. Fewer and fewer reasons to go for the NEX-7, it seems! Unless you want that built in EVF

E-Mount Lenses

A quick mention on the available Sony NEX lenses for the E mount…quite a nice selection of both fast primes and standard zooms, along with a couple of tele zooms too. Get a couple of primes instead of the large zoom that comes with the NEX-5R kit – keeps things very compact, and you might even be able to stick it in a (large) pocket! I’d get the 16mm pancake lens – with the 1.5x crop factor, you’d get a field of view of 24mm – that’s quite a nice field of view, without being too wide, and should be good for general purpose shooting – let your legs do the work instead of a zoom lens! This way, it’ll have a very good chance of fitting inside that pocket!

Conclusion

With the hybrid AF system, an improved control layout, Wi-Fi built-in, this seems like a pretty good upgrade to the NEX-5N, as well as making it a very good alternative to the NEX-7. If you can live without the built in EVF (you can attach one through the accessory port on the 5R), I’d definitely go for the 5R…it can do most of what the NEX-7 does, it’s cheaper, smaller, lighter…it should be a better AF performer…yeah – newer products generally turn out to be the way to go, if you feel it’s got everything you need. So decide for yourself…and probably wait for a few more full reviews before you do…and go for it - GET IT HERE! (Amazon) or get it HERE! (B&H Photo!) – please use these links to help me out if you’re buying

And while I was writing this, Sony has already come up with yet another NEX, the NEX-6! I’ll do a quick preview on this one as soon as I can as well. I’d love to do a full review, if Sony would be kind enough to give me a sample of either to try out for a while! I’m afraid I’m unable to afford a NEX at the moment!

If you’ve used this already, or plan on getting one, or you have some thoughts on it, please share! Comment, comment, comment! Thanks for reading!

Oh, and today’s my birthday! Buy me a present? Haha! Cheers

By Heshan Jayakody
All text content on this post is my own - all images from Sony

Technorati Tags: photography, sony-nex, compact-system-camera, MILC, mirrorless-camera, product-reviews, digital-camera-review, pixelogist, cybershot, sony-alpha

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