Sony NEX-5TL Mirrorless Digital Camera with 16-50mm Power Zoom Lens

UPDATE:Still really enjoy the camera but felt the need to comment on the current pricing. I believe the camera has been discontinued which has driven the price of this camera up. My review used the purchase of $350 and while I can still recommend this up to $450, anything beyond that and I would recommend waiting until the new cameras come out. At around $500, if you really like the Sony mirrorless cameras, the A6000 base model starts here and would be a much better buy in general although you lose the 180 degree LCD screen and the touchscreen.UPDATE:I've been using the camera for about two months now and I'm still finding out just how great and versatile it is. I upgraded the lens to the Sony 35mm 1.8 lens and it was a big improvement over the kit lensI think it's important that if you're going to invest in a camera like this coming from point and shoots, it's important to really learn about and understand all the features to make the most of your investment. This camera is just fantastic for everything and you'll notice huge improvements over point and shoot compacts.I know someone that uses this camera and they really like it so I did my research on it. It had very positive reviews everywhere I looked and seemed to fall in an appropriate budget for what I was looking for.I wanted something for a recent international trip. I like taking pictures with my smartphone as they're more than good enough but I didn't want to waste my battery on my phone taking hundreds of pictures a day so I wanted a good option. I wanted something compact that offered excellent quality photos and a lot of versatility. I'm no expert so this review will be based off of my current experience as someone who is new to anything beyond the standard point and shoot. This camera fit the bill perfectly.The NEX-5TL comes with an adjustable strap, a battery, a charging cable, and a wall wart for charging. In this package a 16-50mm lens is included with a flash that can be attached to the top port which can be used for other things such as I believe a microphone or a digital view finder(DVF).It features wifi and nfc for easy wireless connection and transfer of pictures to smartphones and tablets. It also has a fairly large display that flips up for selfies and makes it easier to see what your taking pictures of if you have to hold the camera lower then your head.The camera has all the familiar camera modes; program, aperture, shutter priority, intelligent auto, superior auto. I don't want to go too much into these because I honestly don't know enough about photography to elaborate to a degree worthy of what this camera is capable of.Basically they are generally auto modes and some will automatically control certain things like shutter speed or aperture or will generally automatically control all adjustments including exposure. The one main exception is the program mode which will leave all of the settings to the photographer and this is where I left it for the majority of the time to learn on. Occasionally I would try some of the auto modes to see if I could get a better shot than the settings I was using on program mode. The more I learned the easier it was to use program mode and apply the proper settings easily before taking my shots. Again I won't get into the specifics because while you don't need to be a pro photographer to use this camera, reading up on the subject a bit will increase the chances of the pictures you take being closer in line with what you want. I recommend reading up on photography whether you're using a $60 point and shoot or something much more expensive.I had no issues with battery life although I did buy an extra battery(Sony) as well as the Sony charger. I was able to take hundreds and hundreds of pictures between battery changes and rarely did I get close to using up a full charge in one day although mileage will vary depending on usage of course.I found the flip screen perfect for taking nice selfies and if you're using a tripod it is able to set a timer or connect to a wireless remote including I believe your phone to snap the picture although I didn't use these features.Connecting the camera to my iPhone 6 was simple with the app on my phone and didn't take very long to transfer pictures but totaling maybe 5-10 minutes when I transferred over large quantities of pictures.I felt the lens was basic but versatile enough for every kind of picture and offered a good zoom for further shots. You can use a variety of different lenses from Sony and other brands which makes this much closer to a DSLR than to a point and shoot. I'm already looking to improve my shots even further with a low aperture prime lens although this is where you're going to start spending money. The variety of lenses range anywhere from $200 to well over $1000. While this seems like a lot to a novice photographer, it's still really nice to know you can really grow with the camera.It's bigger than most if not all point and shoots but much smaller and easier to travel with than even the smallest of DSLR cameras while still offering DLSR quality pictures or near their quality. This was perfect for my travels and is very easy to recommend to novices up to the very experienced photographers. I tried to cover a lot but there's too much for me to cover here right now so I'll update the the review with any new things I discover and try to answer any questions people have.I paid $350 for this which I think is a fantastic price and would have been willing to pay more but look for sales and bundles on amazon as I know they've had great ones for this camera.UPDATE: after about a month of use I'm still really liking this camera. I did however run into issues charging the battery through the camera. I kept getting a blinking charging lamp which turns out to mean there is a charging error and the battery has stopped charging. It was happening quite a bit until I finally kind of pushed the plug in as snug as I could and it seemed to resolve. I have a spare battery and a charger so I didn't really run into this problem before. Since I seemed to have remedied the problem I won't deduct a star unless this problem persist despite having other charging problems but I just thought I should update my review with this finding. Still a great camera and updated with a SEL35F18 lens which is a great upgrade from the 16-50mm kit lens.

I've been using the Nex-5t for about 5 months now. Previously I used a Sony SLT-A37 DSLR, but with a growing family I found I left that camera at home more often. The Nex-5t is just as capable but small enough I can put it in the pocket of my cargo shorts or a jacket. The image quality is very good, I can print a 20x30" poster that is quite acceptable. The WiFi and NFC capabilities of this camera are much more useful to me than I anticipated. I can take a photo, and while playing back touch my phone to the camera and it automatically connects and transfers the photo, which is very useful for sending a quick photo to the grandparents and other family. I can also touch my phone to the camera and initiate the remote control app on my phone, which is nice for setting the camera up somewhere and taking a photo without needing to be at the camera to operate it. I do this sometimes to get more candid pictures of my kids, they ham it up a lot when they know I'm taking pictures, but if they aren't aware of it I can get much more natural photos of them. The touch screen is nice for selecting another focus point quickly, the tracking focus is a mixed bag, it works well sometimes and other times it gets confused and locks onto something other than the initial target.When it comes to interchangeable lens cameras it is important to talk about the other half of the equation which is the lens selection. This is where I get frustrated with this particular system. Sony does not offer a lot of affordable lenses. Affordable is a relative term of course, but I prefer to shoot with a fixed focal length prime lens with a large aperture so I can achieve better subject isolation. My options for a "Normal" range lens are the Sony 35mm f1.8 at $400, or the Sigma 30mm f2.8 at $180. Sony has a couple wide angle lenses and a 30mm macro (an odd focal length for a macro) that doesn't open up much further than the kit lens. Overall the camera is good, the lens selection leaves a bit to be desired.This is a good camera for a family, it has enough capability for an enthusiast, and if you like to use old lenses with adapters it really shines.If size is not your primary concern, you may be better served with a Nex-6 or one of the Sony DSLR's for which there are more lenses available and for much more affordable prices.