Sony Alpha NEX-5A/S Digital Camera with 16mm f/2.8 Lens (Silver) (OLD MODEL)

I bought the Nex5 hoping to do video and still photography, but needed the quality compareable to my Canon XH A1 pro video camera. I was NOT disappointed with the Sony Nex5! The image quality is superb. It is fantastic in outside light and indoor light. The fact that you can interchange lenses is a massive plus because my broadcast quality camera cannot do that. Funny thing is, I went to a photography store to look at lenses and they scoffed at the size of the camera not knowing it was a new product with very high specs. After looking it up, they found out that almost every lens in the place could fit it with the adapter I bought - and they said the sensor was MASSIVE for a camera that small. The quality of video is unreal. You have to see it to believe it. I bought a 500MM lens, a zoom lens 60-300MM, a 135MM lens and the wide angle lens that came with the camera. With those lenses, I have a pretty amazing video camera. I also purchased the mic attachment and will be buying the viewfinder attachment. I took all kinds of video in daylight, at night and in various situations. Because the camera can be fully manual, it allowed me to set my ISO small and make adjustments so low light looked clear and crisp - dark, but clear and crisp. Don't set the ISO to high or you will get a lot of digital noise (gain) in your video. Because it shoots in 1080p 60i, the quality is on par, if not better, than my broadcast quality video camera. In fact, I could swear it is actually more clear and higher quality. Simply astounding. The picture quality is superb - 14MP is pretty big, so your images look great and can be used for full page spreads in magazines! At the same time, the lenses allow me to achieve everything from up close macro shots to shooting a player's face from the stands at a ball game. The screen is gorgeous and tilts. It IS hard to see in direct sunlight, so the option viewfinder is nice for photography. For video, it's a bit tough, but doable. I wish there was a sun shade for it. The focus feature is great - the camera will zoom way in on a subject so you can properly focus. It works very well, though I am used to focusing using a viewfinder, so once I have the optional one, my shots and video will be perfect. In a nutshell, you get Sony quality in a small package, but with big results. I have no regrets buying this camera and know I will get great images and video from it. This tiny camera packs one massive wallup! Mike

I am old enough that I spent the first half of my life with SLRs and 35mm film. MY first foray into digitable photography was with a Sony Cyber-Shot-really sharp photos and easy to use. I was really excited to move upto the Sony DSLR NEX5. It arrived late Friday of this 2011 Memorial Weekend. When I opened the box the following morning, I discovered the Seller had cannabalized it;i.e., taken out expensive parts and accessories that Sony assures you, on their website, come with the camera and in the box, such as the almost $100 BATTERY. Also taken from the box by this Seller was the AC power cord, the HDMI cables and the flash cap/bag. I live in the country. The nearest town large enough to have a camera store that would have the battery or power cables that were SUPPOSED to be in the box is almost 2 hours away-each way-and I am physically disabled. Right now, this very expensive camera is completely useless-like an over-priced doorstop, so no Memeorial Day photos. I called the Seller immediately upon the discovering the problem, but got a recording that said they were busy and would call me right back--that was almost 24 hours ago and still no return call. What you want to bet they will continue to give me a run around, rather than the Return Authorization Code they say I must have to return this unuseable doorstop. Amazon wasn't any better. Have you EVER actually spoken it someone at Amazon? I'm starting to believe they don't exist. At least that would be the kinder, gentler reason they make it close to impossible to contact them or file a claim. My personal recommendation is that, if you want this camera, you don't buy it here.

The Sony NEX is the first item I have ever purchased with a remove-to-charge battery and no spare. Day one and I have to chose between an overly priced sony and a knock off battery which reviews say is 1 mm to short to work properly. The Maximal Power DB SON NP-FW50 Replacement Battery for NEX-3, Alpha NEX-5, Sony a33 DSLR, Sony a55 DSLR 1150mah Battery works very well. The NEX is very small. I now have it in silver, but still prefer an entirely black camera. The lens, however, only comes in silver. Focus: The Olympus Evolt E520 10MP Digital SLR Camera with Image Stabilization w/ 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 Zuiko Lens is a horrible focuser. I had to purchase a focus shutter which requires me to use the veiw finder. The Sony NEX focuses very well (especially in spot mode. Place the spot where you would like to focus then depress the button half way until focus complete. Then align the camera before pressing the shutter all the way). The manual focus on the Sony is also easy to use. The Olympus e510 is much better at removing camera shake then the Sony NEX5 which is very sensitive to camera shake. Ease of use: I spent many days reading and remaking a reference manual so that I could use the Olympus. The Sony is much easier to learn to use. Many buttons are replaced by a huge menu system. Menu navigation techniques areNot universal and the wheel doesNot always roll the menus properly. If the arrow keys canBe used, they are much better. Understanding what to do: The NEX uses educated symbols like f and A, but also uses simple symbols like a man moving fast and a man standing still. There are often many disabled options/subOptions in the menu system and the on board help doesNot explain why. For example: Without the web, I wouldHave never guessed that Auto HDR was disabled because RAW was enabled. Panorama: Indoor panorama with the NEX is a REAL PROBLEM. The Olympus takes panorama pictures with a special memory card and a special picture stitcher on an external computer. The system worked well, but I would rather the camera do it so that I can see if I got a good picture right away. This is why I chose the NEX5. This is why I reduced the rating to 3. While the NEX is in panorama mode, you canNot adjust the camera settings. Unless you are outdoors on a bright sunny day, you are in the dark. I contacted Sony regarding the problem. They made a repair ticket for me. I sent the camera back to Amazon and purchased a new one. The new one is better, but still a major problem. I am now in the process of research. First a firmware update is necessary. Evidently the lens makes a big difference. Lots of bad reports involving the 2.8/16 lens in panorama mode. Flash: The flash is nice because it is easy to flip up and down (turn on and shut off). It is, however, low and I ground the Pro Digital Hard Lens Hood For The Sony Alpha NEX-5, NEX-3 Digital Camera Which Have The Sony E Series (16mm, 18-55mm) Lens to avoid a shadow from the flash. Manual focus is difficult when the flash is down, but it is easy enough to flip back down. The Olympus e510 flash is better because it distributes the light much more evenly. The NEX5 flash places a bright spot in the middle of the picture. Fortunately, the NEX5 takes good pictures without a flash or I wouldBe purchasing another flash. Picture Quality: If you have an 8 megaPixel camera and you would like to double the resolution up and down, you would have to purchase a 32MegaPixel camera. A high megaPixel count is impressive, but I doNot concern myself with a megaPixel here or there. My brother purchased a Canon EOS Rebel T1i 15.1 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 3-Inch LCD and EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens . The Canon uses software which helps a picture taken with a higher ISO. ISO verses picture quality shows a great reduction at 1200. Examination of ISOs higher than 1600 are better on the Canon. Pictures taken at ISOs lower than 1600 seem the same for both. However, pictures taken at 1600 ISO are better on the NEX than the Canon. Also, it seems that normal indoor lighting without a flash will use ISO 1600. Greater ISOs means you are taking a picture in the dark without a flash. If this is your desire, you might prefer Canon. Lens: The lens is really good. I have no lighting problems unless in Panorama mode. The lens requires a lens adapter to use the lens accessories I purchased. The lens accessories I purchased for the Olympus went right on. There is no reason for a manufacturer to define their own copyright on the outer side of the lens. It is annoying with no benefit. Summary: I find the camera very interesting. Excluding panorama, where many needed options are disabled, the NEX can make a very good picture from gross conditions. I am impressed with Auto HDR which makes a good indoor picture while a bright window is in the background (but hold that camera very still). Auto HDR stores 2 pictures. I usually like the normal picture when the lighting is correct and the combined picture when it isNot (unless I shook the camera).

bought this to take baby pictures. i'm EXTREMELY happy with the result. the camera resolution(megapixel) is great! however, this is not the reason i bought - there are plenty of other cameras out there with higher megapixels. the reason i bought this is because of it's compact size - note there are smaller compact cameras out there. but, this one has a great combination of: small size, good megapixel, fast shutter speed. not mention great color and clear pictures. i want to take good pictures, but not willing to lug a big SLR around. i purchased this with a 16mm pancake lens, the result is a powerful and capable camera in a small package. i could put it in my jeans pocket- albeit a bit tight. the 16mm lens has a f2.8 aperture, that means it allows a lot of light to come through the lens, which in turn means you can take picture in low light/night situation without camera flash - flash tends to wash out the color and make subject very bright pale looking. 16mm is wide angle lens, so if too close to the subject, it distorts the subject. when shooting at 2-3 feet away from subject, i did not see any distortion. also, the shutter speed is very fast, that means you can keep clicking without having to wait. or, miss that perfect picture moment - small child don't wait or pose for you. using a slow shutter camera, will result in blur - that's also one of the main reason i bought this - had enough of blurry pictures! i've mostly used it with point-n-shoot auto mode, but you can take full control if you want and use it as a SLR. it's a very nice upgrade from the good ol' point and shoot cameras. i'm planning to get a better, lower F lens later. since it has high megapixels, please do buy a fast memory card as well. a class 10 memory card is absolutely necessary. due to the high megapixel, it needs to write to memory fast too. slower memory card slows done the action.

I have a pocket point-and-shoot and wanted to upgrade. My wife and I use zoom on about half our shots. I saw the NEX-5 (with pancake lens) had digital zoom and realize you loose resolution when you digitally zoom. But I figured I'd get much better shots (than my point-and-shoot) when not zooming and shots about equal to my point-and-shoot when I used full digital zoom. But when I tried out the NEX-5, there is no dedicated zoom control - you have to dig down a menu to zoom - not really usable for real-time zoom decisions. Further, the video does not shoot with digital zoom, and I use zoom all the time when I shoot video. So having just a pancake lens is a real step back from my point-and-shoot. To me, this is a serious performance draw back sure to disappoint customers who didn't realize this when they "upgraded". So I returned it and have ordered the NEX-5 with the zoom lens. Now it will be too large to take with me everywhere and will need to just keeping using my point-and-shoot for various occasions where I am active. I would not have re-orderd with the "right" lens unless I liked a lot about the rest of the camera. A mode to show clearly parts of the photo in bright light AND shadow (works very nicely). There is a panorama mode (great for upcoming trip to Greece) but no paranormal mode. Great low-light performance and many other valuable features. I imagine the NEX-5 with 18-55mm zoom lens will get four stars (too bulky for five). Other nits: cheap shoulder strap is included; I bought a new one. Nothing to hold the lens cap after you remove it. I bought a lens cap leash. Initial tests went through the battery quickly - will need to use a while in real life for a firm conclusion. Even with the zoom lens on, I only get 3x (optical) zoom and the digital zoom will be effectively unavailable real time (deep in a menu), as opposed to my point and shoot that does optical zoom as far as it can (3x) then auotmatically adds digital zoom for a total 10x zoom.

i really like this camera mainly because the photos are very good looking. its so much more compact than a big dslr and thats mainly why i bought it. i just wish the shutter button was faster, its not as slow as cheap cameras but not as fast a big dslr. it takes time to learn the settings but once u get the hang of it the results are amazing. this camera is for people who want professional looking pics without the hassle of carrying around a heavy camera. people always tell me how good they look when i take shots of them with this camera. i NEVER had people tell me that before...the toy effect is my fav. i would buy a case to protect this thing though cuz if your human, you will drop it, its inevitable.

Someone "forgot" to mention that this item will not include Sony's better quality and more expensive 18-55mm zoom lens, instead it comes with the cheaper, lesser quality, Sony 16mm ONLY. This is is why the price is lower, it is not a discounted price, it is a lesser quality kit. Once the listing is no longer "incomplete" I will update the star rating to five stars which is what I would have given it otherwise.

I received this as a gift. Well it is small and funky but has some glaring design faults: 1. no flash... you have to buy it extra and when you do the camera + flash will not fit into the old style wrap around camera case. The design is such that you do not want to attach/remove it each time you wish to use it. 2. the menu system forces you to go through a couple of steps just to change certain things.... step backwards. Once i the menu screen you do spend a lot key presses navigation to the menu selection you need. 3. there is a technical design or manufacturing fault. If you Google the web you'¨ll come across many complaints. The battery has a tendency to drain very quickly - 1-2 days without even using the camera. Sony refuses to admit this. **** Update 2012 05: As TonyI pointed out a firmware update has now resolved the battery draining problem. **** 4. in some modes it is impossible to apply "fill-in" flash, forcing you to navigate the menu mess to get to the manual exposure settings. For all the plus points... you can also find them in other cameras.