Will_B
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2001
- Messages
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Sony unveiled the NEX3 and NEX5 cameras yesterday. Each contains a normal APS-C sensor exactly as you find in DSLRs, but Sony removed everything that makes DSLRs bulky.
The result is a camera that is not only as good as any DSLR, but is also as small as -- or smaller than -- the "micro 4/3rds" format. Arguably, Sony just proved that the newly released micro 4/3rds format was not even needed to achieve this goal of a large sensor in a small body.
Most important to me about the Sony NEX3 and NEX5 is that their low-light performance is better than many DSLRs, which means you can take pictures in dark clubs now, for example. There's also a cute little flash that attaches to the top, included in the kit, if you want to use a flash or fill-flash.
Though they likely did not have to price this so low, the price is lower than nost micro4/3rds cameras, with the camera pictured above -- the NEX3 -- only $550 with the shown lens included.
That's a wide angle 16mm (24mm equivalent) by the way, f2.8. You can also buy it with an 18-55mm zoom, though it is not particularly good, just a starter zoom. The lens is bigger than the camera!
The NEX5 is the same as the NEX3 except it is $100 more, and has 1080p video instead of 720p video, and is even smaller, and uses a metal body instead of plastic.
Read about them:
http://sonystyle.com/nex
Re: smaller: here's a pic someone took of the NEX5 in his hand. Remember the same lens is available for the NEX3 and NEX5, so the scale of the NEX3 is about the same as this, just a bit taller:
So far all the coverage has been about the shape, size, the sensor, the incredible low-light performance, but no one has really focused on whether it has manual modes that would appeal to experienced photographers. Since it is all menu-driven, chances are it is intended to be for people who don't change modes between every shot. Or for people who want to let the camera do most of the work.