Testing the Best: Sony’s NEX-5, the Small Wonder

The compact camera to sell you on compact cameras

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Earlier this year, I bought my first DSLR, and took it (and its gigantic lens) everywhere. My vacation photos and day-to-day snaps never looked better. But I couldn’t say the same for my left (A.K.A. my bag-carrying) shoulder. So slowly, day by day, I stopped lugging my camera around with me. Then along came Sony’s NEX-5.

This fall, I started carrying the NEX-5, the smallest lens-changing camera on the market, and I was snap-happy all over again. I’d used other compact, interchangeable-lens systems, such as the Olympus EP-series, before, even toting Panasonic’s Lumix GF1 as my primary camera at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. Even so, I became addicted to the NEX-5 like no other.

Even though its body is no thicker than my old point-and-shoot, its images matched any of my best DSLR shots. The magic is in the versatility. The 18-55mm kit lens was able to handle nearly every shot (from close-ups to wider-angle landscapes), and full manual control (aperture, exposure, and shutter speed) allowed me to make every shot look exactly how I wanted. I was able to brighten and freeze a shadow-y waterfall, or sharpen a person in the foreground while blurring the back. And, unlike many other cameras in the category, this puppy is one fast focuser, so I was never left with that sinking I-missed-the-shot feeling; quick start-up helps avoid that woe, too.

Compact lens-changers from their inception over a year ago have promised DSLR quality images in point-and-shoot packages — the best of both worlds. Until I tossed the NEX-5 into a small side pocket in my bag, though, I wasn’t really a believer. Now I am.

 

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Corinne Iozzio Avatar

Corinne Iozzio

Editor-in-Chief

Corinne Iozzio is the former Editor-in-Chief of Popular Science. In that role, she oversaw an award-winning crew of science journalists—both editors and writers—who are obsessed with shining a light on the thousands of ways science and technology transform our lives daily. She lives in Washington Heights in New York City (or, as she affectionately refers to it, “Upstate Manhattan”) with her partner, an ever-expanding collection of vintage hand-blown glass, and a talkative tuxedo cat hellbent on knocking it all to pieces.