clicky

Any thoughts?

Seems pretty good. I’ve been looking at one, just waiting for the price to drop. I like how you can change the lens on the camera without having to have a huge slr. Gadget show did a review on it in one of their episodes.

From what I have heard there are no manual controls on the outside of the case, it is all done through software which makes it very fiddly, picture quality is supposed to be good but aside from the interchangeable lenses it is much closer to a compact than to an SLR. There are also very few lenses to choose from.

If you are looking for a compact but feature rich camera with interchangeable lenses I would be looking (and indeed did buy) one of the micro four thirds cameras, Lumix GF1 or Olympus Pen would fit the bill perfectly and will have more lenses and accessories to choose from.

HTH

I have a NEX-5 with 2 lenses – the zoom & the 16mm pancake.

I am really happy with the camera & i dont think the controls are too fiddly. I use it a great deal becasue of it’s small size and am pleased with results.

My main critisism of the camera is the lack of a viewfinder. Sometimes (especially in bright light) it can be difficult to view the screen and ensure that the subject is in focus.

I fiddled with one of those cameras last weekend in Jessops & it felt really nice, but I couldn’t get to grips with the menu/interface system. Normally I can find my way around adjusting stuff really quickly but I got flummoxed by a few things on this and had to give up.

I’m sure it’s stuff you would learn quickly, but it always puts me off cameras if I can’t find my way around how to operate them without the need to refer to the manual……..

There was a Panasonic GF1 on the same stand and I found that much easier to navigate around.

overpriced ATM – either wait 12 months for it to drop in price or invest in a 2nd hand dslr

The new firmware is supposedly fixing some of the usability issues of the NEX cameras and I expect Sony to release more lenses. It is also a normal DSLR sensor in there so you would expect better dynamic range and lower noise levels than the micro 4/3 solutions.

My main problem with the NEX is that to keep the size small (as with all those cameras) you are restricted to one lens: the 16mm one which as a 24mm equivalent lens is a very strange lens. I know what to do with 35mm or 50mm or even 15mm but 24mm? What is it really good for?

The nex has the best image quality of all the mirrorless compacts at the moment (thanks largely to the aps-c sensor rather than the smaller 4/3rds sensor most of its rivals use).

There’s a 16mm prime and 18-55mm zoom at the moment but Sony have published the lens roadmap:

• Wide fixed focal length CZ available from 2011
• Telephoto zoom available from 2011
• Macro available from 2011
• Portrait available from 2011
• High performance standard zoom G available from 2012
• Wide zoom available from 2012
• Mid-telephoto available from 2012

I went for an ep-1 rather than the nex because the zoom lens is smaller and the body has inbuild anti-shake. But I have a dslr as well so my priorities may be different.

Have a look at the Sony a33 and a55 too. A bigger body but with a zoom lens in place not that much bigger than the nex plus zoom in practical terms, plus it can use the standard alpha mount lenses and has phase detect AF which outperforms the contrast detect systems used on mirrorless compacts (and has a full size aps-c sensor).