Sony Alpha NEX-5N : Questioned

Is the Sony Alpha NEX-5N considered as four thirds or micro four thirds? From what I've read, the NEX was said to have a bigger sensor. As for lenses, does the NEX have its own or can I use a different one? (eg, Nikkor and other lenses) and lastly, if its not included in the four thirds category,  what is its advantages over them?

1. APS-C sensor is the same as with DSLR but mirrorless
2. It has its own E-Mount lens. There's a Sony adapter to use Sony Alpha mount lens and there's auto-focus
3. There is also an adapter for legacy lens
4. It all depends on where you're going to use it.

I will just give a slight correction to number 1 and give some answers on number 4. That number 1 statement is a generalization. A DSLR does not necessarily sport an APS-C sensor. It may sport a Four-Thirds sensor or a Full-Frame sensor or a Medium Format sensor. The difference between a DSLR and a mirrorless is the mirror box sported by DSLR cameras whereas the mirrorless obviously does not sport a mirror box, the sensor does not matter in this case.


As to whether the NEX series is a Four-Thirds camera or not, it is not part of the Four-Thirds consortium, and also not part of the Micro Four-Thirds consortium, therefore it is not a Four-Thirds or a Micro Four-Thirds camera.

The NEX sports a bigger APS-C sensor than the Four-Thirds sensor used on Micro Four-Thirds cameras. However with the recent help of Sony to provide new 16MP Four-Thirds sensors for the Olympus OM-D, E-PL5 and E-PM2 (and the Panasonic GH3 which is also rumored to use the 16 MP Four-Thirds Sony sensor), the performance difference in terms of DR and hi-ISO is minimal between the 16MP/24MP APS-C Sony sensor and the 16 MP Sony Four-Thirds sensor. The only apparent advantage of the 16/24 MP APS-C sensor is the better DR at base ISO, but from ISO 200 onwards, performance between the two sensors are pretty close.

As for the advantages, the APS-C sensor should provide around ~0.8 stop more shallower DOF than the Four-Thirds sensor. In return however, this results in a usually bigger lens than a similar Micro Four-Thirds lens due to the bigger imaging circle (with the exception of the 16mm f/2.8 pancake and 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 pancake lens).

As for the cons of the NEX series compared to the Micro Four-Thirds series, the lens lineup is the apparent big disadvantage of the NEX. There are more lens choices for Micro Four-Thirds as of this time compared to the NEX series, and smaller lenses compared to the NEX series as well.

Sony Alpha 5N, 5R, or 6 from Sony

Review on the 5R? 

Well it has a way better interface w/ the 5N, one button to access shooting mode, really fast AF that the 5N but the 6 is AF is still a bit faster, added dial control and FN button adds a BIG difference in control and accessibility of different camera functions. The 16-50mm PZ Lens is more awesome compare to the 18-55mm although I think I'm still gonna use the SEL50F18 more.

Ergonomics is still great and same w/ the 5N although I have to admit mas masarap sa kamay Nex 6 kasi di masyado crumpled kamay mo. IMO Nex 5R is a "Fun" camera, where the Nex 6 is more of a "Purist" camera.

Yaman? no, I actually planned to only keep one, di lang ako marunong siguro mag-appreciate ng Viewfinder kasi noob that why selling my Nex 6.


How's the touch screen ng 5R compared sa 5N since resistive instead of capacitive?

Honestly, no idea. Although it's less sensitive than the 5N but I like that it's less sensitive kasi dun sa 5N ko madalas accidentally ko naa-activate touch focus and usually yung focus area ay leftmost corners ng screen w/c is quite irritating. I think sony deliberately reduce the touch sensitivity on the 5R to avoid or minimize accidental activation of the touch shoot and/or touch focus feature. The Nex6 LCD works exactly like the Nex 5n or 5r screen but automatically shuts-off if your using the EVF.



Comparison on the 5R vs 6

Besides having a Mode Dial, Built-in Flash and EVF. The 5R seems to have all the features of the Nex 6. It even has AEL w/c a lot of 5N user was looking for.

I'm very liking the Touch Shoot feature of the 5R w/c I guess would be excellent for street photography. I'm not sure if the 5N had this feature, but the 5R has focus tracking on video mode as well.



Worth it to upgrade from 5N to 5R?

YES. but if you just got your 5N then NO. The 5R has a more improved user friendly interface besides the added features, It's basically a Nex 6 without a viewfinder, hotshoe and built-in flash but is way more compact and light, has a very good touch shoot feature and a 180 degree tilting LCD. I'm honestly surprise that I'm liking the 5R more than the Nex6 w/c I both have. BTW, I just sold my Nex6 tonight, my wife fell in love with the 5R naman so I have to get another 5R. heheh.

I almost forgot to mention that the 5R comes with a very compact Power Zoom lens. This lens cost $300 right? correct me if I'm wrong. And according to some user review, it has better contrast and sharpness corner to corner compared to the older 18-55mm kit lens.


I'm not saying the Nex 5R is better than the Nex 6. It's just I like the 5R more than the Nex6 and other people might like the Nex6 more than the 5R.

Tried using photo sharing app of the 5R thru my Ipad. Basically you can choose if you want to share your photos in VGA, 2MP or Original Resolution. I set it to 2MP and started selecting w/c photos I want to transfer from the 5R to my Ipad and it will start transfer/copying photos SUPER FAST like 1 photo/sec including the resizing to 2MP from 16MP. This is only 1 of the apps for the wifi capability of the 5R and I'm gonna say I'm impress even though people are saying it's just a gimmick.



How did the 5R connect to your iPad. Dapat ba eh connected sila sa same wi-fi or direct connection between the two? 

The 5R will work as a hotspot and you will connect your device (in my case, an Ipad) to the 5R. Once connected, launch the Playmemories app on your device and start selecting and transferring image from the camera to your device.







Can the wifi in the 5R be used na parang tethered shooting, para you can review your ahots on a bigger screen?

Yes, infact you can use your apple or android device as a remote also and it automatically saves a copy of every shot you took w/ the Nex on your device.



I'm planning to buy Sony Nex camera, which is better: 5N with dual kit lens 16, 18-55mm
or 5R with 16-15mm ?

5N Dual lens vs 5R 16-50mm lens. Let's concentrate on their lenses. 5N comes with an 18-55mm standard zoom lens and a pretty small 16mm pancake lens. Combine these two lenses into one lens and you get the 16-50mm power zoom pancake lens that comes with a 5R. why bring two lenses if you can bring only one right? The only cons of the 16-50mm is it's slightly slower f/3.5 on it's widest 16mm setting compared to slightly faster F/2.8 of the 16mm pancake prime. For me, I will choose the 5R with 16-50mm and that's even before we look at the new specs and feature of the 5R.



*credits to TPCMAN

AF speed of the PZ1650 vs SEL35F18

Was able to do a side by side comparison to the AF speed of the PZ1650 vs SEL35F18.

(Note that the PZ1650 support Phase Detect AF while the SEL35F18 only works on Contrast Detect 'at the moment'. I have 2 Nex 5R both set at the same setting)

Test Condition:
-Test took place indoors in low light. Auto-ISO will set from 1600 to 3200.
-Random panning from a close subject, mid distant subject, to a far distant subject.
-I held the two Nex 5R. One on each hand, vertically. occasionally switching cameras from one hand to the other.


The PZ1650 at it's widest(16mm)
-PZ1650 focuses about 1/10th of a second faster than the SEL35F18. It's not that much but you will notice it when waiting for the beep sound of the AF.

PZ1650 set to 35mm F/5.6 and the SEL35F18 also set at F/5.6
-The SEL35F18 focuses almost just as fast as the PZ1650.

PZ1650 set to 35mm F/5.6 and the SEL35F18 set to "F/1.8"
-Now this really surprised me as the SEL35F18 would sometimes focus faster than the PZ1650!!

My conclusion:
The PZ1650 obviously have the edge in AF speed at it's wider and widest setting vs the SEL35F18 but once set the PZ1650 to 35mm, the SEL35F18 is able to keep up with the AF Speed and sometimes even focus faster than the PZ1650 if the SEL35F18 is set to a brighter aperture setting.

P.S. I also tried comparing the SEL50F18 and SEL35F18 AF speed and the result is, The SEL50F18 is simply no match to the AF speed of the SEL35F18. The SEL50F18 would sometime autofocus 1 sec. to 1.5 sec slower than the SEL35F18. BUT I still find the SEL50F18 produces a little bit but noticeably sharper images over the SEL35F18.

*credits to TPCMAN of TPC