Preorders:
A5100 specs and price at Amazon (Click here).
A5100 black body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Sony Store US, Sony DE, Sony UK, Sony FR, Sony NL, Sony IT,
A5100 black with kit lens at Amazon, Adorama, Sony Store US.
A5100 white with kit lens at Amazon
First impressions and previews:
First impression at Dpreview. Hands-on at Dpreview, Hands-on images at Engadet, Amateur Photographer,
Image samples:
Sony.net, Fotomagazine (Click on the red link to download).
Video samples:
Touch screen AF speed on Youtube. VDO af-speed on Youtube.
Press release:
Dpreview, Sony.net, Sony press, Fotomagazin (German), DicaHub (Korea), Photoscala (German), ThePhoBlographer, Techradar, Cnet, Imaging-Resource, Tom’s Guide, TheVerge, Engadet, DSLRmagazine (Spanish), Imaging Resource,
Curiosity:
Announcement was expected to be tomorrow but Sony decided to anticipate it today. That’s why you don’t see many reviews now 🙂
Poll:
[poll id=”189″]
Images:
0 Responses
too expensive!!!
and can’t play mp3 !!!
Why do they keep putting these crippled movable screens on their new cams. This one clearly has one purpose – Taking selfies. The a7 series screen makes zero sense, but I am struggling to determine if this one is even worse or its better. The alpha screens are great and they wouldn’t take up any more space.
Looks like cameras in general leave you confused. Have you thought of taking up dancing or scrapbooking instead? You need to find inspiration to shoot… or else you will only see the limitations of your tools.
the word selfie should burn in hell, when did we stop calling them autoportraits?
anyway, “crippled movable screens” are brilliant for framing, who would have thought!?
crazy price.
Yawn. I’m really rooting for Sony, but releasing a bunch of NEX’s with marginal updates isn’t going to get more market share. Here’s to hoping the next announcement is a A99 II
There is nothing marginal about this update… This blows any previous NEX 5 iteration out of the water. What were you expecting, the FF sensor from the A7R in a pocketable weather resistance body for $299?
Most short life cycle models have marginal updates… it’s not just with Sony and TW is blind to that. But we’ve seen far less significant updates in the past in the 5 series… so this 5100 is not bad.
I didn’t make any comments comparing brands. I’m rooting for Sony. And you’re saying what I’m saying- its marginal.
Quote from this site: basically an a6000 without an EVF and for less money. Problem is, prices of the A6000 have already dropped a ton. I’m still waiting…20.3mp to 24.3mp, wow.
I think the pre-sales speak for themselves.
On the video side this is a big improvement. 60P@50 Mbs, clean HDMI out with a great autofocus system. It won’t be long before you can pick this body up for less than $500. And you get a decent 6fps stills camera as a bonus. Put a eyepiece / loupe over the screen and you have a very compact setup for recording high quality video, for a very low price. Just keeps putting more pressure on the competitors. Maybe they will eventually wear some of them down. In a few years we will be able to shoot good quality 4K video for $99.
what the hell…they increased the price compared to it’s predecesor! I don’t care if it got another sensor. It doesn’t have the Smart Accesory Port nor Multi-interface Hotshoe…limited options for it more than the old NEX-5 series ever had… So how can they justify the price????
stupid pricing
700 USD is ridiculous
So what equivalent camera on the market is cheaper than this one?
I see that it is only $549.00 at Adorama. I’m sure it will drop pretty quickly as well, so if you would rather buy a $300 camera, then go ahead. No need to complain about something that is out of your price range anyway.
Well… You can have D3300, which is $50 cheaper, but a5100 gives you much better autofocus, video, wireless, touchscreen and room in the bag. On the other hand, with D3300 you get OVF and hotshoe (which i doubt newcomers would use). I think the pricing is decent, compared to other brands. Pricing compared to a6000 is a different thing.
I don’t understand the complaint about pricing. From DPR, MSRP(body+kit lens) @ release:
1. Alpha 5100 = USD 699
2. Alpha 5000 = USD 600
2. NEX-5N = USD 699
3. NEX-5R = USD 750
Yes, a5000 was cheaper.. but I think it was the exception not the rule.
The a5000 MSRP is a joke. It was introduced at $600 with lens at CES. Quickly post-CES the price dropped $100 for pre-orders and never went back up. A true MSRP on it is $500.
How is a class leading APS-C sensor, XAVC S video, 6fps continuous with one of the most sophisticated autofocus systems available today, all in a extremely compact body for $549, too expensive? If you want an EVF, buy an a6000 for $649.
Both of these cameras are INSANELY good values.
I agree with everything but I just don’t understand what you mean by a sophisticated AF system. It’s another OSPDAF implementation… it’s pretty much the norm now.
I’m not saying it’s the fastest, the most complex, or best. I just meant it’s state of the art. Few cameras can track as well as this system. The NEX before were a joke in that regard. I don’t think you can say 179 autofocus points that almost completely cover the frame the “norm” yet. Hopefully it will be soon.
I was referring to OSPDAF as a concept… just the same way one can’t say an internal combustion engine is sophisticated if someone made one to the size of 16L/1000cu.in
It’s the quality of the implementation that matters, not just the concept. Not all systems are equal and the A6000 version is pretty well as good as it gets at the moment.
but they both can’t play mp3… don’t buy them.
Also, neither works as a navigation aid in my car. Totally worthless, way to go Sony.
they dont make coffee!! PATHETIC !!!
sony can build smartphones and playstation vita`s but cant get a touch interface properly working for their cameras?? touch focus and shutter is the only 2 things this camera uses touch for, thats ridiculous in 2014! otherwise a neat cam..
Touch focus and touch shutter are like the only good things a touch screen on a camera can do. Might as well keep it simple and let the buttons and dials take care of menus better.
you mean the 3 buttons and 1 dial? yeah, sorry i used the Nex5 forever now and its just not that speedy to navigate the menues.. on a A6000 or Nex7 i`d almost agree but even there a quick menu with touch would be a nice touch 😉 as well as a gallery (image review) like on smartphones
I have the 5 and a 5R… usability-wise the 5R is so much better.
no wonder, its got one more dial.. but since they now have just one dial again, they should at least make as good use of the touchscreen as possible, thats all im saying..
if its about philosophies: i`d take 2 more dials over a touchscreen any day..
Fair point
As a left eye user, I want nothing to do with a touch screen. It’s bad enough dealing with nose prints on my screen, the last thing I need is my nose to start activating things when they are not wanted.
Left-eye NEX 5N + FDA-EV1S EVF user here. There’s a proximity sensor on the EVF, so as soon as you put your face to the camera the touchscreen turns off. I’ve never had a problem with accidentally choosing a focus point with my nose or any such silliness. I also thought this might be an issue but in practice it just isn’t. I imagine that this is the same on all other models with a built-in EVF.
What happened to the brown one. Oh well, ordering at some point anyway.
Wow, it sounds like this thing has a full sensor readout for the video. Sucks there’s no SLOG2 or mic/headphone jack. Still, this thing should be capable of great video in a very affordable package. Really wish Sony would start introducing SLOG in a cameras underneath the A7S. Maybe we’ll see it with the RX10 mkii.
Wait, where did you see full-sensor readout in this one? I’ve been wondering if they’d bring full readout to an APS-C camera since its in RX1003 and a7s. I see XAVC here but no full-sensor!
It looked like Sony mentioned it in the press release on DP Review. But maybe I read it wrong? But it sure read like that to me. Check it out.
Holy **** you’re right! From the press release: “Additionally, with the power of the BIONZ X processor, the camera is able to read, process and output data from all of the sensor’s pixels during video recording, ensuring that it produces the highest quality video possible by eliminating aliasing, moiré and false color artifacts.”
That’s fantastic. That’s exactly what I wanted – xavc and full readout in apsc. I need an external mic, so a5100 isn’t for me, but that means the next a6000 type model will almost certainly be exactly what I need. Awesome.
Ok you can all argue about the feature set, but with the new alpha menus (unlike the old nex) and less of a price of the A6000, and an additional BETTER codec, I’m sold on it. The only place where I see Sony dropping the ball is their lenses. They really need to step it up.
Can it do USB tethering?
Yes.
So this just killed the a6000 for video IMO, The only thing the a6000 have now is the EVF. I had both the a6000 and the nex-5 and the nex-5 had better or at least equal video.
So to get even better codec and higher bitrate makes it a Winner in my eys.
(I did a comparison on my youtube and also a video comparing Moire thats in the TidBit post today.)
Not completely killed. Of course the XAVC codec is welcome.
But for those wanting better video quality (and this includes sound) either MIS or micro input is missing.
Problem is that there is no mic jack on the a6000 either and most videographers dont want a hot shoe solution with some Sony mic since we alredy have nice microphones.
If I need to ad external stuff to make it work I can just use a BMPCC for less money but with better quality. A camera like this is IMO for the all in one package.
And between the this and the a6000 I would choose this.
So the Codec is more important to you as sound.
Are internal mics a usable option for advanced videographing?
No audio much more important than IQ. Thats why I would use an external recorder any way.
No, IMO no camera on Earth have a built in mic usable for anything but b-sound. Thats becsuse no matter how good your mic and/or amps are it all comes down to how close the mic is to the subject.
There is a general saying in video. You can get by with ‘bad’ video but not with ‘bad’ audio as the audience will not suffer through bad audio. Best audio is always off camera using either shotguns or lavs (or other mics, like stage with H4 plugged into extra port of mixer) vs the internal mic which gives a boxy sound. A serviceable compromise is to plug the external mics into the camera for a single soundtrack but even that is an issue as no camera packs a high quality amplifier. Best alternative is external mic to external recorder designed for the job AND the camera’s internal mic, syncing the two in post.
I agree with Everything accept the H4, its pretty bad. I know its ceap so peope buy it but the audio is the last Place to try and save cash IMO.
Using the Sony XLR hotshoe adapter has been excellent. It is far better than either having to sync in post or using a heaving XLR mixer that connects to a mic port (like the Beachtek I used to use with a 5d2).
The Sony XLR adapter has great little wheels for riding audio, is powered by the camera (!) keeping it light, supplies phantom power to the microphones and the bundled microphone is surprisingly good. The only downside is ghat a bracket is required and it’s not cheap (but decent audio gear rarely is).
Yeah it kiiled the a6000 that codec is way better and i have a a6000 which i use as a c cam and i wish it had the better codec.
well…
if sony priced it, so anyone just look at the A6000
and say for $100 i got EVF, more dials, multiinterface shoe
then rush to buy A6000, good move sony
on the other hand, if sony wanted to leave the A6000 for prosumers
and push the A5100 in the entry level market
they missed the mark by at least $100 dollars, bad move sony
with the C3 going out of market and A3000/3500 in dsrl shape
please dont tell me this overpriced camera its your entry point
I believe the A5000 would be the entry point, being on sale atm for $419.99 in my area.
Sony hasn’t even dumped all the leftover NEXs nobody apparently wants to buy. Hopefully they don’t have warehouses full of a5000s too.
Some of the NEX cameras have been selling like hotcakes.
Yup. $100 overpriced. It needs to rip the DSLRs out of peoples hands at the sales counter. At $699, I think people are still going to default to a Rebel or D3300 or equivalent. There is still uncertainty in some consumers that these cameras can replace a DSLR.
It’s sad the 5T/5R/5N is gone…but hopefully it’ll return with a FF sensor. I never much liked the 3N because the the tilt screen didnt tilt down, it was heavier than the 5N and it lacked the extra Fn button and control dial that the 5R and 5T have. The 5T wasn’t perfect by any means, but it was a fun camera and with a new menu and perhaps an extra custom button or two would have a great daily carry around camera. Here’s hoping that 5T with a FF sensor will come through.
Yawn Yawn
Sony pls out all the features in one body and call it A7000
Quit teasing around
A6000 with touch. Big deal. The a6000 should have had that. Where is the A-mount news? Dead in the water? C’mon Sony…..you can’t forget about us.
Back when SAR was buzzing with a99II rumors I had high expectations it would be front and center at Photokina. But thus far Photokina is a replay of a bad movie. It was just this past CES Sony led with the a5000 (how did that work out for you Sony marketing?) and completely stiff-armed the a-mount. With the rumor floating around of yet another e-mount FF maybe being announced, the prospect of an a99II being announced at Photokina drops to about 50%. With the news of the a99 hanging around longer, that could put an explanation mark on that or simply mean the a88 is being postponed. At one point I assumed the a88 would be announced at the same time as an a99II. That appears highly unlikely now.
Yeah, I’ll keep my fingers crossed but I’m expecting the worst. Sony sees a-mount fans as being loyal so they can pi$$ all over us. They’re desperate to push e-mounts.
“Back when SAR was buzzing with a99II rumors I had high expectations…”
Wasn’t that just last week?
No. Unless I missed something SAR set the odds of an a99II announcement at 50%. He’s since talked about big announcements on e or a-mounts with pictures of an a-mount but how solid is that?
I’m on the fence about hoping for an a99 successor this year. If it comes out this year it will be a solid evolutionary release – better AF, wifi and a7r sensor.
If it comes out in a year, there is a chance it could feature the new stacked sensor tech, 4K internal (with the a7s codecs/picture profiles) and other improvements.
So if nothing is announced I won’t be disappointed, my a99 is mostly able to do what I want it to (and perhaps I’ll get an a7s to supplement…).
I’d be seriously surprised if they released an a99 successor this year for just those reasons. Releasing it with the 36mp sensor is just asking for future complaining. As it is, the 36mp sensor is getting to the point where it’s not going to be top of the pile for much longer and it’d be a bad idea to fit their flagship with an aging sensor when new tech is likely just around the corner. If anything, I’d expect them to release a camera which slots in just under the a99 with the 36mp sensor, as well as another which slots in below that with specs similar to the current a99, and then release the a99II when new sensor tech is available.
As a sanity check, I just went back over SAR rumors through the start of August. In fairness to SAR, he’s saying e-mount and a-mount body announcements “likely” but don’t interpret that as being solid one way or another. The SAR rumor on an a99II coming was from a “new” “anonymous” source. The SAR rumor on a new e-mount FF is from a “trusted” source. Both are SR3s. I think there’s one of a big camera announcement with an a-mount pictured.
We can interpret this to form our own conclusions but when I add in Sony’s atrocious track record on the a-mount (like CES) I lean negative. SAR didn’t say 50% but that’s my personal estimate.
It’s the first APS-C camera ever featuring full sensor-readout during video AND on top of that has an advanced codec. Why would it be cheap?
The question is if Sony will introduce another entry model or reduce the price dramatically in 6 months. Otherwise they’re left without a single entry level E-mount with adequate AF capabilities for 2014.
Does it have clean HDMI out? Sony may have crippled it with a mediocre encoder.
Where did Sony say it does full sensor readout ? I think they only do pixel binning as they do on A6000.
http://www.dpreview.com/articles/9290297376/sony-announces-alpha-a5100-compact-mirrorless-camera
“Additionally, with the power of the BIONZ X processor, the camera is able to read, process and output data from all of the sensor’s pixels during video recording, ensuring that it produces the highest quality video possible by eliminating aliasing, moiré and false color artifacts. “
Oh right – that is a great feature. Let’s hope some marketing guys didn’t do some copy paste error here 🙂
Yeah… it’s a little hard to believe that they’ve got this in the smaller A5100 body but not in the A6000 body. On the other hand, you rarely find such a big mistake in an official press release so I’m still hoping 🙂
Seriously, where the fuck did the high end APS-C E-Mount camera go? Shoved up some marketing manager’s ass?
Since the a6000, we’ve had great advancements in capability cut up in pieces and shoved into multiple bland cameras…
Nice little camera! Any idea if it’s possible to add XAVC to the A6000 via firmware upgrade? I love my A6000, and XAVC is one of the few features I can think of I would have liked to have.
Doesn’t the A6000 have the same sensor and BionzX processor ? I think it is very likely that it’s possible to add XAVCS, full sensor readout and maybe even 4K to A6000 by firmware update. But Sony will not do it anyway. Buy A6100 and A6200 for that.
They need a very small 35mm equiv. pancake lens for this type of camera.
They have the 20mm pancake (I know it is 30mm eq. but it is close)
I wonder if they slash the price post-Photokina just like they did on the a5000 post-CES after it was announced.
No IBIS….not interrested.
Oh, yeah, I can really see you shooting birds with an a5100 coupled to your Bigma. ;^)
That’s a pretty small body to put IBIS into. The NEX series were all pretty cramped, and this camera’s no exception to that.
I prefer the A6000 because of the EVF, the two dials, more buttons an hotshoe. But I miss the touchscreen and levelgauge of the A5100. When Sony puts both camera together, I would consider to buy it, but so are both camera incomplete for me.
Now it looks even more likely that Sony will get the best features from A5100 and A6000 and put them in one body – A7000 !!!
Excellent idea! Can you imagine if Sony took some time to design a camera with all the features they dribble across multiple bodies? Maybe they could design a few NEW lenses with all that extra time they would save. Not sure I am ecnonmizing over DSLR size and weight if I have to carry around three or four mirrorless camera bodies if I want/need, EFC, or 36Mps or touchscreen or fast FPS/AF, or extreme ISO performance.
It would have been a cool replacement for my NEX-5N but I wish they would have kept a wheel dial on top from the NEX-5T… that is why I am going to skip this model and maybe get the 6000 or 6100 in the future… but first they need to give us more e-mount lenses!
The fast AF system taken from the A6000 is really tempting, but the fully plastic body in ulgy NEX3 series styling, crippled flippable screen and most importantly the omission of the top DIAL from the later NEX5 bodies will make me keep my NEX 5N for at least one more year.
I am just starting to think Sony really want the Legendary NEX 5N to live on!
Several years later I still haven’t seen a decent match.
I always take newly announced bodies positively as this only means more options for us, but I am worried Sony are not leaving room for REAL NEX 5 successors in their new naming system, with A5xxx = NEX3, A6xxx = NEX6, possibly there will be a premium body A7000 = NEX7, but where will a real NEX5 successor go?!?
look at the APS mirrorless camera range from Sony at the moment:
You have the dirt cheap A3000
You have the small low spect A5000 (befor Nex 3x)
You have the small higher swpeced A5100 (befor Nex 5x)
And you have the larger high speced A6000
All these cameras are a nice logical step up from one to the other.
When you want a camera with an EVF you have the A3000 and the A6000
When you want fast AF but no EVF you have the A5100
When you want small and cheap you have the a5000
I understand people want all the features from the Nex 5x cameras, but with the A6000 at that redicules low pricepoint a camera like the Nex5t will cost as much or more then the A6000, that is the truth. So Sony had cut corners with the A6000 to make it very cheap for what you get (show me any mirrorless camea, with a high quality EVF, An articulating screen, lots of customizing controls and very fast AF for the price of the A6000)
My advice is: look at what you can get and go for the camera that fits you best, don’t look at brands to much buy the best camera for you!
Yes, but ask yourself this question. Does Sony have an APS-C camera with EVERYTHING? Why as consumers do we have to compromise? I would gladly pay extra for a full featured APS-C camera. They have pricing room between the a7 and the a6000 to put another model but I’m sure they don’t want to because they think it will hurt a7 sales.
Think about this. A top of the line APS-C camera with everything the a6000 had plus – touchscreen, improved EVF, mic/headphone jacks, improved video (maybe even 4k), weather proofing, level gauge, tri-navi.
Price it at $1000 and watch the sales roll in.
I don’t agree that the new A5100 is a sucessor of the NEX 5 series!
Mainly the lack of the top DIAL, secondly its fully plastic body with ugly series 3 styling, crippled flippable screen, no IR remote sensor! A5100 is far more closer to NEX3 series than the NEX5 series!
From someone who was about to pull the trigger on an a6000, Sony, you killed your mid range model.
All this says to me (and anyone about to buy one) is that a brand new a6000 will be handicapped from the start. And since I want EVF and top dials and I have no patience to wait for the a6100 (which will probably just add the new codec and raise the price). I will be looking at other manufacturers. (GH4 maybe)
How is the a6000 any worse than it was last week?
He’s looking at it differently and has a point. Looking at how quickly Sony turned around the a5000 replacement and seeing it has features which will show up in an a6100 you want would you sink $800 into one? I get it.
Maybe Sony will give us a roadmap on the a6000 at Photokina but I doubt it.
If a user does not need a camera now, then waiting 9 months for the a6000 successor is feasible so long as a person isn’t missing shooting for waiting.
Yes, when you put it that way, it does sound silly. The a6000 is the same camera it was last week. But the 5100 matches some of the best things about the 6000 – IQ, AF etc. and actually IMPROVES the video quality for cheaper. As a potential buyer of the a6000, this lowers the value of the a6000 in my mind. And that’s what we are all looking for – Value vs. Price.
Don’t be surprised if a firmware upgrade for the A6000 (and A77II) adds some features.
how does a new model below the a6000 devalues the a6000? Their target is different….if you like the a6000 then get the a6000, who cares if there is a a5100 if it’s the a6000 features that you need/like ….
minixpixels.net | Automotive Photography
The A6000 is still a fine camera. It is at a price point that people expect the EVF. I’ll take the EVF and controls over improved video. Jeez, the A6000 isn’t that old. Let’s enjoy it for a few years.
The following is missing in 5100:
-top dial from 5R/5T
-tilt DOWN 45 screen (I can’t believe they scrapped such basic important thing)
-5N/5R grip – impossible to hold in your hand with long lens attached
which makes it a selfie toy cam with zero usability. Won’t buy
Don’t need neither hot shoe/EVF
On the plus side:
-small size/weight
-full sensor readout
-XAVC-S 50Mb/s
-touch screen
-fast AF (works only with Sony lens, after firmware upgrade)
-WiFi/NFC/remote control
-apps
which makes it a good camera for video. Might consider. Wait, with zero usability – still no buy 🙂
Which video modes/formats does it do full sensor readout for? Pretty sure it’s not all frame rates and data speeds.
Having used a 3N for a year the lack of an EVF would be a deal-breaker for me. Unless Sony has radically improved the rear screen’s tolerance for sunlight with the 5100 you’ll end up like I did with the 3N guessing your way through framing on a sunny day. Never again.
Nice camera, especially for video, but there are some downsides in terms of usability.
I really like XAVC S codec at 50MBit/s, uncompressed 8bit 4:2:2 clean-screen video HDMI out, the quick auto focus with 179 AF points and the multi terminal usb interface.
I don’t like, that there is only one dial at the back and that there is no top dial and no buttons
to quickly access saved presets and preferences as in the a6000. This is a big downside for me. Also, the LCD only tilts upwards whereas the NEX-5 series LCD’s also tilted downwards 45 degrees.
What I’m missing is, that there is no external mic input, no multi interface hotshoe, no S-Log2 and that there is no weather sealed option.
I’d like to get a camera similar to the a6000 in terms of features, buttons and dials, but in a NEX-5T body with a fully tiltable touchscreen (up and down) and a good video codec (XAVC S at 50MBit/s). I don’t need an EVF. Also, I’d like to have the option to buy a weather sealed camera and I’m dreaming of an IBIS NEX-style camera.
What you’re describing sounds like a very expensive camera. It’s good to dream and what not, but we should probably try to be a bit more grounded when it comes to what we actually want in a camera.
I know that the combination with all those features will not come anytime soon and it would be much more expensive. But anyway, that would be my camera. 🙂
you are looking for a model that is a combination of selective features from the a5100 and a6000 which is not going to happen…Sony has to clearly define the features set for the masses, not niche models for the few ppl that wants a mix of features…
minixpixels.net | Automotive Photography
Who in the market of persons that would buy this camera actually need S-Log2? That is only useful for persons using pretty sophisticated post processing of the video. The A6000 and A77ii could make use of the XAVC-S codec as that seems to be the new standard for Sony. That might be doable in a firmware upgrade unless the A5100 has a slightly tweaked version of the Bionz-X which allows it to do the processing.
S-Log2 could be of use in some critical lighting situations. I don’t think it would be expensive to implement. Sony should give us the option. If you don’t need it, don’t use it. You can use DaVinci Resolve Lite for editing, which can handle S-Log2. It is a free and easy to use piece of software available for OS X and Windows.
It would be great to get a firmware update for the A6000 with XAVC S 50MBit/s, but I’m pretty sure we have to wait until the A6100.
Don’t wait for Sony if you want decent video. Keep your existing Sony camera for stills (mine’s an A77i) and get a separate dedicated video camera (mine’s a BMPCC, picked up in the summer half price markdown, or you could go a7s or GH4, depending on your needs – mine is learning grading and general cinematography for the sake of it, because it feels much more creative to me than stills for the purpose of telling a story).
However, I’ve found the Sony video implementations to be the easiest to use for learning video. the only issue is the lowish bitrates, but by the time that becomes an issue (i.e. *actually* an issue, rather than just complaining with the herd!), you are ready to move on to the next step anyway.
I agree with you, but sometimes you want or need a small package with good photo and video quality, which is easy to use with customizable buttons and so on. Also, in a situation where I don’t care about size, I would like to put the same camera on my small run and gun style video-rig and hook up my video mic.
Quality wise, the video quality of the a5100 should be pretty good. The video quality of the a6000 is already much better than any dead-compressed NEX video. With 50 MBit/s XAVC S, this one should be even better. We will see.
Individual wish lists are meaningless. Market segmentation is at play here. The A6100 may have some of the features you want. You’ll just have to deal with it having an EVF you don’t care for, but many others insist on. See what I’m saying about wish lists? 🙂
BTW, Anyone thought of buying a 5100 and swapping its internals with NEX-5R to get the A6000 features in 5R body? Doable? Worth it?
NEX-5R Teardown: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Sony+NEX-5R+Main+Navigation+Button+Replacement/25445
Good luck with that!
For those wondering, I researched this question, the quick and simple answer is NO, you can’t do it easily. Here’s how NEX-5N internals look like (5R and 5T are probably similar):
http://www.holovachov.com/p429116228/h588E11FA#h588e143a
There’s no teardown of A5000 yet.
You will need to swap at least 2 pieces: main board and sensor piece from A5100 to 5N/5T. Main problem is: the SD bay on A5000 is on the opposite side of the camera and you will need a much longer tiny cable to be able to attach it.
Other problems may include (things may be different):
-length, size/number of contacts and voltage of the tiny connection cables
-position and size of tiny screws that hold pieces together
-sensor frame size, position and alignment
-size of the wafer board (it may not fit into smaller body height-wise)
-software issues
-buttons compatibility
-top dial might not work
Research isn’t necessary. Anyone who knows what the insides of something like this looks like already knows this is impossible. Seems pointless too if I’m honest.
Not doable, not worth it.
An excellent First Impressions review by DPR, calling the A5100 “compelling” in its market for image quality, features, and price. And Sony has gone back to the head of DPR’s list of “Most Popular Cameras,” based on how many people were clicking through to DPR reviews of various sorts of any and all cameras. Nikon had been leading for about a month, whereas Sony had led for maybe two months before that, garnering as much as 60% of the click-throughs at one time. Canon has been nowhere to be seen. No brand is dominating right now, but the several Sony cameras in the top ten have 15.8% of the click-throughs, the two Nikons (led by the D810) have 9.4%, and the one Panasonic (the FZ1000) 8.4%. In the past, Canon and Nikon have utterly dominated this list. Is this an early signal of shifting consumer loyalty?
eeerr, think maybe you forgot fuji has been on top there as well for several weeks.., your year starts to get pretty long then. nikon..lol, one day maybe?
Nice follow up to 3N and A5000.
Andrea, is there rumour of actual 5T replacement?
This is it.
Don’t think there will be an update for the NEX 5T – after all I read that Sony is cutting down on camera models
You’re lookin’ at it.
This is nex-3n mkIII. Not an NEX-5. One can argue a6000 is cheap enough for all amateur use. Still the 5t is cheaper and allows similar extensibility as system camera.
This guy only allows lens changes
I didn’t say I agree with their decision, but I’d be very, very surprised if they launch what we’d consider a direct replacement for the NEX-5T.
+1
After all, Sony a giant troll ever! lol…
a5100 cheaper than a6000; 0-180 vs 0-90 screen tilt; xacvs vs avchd; touch screen vs nil
After all, everyone still buying Sony camera, because no others can offer such features!
It’s called market segmentation. I’m sure the A6100 will get X AVC S though.
Not before A7000 which will have 7fps.
A7000? I love it when people talk about cameras that aren’t even rumoured.
But will it get me laid?
Sideways, yes
Buffer size is the other thing that seems to have significantly improved over previous ‘NEX’ and a5000 models. Usually this is not something to get excited about on the cheapie bodies, but is actually very good here and probably runs rings around a D7100 ‘semi-pro’ cam.
You obviously haven’t used a D7100.
I saw a quote of 54 frames somewhere, which compared to previous models is pretty good (from memory). D7100 is good, except in RAW bursts, so yes you might get all 6 as keepers and this might have more duds, but I would take a stab in the dark and say it will have more keepers than 6. D7100 is a good camera, but it’s fill rate in RAW is just not one of its strong suits, nor has it been for entry level NEX models, so it’s nice to see they haven’t skimped here.
i wish the A6000 had a touch screen as well ( not to mention that nice 50mbps rate) . but another superbly priced product from sony …OFF WITH THE 4/3 HEAD !
i want a a7000, weather resistant body, XAVC-S recording, mic input, earphone output, trinavi controls (Nex7), reforced mount.
You’ll be wanting for a long time.
Why no (mini)hotshoe? That makes the NEX tilt flash and viewfinder useless.
I see this as a kind of let-down towards the users of nex 5n(r) which at the time being payed 300$ for the external viewfinder…the viewfinder still works perfectly, however, it seems that it won’t be usable on any new sony camera 🙁
I find it odd that people are still surprised by this sort of thing happening. Sony is all about innovation, and, they wrote the book on doing the unexpected. It’s what you have to do to survive as a company in today’s market (as evidenced by the somewhat rapid decline of Canon and Nikon). Sometimes, cuts are made to features and systems.
Lately their releases have all been about pricepoint, which is right if they want to gain market share. When you have a camera system that’s all about being small and compact, and then your main focus is a low price, it’s no surprise things get omitted.
Nice video-features, but do we have full manual control over ISO, aperture and shutter speed at video mode?
Really nice camera but it’s too bad that a good lens for E-mount costs $800+. In contrast, if you buy a Canon EOS M (for $250-$300 with one lens included) the kit lenses have superb image quality, both the zoom and the 22mmF2 pancake.
Only a Canon rep can tell such jokes