This is for EVERYONE before they start using the camera. UPDATE THE FIRMWARE!!!
The firmware is actually for the lens and not the camera itself. However, you have to update it through the camera with the lens attached to it. YOUR HYBRID FOCUS WILL NOT WORK WITHOUT THIS UPDATE!!. You also need to turn on phase detection AF to have hybrid AF. I've seen "professional" reviewers bashing the slow focus and bad night time AF when they're so professionally inclined to do a simple update job.
Hybrid AF = phase detection + contrast detection. Phase detection AF works great and as intended. It is faster than I can press a stopwatch. I do notice that phase detection does not work with illumination light or low aperture. Low aperture means a high fxx number! remember that! But even in my dark bedroom with only 1 lamp + shades, I am still at about F4.0-5.5 on the stock 1855 and therefore phase detection still works like magic.
I bumped ISO to 3200 and sometimes 6400 in my room to compensate for lack of light and pictures still came out with relatively low noise. I noticed my camera tends to underexpose a tiny bit so I bump EV +.3. However, this is only using the camera's LCD. I have not have time to upload the pics on my comp.
I did get the 10fps speed continuous. However, it really is only for the first 10 frames. Then it feels like 3 fps afterwards. This is with the Sandisk extreme class 10 UHS 1 45mb/sec. The Nex 5R does not support UHS so it reverts to class 10.
The flash attachment works great. When you install it, you must push it down and turn the little wheel on the inside of the bend. Else, it would pop out on you. I almost missed that step because I never read instructions.
HDR and DRO settings are in the color settings instead of camera settings. Why? I have no idea. Maybe the Japanese have a different way of organizing things. I tried it and it just works like in the product description. However, the last shot seems to take a much longer time than the first 2 shots. Remember that and don't pull the camera until it finishes. I think there are times where it needs up to 6 shots.
I don't know what people are saying about controls. Yes it is finicky initially trying to figure out everything since not everything is labeled. But it literally took me about an hour to get used to the control. Some of it is redundant and I hope they fix that. Like the top dial and back dials sometimes serves the same function which is annoying. It's not the easiest interface but it's definitely easy to use if you just invest some time and learn. Or like me, just play around pushing every button and turning every dial. You cannot break the camera by pushing buttons!
Image quality is excellent. I feel as if my lack of skills was compensated by the camera's ability to take great pics. It does most of the thinking for you. Rule of thumb is to use Intelligent auto for regular shooting and superior for high contrast scenes. Or pick a scene selection mode and it'll always get the job done for you. Once you google photography basics and learn about aperture, shutter speed, iso and exposure. You can use the priority modes or manual once you get used to the controls.
I spent 2 hours in my room playing with this cam, doing firmware updates, going out to a pho restaurant and snapping a few pics to try out the features. Everything is just like it says or better. AF is fast and generally focus on what you want but you can always use the touch screen to have it focus on something else(like if you want to focus something on the edge of the screen and defocus the middle and background). NO EVF IS NOT A DEAL BREAKER! first, you already know it has none before you bought it. And then the naysayers complain about wanting EVF + flash. WTH, the LCD screen works just fine at night. And if you are a pro photographer then I ask you why are you using this camera? haters will always hate. Dumb people will always make dumb decisions.
Battery life definitely last way past the 330 rated shots for me. I took about 180 and my battery was at 75%. Maybe they meant 330 on raw + jpeg with flash and LCD on brightest outside in -20 weather. But maybe they are compensating for the battery over time. IDK but the battery lasting longer is a good thing, no complaints here.
I do have a few complaints. I hate the wifi and touch screen. Touch screen is pressure sensitive and not touch sensitive. I feel like i'm bending the screen sometimes because I actually am! Wifi is useless. Stick the card in your laptop and enjoy the UHS speed. Plus it doesn't drain your cam's battery. Or better yet, just plus the cam into your laptop and you can charge/transfer photos at the same time. Windows 7 automatically installed the camera btw, I didn't have to install anything except Playmemory software if you want to use it. I don't want more junk, I didn't bother with it. I have playmemory on my ipad2 and it works great transferring there through wifi but it's much slower. You know what? screw you apple! when are you going to have an SD slot?!?!?!
Turn on lens distortion correction in your settings!!! These lens are cheaper but they are ok. With the distortion correction, these lens should be excellent but don't expect it to be like $4000 professional hardware because it is not! Sony charged you an extra $100 over body only. What did you expect? a few Ferrari F430?
I like the size compared to the performance. It is pocketable body only but who does that? With a 16mm pancake lens, you can pocket it but why would you? You will have a better social life if you strap it around your neck(not waist! it's 2012!). It's light enough to not snap your spinal cord and big enough for people to notice and start a conversation with me. I was sitting there eating pho tinkering with this thing and a lot of people was looking at it(no i wasn't taking photos) Some even came to ask me about it because they did not know which to decide. Some just came to admire it because it is a very cool looking gadget. I will repeat this one more time. DO NOT POCKET THIS CAMERA! and DO NOT TAKE OUT THE LENS UNLESS YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO PROTECT THE SENSOR!. Yes, i took the lens off and it is right there in the bare.
I did some research on the web and found that memory stick duos will be slightly faster than sd class 10. It will also produce less heat from the camera. If you have money to eat steak and eggs in the morning instead of a coffee and rice like me then go for it. I don't like Sony all that much to give in to their expensive crap. It cost about twice as much as the equivalent SD card from Sandisk.
READ THIS!! I have solved the slow recharge problems. Instead of using the brick sony included, I used the usb wire sony included and plugged it in my ipad's charger brick. It recharged my 5r from 11% to full in less than 2 hours.
Pros: Fast AF if you update the firmware. Excellent image quality even at high ISO. A lot of features. Will improve your social life if you don't pocket it. Better manual controls. Wifi for Ipads. Battery life exceeds expectations. Flip screen. Free flash.
Cons: wifi lacks speed. No support for UHS-1. Touchscreen is smash screen. Not pocketable. Nothing protecting sensor with lens off. Controls are sometimes redundant. Maybe no EVF?(but you already know it has none!)
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This Item  Sony NEX-5RK/B 16.1 MP Mirrorless Digital Camera with 18-55mm Lenses (Black) | Recommendations  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | $799.99 | -15% $658.00 New Price: $769.95 | $848.00 | $798.00 | $879.95 | -25% $449.00 List: $599.99 |
| Delivery | Get it Nov 7 - 12 | — | Get it as soon as Thursday, Nov 7 | Get it as soon as Thursday, Nov 7 | — | Get it as soon as Thursday, Nov 7 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Sold By | 42nd Street Photo | Al's Variety | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Fast Ship Direct | Amazon.com |
| display type | LCD | LCD | LCD | LCD | LCD | LCD |
| display size | 3 inches | 3 inches | 3 inches | 3 inches | 3 inches | 3 inches |
| lens type | Wide Angle, Telephoto | Telephoto Zoom | zoom | zoom | Interchangeable | Telephoto |
| zoom type | — | Optical Zoom | — | Digital Zoom | Optical Zoom | — |
| shooting modes | Landscape, Panorama, High dynamic rang, Automatic, Portrait, Sports | Automatic | Single Shooting, Continuous shooting (Hi+/Hi/Mid/Lo selectable), Self-timer, Self-timer (Cont.), Bracket: Single, Bracket: Cont., White Balance bracket, DRO bracket | Auto, scene, and P, S, A, and M | Continuous Shooting | Automatic |
| connectivity tech | HDMI, USB | HDMI | USB | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB | NFC, HDMI, USB | Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB |
| video resolution | FHD 1080p | 1080p | 4K UHD 2160p | 4320p | FHD 1080p | 2160p |
| optical zoom | 3 multiplier x | 3 multiplier x | — | 1 multiplier x | 3 multiplier x | 0 multiplier x |
| magnification | — | — | 1.07x | — | 0.70x | 0.95x |
| wireless tech | ✓ | ✓ | Bluetooth, Wi-Fi | Bluetooth, Wi-Fi | ✓ | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth |
| model name | Sony NEX5RK/B | ILCE6000L/S-cr | ILCE6100L/B | ILCZV-E10L/B | ALPHA A6000 | Canon EOS R100 RF-S18-45mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM Lens Kit |
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NEX 5R with 16-50mm lens: Great upgrade from NEX 3 with 18-55mm lens
After enjoying the NEX 3 with the 18-55 kit lens for 2 years I finally found a good reason to upgrade myself to the NEX 5R accompanying the newer 16-50mm powerzoom lens (SEL1650pz) which i have a separate review on the lens in amazon.com (and a separate review on NEX 3 in 2011)Having been using the camera for 3 months I think it is a good time for me to give it a review. My review will be base on comparing my experience with the NEX 3 (which was a very decent ILC by itself)Pro:1) Compactness: with the 16-50mm lens and the 5R body it is MUCH smaller and lighter than my NEX 3 with 18-55mm lens.2) PHASE+Contrast detection focus: Much faster focus than my NEX 3, one major reason i want to upgrade3) Additional Fn/Dial for control/settings: Less digging into the menu to find settings!4) 180 Flip TOUCH Screen: NEX 3 has a 100 degree flip screen which is decent but 180 is just better :)5) Full HD recording (my NEX3 only takes 720p)Con:1) WiFi: The "Play Memories" user experience is still fairly immature, connecting speed and user interface is tedious comparing all the new mobile touch screen technologies out there. The android remote control is limited to just snapshot and review.2) External Flash: If they can put the flash inside the 3N body, they could have done it on the 5R, small issue since i have not used flash on my camera for over 2 years.3) Power switch can easily be triggered since it sticks out from the front(the 3N configuration seems better) It was a problem with my power zoom lens since the lens wants to stick out if the on/off switch gets triggered inside my jacket pocket.4) MOVIE switch is hard to reach if the screen is flipped up even slightly5) MP4 is only 1440x1080 (1920x1080 for AVCHD only), not sure why, it looks fine enough though5) No more 3D pictures!? (used to be in my NEX 3, not that i ever really needs it, just saying)Wish:1) Can capture picture while doing video (they have that in lower end cameras!) - can be done with firmware update?2) Improve WiFi / Playmemories user experience and have more controls via mobile app like video capture, setting changes, etc) - sony has a long way to go but can be done with firmware update3) Faster start up time4) Brighter screenOverall I am happy with this upgrade. Really looking forward to see if Sony will bring new firmwares to improve some of the user experience shortfall that I mentioned above.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2013
Color: BlackStyle: With 18-55mm LensVerified Purchase
