Sony NEX-5

The basics

The Sony NEX-5 is one of the new breed of cameras that sits between a DSLR and a compact camera. Up against the likes of Micro Four Thirds cams such as the Olympus PEN E-P1 and the Panasonic G1, G2 and G10, all have the same common thread – reworking DSLR tech into a smaller body, but all offering interchangeable lenses like you'd find in the big boys.

The Sony NEX-5 sports an APS-C sensor that's quite a bit larger than the Micro Four Thirds sensor, meaning potentially greater depth of field and less noise. It cuts down on bulk by removing the traditional mirror system used in DSLRs.

The good

The Sony NEX-5 feels really slim and tiny in the hand, but the magnesium alloy body also makes it feel reassuringly sturdy. The lens mount and lenses click snugly into place.

The anti-reflective 3-inch screen is sharp and can be tilted for tricky angles, while button-wise, the lineup is very simple – three buttons and a control wheel next to the screen plus shutter, video and playback up top. The layout is simple and the control wheel changes whichever function you're in.

Shoot-wise, the Sony performs well above its weight – which is the whole point. Shots on the supplied 18-55mm lens were impressive and high ISO shots were still relatively noise-free.

There are plenty of cool shooting modes: Sony's special Sweep Panorama makes an appearance, stitching together several swift shots to create a wide 8192x1856 image. And Handheld Twighlight produces great shots in low light.

In movie mode, you can capture video in 1920x1080 quality at 50fps in the AVCHD format.

The bad

There's no built-in optical viewfinder, which might annoy some dedicated photography fans. ISO, metering, focus are all controlled vis menu screens, so there's via the menu screens and there's a little bit of a lag.

The battery life is slightly disappointing: we found it powering down pretty quickly, especially given the lack of physical controls.

There’s no built-in flash, but Sony includes a small flash unit that can be attached to the accessory port. It’s not particularly powerful but does the job for indoor and low light. It does mean that you can't use other accessories when it's attached.

The bottom line

The Sony NEX-5 is tiny and it takes DSLR-quality pictures as well as offering up some special shooting modes and decent HD video.

It's an impressive first step in this new breed of ultra-compact performers and we can forgive the few kinks we found due to its overall stellar performance.