The 2 year report:
I purchased the Sony NEX-5 camera slightly over two years ago. I liked the design as it was very similar to the Sony camera I bought about 11 years ago when I went to Alaska on a work assignment. More history HERE. <Link>
I liked the feel of the NEX camera body and lens very much when I first received the camera, it was like an old friend. But I became a bit disappointed in the quality of the pictures I was getting out of it. They were entirely too “soft” for my liking. It was a focus problem mostly. I couldn’t get a sharp crisp photograph. My older camera has a wonderful f 2.0-2.4 Carl Zeiss lens. It’s only defect by today’s standard is its 5.2 Mpx sensor.
What I hadn’t realized for a time is that Sony did not build the NEX-5 first edition for the camera enthusiast. They thought their market would be folks moving up from point and shoot snapshot cameras who were not really convinced about getting into larger SLR (single lens reflex) “pro” or semi-pro (prosumer) type cameras.
So the default camera set-up is to operate with a fully auto wide area average focus like a point and shoot camera with the resulting mediocre results that kind of camera usually produces. The adjustable precision focus pro stuff is there, but buried deep in menus. I soon learned how to dig out the proper advanced focus controls.
I now take very good photographs but not in the auto setting. In fact I am getting better shots every time I use it as I have figured out most of the camera settings and their quirks. The so called 18-55 mm zoom “kit” lens* is actually a very good piece of glass (lens). The poor first impression I had with the photos it produced are actually not any fault in the lens.
*In an interchangeable lens camera the “kit lens” infers the lens that is shipped with the camera which is typically not the best lens available. It is a marketing competitive pricing game played by almost all camera makers or sellers.
I have fussed over buying a better lens (read as more expensive) but I can’t justify the price since I can now take excellent quality pictures with the stock lens. So I don’t need to replace the kit lens but eventually I will add lenses to compliment it. I already have a separate wide angle 16mm prime lens for the NEX5 that I seldom use. It makes the camera easy to put in a (large) pocket but it is too close to the 18mm wide angle of the zoom to be a must have lens to carry around.
Today I would purchase the NEX-6 body. Sony improved the CCD and it is slightly larger at 16.1 Mpx than the original 14.2 Mpx. The design is more prosumer (enthusiast) friendly. Exposure modes are easier to get at with an external control and a bunch of other soft control tweaks make it a better body. There is a NEX-7 body aimed solidly at the prosumer with a much bigger sensor at 24.3 Mpx and much higher cost. Available lenses are the same for either. A big sensor is useful for very large prints or extreme cropping and spending more money.
I have compared photos from all three, the NEX- 5, 6, and 7 and all are capable of great photographs with the lenses available. So I will stay where I am at for awhile longer, as long as I stay satisfied with my present results.