Sony NEX-5N

Last updated: Tuesday, May 28th, 2013

Last Updated (28 May’13):
- Review & Sample Photos @ Cameralabs

Sony NEX-5N is a 16.1 MP Compact Interchangeable Lens Touchscreen Camera with 18-55mm Lens. Features include Up to 10 fps shooting to capture the decisive moment, Full HD movie shooting 60p/24p, 3D Sweep Panorama Mode, and Tiltable 3.0″ Touch LCD monitor with high resolution of 921K dots for superb resolution. The camera measures (W x H x D) 4-3/8 × 2-3/8 × 1-9/16″ (110.8 x 58.8 x 38.2mm) and weight Approx. 7.4oz./ 210g. (excl battery & media).

Overall Rating: | Latest Price Info

Expert Reviews

Sony NEX-5N Reviews

Cameralabs reviews the Sony NEX-5N and writes;
“Sony has increased the sensor resolution without compromising on quality or low light performance, improved response times, added better quality video and a range of hardware options that further extend this camera’s capabilities.”
Rating:

Photographyblog reviews the Sony NEX-5N and writes;
“The Sony NEX-5N produces photos of excellent quality. Noise is very well handled, being virtually absent from ISO 100-3200 and not being too obvious at the fast speed of ISO 6400.”
Rating:

Stevehuffphoto reviews the Sony NEX-5N and writes;
“The 1080 HD video is great on the 5n as well, giving you a plethora of options to choose from. I still like the 24P setting and many are in love with the new 60P option. You also have all manual control over video, which is also very welcome and appreciated.”
rating: N/A

Techradar reviews the Sony NEX-5N and writes;
“In terms of exposure, and metering too, we were impressed, with burnt out highlights a rarity – indeed the camera tends to underexpose if anything, to preserve detail, and using Curves in Photoshop we were able to drag an impressive degree of shadow detail back.”
Rating:

Expertreviews reviews the Sony NEX-5N and writes;
“Photo quality is significantly better than its rivals, it’s responsive, easy to use and packed with fun and genuinely useful extras. It’s quite a bit pricier than the Sony NEX-C3, but its 1080-50p videos with manual exposure, wider ISO range, touchscreen and magnesium alloy body make it worth the extra.”
Rating:

Luminous-landscape reviews the Sony NEX-5N and writes;
“The shutter release is as fast as any camera in the world, and with frame rates up to 10 FPS even someone shooting occasional sports (or fast moving rug-rats) will rejoice.”
rating: N/A

Photographybay reviews the Sony NEX-5N and writes;
“The Sony NEX-5N image quality excels in low light, particularly if you take advantage of shooting in RAW format. Snapshots and vacation photos are easily printable at ISO 3200 and below at 4 x 6 sizes – and, frankly, could probably be pushed beyond that for all but the most discerning family album makers. The NEX-5N simply delivers where it counts on image quality.”
rating: N/A

Imaging-resource reviews the Sony NEX-5N and writes;
“The Sony NEX-5N’s performance was generally excellent for a Compact System Camera. Autofocus is on par with most SLRs, prefocused shutter lag is faster than any SLR or CSC we’ve ever tested, and Speed Priority burst mode was faster than most professional SLRs (though the NEX-5N won’t track focus or adjust exposure in that mode).”
rating: N/A

PCMAG reviews the Sony NEX-5N and writes;
“Video can be recorded in various resolutions, including 1080p60, 1080i60, and 1080p24, all in AVCHD format. The camera also supports capture in MP4 format, although that comes at a lower 1440 by 1080 resolution. Quality is excellent, detail is crisp, and the camera focuses during recording.”
Rating:

Ephotozine reviews the Sony NEX-5N and writes;
“Image quality appears to be excellent, and even though megapixels have increased, the camera is still providing low noise levels, with the addition of a new ISO25600 range giving additional usefulness in extremely low light. The new 50mm f/1.8 Portrait lens also helps in low light. “
Rating:

Dcresource reviews the Sony NEX-5N and writes;
“Camera performance is very good in nearly all areas. The NEX-5N is powered up and ready to roll in just 0.7 seconds. Autofocus speeds are very quick in good light, ranging from 0.1 – 0.3 seconds at wide-angle, to 0.7 – 1.0 seconds at telephoto (with the kit lens).”
rating: N/A

Trustedreviews reviews the Sony NEX-5N and writes;
“Colour and tonality are, of course, affected by the choice of Creative Style being used. For the vast majority of our time we were out shooting with the NEX-5n we tended to stick with the Standard setting as we found it produced pleasing results with plenty of punch but without the overly saturated tones of the Vivid setting.”
Rating:

Whatdigitalcamera reviews the Sony NEX-5N and writes;
“With smaller-sensor, smaller designs making up the majority of the competition, the NEX-5N’s impressive image quality can happily boast to have among the best image quality going… For moving image fanatics, too, the NEX-5N provides more manual movie control and better final quality than any of its competitors in this price bracket. It’s impressive stuff. “
Rating:

Reviews Video

Sony NEX-5N Reviews

Review Video By WhatDigitalCamera

Review Video By Steve Huff

Review Video By MirrorlessReviews

Review Video By DigitalRevCom

Review Video By John Sison

User Opinions

Sony NEX-5N User Reviews

INCREDIBLE
“In low light, without flash, it completely blows semi-pro DSLRs out of the water – making night shots look surreal, and giving 6400 ISO images a grain impact that is similar to if you shot at 800 ISO.” – By Paul B
Rating:

Still has the click noise when shooting video
“I just bought it two days ago and received it today. I thought SONY has fixed the clicking noise problem in the most recent product. However, the noise can be clearly heard when playing back in my PC. Other than that, it is a great camera especially in low light.” – By bigbrother
Rating:

Great cam for taking videos and having always around. Some flaws too
“Overall given it’s compactness I think it’s great: it’s just nowhere close to a decent DSLR for shooting pics of moving kids. At the same time it’s better than any DSLR for taking videos because of AF during videos. So I use it mostly for videos or when too lazy to bring a DSLR.” – By Pseudorandom Parents
Rating:

Best most versatile p&s
“This camera very light camera, with it’s small form factor, fits in my pocket and is a constant companion. The images, especially in low light, rival my DSLR. It also fits all my Pentax, Zeiss and Leica lens, with the appropriate adapters. I bought the EVF and it is easy to use the peaking focussing function.” – By Creamcityboy
Rating:

Best of all worlds
“The quality of pictures using the Sony lenses is superb with crisp focusing and great exposure under different conditions, with the exception of when using the kit flash, which is not very good. Close-ups are stunning with great bokeh and the high megapixel count permits very large enlargements or close cropping.” – By Ramesh Kumar “dedicated”
Rating:

Nex 5n is a blast
“The 18-55mm lens that comes with the camera is very good too, fast focus and sharp. The camera has great ISO performance and very good color replication.” – By Dainius Juras
Rating:

Amazing little powerhouse
“I purchased the Nex 5N with the 18-55mm kit lens. What I got was far more than I expected. After a few weeks of use I have found this little gem takes amazing pictures in almost all situations.” – By DGibby
Rating:

should be camera of the year
“The picture quality is just nuts from a camera at this price. The kit zoom is very comendable and the video features are excellent. It shoots 24p and 60p video at full 1080 resolution. It’s sensor is one of the sharpest sensors I’ve ever seen. It’s high-iso performance is very good.” – By kwirky
Rating:

Goodbye DSLR
“The camera is Excellent. If you buy one, get the kit with the 18-55 lens which represents the best value. Low light pics are incredible also. Great for point and shoot or more advanced photographers.” – By Big A “Big A”
Rating:

Great little camera
“Overall, I am HIGHLY recommended this camera to anyone looking to purchase a camera with DSRL-like image quality and ability to shoot 1080p 60p/24p video. (If you got money to burn, go for the NEX-7)” – By Vincent
Rating:

GREAT camera, stellar image quality without the bulk
“Start-up time is very fast, and shot-to-shot time is even faster. 10 frames/second is pretty awesome to see come out of this tiny camera, and it surely helps to get that perfect action shot or facial expression.” – By J. Kleiner
Rating:

More User Opinions | Write your opinion

Samples

Sony NEX-5N Sample Photos

- Sony NEX-5N Sample Photos @ Amazon.com

- Sony NEX-5N Sample Photos @ Photographyblog.com

- Sony NEX-5N Sample Photos @ Cameralabs.com

- Sony NEX-5N Sample Photos @ Flickr.com

- Sony NEX-5N Sample Photos @ Techradar.com

- Sony NEX-5N Sample Photos @ Imaging-resource.com

- Sony NEX-5N Sample Photos @ Ephotozine.com

- Sony NEX-5N Sample Photos @ Dcresource.com

- Sony NEX-5N Sample Photos @ Trustedreviews.com

Manual

Sony NEX-5N User Manual (PDF)

Click to view or right click and select Save Target As..(Firefox) or Save link as.. (IE) to download

- Download Sony NEX-5N User Manual ( PDF )

Features

Sony NEX-5N Features

The Sony NEX-5N camera provides all the performance of a DSLR in about half the size and half the weight. It is 16.1MP interchangeable lens camera that capture beautiful stills on the go at up to 10fps and will be fit in your pocket. With this camera you can enjoy the features of Full HD 1080/60p or 24p movies, astounding low-light pictures, continuous shooting up to 10 fps, incredible panorama shots, and 3.0-inch tiltable Live View touch screen LCD.

16.1 MP Exmor™ APS HD CMOS image sensor

Utilizing a APS-C sensor which combined with Sony Exmor™ APS HD CMOS technology, the Sony NEX-5N allows you to get an incredible images detail and gorgeous enlargements. It also achieves high resolution with no penalty or noise in low-light conditions. Equipped with a 25-point Auto Focus sensors which cover a wide area of the scene, the camera get accurate focusing even when the subject is far from the center of the frame and with up to 10 fps continuous shooting at full 16.1 MP resolution, Sony NEX-5N allow you to capture great moment in sport even baby photos.

Full HD movie shooting 60p/24p

The Sony NEX-5N offers a Full HD 1920×1080 video recording in a variety of frame rates from 60p for super smooth action to 24p for a more cinematic feel. The camera offers an AVCHD™ codec for high quality HD video capture, as well as the MP4 codec for easy upload to the web Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and more.

You can record video at Full HD 1080p at 60fps with stereo sound with the welcome ability to control shutter speed, aperture and exposure compensation during recording. Sony NEX-5N also offer a full range control of video and image recording with iAUTO mode to Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority and Manual.

3.0″ Touch Screen LCD

The camera has 3.0″ Touch Screen LCD monitor with 921K dots for superb resolution. The Touch Screen LCD monitor offers a TruBlack feature includes a special resin layer to suppress internal reflections, increasing contrast compared to conventional LCDs. Comes with a Sunny Weather mode to increase the visibility even further in bright sunlight.

The monitor can be tilts down 45° and up 80° to frame high- and low-angle shots. This monitor also offers an Optional XGA OLED viewfinder to provide a large, bright and wide-view of the scene. The XGA OLED viewfinder provides an extraordinary view with high resolution 2.395K dot, and unprecedented speed, contrast and color accuracy.

3D Sweep Panorama™ Mode

Sony NEX-5N allow you to capture vast scenic vistas and 16:9 shots in spectacular 3D. As you sweep across the panorama, the camera capture separately the right-eye and left-eye images that make the landscapes come alive on your 3D television. You can save your video and images in JPEG and MPO file formats.

For capture a landscapes images, the camera can be set automatically. You just need to press the shutter, sweep vertically or horizontally. The camera does the rest, continuously shooting images and stitching them together with up to 23 MP of image size and up to 202 degrees of maximum sweep angle.

Highlight Features:

+ BIONZ image processor
+ Photo Creativity Touch
+ Object Tracking AF via Touch LCD
+ Optional XGA OLED viewfinder
+ 11 Picture Effect modes
+ Peaking AF display
+ Auto HDR
+ P/A/S/M operating modes
+ Intelligent Auto Focus
+ iAUTO mode
+ Dynamic Range Optimizer (DRO)
+ 25-point Auto Focus
+ HDMI output
+ Stamina battery power for up to 430 shots