Sony NEX-5R review

Earlier this year, I made a pretty drastic change in my camera set up. I left behind my trusty Canon DSLR, and the lenses and accessories that had served me well for six years, and I picked up a Sony NEX-5N mirrorless camera. My reason for making the swap was purely convenience: I was just tired of lugging around my DSLR and all of its accoutrements every time I wanted better photos than my smartphone could offer. The NEX-5N solved this problem nicely — it's remarkably small and significantly lighter than a full DLSR, yet can capture incredible photos even in difficult lighting conditions. It can also shoot great 1080p video, meaning that I no longer needed to carry around a camcorder for video.


But not everything is perfect. The NEX-5N, while able to take fantastic photos and video, doesn't offer me the same level of control — or more specifically the same level of access to the camera's controls as a proper DSLR. That's a consequence of it being more compact, right? Logic dictates that a much smaller camera just too miniature to house all of the little buttons and dials that a DSLR can support.

Perhaps that was true last year, when Sony introduced the 5N. This time around, the company has revisited the model and upgraded it with the NEX-5R. The 5R is very similar to the 5N — it has the same photographic capabilities (16-megapixel APS-C sensor, 1080p HD video capture at up to 60fps, up to 10fps continuous shooting) and a very familiar design. But Sony has addressed some of the biggest complaints of the 5N by adding a command dial and some extra buttons to give photographers more control. The company also threw in some extras like Wi-Fi connectivity, an improved autofocus system, and a more flexible display. I've spent the last month or so with the $749.99 NEX-5R to see if its new improvements make it a better camera than the 5N and if it's still one of the best mirrorless cameras you can buy today.

Hardware / design
THE 5R HAS A FAMILIAR FACE, BUT IT'S NO TWIN OF THE 5N



It really takes a trained eye to spot the hardware differences between the NEX-5N and the new NEX-5R. Both are exceptionally petite camera bodies with comically large lens mounts. Both have large, 3-inch articulating touchscreen displays on back next to a command dial and three buttons. Both have smallish, rubberized grips that let you hold the camera and shoot with one hand and include an IR receiver for an optional remote control (you’re still better off using two hands to steady the camera, however). Both have a battery and SDXC compartment accessible from underneath the camera. Both also have a proprietary accessory mount on top for the included flash unit or optional shotgun microphone, and both have dual microphones on top to capture stereo sound. Both also lack any way to use non-proprietary external microphones, which is a frustration.



Only a few key differences separate this year’s model from last year’s version. The most obvious addition is a second command dial situated just under your right thumb when you are holding the camera. This dial, which trickled down from the higher-end NEX-7, lets you control various parameters depending on your shooting mode. In Aperture Priority ('A' on the virtual mode dial), it will adjust the opening of the lens, while in Shutter Priority ('S' on said mode dial), it controls how long the shutter will be held open. The circular wheel on the back of the camera is available to control exposure compensation or shutter speed when the camera is in full manual mode (the main control dial adjusts lens aperture in full manual mode). This single dial on top of the camera makes a profound difference when you are shooting in manual modes, as it gives you direct control to things that used to require a button press and other actions. Translation: you can keep your eyes on your subject and worry about composition instead of fiddling with buttons to change your settings.



Because of this new dial, the dedicated movie record button and playback review button have been shifted to slightly different positions on the camera's top plate. The power switch has been moved to a ring around the now-black shutter button. Next to the shutter button is a new function key that provides quicker access to settings like metering, focus modes, white balance, and image effects and filters.




MORE BUTTONS AND DIALS REALLY MAKE FOR A BETTER EXPERIENCE
Other handling tweaks include a dedicated ISO setting button on the 'right' action of the four-way controller on the back of the NEX-5R... and that's it. It may not sound like a lot, but the changes add up to a much more pleasant experience when you want to take control of the camera. It still doesn't provide the same level of control as a full DSLR — or even the NEX-7, which has three control dials — but the NEX-5R is surprisingly flexible when you are out in the field shooting. The dedicated ISO button is a god-send when you are in a situation with rapidly changing lighting conditions, and the Fn button makes it very straightforward to switch between automatic and manual focus modes, which is key since Sony's E-mount lenses lack a hardware switch to do that. A full-size DSLR still puts these controls in easier to reach places — quite literally at your fingertips — but given the size tradeoff, the NEX-5R does a good job at making the best of its limited real estate for buttons and dials.



Display
TOUCHSCREEN DREAMS, BROKEN PROMISES



Like the NEX-5N, the 5R's 3-inch touchscreen LCD display features a high resolution and bright colors. Though the 5N lacks an eye-level viewfinder, I didn’t have any trouble using the LCD display in bright sunlight. Also like the 5N, the 5R's touchscreen kind of stinks as a touchscreen. Since the display uses a resistive panel instead of the more common capacitive technology as found on many smartphone displays, it is not nearly as responsive to touch input as even an entry-level smartphone. The touchscreen is frequently used in Sony’s interface, but because of its poor responsiveness, can be a frustrating experience.

Since touch targets are frequently small on the screen, it can be hard to hit them with your fingertip. Swiping between pictures when reviewing them is an option, but it is very laggy and as a result, frustrating. The 5R also doesn't support multi-touch, so if you try to pinch to zoom on the photos, it simply won't work. Fortunately, you can completely disable the touchscreen and just use the camera's hardware buttons and controls to navigate its interface, which is a much faster option in my experience. The 5R also offers the option to tap the touch screen to focus and to take a picture, but outside of the rare occurrences when the camera is awkwardly mounted on a tripod and the shutter key is inaccessible, I can't imagine why you would use the touchscreen to take a picture. The tap-to-focus feature is useful, but I found it to be slower to respond than I would prefer.

Comparing the displays of the two models side-by-side, the 5R’s appears to be a flipped version of the 5N's, so there is a thicker border on the right side of the screen, while the 5N has the thicker border on the left side. This extra space means that it is less likely for your thumb to stray over to the touchscreen and unintentionally actuate functions on it while you are shooting. The 5R's display also seems to be more color accurate, as my particular 5N tends to have a reddish cast in certain lighting conditions

Interface
PRO TIP: DON'T BOTHER WITH THE TOUCH INTERFACE, JUST USE THE CONTROL DIALS



The software and interface on the NEX-5R is largely unchanged from that on the NEX-5N. Since the camera doesn't have a traditional mode dial, changing between shooting modes requires use of an on-screen dial, which I find to be a bit slow and tiresome — especially if you are changing modes often. If you are the type of shooter that parks the camera on a single shooting mode — whether that be a manual mode of one of the many automatic options — this probably won't be as big of an issue for you.

For the most part, Sony's interface is logical, but given that the camera features a ton of settings and features, the menus can get a bit unwieldy and require a fair amount of scrolling to get to the setting you are looking for. This isn't an uncommon problem with cameras, but it can be frustrating to have to dig for the "format memory card" setting every time you put your SD card back into the camera.