The Sony NEX-5: that’s the official name for the tasty ultra portable Alpha “DSLR” concept we saw on show at the PMA photography show earlier this year. It’s beautiful, slim, has interchangeable lenses, and at long last, packs HD video recording. We’re live at Sony’s press conference in Croatia where it’s being unveiled, and we’ve got all the details on it right here, along with its new little brother, the Sony NEX-3.
The Sony NEX-5′s shaping up to be a tidy rival to Panasonic and Olympus‘ Micro Four Thirds cameras. The 24.2mm thin body houses a new 14.2 megapixel APS HD CMOS sensor and a processor capable of churning through seven frames per second, plus a three inch tilting LCD screen on the back, and slots for both Sony’s Memory Stick cards, and the more widely used SD/SDHC/SDXC format.
Marking a first for Sony’s Alpha line, the Sony NEX-5 records 1080i HD video, while the Sony NEX-3 shoots lower resolution 720p video. Both models have HDMI out to plug straight into a flatscreen and check out your shots and footage straight away. Both also pack the impressive Sweep Panorama shot stitching mode as seen in Sony’s latest compacts, like the HX5V, but it steps things up a bit with a “3D” option, shooting left and right eye points of view as you scan with just one sensor. We loved the 2D sweep Panorama option, so we’re hopeful it’s just as good.
Sony Alpha compact DSLR camera due this year!
The Sony NEX-5 and Sony NEX-3 will both be sold with new lenses, but what might make them even more tempting for current Alpha fans is an optional mount adaptor to use current Alpha DSLR lenses, meaning you may only have to splash out on the body.
We’re told the Sony NEX-5 and NEX-3 will go on sale in the Summer, but we’ll be going hands on with both models later today so stay tuned for more coverage.
What do you want to know about the Sony NEX-5? Let us know in the comments below, and we’ll be sure to ask Sony’s top execs when we test it out for ourselves.
Out Summer | £TBC | Sony
