Are you a photographer? Well, I'm not a photographer and the last point-and-shoot camera I used was the Minolta Dimage XT. I thought it was time for an upgrade, so I used some unused gift cards to purchase one of the latest cameras around: The Sony NEX 5 (with 18-55mm and 16mm lens). I picked the Sony NEX 5 because I wanted a small camera that can produce images rivaling DSLR cameras. I also wanted a camera that can record HD movies. I'm happy to say the Sony NEX 5 was a great purchase. I'm not going to bore you with the detailed specs as you can read all about it from Sony's site (http://www.sonystyle.com/nex). Instead, I'll give a quick review of my experience with the product.

The camera is well built with a metal alloy and its weight is not too light or too heavy. Anyone can carry this thing around with ease. Without the 55mm lens, the camera body is quite small and almost the same size as the Minolta Dimage (see below)! If you don't want a zoom, you can use the 16mm lens, which makes the camera even more portable. Switching the lens involves pushing a button and turning the lens body. I wished Sony made lens that was 16-21mm as I prefer the 18mm angle. The 18-55mm lens makes the camera pretty big. The camera does not come with a case, so I purchased a Sony Handy Cam case which was a perfect fit for the Sony NEX 5 and its battery charger. For those that like to keep their gadgets clean, you can trim a Sony PSP lens protector and use it on the NEX 5.

Usability is great on the camera. You simply turn it on and you can start taking pictures. The physical buttons consist of the power switch, shoot button, view pictures button, a delete button, a record movie button, a menu button, and a dial used to navigate the menu system. All the buttons feel solid. The actual menu system graphics is similar to menus you'd find in the PSP or PS3. If you like to use flash lighting in your shots, you'd have to manually connect the flash to the camera as it's a separate component. I hardly use flash as images look crap. Inserting the SD card is simple and involves opening the battery compartment cover. I used a San Disk Extreme III SD card and it works great. Hooking up the camera to the computer is easy using the supplied USB cable and you'll see the device as a storage drive.

The picture quality of still images and HD movies is simply amazing for me. I can take nature shots that look like Windows Wallpaper. The camera automatically focuses on the foreground object and blurs the background, so you don't have to do anything if you like that kind of shots. For the professionals out there, you can fine tune the image digitally or by adjusting the lens.

All in all, the Sony NEX 5 is a good camera. The Sony NEX 7 is supposed to come out soon, but I have no idea if it’ll be the same size as the NEX 5. Check out the un-boxing images below and some pictures taken with the NEX 5.

Sony NEX 5 Un-boxing

Sony NEX 5 Pictures