A small, well-featured compact system camera that's ideal for beginners
Introduction and features
Sony
is slowly replacing many of the cameras that used to be branded with
the NEX moniker, and the A5100 is the replacement for the NEX-5T.
Although the camera is the same shape as its predecessor, Sony has
fitted it with the same excellent 24.3 million pixel sensor and Bionz X
processor as found in the A6000. Another key change is
the increase in the number of autofocus points to 179 for phase
detection and 25 for contrast detection. The NEX-5T also had a hybrid AF
system, but it only had 99 phase detection points in addition to its 25
contrast detect areas. This
gives the new camera far greater coverage and only the outer edges of
the imaging frame are not covered. Focusing speeds are quoted as 0.07
seconds, making it just slightly slower than the A6000 and Fuji X-T1,
which (with their 0.06 second AF speeds) claim to be the fastest
focusing APS-C cameras on the market.
The sensor is APS-C sized, but features the same gapless
on-chip lens structure as the full-frame A7R. This should make it
better for capturing more light and therefore good in low-light shooting
conditions. In addition to single AF and continuous AF,
the A5100 has an Auto AF mode in which it decides whether to use single
or continuous AF, depending on whether it detects the subject to be
moving. It's capable of shooting at up to 6fps. This
hybrid AF system also operates in Movie mode and footage may be saved
in AVCHD, XAVC S or MP4 format, or in XAVC S and MP4 – simultaneously.
This provides the easy sharing capability of MP4 with the high data
content of XAVX S. In
addition to Focus Peaking to indicate areas of highest contrast
(focus), there is a Zebra display to show areas approaching burn-out,
and markers with grid lines and the centre point can be shown on screen
to make framing easier. Like the NEX-5T, the A5100 has a
3-inch 921,000-dot LCD screen that is touch-sensitive and can be flipped
up through 180 degrees for taking selfies. Touch-control is again
fairly limited, however, as it can only be used for setting the AF point
or tripping the shutter. Thanks
to the new processing engine, sensitivity range also stays the same at
ISO 100-25,600, despite the increase in pixel count. While
the NEX-5T had a hot-shoe with an accessory connection but no pop-up
flash, the A5100 has a pop-up flash (Guide Number 6 @ISO 100) but no
hot-shoe. Like the NEX-5T, the Alpha 5100 has Wi-Fi and
NFC connectivity, and is compatible with PlayMemories apps to expand its
featureset. These can be downloaded from the PlayMemories store
directly from within the camera. With
the appropriate app in place, images can be directly uploaded to
Facebook and the like. There's also the possibility to remotely control
the camera from your phone or tablet, as well as sending images across
to a device for sharing online. As standard, the A5100
comes bundled with a 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 power zoom lens - this means that
you can zoom it from a switch on the camera body itself. There's a
decent range of E-mount lenses now available for Sony's cameras, both
directly from the manufacturer itself or through third-party
manufacturers such as Sigma. Sony has also teamed up with Zeiss to
produce a few extra high quality lenses for the E-mount.
The
Alpha 5100 sits at the beginner end of Sony's range of interchangeable
lens cameras, so its likely competitors are Panasonic GF6, Olympus Pen
Mini, Samsung NX3000 and Fuji X-M1.
Build Quality and Handling
At 109.6x62.8x35.7mm the Alpha 5100 is smaller than the
A6000 (120x66.9x45.1mm) and slightly smaller than the NEX-5T
(110.8x58.8x38.9mm) and this has meant the loss of the control dial on
the top of the camera. As a result the Alpha 5100 makes
greater use of the navigation controls and it's a shame that the menu
(which is the same as the A6000's) can't be navigated via the
touch-screen. If
you want to change the shooting mode (for instance from automatic to
one of the semi-automatic modes) then you can go through the main menu. I
found it quite useful to set one of the custom buttons to this function
though, to give you quicker access.
There's also no hotshoe or viewfinder on the top of the
camera, so if you're a fan of composing in a traditional manner you'll
be out of luck here. One of my favourite things about
Sony cameras is their level of customisation. Here on the A5100, that
extends to the central button in the four-way navigational pad, as well
as all of the directional keys around the pad. By
default, each of these has its own function (such as left for
self-timer or down for exposure compensation), but if you'd prefer to
change this system then you can. There's also a button marked with a
question mark that you can assign a function to. For each custom button
there are 35 different options. Despite
its small size and light weight (224g), the A5100 feels solidly made.
It feels most suited to use with the 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 lens in terms of
proportions - using it with something large like the Zeiss 16-70 f/4
lens makes it feel slightly unbalanced. There's a decent sized grip
which has a textured coating, which makes it feel comfortably secure in
the hand. Sony
says it has designed the A5100 with one-handed shooting in mind. This
is evident by the fact that all of the buttons are grouped on the right
hand side of the camera. Around the shutter release, there's a zoom
lever, which is useful when using the power zoom lens, as again it means
you only need your right hand to operate camera. There is also a switch
on the lens itself if you prefer to use both hands. To
start movie recording, you can use a dedicated button on the top of the
camera which is set at an angle and helps to avoid accidental knocks.
The only button which isn't found on the right hand side of the camera
is the flash button - you need to press this to cause the flash to pop
up. One
word of warning when using the flash: if you're using anything other
than a short lens, then the flash doesn't raise high enough to clear the
lens barrel. The kit lens is fine. If you're shooting in
manual or semi-automatic modes, then you'll need to use the scrolling
dial on the back of the camera to alter shutter speed or aperture. While
in manual, press the down key to switch between the two parameters. The
addition of a touchscreen makes setting the AF point a much quicker and
easier process than on several other Sony cameras, including the A5000.
Once you've set the AF mode to Flexible Spot (you can also choose
between small, medium and large spot), simply tap the area on the screen
you wish to focus on. Sony
simplified its menu systems across its range of cameras a while back,
and here again we find a fairly sensibly arranged menu divided into
different tabs. There's still some slightly incongruously labelled
options, such as 'audio signals' which allows you to switch off the
beep, but it's something you get used to with exploration. If
you have an NFC-enabled device, pairing it with the A5100 is a doddle.
Simply tap the two together at the relevant points on both devices and
the Sony PlayMemories app will launch automatically if you have it
installed - if you don't you will be prompted to download it from the
Google Play store. If you have only a Wi-Fi enabled
device (such as an iPhone), then you'll need to connect via Wi-Fi. This
is a slightly more laborious process, but once you've connected once it
becomes easier. Remote
controlling the camera from the app is useful if you're shooting from a
distance, or want to do a group portrait, but it's a shame that you
can't control different parameters from the app itself - even more
frustrating is knowing that the app is capable of doing this with other
cameras such as the QX1.
Performance
With the same sensor and processing engine as the A6000, we
were pretty confident that the A5100 would also deliver excellent
results - in fact it's fair to say that probably the biggest difference
between these cameras is handling, not performance. Colours
directly from the camera are bright and vibrant, displaying a good
level of saturation. You can adjust how colours are outputted directly
from the camera by altering Creative Style. Here you'll find options
such as Vivid, Portrait, Black and White and Landscape. Each
of these are customisable - you can increase the contrast for instance -
and have the benefit of being able to shoot these styles in raw format,
leaving you with a clean version of the image should you need it.
Detail is rendered extremely well by the 24.3 million
pixel sensor, with lots of fine detail found right across the scene.
This is especially true when looking at an image at normal printing or
web sizes - and even when zooming in at 100%, the impression of detail
is still great, giving you good scope to crop an image if you need to
improve composition. In the majority of cases, the
a5100's metering system copes well to produce accurate exposures,
however you may find in some very high contrast situations it is
beneficial to dial in some exposure compensation. Also
very useful is the Dynamic Range Optimiser function; this helps you to
get a balanced exposure when one area of the scene is darker or brighter
than the rest of it. There are five levels you can choose from, or
leave the camera to automatically detect the appropriate level. Shooting
at DRO Level 5 is perhaps best avoided as it can leave the scene
looking a little fake, but 1-4 are very handy indeed. Similarly,
the camera's automatic white balance does a decent job of producing
accurate colours in most situations. That said, it can err a little
towards warmer tones under artificial light, and if there are two
different types of light in a scene, it's unlikely you'll be able to get
a wholly accurate overall picture. Switching to a more appropriate
white balance setting can be beneficial if you're finding the warm tones
to be displeasing. One
of the benefits of the new Bionz X processor, Sony claims, is its
better ability in low light shooting scenarios. Pleasingly, the A5100
copes very well with high sensitivity settings - at ISO 3200 for
instance, you get an excellent overall impression of detail and low
noise. If you examine at 100%, you can see some areas of the image have a
slight painterly effect, but overall detail is kept fairly well. If
you examine the raw format equivalent of a JPEG image, you can see how
heavy-handed the camera's in-noise reduction is. You can set your own
level of noise reduction using Sony's raw data converter software, or in
third-party software such as Photoshop when Adobe Camera Raw is
updated. This is useful if you would prefer to keep detail rather than
smooth out noise. Other
than Creative Styles, you can experiment with different Picture Effects
if you want to get creative. These can only be shot in JPEG format, but
are still worth experimenting with to see if any particularly appeal.
I'm a fan of Toy Camera and High Contrast Monochrome, but it will be
down to personal taste. It would be nice to see Sony
giving you the option to shoot in raw format here, as you might change
your mind about the filter down the line - it's something I keep hoping
to see with every new Alpha. The supplied kit lens is a
decent all-round performer, producing sharp images and giving you plenty
of flexibility in terms of its focal range. There's a decent number of
lenses available now for the Sony E mount if you decide you want to
expand your repertoire. A particular favourite of mine is the 50mm f/1.8
lens, which is great for shooting shallow depth of field images, or
when shooting in low light conditions. Another
benefit of the Bionz X processor is the increased speed of both
autofocusing and general operational speeds. Although not quite as quick
as the A6000, or indeed Micro Four Thirds cameras, the A5100 locks onto
targets under good light quickly and easily. As the
light drops, so do autofocus acquisition speeds, but it's rare for a
false positive confirmation of focus to be presented. Shot-to-shot times
are decent, and moving through the menus and screens is also pretty
swift.
A range of different effects are available, as follows. No EffectToy Camera (Normal)Toy Camera (Cool)Toy Camera (Warm)Toy Camera (Green)Toy Camera (Magenta)Pop ColorPosterization: ColorPosterization (B/W)Retro PhotoSoft High KeyHigh Contrast MonoSoft FocusHDR PaintingRich-tone MonoMiniatureWatercolor Verdict
Having been in the CSC game for some time, Sony has once again produced another extremely capable camera. You
can generally rely on Sony cameras to produce excellent images, and
happily, the A5100 is no different. Images are bright and punchy
directly from the camera, while the amount of detail resolved by its
sensor is also particularly impressive. Pitched at first
time interchangeable lens system buyers, it's a good camera to get you
started, with the kit lens being a great all-round performer if you
choose to only stick with one lens for the time being.
Those further up the experience scale may be a little
bit disappointed by the lack of a hot-shoe or built-in viewfinder, as
well as the lack of direct control buttons such as a mode dial. On a
more positive note, at least you can set all of the buttons to work how
you want them to, giving you a good degree of control. It's
great to see that Sony has included a touchscreen on this camera. While
there was one on the 5T, there wasn't on the A5000. With a camera that
doesn't include too many direct control buttons or dials, having the
touch sensitive screen to set autofocus point is a good timesaver. What's
slightly more annoying though is that you can't use the touchscreen for
anything else, such as changing settings or navigating the menu - this
seems like a bit of an odd omission. There's
a fair amount available here to appeal to the creative photographer,
but again it's frustrating that once again Picture Effects cannot be
shot in raw format. You do have the option to shoot Creative Styles in
both raw format and JPEG though, which is something at least. It's
nice to see the inclusion of Wi-Fi and NFC connectivity. If you have an
NFC enabled device, it's so easy to use the pair together. While it's a
little more fiddly using Wi-Fi, it's handy for remote shooting and
sending images across to a smart device. On the other hand, the fact
that you can't control much from the app is particularly frustrating
when this capability is included with cameras such as the QX1. Including
technology from further up the range is a fairly common occurrence for
camera manufacturers, but it's great to see some of the best features
from the excellent A6000 trickling down the line - namely the sensor and
Bionz X processor. Now we need to convince Sony to send some of the
technologies (a touch-sensitive screen for instance) up the other way to
the higher end of the range.
We liked
The A5100
produces excellent images, which is the most important thing about any
camera. They're bold and punchy, while the amount of detail is
fantastic. Even if you never upgrade from the kit lens, you're bound to
be very pleased with what the camera can produce.
We disliked
There's
not a great deal of direct control buttons and dials here, and removing
the hotshoe means that you can't attach an external viewfinder - which
seems a shame. Then again, the beginner audience for this camera may not
be bothered by such features. It would be nice to see the touchscreen
used for more than just setting the AF point, though.
Verdict
Sony
has produced another decent, well performing camera. It's not the most
exciting compact system camera on the market, but it does have a good
range of functions and features that should appeal to a wide range of
people. The Sony E Mount system is also becoming a well established
system, so it's a nice one to get started with if you're thinking
long-term, too. Overall this would also make an excellent
system camera for travelling with, if you want something small and
light that you can still rely on to produce fantastic pictures.
