Gadgetory

generally a better designed version of the nex-5n the interchangeable lens Sony Alpha nex-5r delivers similarly excellent photo quality and somewhat improve performance over that model though it looks about the same the addition of the control dial and a function button make a big difference in usability and it's streamlined shooting for those of us who like direct access controls for everything the menu system still gets a little annoying and now has the card sub menu rolled into setup which makes it quite tedious to find important options like card formatting and Wi-Fi setup the Wi-Fi features are pretty basic though most competitors offer the same you can upload to Facebook or Sony's plain memory service or you can transfer directly to your phone there's also a remote shutter app that lets you use your phone or tablet as a larger screen but all you can really do is snap the photo also new is the ability to download and install proprietary apps but the whole operation seems to offer more benefit to Sony than to camera owners for instance the free picture effects Plus app duplicates the effects in the camera with the exception of adding watercolor and illustration but both of those are built into the NEX f3 so they took them out to put them into the app the photo quality really is quite good with clean JPEGs as high as ISO 400 and for the most part usable images as high as ISO 3200 depending upon the scene Sony's image processing is so well done that I really couldn't get better noise reduction at any ISO level by processing the Raw's though shooting raw still helps for recovering highlights or shadow detail colors look relatively accurate the sony doesn't offer a neutral color option and the camera renders a nice tonal range the video has some artifacts notably aliasing and moire but the low-light tonal quality looks better than average and there's less color noise than usual as well it's not the fastest camera in its class but it's certainly fast enough I find the interface feels a little sluggish though and the LCD is really hard to see in direct sunlight it tilts but you really need a flip-out or EVF to compensate and bright situations the design of the 5r feels especially suited to street photography and I like shooting with it as long as you're considering it for reasons other than the app support or wireless capability it comes highly recommended I'm Lori groanin and this is the Sony Alpha nex-5r