when digital in cameras was still young, it was over 10 years ago that Nikon and Sony started experimenting with the then-weird L-shaped cameras . both and especially Sony kept at it, until as the heat of 2010 – the Year we are Supposed to Make Contact – in a World supposedly dominated by a Woo~ and WoW’s of the iPhone 4 AND iPad : come a totally “New” kind of digital camera in NEX-3 and NEX-5 line .

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then for camera freaks, the World changed, as we know it, when from early Millennium : Olympus and Kodak started twinkling with a new kind of Four Thirds system in digital camera AND its lens . then, to the tune of the last scene of the now-classic Sci-Fi movie “2010 – The Year We Make Contact” : a Wonderful Thing happened, although with a tear drop for the good ol’days of film-cameras – the “click” of the shutter as the mirror flipped, dissappeared forever from the (SLR – Single Lens Reflex) camera scene . so now, some (manufacturers) ADD an artificial sound to simulate that . two years ago from now, in the Summer of 2008 Panasonic came up the first Micro Four Third camera that rids of the flipping mirror to bring the image directly to the digital sensor . what followed was an ensuing of the incredibly shrinking camera in size – a small SLR which, was NO SLR .

  

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now Sony, much more digital-based than their film-age predecessors above, introduce their own standard following their own comfortable “L” shaped cameras in design, with a much more “compact” or rather tight and rugged feel . also keep in mind that, building up to this, Sony has been showing “brighter” cameras in ultra-compact WX1 and long-zoon HX5, although too manipulated by the computer un-naturally . so we are definitely seeing a new era here in the making of a new kind of image-taking portable machine .

first the simple differences in the two new model lines NEX-5 and NEX-3 .
NEX-3 is roughly W150,000 cheaper, a bit larger, has a plastic feel and has a more wide choice of colors in White, Silver, Black and Red,
while the more expensive NEX-5 has a tight stainless-steel touch with alluminum-alloy exterior, enables full-HD video recording (but still limited up to 30 minutes per shot AND 2GB file size) and is available in Silver or Black only . that’s it .

then the choices, although much odd for the consumer, in buying package which is a simple matter of which lens they come with :

  • NEX-3A comes with the wide E16mm F2.8 lens (comparable to 24mm wide focal lenth in 35mm cameras) at W770,000
  • NEX-3D with a double lens package in E16mm F2.8 AND E18-55mm F3.5-5.6 OSS for W950,000
  • NEX-3K with medium focal zoom lens E18-55mm F3.5-5.6 OSS selling at W800,000

 

  • NEX-5A again with wide E16mm F2.8 lens only selling for W900,000 at larger discount outlets
  • NEX-5D again with a two lens package E16mm F2.8E18-55mm F3.5-5.6 OSS for W1,100,000
  • NEX-5K again with the medium zoom E18-55mm F3.5-5.6 OSS costing W950,000

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the prices quoted are the cheapest on larger on-line stores – which has a very low profit margin for competition, thus would be slightly more on off-line brick-and-motor stores and considerably more in brand-name department stores and even official Sony outlets .

mind-you : Sony-Korea is a separate company contracted for sales AND mostly product support for within South Korea . they are known for their notorious pricing on anything out of warranty . sales-wise, they have ONE on-line store and TWO direct-run show room and store in (South of the Han River) “KangNam” which is the nouveau-riche area in the Capital of Seoul .

many other “Sony” stores exist around the Penninsula especially in major department stores but are to carry only a small portion of Sony electronic products, especially selective on VAIO notebooks, laptops or NetBooks .

also note that the focal length numbers for this format is smaller than 35mm cameras, thus the wide angle 16mm is comparable to 24mm wide angle for older 35mm format cameras . still, this is an unual choice for a single buy to carry around at all times because it is rather /artifically/ wide and deviation occur at corners . a rather forgiving wide angle in 28mm is considered the most natural if you are to buy a single wide angle for most scenery photography . a rather expensive longer zoom comparable to 200mm in 35mm cameras (SEL18200 E18-200mm F3.5-6.3 OSS) is previewed but for now the most “sensible” buy would be with their mid-focal zoom .

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 at first glance the NEX-5 is /small/ for an SLR-comparable device at 11.1 x 5.9 x 3.82cm . and /heavy/ for its miniscule size when lens is attached . and you know something is right in a long~ line of digital try-outs since the beginning of the demise of film-based cameras .

  • interesting fact is that Sony’s superior motion stabilization is contained IN the lens than the so-compact-that-there’s-barely-room-for-any-other-technology NEX-5 body .
  • the fun part, although some may call it frustrating – is when you inpack the tiny flash from its dedicated casing and attach it somewhat weirdly – NOT like conventional flash-shoe, but as if you are attaching a USB cable onto a cell phone-ish manner onto the concealed slot on the upper side of NEX-5 .
  • and oh is it another Apple wanna-be ? for buttons are at a minimum on the camera itself .
  • plus a great feature why new-comers have to buy : a help button explaining how you should take this shot, short of how to solve all your problems lingering in Real Life ..

 

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lens are interchangeable with a short line of “α” E-mount lens, and aside from the cute flash, some of the funner (!) option accessories include :
microphone, remote control, view finder, lens mount adapter, conversion lens and several colorful dedicated cases .

 

and here’s when Keiko returns to our hometown of Kobe ..

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[ Sony NEX-5 Box Opening Ceremony ]

as tacky as it might sound, um to the tune of all the Goal Shooting Ceremony contemplated at the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa,
here’s my own heart-felt Box Opening Ceremony for the latest Sony NEX-5 in this case NEX-5K with medium zoom lens :

    

  

– Korea Tech BLog, June 2010 –