Users interface
Sony has tried to develop the user
interface without making huge changes. That still means many studies to format
the card or change the focus mode, with the important adjustments only seen at
the top menu level. The good news here is current NEX users will have no
problem configuring the camera without using the instruction guide. The biggest
addition is the Application part for the first time, Sony allows you to add
“app” for the camera; though, this’s not an open invitation to collect and
create. Direct Upload (to Facebook or website of Sony), Smart Remote Control and
Picture Effect+ is preloaded, while Photo Retouch (free), Multi Frame NR (5 USD)
and Bracket Pro (5 USD) is available for downloading. That’s all at this
moment. The third-party developers won’t be allowed to submit apps, so whatever
you see has been and will be created by Sony.
Sony
has tried to develop the user interface without making huge changes.
The camera app store, if you can call so,
mainly bases on the web, with the same web-browsing function which also expands
the connection process. This means that you can log in to hotel or other public
networks by using username or password, so you can buy Wi-Fi access for the
camera just like for the laptop or smartphone. To connect, you will click onto
the network you want, enter the password if you can or log in to a web
authentication form by tapping the keyboard on the small screen. It’s not a
fast but effective process.
The
camera app store, if you can call so, mainly bases on the web, with the same
web-browsing function
We can upload images to Facebook successfully
from the hotel network and add some notes despite typing a short
paragraph is pretty painful. As default, the images are added to a gallery the
will be labeled with the time it was taken, though you can browse through the
current Facebook albums if you like to drop it somewhere else. We’re not
totally in to the idea of uploading directly on the camera, because it seems
not quite efficient to many cameras, but it’s a probability here and as the
touch screen function, the feature is there if you want to use it, but almost
invisible if you don’t want to.
We
can upload images to Facebook successfully from the hotel network and add
some notes
Unfortunately, we won’t be able to check
the portable-device integration, including Smart Remote Control and smartphone-viewing
function. Both require you to install the free PlayMemories Mobile app for Android
or iOS. At announcing time, we were told that the current app version (2.0.2) couldn’t
compatible with the Android versions on 4.1, along with iOS 6. A new app is
about to come, but the current version doesn’t allows us to connect to the
camera successfully. We have tested 2 NEX-5R cameras and many Android devices,
even Galaxy Note running 4.0.4, which can’t connect, too. Sony knows the
problem and confirms that a fix is performing.
You may have noticed the dedicated mode
dial of NEX-6 – but it’s not here. Instead of that, you will press a button to
turn off/on the UI mode selector, which offers many normal manual options,
along with Sweep Panorama, Scene Selection, Intelligent Auto and Superior Auto,
which deliver a little of magic to reduce blur and noise. We spend most of our
time shooting in the latter mode to see what 5R can do, and how it reacts to
difficult light conditions. We will go into more detail below, but we’re quite
pleased with this option, especially when reviewing the images after a day
shooting.
Performance and battery life
It’s not perfect, but of course NEX is one
of the brightest stars of the mirrorless camera category. First, it shoots with
the speed of 10fps, with the full-resolution shooting capability and
phrase-detecting AF. You won’t need to shoot that fast in most situations, but
this performance also shows in other fields, such as Multi-Frame Noise
Reduction mode that you can take advantage when shooting in Superior Auto mode.
Based on the scene and the current exposure, 5R can choose to activate this
option, which launches 3 continuous frames and display the unified image within
1 or 2 seconds after that. Since the camera can shoot very fast, the small
movements won’t affect the final result. We want to see Sony offering more
alerts before beginning to shoot for many times, but there’s only a small
indicator on the screen which serves that purpose as long as you don’t miss it.
NEX
is one of the brightest stars of the mirrorless camera category.
Focusing also improves several times – once,
we are normal not impressed with the capability of the NEX cameras in this
field, but with 5R, we think that our prayers have been responded. The new
Fast Hybrid AF combines 99 phrase-detecting and 25 contrast-detecting focus
points, offering a fast and accurately adjustment system, even in dim light.
We always want to shoot without the AF
assist lamp, so we throw it away right after we disable the annoying menu beep.
Anyhow, the camera excels in focusing the object in a nearly pitch-black
condition, even at max aperture of the 18-55mm kit lens. We’ve never seen such
performance from NEX. OM-D E-M5 of Olympus still gain the first award for the
speed, but the ability of 5R is worth praising.
We have seen equally improvements in video
field, especially when taking focus into account. In auto mode, you can type
the theme on the screen, at this time the screen will keep that target when it
moves, supposing your position (or them) doesn’t change significantly. Tracking
ability is not new, but the previous results are pretty irregular. Here it
works well – you may know the speed in the clip sample below. In manual modes,
you can choose the center focus point, which is always our taste for actual shooting
and reviewing. If your subject moves or changes it position, 5R will adjust
quickly to be suitable for it. As the previous 5N, this year’s model offers the
1,080p recording capability with the speed of 60fps and 24fps in AVCHD mode. If
you choose MP4, max resolution reduces to 1,440x1,080 with 30fps.
While you can’t expect the time limit like DSLR,
we’re always impressed with the battery life of NEX series. Sony has used the
same 1,080mAh battery since the first model, and we realize that it works well
even after a few years of using. However, we have used the new battery with 5R,
and after a full charge, we can shoot almost 22 minutes of HD video and take
more than 550 photos, even some multi-frame photos in high-ISO noise reducing
mode during 24 hours. We also spend a lot of time “getting mixed up” with the Wi-Fi
features, so the number of photos you take may pass this one.
