Introduction

Ease of Use

The Sony NEX-5R is outwardly very similar to the older NEX-5N model, so some of the comments that we made about that camera apply equally to the NEX-5R. The NEX-5R's rectangular body shape and blocky grip is less immediately appealing than the retro finesse of an Olympus Pen or modernist curves of the Panasonic G series. With the supplied 18-55mmm kit lens attached the NEX-5R also looks and feels top heavy, and that's without fitting an existing Alpha DSLR lens proper, compatibility offered with pre-existing optics via the LA-EA2 accessory adapter which allows phase-detection AF with almost all of the A-mount lenses. The NEX-5R does undoubtedly feel solid when gripped in the palm, although with the lens attached it's too large for most jacket pockets.

The LCD screen can be tilted backwards by 40 degrees and forwards by 180 degrees for arm’s length self-portraits - if not, unfortunately swung outwards at 90° - to allow for low and high angle compositions we might not have attempted without. Note that fitting the clip-on flash prevents the LCD from being tilted fully forwards. Sony has also included High Definition video shooting at Full HD 1080p at 60fps with stereo sound with the welcome ability to control shutter speed, aperture and exposure compensation during recording. It also features a useful dedicated red camcorder-style video record button for instant thumb-operated video access, while Tracking Focus allows a target object to be selected via the touchscreen LCD, even when the subject is moving, for both stills and video.

The NEX-5R isn't quite the world's smallest and lightest interchangeable lens camera, but at 218g and 38.9mm in depth including its grip or lens mount, it's hardly a large model. Low light sensitivity without flash also theoretically looks set to show rivals a thing or two by ranging from ISO 100 to a maximum ISO 25600 equivalent setting. Impressive stuff, and matching the sort of spec we're used to seeing on mid-range DSLRs.

Like Panasonic's directly competing GF5 (and unlike the Olympus Pens) there's no in-body image stabilisation offered by the NEX-5R unfortunately, so this is via lens only, the optically stabilized 18-55mm zoom offered as part of a kit deal for £670 / $750 all-in. Though we did get occasional softness, this appears to work well - at least as effectively as the in-camera or lens based anti shake methodology deployed by rival brands.

Sony branding and DSLR-style lens release button aside, all we find on the faceplate is a small porthole-shaped window for the AF assist/self timer lamp, a rectangular CR3 battery-sized and shaped handgrip with a subtly ridged surface for a firmer hold, plus the shutter release and new customisable Function button on the forward-sloping edge at its top, the latter by default accessing 6 commonly used options which include autofocus type, autofocus mode, autofocus area, white balance, metering mode and picture effects. with 10 other options also available.

Front	Rear

The NEX-5R is turned on or off via a thumb-flick of a chunky, nicely rigid switch which surrounds the shutter release, rather than via the recessed button we usually find on cameras with a smaller form factor. The new thumb-operated control dial that's partially recessed into the top of the NEX-5R makes it easy to change key values like aperture, shutter speed, exposure compensation and menu options, and marks a major improvement on the design of the older 5N model.

The top plate looks similarly functional rather than fashionable. There's a dedicated playback/review button and the one-touch movie record button. Press this and the user is instantly recording video, whatever alternative shooting mode might previously have been in use; like the same control found on latter Panasonic G-series and Olympus PEN cameras, this proves essential with regard to spur of the moment filming. Also positioned atop the camera are a left and right (stereo in combination) microphone, each sitting either side of the lens mount, with the clip-on flash/accessory port positioned in between.

Incidentally, should you already have a lens attached, screwing the flash into position proves a tad fiddly, as there's not much room to fit your fingers between the curve of the lens barrel - which stands slightly proud of the top and base of the camera - and the front of the flash, which features a small tightening nut via which it is secured in place. Though the flash can be stored flat to the body to aid portability and adds hardly any additional weight or bulk, when in use the head needs to be manually raised at a angle of approximately 45°.

Press the shutter release button down halfway and, after the very briefest of pauses the AF point/s are highlighted in green accompanied by an optional beep of affirmation to indicate that the user is good to continue on and take the shot. The new Fast Hybrid AF combines phase- and contrast-detection autofocus methods is definitely a little snappier and more accurate than the conventional contrast-detection system used by the NEX-5N, but note that it's currently only supported by a few lenses (E 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 OSS; E 55-210mm F4-6.3 OSS; E 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 OSS; E 24mm F1.8ZA Sonnar T*.) Do so, and in single shot mode to the sound of a satisfyingly brief shutter click thanks to a release time lag of just 0.02 seconds, a full resolution JPEG is written to memory in about 2 seconds.

Front	Top

As you'd expect in this price bracket, there is the option to also shoot Raw files, or even more usefully for those who wish to hedge their bets Raw and JPEG images in tandem. These settings are accessed within the Image Size folder and are found within the Quality sub folder. You also get Fine or Normal compression levels offered for JPEGs.

Not everything on the NEX-5R is located exactly where you might expect it to be found. For example ISO settings are discovered within a Brightness menu option that from the look of the icon that denotes it initially appears to be for adjusting screen brightness only. One would reasonably expect ISO adjustment to be found within the Camera folder with the other key shooting options. And so there's a fair amount of familiarisation with the NEX-5R's quirks required up front.

Shoot mode gets its own virtual dial though - so at least selecting the options here, including standard P,A,S,M, 9-strong scene mode, Anti Motion Blur, Intelligent Auto, Sweep Panorama and 3D Sweep Panorama, prove easier. Even in intelligent auto mode users still have the ability to get hands on to a degree by controlling background defocus, with a half moon shaped indicator appealing on-screen to the side of the scroll wheel, defocus at the bottom of the arc, 'crisp' at the top. The NEX-5R offers further controls for Brightness, Color, Vividness and Picture Effects, all part of the so-called Photo Creativity Touch interface.

The NEX-5R's external backplate is a similarly pared-down affair, the majority of it taken up by the 3-inch widescreen ratio angle-adjustable LCD that stretches from base to top plate. You can interact with the camera via onscreen icons and menus by touching the screen, and also set the focus point, handy for off-centre shooting and tracking moving subjects. You can now also fire the shutter as on many rival cameras. Thankfully you don't have to use the touchscreen at all if you prefer a more conventional approach, as you can still use the external controls to fully operate the camera (you can even turn off the touchscreen altogether if you prefer).

Pop-up Flash	Tilting LCD Screen

To the right of the screen is a trio of controls - the top and bottom buttons unmarked until the screen is activated, at which point their purpose is detailed alongside it. The top-most control is revealed as the 'menu' button, a press of which brings up the shooting icons - seven in total - the contents of we've already briefly touched on. Instead of the screen-full of text you might expect to be presented with upon press of the menu control, from top left to bottom right of screen, presented instead are Shoot Mode, Camera, Image Size, Brightness/Colour, Playback, Application and Setup icons.

The user moves through these options and makes selections either via the scroll wheel just below the menu button, which has its own central (and again unmarked) set button, or the new touchscreen interface. As mentioned this wheel is quite responsive to the touch, which, on a positive note, means that tabbing through options is a swift process, but on the other hand it's easy to slip past the setting you actually wanted when hurrying through them as a photo opportunity suddenly presents itself.

Set at four points around this scroll wheel/pad are a means of adjusting the display, ISO speed, exposure compensation (+/- 2EV selectable), and drive mode (single shot, continuous, continuous with speed priority, so focus/exposure fixed from the first shot), or self timer option (2 or 10 seconds). There's also options to enable the camera to be utilized with the aid of a remote - sold separately of course - and a bracketing control for exposure.

Disappointingly you have to delve into the Camera main menu system to access the various flash modes. The flash options more unusually include rear sync as well as slow sync, plus the regulars of auto and fill in. Somewhat confusingly the NEX-5R's red eye reduction setting isn't also found here - instead it has to be first enabled via the aforementioned Setup folder if you're shooting portraits with flash.

Memory Card Slot	Battery Compartment

The bottom button on the camera back now provides a means of calling up the new wi-fi options. You can wirelessly transfer your photos to a smartphone or tablet that's running the free PlayMemories Mobile app, or directly to a networked PC for easier backup. You can also view on a DLNA-compatible TV via a wireless router, or send them straight from the camera a TV that supports Wi-Fi Direct.

In addition to built-in wi-fi, the NEX-5R is the first Sony camera to support PlayMemories Camera Apps. As the name suggests, this is a downloadable service that lets you add new functionality to the camera, either via wi-fi or USB connection. Apps available at launch include “Picture Effect+”; “Bracket Pro”; “Multi Frame NR”; “Photo Retouch”; “Smart Remote Control” and “Direct Upload”, and Sony plans to provide more new apps, such as “Time-lapse” and ”Cinematic Photo”, in the near future. Note that only some of the apps are free.

The NEX-5R provides on-screen shooting tips, via which Sony no doubt hopes to provide a crutch for new users trading up from a bog standard point and shoot compact. Examples of textual advice, complete with small pictorial thumbnail alongside, include 'increase the ISO sensitivity to make the shutter speed faster', and then, the thoughtful addition: 'higher ISO sensitivity may make noise stand out.' Hand-holding for those who want it then, while others may feel Sony has wasted one of its very few dedicated buttons on a feature that, like the manual, many will choose to ignore.

At the base of the camera we find a metal screw thread for a tripod directly beneath the lens mount, and, in the nether regions of the grip, a compartment storing both rechargeable battery and optional memory card - here Sony reaching out to a wider audience by offering SD/SDHC/SDXC compatibility alongside its own Memory Stick.

While the right hand side of the NEX-5R - if viewing it from the back - features a continuation of the ridged grip but is otherwise devoid of ports or controls, the left hand flank is where users will find a covered port for HDMI connectivity and USB output. Only the USB cable was provided with our review sample; there's no standard definition AV output.

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 16 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 5Mb.

The Sony NEX-5R produces photos of excellent quality. Noise is very well handled, being virtually absent from ISO 100-3200 and not being too obvious at the fast speed of ISO 6400. At ISO 12800, noise is more easily detectable when viewing images at 100% magnification on screen, but the images are still perfectly usable for small prints and resizing for web use. The fastest setting of ISO 25600 looks good on the specification sheet, but proves much less so in reality. The RAW samples illustrate just how much processing the camera does by default, though, as they're much noisier at all ISO values than their JPEG counterparts.

Colours were vibrant without being over-saturated in the default Standard Creative Style, and you can always choose Vivid if you want even more punch. The 11 Picture Effects quickly produce special looks that would otherwise require you to spend a lot of time in the digital darkroom, while the 6 Creative Styles provide a quick and easy way to tweak the camera's JPEG images. The Dynamic Range Optimizer and High Dynamic Range modes both work really well, although we'd advise caution over using some of the higher and more extreme levels, while Sony's now tried-and-trusted Sweep Panorama is still a joy to use.

Image stabilisation via the lens is a very useful feature that works well when hand-holding the NEX-5R in low-light conditions or when using the telephoto end of the zoom range. The 16.1 megapixel images were a little soft straight out of the camera at the default sharpening setting and ideally require some further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, or you can change the in-camera setting. The pop-up flash provides an adequate level of exposure and thankfully little or no red-eye.

Noise

There are 9 ISO settings available on the Sony NEX-5R. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting:

JPEG	RAW
ISO 100 (100% Crop)	ISO 100 (100% Crop)
ISO 200 (100% Crop)	ISO 200 (100% Crop)
ISO 400 (100% Crop)	ISO 400 (100% Crop)
ISO 800 (100% Crop)	ISO 800 (100% Crop)
ISO 1600 (100% Crop)	ISO 1600 (100% Crop)
ISO 3200 (100% Crop)	ISO 3200 (100% Crop)
ISO 6400 (100% Crop)	ISO 6400 (100% Crop)
ISO 12800 (100% Crop)	ISO 12800 (100% Crop)
ISO 25600 (100% Crop)	ISO 25600 (100% Crop)

Sharpening

Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are soft at the default sharpening setting. You can change the in-camera sharpening level if you don't like the default look.

Original (100% Crop)	Sharpened (100% Crop)

File Quality

The Sony NEX-5R has 3 different image quality settings available, with Fine being the highest quality option. Here are some 100% crops which show the quality of the various options, with the file size shown in brackets.

16M Fine (4.96Mb) (100% Crop)	16M Normal (3.50Mb) (100% Crop)
14M RAW (16.2Mb) (100% Crop)

Flash

The flash settings on the Sony NEX-5R are Autoflash, Fill-flash, Slow sync and Rear flash sync, with Red-eye reduction available in the Main Menu. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (27mm)	Flash On - Wide Angle (27mm)
Flash Off - Telephoto (82.5mm)	Flash On - Telephoto (82.5mm)

And here are a couple of portrait shots. Both the Auto setting and the Red-eye reduction mode caused a small amount of red-eye.

Flash On	Flash On (100% Crop)
Red-eye reduction	Red-eye reduction (100% Crop)

Night

The Sony NEX-5R's maximum shutter speed is 30 seconds and there's also a Bulb mode for even longer exposures, which is excellent news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 8 seconds at ISO 100.

Night Shot	Night Shot (100% Crop)

Steadyshot

The Sony NEX-5R's 18-55mm kit lens has an antishake mechanism which allows you to take sharp photos at slower shutter speeds than other digital cameras. To test this, I took 2 handheld shots of the same subject with the same settings. The first shot was taken with Shake Reduction turned off, the second with it turned on. Here is a 100% crop of the image to show the results. As you can see, with Shake Reduction turned on, the images are sharper than when it's turned off.

Shutter Speed / Focal Length	Shake Reduction Off (100% Crop)	Shake Reduction On (100% Crop)
1/8 / 27mm
1/4 / 82.5mm

Dynamic Range Optimizer

D-Range Optimiser (DRO) is Sony's solution to improve shadow detail in photos taken in contrasty light.

Off	Auto
1	2
3	4
5

High Dynamic Range

High Dynamic Range Optimiser (HDR) is Sony's solution for capturing more contrast than a single exposure can handle by combining two exposures into one image.

Off	Auto
1	2
3	4
5	6

Intelligent Sweep Panorama Mode

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX5 allows you to take panoramic images very easily, by 'sweeping' with the camera while keeping the shutter release depressed. The camera does all the processing and stitching and now even successfully compensates for moving subjects. The main catch is that the resulting image is of fairly low resolution.

Creative Styles

There are 6 Creative Style preset effects that you can use to change the look of your images.

Standard	Vivid
Portrait	Landscape
Sunset	B/W

Picture Effects

Just like Olympus and Panasonic, the Sony NEX-C3 offers a range of eleven creative Picture Effects.

Off	Toy Camera
Pop Color	Posterization
Retro Photo	Soft High-key
Partial Color (Red)	High Contrast Mono
Soft Focus	HDR Painting
Rich-tone Mono	Miniature

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Sony NEX-5R camera, which were all taken using the 16 megapixel Fine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample RAW Images

The Sony NEX-5R enables users to capture RAW and JPEG format files. We've provided some Sony RAW (ARW) samples for you to download (thumbnail images shown below are not 100% representative).

Sample Movie & Video

Product Images

Front of the Camera

Front of the Camera / Lens Fitted

Front of the Camera / Flash Fitted

Isometric View

Isometric View

Isometric View

Isometric View

Rear of the Camera

Rear of the Camera / Image Displayed

Rear of the Camera / Turned On

Rear of the Camera / Main Menu

Rear of the Camera / Main Menu

Rear of the Camera / Tilting LCD Screen

Rear of the Camera / Tilting LCD Screen

Top of the Camera

Bottom of the Camera

Side of the Camera

Side of the Camera

Front of the Camera

Front of the Camera

Memory Card Slot

Battery Compartment

Conclusion

The new NEX-5R is an excellent all-round compact system camera that successfully reaches out to beginners and more experience users alike. While it looks almost identical to its predecessor, the new 180° tilting LCD screen, faster hybrid auto-focusing, wi-fi connectivity, downloadable apps and a more refined interface make the NEX-5R a great mid-range mirrorless camera.

The new hybrid auto-focusing is slightly faster and more accurate than on the older 5N model, but note that it only currently works with a few Sony lenses. Likewise the wi-fi connectivity makes it easy to download your photos onto a smartphone or PC or view them on a suitable TV, but it is limited - you can't for example control the camera from your iPhone or Android device. PlayMemories Camera Apps is an innovative idea that extends the camera's functionality, although not all of the apps are free. Perhaps the biggest improvement have been reserved for the interface, with the new control dial and function button in particular making the NEX-5R easier to use than its mid-range predecessors.

With its tiny body, boxy styling and big lenses, the NEX-5R still lacks the charm of the Olympus PEN series or the futuristic styling of the Panasonic G range, but don't let that put you off what is otherwise and excellent camera that delivers fantastic stills and videos. While the touchscreen interface feels almost entirely natural, especially with the addition of the touch shutter function, it is still entirely possible to use the camera fully via the external controls, so much so that you may not realise that the NEX-5R can be controlled via the tilting screen at all.

With the same 16 megapixel sensor as the previous 5N model onboard, the new NEX-5R offers enough resolution and a wide ISO range without introducing unwanted noise artifacts at the faster settings, while full 1080p video at 60fps remains class-leading. Add in the ability to use both E-mount and A-mount lenses thanks to the LA-EA2 SLT alpha mount adapter, not to mention the myriad of third-party adapters that have been released since the NEX series was launched, and you have the basis for a truly versatile system that can be as simple or as complex as you like.

With the NEX-5N continuing in the Sony CSC line-up, at least for the time being, the official price of the new 5R model has inevitably crept up, but don't let that put you off what is the most full-featured, responsive and refined intermediate Sony mirrorless camera to date.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4.5
Features	4.5
Ease-of-use	4.5
Image quality	4.5
Value for money	4

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Sony NEX-5R from around the web.

Specifications

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