Update : Changed rating to 4 stars instead of 5, Original review remain below, So why i did that? it's because the video capture "audio" quality is awful if you shoot in silent environment (shooting a baby or at home with no noise around) the camera does a lot of UNAVOIDABLE annoying clicking sounds nonstop if you don't use a tripod, every NEX 5N is effected by that, until SONY fix this issue i don't recommend this camera for anyone who plan to take a lot of casual videos with it
Update 2 : Sony finally admitted the flaw of the issue and they offer a fix/upgrade according to them here :
(Original review) : First of all i just gotta say that I'm extremely satisfied with the NEX 5n, If you are like me you will spend hours/days researching about Camera samples/reviews/etc before buying a new Camera, problem is many websites are biased or contradict each other, many fans of a system whether it's Micro Four thirds/Sony NEX series and others might say our system is the best but in reality none of these 2 are the best, M43 can be the best for you or NEX series can be the best for you, some even prefer Fuji X100 etc there are plenty of mirrorless cameras right now, i have just gathered all the facts about each system for you here so the final call is yours and i wont be biased i assure you my fellow photographers :)
*NEX 5n advantages over NEX 7 (I will speak about NEX 5n vs M43 and NEX5n vs previous Sony NEX Cameras in a second)
1-If portability and size is your biggest concern NEX 5n is actually smaller and fits much easier in your pocket, It's also lighter
2-Price wise, It cost about half the price of NEX7, and cameras advance so fast now, Investing in a body is not the best option if your budget is limited, Invest in better lenses is much better idea, like the Zeiss 24mm F1.8 E-Mount lens, you will get better results with NEX5n+CZ 24mm over NEX7+Kit lens, so if your budget is limited this can be a huge advantage
3-The external Viewfinder of the NEX5n have 2 advantages over the one in NEX 7 first it can be titled, so you can shoot while looking at your feet instead of looking at what is front of you (good for stealth shots) and the second it's more comfortable to use in my honest opinion because it's placed in much better position
4-Sensor Quality, Ignore the Mega pixels marketing race, Sony 16MP sensor is being used by Nikon D7000 which is a 1200 dollar camera yet the Sony NEX5n use an advanced 16mp sensor (better than the one in D7000) While the NEX7 got a 24mp it really lose to NEX5n performance in high ISO SO if HIGH ISO is a huge issue for you NEX 5n will win this round (It doesn't mean NEX7 performance is bad, It's just the NEX5n perform better at High ISO)
5-The TouchScreen, First thing in your mind now is properly Touchscreen = Toy camera and useless, Well it's not and here is why, You can access ISO/Shutter/UI/etc much faster with the touch screen, we are talking about cameras with bare minimum set of buttons here the NEX7 got 1 more button only over the NEX5n, you can customize your buttons as you wish too, That's not the only advantage of the touchscreen, Sony is using a new "track focus" you can basically touch your target on the screen and he will be AF Tracked, much faster than moving to track a target via none-touch methods, the Focus track combined with the touch screen deliver amazing results really.
6-NEX5n max ISO is 25.600 and MAX 16.000 ISO for NEX7 (for those who care about maximum ISO available)
*NEX 7 advantages over NEX 5n
1-24MP Sensor, this can be an advantage depends on your use, Do you do a lot of prints and low ISO? then this is the best option for you (over NEX5n) while NEX5n beat it at high iso, the NEX7 beat the NEX5n in low ISO, you will get more details,easier to crop/edit your photos due the higher details.
2-NEX5n External viewfinder cost 350box.... so you are already near NEX7 price Territory if you plan to get NEX5n EVF
3-With the NEX5n you can't use an external flash+EVF at the same time because both use the same propriety input slot, the NEX7 has a hot shoe (For Sony flashes) and Built in EVF so you can use both at the same time, even if you don't plan to use the hot shoe for a flash there is a built in flash which the NEX5n lack
4-The NEX7 got this new TRI dial UI (there are 3 dials on the NEX7 versus 1 only for the NEX5n, there is a second virtual dial though in the touchscreen but i don't count it as real dial) The UI for the NEX7 will be more professional while the NEX5n UI is mostly for amateurs,
So in Short it depends on the advantages of each camera, NEX7 might be better for you, however for me even after ignoring the price different a side the NEX5n is the better camera for me due the better high iso performance and portability mainly (I got access to a DSLR when needed but i want a smaller system for certain uses) if you want a more professional UI/hot shoe for flash/shoot in low ISO mostly and you want an EVF the NEX7 sounds like the better deal
About the NEX C3 ignore it and get NEX 5n because for little more you can get much better camera NEX 5n
-Touchscreen and option to use EVF (Nex C3 CANT use EVF)
-Faster AF+shutter lag speeds /AVCHD 2.0 1080p60 28MBPS video instead of 720p30
-AF track via touchscreen is amazing if you shoot kids, it will keep them on focus always
-IR R.control / 10FPS which is much faster than nex C3
-Better HIGH iso performance and range/ Much better Grip / Better battery life
NEX5n get better sharper corners with any previous lenses compared to the older NEX3/5, sony have used Offset microlenses for the sensor so the older 16mm lenses which was soft in the corners will be sharper now and using manual lenses will get you better results with NEX5n over older NEX5 in the corners, which is similar to latest Lecia high end cameras, in short if you use manual lenses upgrading is a must your pictures will look much better believe me i have already tested it and the results are improved over my older NEX 5
Shutter sound is quieter now when shooting if you set up electronic shutter through the menu, there is full manual control for video now which is not available in the old NEX 3/5, AF Micro Adjustment for up to 30 a-mount lenses with the LA-EA2, plus Auto-Correction of chromatic aberration/Vignetting/distortion with all Native E-mount lenses which can be turned on/off via menu settings
About NEX VS M43 i already own EPL1 and i will properly upgrade to EPL3 soon, i will not talk about M43 vs Sony cameras bodies because the advantage is clearly "mostly" for the NEX5n (bigger Dynamic range/ISO/etc)
Sony NEX lenses have 2 issues as of September 2011
1-They are limited in numbers specially compared to M43
2-Most of them are made with no portability factor in mind whatsoever
I will speak more about lenses now, If you want an ultra wide angle zoom lens for the E-MOUNT it doesn't exist (That's my favorite lens) with the M43 you actually got more than 1 Utra wide angle lenses so not only you can get 1 but you can chose which to chose, if you want a fast pancake? none exist for the Sony E-mount lenes for now and none in the future roadmap sadly, the only small sony lens that exist is the 16mm F2.8 but it's too wide for a main lens for most people and it's not as sharp as i like until stopped down so not very friendly to use at night, the Panasonic 20mm F1.7 is great lens (not the best but for Size/performance it's great) if you want a pancake zoom? this might sound crazy but Panasonic is making a Pancake zoom lens with image stabilization too and so on,
While it seems in theory that Sony can just release smaller lenses and win the best of both worlds, it doesn't seems like this is a concern for Sony right now, their 2012 lenses road map include 3 more huge zoom lenses and zero prime let alone a pancake lenses, the Sony upcoming 50mm F1.8 OSS while being very sharp from the samples i have seen (sharper than nikon/canon 50mm primes) it's actually BIGGER than both nikon and canon 50mm lenses for their DSLR which is puzzling to create a tiny body and never release tiny lenses for it at least as an option for those who rather use smaller lenses, Sony Officially unlocked their E-Mount to other lenses companies though so anyone can make Native E mount lens if they want, i only knows of Sigma upcoming E-Mount lens which is 30mm F2.8 small prime
So in short again depends on your use you might prefer m43 because of lenses choices over NEX, i can't get rid of m43 because wide shots is a MUST for me and none is available for sony as of now.
About Samsung Mirrorless system, while the sensor size is the same as sony it's not as good as sony sensor (not even close) Samsung support is nowhere near sony or M43 too so I'm not interested in it
For manual lenses users NEX offer the best possibilities for you, you can adapt almost every lens using an adapter for manual focus lenses, using the Focus peaking/zoom functions make focusing a breeze and easy, the Offset microlenses is a huge bonus too, and lets not forget the crop factor (1.5X for NEX versus 2X for M43)
Overall i recommend NEX 5n for anyone, it's hard to find anything similar in the market for the price right now (Amazing sensor/small camera/tilt LCD/shoots 1080p60 video/touchscreen/easy to use/etc), it does beat any Entry/mid range nikon/canon DSLR "IF" you are type of a person who just sticks to the zoom kit lens, NEX 5N got a better zoom Kit lens and the better sensor.
I hope my thoughts about the mirrorless market for now was fair enough and i hope that my review was helpful :)
Update 2 : Sony finally admitted the flaw of the issue and they offer a fix/upgrade according to them here :
(Original review) : First of all i just gotta say that I'm extremely satisfied with the NEX 5n, If you are like me you will spend hours/days researching about Camera samples/reviews/etc before buying a new Camera, problem is many websites are biased or contradict each other, many fans of a system whether it's Micro Four thirds/Sony NEX series and others might say our system is the best but in reality none of these 2 are the best, M43 can be the best for you or NEX series can be the best for you, some even prefer Fuji X100 etc there are plenty of mirrorless cameras right now, i have just gathered all the facts about each system for you here so the final call is yours and i wont be biased i assure you my fellow photographers :)
*NEX 5n advantages over NEX 7 (I will speak about NEX 5n vs M43 and NEX5n vs previous Sony NEX Cameras in a second)
1-If portability and size is your biggest concern NEX 5n is actually smaller and fits much easier in your pocket, It's also lighter
2-Price wise, It cost about half the price of NEX7, and cameras advance so fast now, Investing in a body is not the best option if your budget is limited, Invest in better lenses is much better idea, like the Zeiss 24mm F1.8 E-Mount lens, you will get better results with NEX5n+CZ 24mm over NEX7+Kit lens, so if your budget is limited this can be a huge advantage
3-The external Viewfinder of the NEX5n have 2 advantages over the one in NEX 7 first it can be titled, so you can shoot while looking at your feet instead of looking at what is front of you (good for stealth shots) and the second it's more comfortable to use in my honest opinion because it's placed in much better position
4-Sensor Quality, Ignore the Mega pixels marketing race, Sony 16MP sensor is being used by Nikon D7000 which is a 1200 dollar camera yet the Sony NEX5n use an advanced 16mp sensor (better than the one in D7000) While the NEX7 got a 24mp it really lose to NEX5n performance in high ISO SO if HIGH ISO is a huge issue for you NEX 5n will win this round (It doesn't mean NEX7 performance is bad, It's just the NEX5n perform better at High ISO)
5-The TouchScreen, First thing in your mind now is properly Touchscreen = Toy camera and useless, Well it's not and here is why, You can access ISO/Shutter/UI/etc much faster with the touch screen, we are talking about cameras with bare minimum set of buttons here the NEX7 got 1 more button only over the NEX5n, you can customize your buttons as you wish too, That's not the only advantage of the touchscreen, Sony is using a new "track focus" you can basically touch your target on the screen and he will be AF Tracked, much faster than moving to track a target via none-touch methods, the Focus track combined with the touch screen deliver amazing results really.
6-NEX5n max ISO is 25.600 and MAX 16.000 ISO for NEX7 (for those who care about maximum ISO available)
*NEX 7 advantages over NEX 5n
1-24MP Sensor, this can be an advantage depends on your use, Do you do a lot of prints and low ISO? then this is the best option for you (over NEX5n) while NEX5n beat it at high iso, the NEX7 beat the NEX5n in low ISO, you will get more details,easier to crop/edit your photos due the higher details.
2-NEX5n External viewfinder cost 350box.... so you are already near NEX7 price Territory if you plan to get NEX5n EVF
3-With the NEX5n you can't use an external flash+EVF at the same time because both use the same propriety input slot, the NEX7 has a hot shoe (For Sony flashes) and Built in EVF so you can use both at the same time, even if you don't plan to use the hot shoe for a flash there is a built in flash which the NEX5n lack
4-The NEX7 got this new TRI dial UI (there are 3 dials on the NEX7 versus 1 only for the NEX5n, there is a second virtual dial though in the touchscreen but i don't count it as real dial) The UI for the NEX7 will be more professional while the NEX5n UI is mostly for amateurs,
So in Short it depends on the advantages of each camera, NEX7 might be better for you, however for me even after ignoring the price different a side the NEX5n is the better camera for me due the better high iso performance and portability mainly (I got access to a DSLR when needed but i want a smaller system for certain uses) if you want a more professional UI/hot shoe for flash/shoot in low ISO mostly and you want an EVF the NEX7 sounds like the better deal
About the NEX C3 ignore it and get NEX 5n because for little more you can get much better camera NEX 5n
-Touchscreen and option to use EVF (Nex C3 CANT use EVF)
-Faster AF+shutter lag speeds /AVCHD 2.0 1080p60 28MBPS video instead of 720p30
-AF track via touchscreen is amazing if you shoot kids, it will keep them on focus always
-IR R.control / 10FPS which is much faster than nex C3
-Better HIGH iso performance and range/ Much better Grip / Better battery life
NEX5n get better sharper corners with any previous lenses compared to the older NEX3/5, sony have used Offset microlenses for the sensor so the older 16mm lenses which was soft in the corners will be sharper now and using manual lenses will get you better results with NEX5n over older NEX5 in the corners, which is similar to latest Lecia high end cameras, in short if you use manual lenses upgrading is a must your pictures will look much better believe me i have already tested it and the results are improved over my older NEX 5
Shutter sound is quieter now when shooting if you set up electronic shutter through the menu, there is full manual control for video now which is not available in the old NEX 3/5, AF Micro Adjustment for up to 30 a-mount lenses with the LA-EA2, plus Auto-Correction of chromatic aberration/Vignetting/distortion with all Native E-mount lenses which can be turned on/off via menu settings
About NEX VS M43 i already own EPL1 and i will properly upgrade to EPL3 soon, i will not talk about M43 vs Sony cameras bodies because the advantage is clearly "mostly" for the NEX5n (bigger Dynamic range/ISO/etc)
Sony NEX lenses have 2 issues as of September 2011
1-They are limited in numbers specially compared to M43
2-Most of them are made with no portability factor in mind whatsoever
I will speak more about lenses now, If you want an ultra wide angle zoom lens for the E-MOUNT it doesn't exist (That's my favorite lens) with the M43 you actually got more than 1 Utra wide angle lenses so not only you can get 1 but you can chose which to chose, if you want a fast pancake? none exist for the Sony E-mount lenes for now and none in the future roadmap sadly, the only small sony lens that exist is the 16mm F2.8 but it's too wide for a main lens for most people and it's not as sharp as i like until stopped down so not very friendly to use at night, the Panasonic 20mm F1.7 is great lens (not the best but for Size/performance it's great) if you want a pancake zoom? this might sound crazy but Panasonic is making a Pancake zoom lens with image stabilization too and so on,
While it seems in theory that Sony can just release smaller lenses and win the best of both worlds, it doesn't seems like this is a concern for Sony right now, their 2012 lenses road map include 3 more huge zoom lenses and zero prime let alone a pancake lenses, the Sony upcoming 50mm F1.8 OSS while being very sharp from the samples i have seen (sharper than nikon/canon 50mm primes) it's actually BIGGER than both nikon and canon 50mm lenses for their DSLR which is puzzling to create a tiny body and never release tiny lenses for it at least as an option for those who rather use smaller lenses, Sony Officially unlocked their E-Mount to other lenses companies though so anyone can make Native E mount lens if they want, i only knows of Sigma upcoming E-Mount lens which is 30mm F2.8 small prime
So in short again depends on your use you might prefer m43 because of lenses choices over NEX, i can't get rid of m43 because wide shots is a MUST for me and none is available for sony as of now.
About Samsung Mirrorless system, while the sensor size is the same as sony it's not as good as sony sensor (not even close) Samsung support is nowhere near sony or M43 too so I'm not interested in it
For manual lenses users NEX offer the best possibilities for you, you can adapt almost every lens using an adapter for manual focus lenses, using the Focus peaking/zoom functions make focusing a breeze and easy, the Offset microlenses is a huge bonus too, and lets not forget the crop factor (1.5X for NEX versus 2X for M43)
Overall i recommend NEX 5n for anyone, it's hard to find anything similar in the market for the price right now (Amazing sensor/small camera/tilt LCD/shoots 1080p60 video/touchscreen/easy to use/etc), it does beat any Entry/mid range nikon/canon DSLR "IF" you are type of a person who just sticks to the zoom kit lens, NEX 5N got a better zoom Kit lens and the better sensor.
I hope my thoughts about the mirrorless market for now was fair enough and i hope that my review was helpful :)
