Sony 5r review

**iMuf** · 09-13-2013, 07:57 PM

Hey everyone, so because I am starting a business doing car detailing I figured I would go out and get a camera. I thought long and hard and my choices came down to the Sony 5r or the Sony a3000. The 5r was originally $750 but was dropped down to $449 and the a3000 was $399. Long story short I went with the Sony 5r which I got open boxed for $395. Let me go ahead and explain why I went with this and give you a little review of what I think so far.

So first off, I work at best buy in the camera section, so I have seen tons of cameras and learned the goods and bads of pretty much all of them. Up until about 2 years ago if you wanted some really good quality you had to for the most part jump up to an DSLR. Then they started coming out with compact system cameras or mirror less SLR's. The 5r is the third one sony had come out with and it is amazing. It has the same sensor size that your starter DSLR's, such as the Nikon d3100, d3200, Canon t3i, Canon 70D, do. So as far as quality you get DSLR quality in a camera that is half the size. Here is a picture of the camera.

So what do I think of the camera so far? I have been more then pleased with it, out of the box you get an 18-55mm lens which is alright for starters. I plan on getting a few more lenses within the next couple weeks. You also get a flash, battery, lens cap, charger, usb cable, and a camera strap. The camera has a magnesium body with a plastic handle rather then having an all plastic body like most cameras do including DSLR's. So the quality is just that much better. The camera also makes manual control very easy without having all kinds of buttons which is nice because it keeps the camera body from being super cluttered. As far as features go, this camera does pretty much everything you an think of. It can do 1080p video at up to 60FPS and can also take 10 shots per second in a burst mode. You also have 16 megapixels so you can do all kinds of cropping and enlarging. One thing that is amazing with this camera is that you also have 99 points of auto focus which is more then any other camera, even the Canon 5D mark 3 which I believe only has 69 if I'm not mistaken, and that is more then 3 grand. You also have wifi, so you can upload pictures wireless to the pc, facebook, email, etc. You can also link a smartphone up to it and use your phone as a viewfinder as well as a wireless remote. You also have tons of special effect modes for all kinds of different pictures. In all, if you need a camera for a business, family use, or whatever else then this is the camera I would recommend. I have always known this was a good camera just from selling it at work. But it is way better then I thought now that I have been able to play with it a lot more. I hope you all enjoyed the review. I will be taking some pictures tomorrow to show off the quality, so stay tuned for that.

**swanicyouth** · 09-13-2013, 08:11 PM

I don't know a lot about cameras,but that thing just looks bad ass.

**Judge** · 09-13-2013, 08:40 PM

Subscribed. Looking forward to seeing these pictures, as this camera seems interesting.

**LSpec** · 09-13-2013, 09:19 PM

I heard is a good camera, but for the money you could buy a nikon or canon entry Dslr, and have a biggest option in lenses.

I also want to see those picures.

**iMuf** · 09-14-2013, 07:00 AM

Originally Posted by LSpec

I heard is a good camera, but for the money you could buy a nikon or canon entry Dslr, and have a biggest option in lenses.

I also want to see those picures.

I would have made the jump up, but for another $150 or so, it just wasn't worth it to me. I'm gonna be taking this on vacations and things like that, but mostly my business. So I wanted something lighter that also could hang with all of the entry DSLR's. This camera has I believe 6 lenses specific to this camera, but you can get a lens adaptor so you can use all of sony's DSLR lenses on this camera. So you still get a good amount of lenses to choose from. I had someone tell me that this camera is like putting racing tires on a honda civic and that it just can't hang with the big boys. Well this honda civic had the 4 banger swapped with and LS7, trust me, it can hang with the big boys lol. I get off work around 3 today. My car is in a serious need of a wash. So I will get some before and after pictures. Should have those up as soon as I get my car washed.

**JHL88** · 09-14-2013, 07:53 AM

yea those cameras are sweet. I have a sony a65 myself. Entry DSLR shooting 10fps @ full resolution, yes please.

**LSpec** · 09-14-2013, 07:43 PM

Originally Posted by iMuf

I would have made the jump up, but for another $150 or so, it just wasn't worth it to me. I'm gonna be taking this on vacations and things like that, but mostly my business. So I wanted something lighter that also could hang with all of the entry DSLR's. This camera has I believe 6 lenses specific to this camera, but you can get a lens adaptor so you can use all of sony's DSLR lenses on this camera. So you still get a good amount of lenses to choose from. I had someone tell me that this camera is like putting racing tires on a honda civic and that it just can't hang with the big boys. Well this honda civic had the 4 banger swapped with and LS7, trust me, it can hang with the big boys lol. I get off work around 3 today. My car is in a serious need of a wash. So I will get some before and after pictures. Should have those up as soon as I get my car washed.

I cant argue with portability, and is a beautiful camera, actually when I see one I want to have it.
I did not know about the adapter and it is a good plus.

**SR99** · 09-14-2013, 08:02 PM

Originally Posted by LSpec

I cant argue with portability, and is a beautiful camera, actually when I see one I want to have it.
I did not know about the adapter and it is a good plus.

There are a bunch of lens possibilities with different adaptors. The native lenses for the NEX series of cameras are Sony's e-mount (there are currently 17 e-mount lenses including a couple Zeiss lenses). Those don't need an adaptor and have image stabilization and autofocus. Then there is Sony's A series cameras and there is an adaptor which essentially converts a NEX camera into an SLT (the A-series) and then you can use the Sony A-mount lenses (there are currently 36 A-mount lenses). There are also a bunch of different specialty adaptors which are fairly inexpensive (like $10-20) so you can use legacy lenses if you have a stockpile of old lenses from film camera days, or other modern lenses. The main downside is with the inexpensive adaptors you generally only have manual focus.

However, at some point, as you add huge lenses, you lose the portability if you keep the lens attached to the camera body.

PS I read somewhere that some high percentage of DSLR owners never use anything but the kit lens that came with their camera (but most of them intended to buy additional lenses when they got their camera).

**iMuf** · 09-14-2013, 08:24 PM

Alright guys, so I have a few before and after pictures of my car. It was getting dark as I was taking the after pics. I will take some better after pics, tomorrow while the sun is actually up lol. Anyway, here you go. Let me know what you guys think.

Before

After