digital camera review
Looking to add to what is already a very impressive and comprehensive range, Sony decided to slip another model between the low-end A5000 and the aforementioned A6000. Enter: the new Sony...
10/02/2022
Looking to add to what is already a very impressive and comprehensive range, Sony decided to slip another model between the low-end A5000 and the aforementioned A6000. Enter: the new
Sony Alpha A5100
(MSRP $549.99). The A5100 supplants last year's NEX-5T in the current range, ending Sony's "NEX" era forever while borrowing most of the same technology from this year's eye-catching A6000.
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< p>Describing the A5100 isn't difficult; it's basically a slightly slower A6000 minus a few creature comforts. The notable absences: you don't get the A6000's EVF (electronic viewfinder), hot shoe, 11fps burst shooting or extended ISO range. It's a shame, but it's $100 cheaper than the A6000 and prices should keep coming down. On the other hand, consider that for just $70 more than the low-end A5000, you get higher resolution images, 60p video and a host of other improvements.Advertisement
All three of these new E-mount Alphas are very impressive, but can this middle child stand out from the pack? With Sony slowly coming up with the NEX name with this year's A6000, A3000 and A5000, the last model to go was last year's excellent NEX-5T. The A5100 is the final nail in the NEX coffin, but Sony ditched the name while thankfully retaining the one thing that made the NEX-5T great: value. It is aimed at the same users as the A5000, but offers better performance and more video features. While we loved the NEX line here at Reviewed.com, we think the new Alpha A series has really improved every NEX camera and puts Sony near, if not at the top, of the sub-$1000 mirrorless camera market. .
An advanced camera suitable for novice shooters at their level.
For years budget DSLRs have done their best to look like professional DSLRs. All black paint jobs and heaps of intimidating jargon-strewn dials have been the norm. Not the Sony A5100, which looks more like a twisty point-and-shoot than anything a pro would have with it. Despite this, the A5100 packs a full APS-C image sensor, the same size as any mainstream DSLR under $1500.
Once you've attached a lens and started taking pictures, the first thing you'll notice is the camera's pleasing texture. Its grip is slightly rubberized, which is welcome compared to the smooth plastic feel of most budget cameras. The grip is also much more substantial than the A5000's all-plastic grip, somewhat reminiscent of one of our favorite Sony cameras, the plush NEX-7. Shooting is pleasing, even with bulkier lenses that dwarf the body.
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The top controls of the A5100 are the same as those of the A5000.
The rear control system is exactly like the A5000, with three main buttons - menu, play and help/trash - in addition to a control wheel. The command dial performs double duty as a four-way directional pad, with options for drive mode, exposure compensation, ISO, and display. There's nothing new to note here, as Sony uses the same layout on the A5000 and a slight variation on the A6000.
The top controls feature the zoom lever (ideal for controlling motorized zoom lenses), shutter release, power switch, flash trigger and dedicated record button. The zoom lever is responsive, but doesn't open and extend so quickly that you lose your subject, which can easily happen without a viewfinder. It also won't work at all if you attach lenses without motorized zoom motors; As a result, you'll have to manually zoom in on most E-mount lenses. The design is simple and easy to navigate, though most of your experience with the camera has been limited to direct shots.
The pop-up flash is extra tall for shooting with longer e-mount lenses.
The biggest control change from previous Sony NEX cameras is the "new" menu. When you first open the menu, you'll be greeted with the familiar tiled options, the same used by Sony since the original NEX-3 and NEX-5. Unlike older NEX cameras, however, choosing any tile will take you to the traditional list-and-tab style menu of Sony's Alpha cameras. This menu is much better organized than the NEX menu, and we highly recommend disabling the tiled opening screen entirely in the settings menu.
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The A5100 is complete with a flip-up selfie-screen.
Another advantage of the A5000 is the touch screen. It rotates 180 degrees to face forward so your subject can see each other. It's of course great for selfies and group shots, but unfortunately the screen doesn't tilt down to aid aerial shots. The panel used here is even better looking than the A5000, and the tilt functionality is something the A6000 doesn't offer.
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Sony has equipped the A5100 with an HDMI output and a USB connection - for charging and connecting to a PC - in the same bay as the memory card slot. There are left and right microphones that record stereo audio on either side of the pop-up flash and a speaker on the bottom of the camera. The pop-up flash is extra high for shooting with longer E-mount lenses, although overall range and power aren't any better than most built-in flashes.
The color on the A5100 is just average. Standard is the most accurate color mode with a C00 of 2.48 and saturation of 96.8%. We expected a little more from the A5100 because the A6000 had such great color accuracy and the A5100 has essentially the same interiors. It's possible Sony has tuned the A5100 to simply produce what it feels is a more pleasing color profile, but it's less accurate as a result. You can still get more saturated results with modes like Vivid or better skin tones with Portrait, but overall the Standard is the most accurate.
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Standard is the most accurate color mode for the Sony A5100.
White balance obviously plays an important role in color performance and on the A5100 white balance is acceptable most of the time. When using auto white balance we saw tungsten struggle a bit - with errors around 2100 Kelvin - but daylight and fluorescence are still within 350 Kelvin. When we switched to custom white balance, we got more accurate results, all with an average error of less than 85 Kelvin. We tested the A5100 with the 16-50mm f/3.5-36 "kit" lens (24-75mm 35mm equivalent). It performed well enough in testing, but it does exhibit a bit of pincushion and barrel distortion at all focal lengths. If you're shooting in JPEG and letting the camera apply enhancement, you can expect an average of 2,038 linewidths per image height at a contrast level of MTF50. It's as sharp as 2700 LW/PH in the center of images, but drops as low as 1500 LW/PH at the edges.
RAW shots tend to be a little softer, unlike the A5100. apply sharpening software as it does for JPEG images. Even when applied, it doesn't seem too aggressive to the point of ruining quality, as we've seen on some cameras. However, if you're shooting fine detail and printing in massive sizes, you really should be shooting RAW and developing later.
A $700 and under camera that performs like a much more expensive device. p>
When it comes to digital cameras, performance starts with the sensor/processor combination. Fortunately, the A5100 inherits the stellar sensor and processor from its big brother, the Sony A6000. It also features the same hybrid autofocus system that uses both contrast-detect and phase-detect points to achieve focus speeds as fast as 0.07 seconds. Last year's Sony NEX-5T also used this hybrid autofocus, but the A5100 benefits from more phase detection points covering more of the sensor.
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The result is remarkable. increased focus tracking speed and accuracy, even in limited light conditions. The only lingering issue here is burst shooting. Despite having the same processor/sensor combo as the A6000, the A5100 only manages to capture bursts at six frames per second, almost half the 11fps maximum burst speed of the A6000.
In the lab, we always start by testing color accuracy to find the most accurate modes and diagnose weak spots. The A5100 didn't spare our hair, with average performance for an entry-level DSLR. The "Standard" mode was the most accurate, while white balance accuracy was generally good.
One area where the A5100 excels, however, is high ISO shooting. In this test, the A5100 really started to flex its muscles. With a modern APS-C sensor and Sony's superb Bionz X processor (which powers all Sony mirrorless cameras from the A5000 to the full-frame Sony A7S), the A5100 produced usable shots at most ISO speeds. Noise from ISO 100-800 is barely noticeable, even when shooting in RAW.
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If you need to push the ISO above 800, we recommend using noise reduction, either in-camera or, if shooting RAW, in a program such as Adobe Lightroom . In-camera noise reduction reduced noise percentages at higher ISO levels, with an increasingly aggressive penalty for fine detail. You can shoot across the entire ISO range (100-25,600) without exceeding a 2% noise ratio, but we recommend limiting it to ISO 1600 if you want to prevent your photos from turning into a puddle. low contrast water. Below you can see how the camera handles noise at higher ISO speeds and judge for yourself.
One area where Sony continues to improve is shooting video. The A5100 matched the A6000 in our video tests, with subtle improvements due to autofocus speed. In our resolution tests, the A5100 resolved approximately 600 line pairs per picture height horizontally (LP/PH) and 575 LP/PH vertically. In low light, the A5100 dropped about 450 LP/PH both vertically and horizontally, which is normal with less light to work with. Surprisingly, the A5000 only achieved 3.5 lux in our low-light sensitivity test with the 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens. Very low-light video is incredibly noisy, but in extreme circumstances you can at least see what you've been shooting. The noise on the Alpha series is certainly bright light and the A5100 is no different. Noise from ISO 100-800 is barely noticeable, even without NR (noise reduction) enabled. You can shoot across the entire ISO range (100-25600) without going over 2% noise ratio, but we recommend limiting it to ISO 1600 if you want to preserve fine detail. If you look at the chart below, you can see how you start losing the finer details once you float above ISO 1600.
NR reduced noise at ISO 3200 and above by about 25%. However, you lose a fair amount of fine detail. Ultimately, if you absolutely must shoot in low light, you can use noise reduction and get a usable photo, but as always our recommendation is to stick with RAW in extreme situations and work later.
Video, stills, and features that exceed the asking price
If you're familiar with previous Alpha/NEX E-mount cameras, there's not much here that will surprise you. There's a mix of creative modes, manual controls, and hi-res video and stills shooting modes. There aren't a ton of advanced controls, of course, but there are more than enough for novices to get their teeth into.
You also get the option of instant sharing with built-in WiFi and NFC (near field communication). These allow you to use PlayMemories Camera apps to share images to your favorite social media sites, transfer images to mobile devices, and even use your mobile device as a remote control for the camera itself. A problem? Several of the PlayMemories apps cost more despite adding basic features that other cameras include for free. Want time-lapse shots? Hope you're willing to shell out the extra $9.99.
As we briefly mentioned above, the A5100 also inherited the A5000's selfie screen, turning around to face your subject (in many cases yourself) to help frame this picture perfect. It also has built-in "Smile Shutter", so you don't even have to press the shutter button - smile and the camera does the rest. Some, like me, would say that smiling is a lot harder than clicking a button, but who are we to spoil all the fun of selfies?
For you video enthusiasts, not only is the A5100 capable of Full HD 1080 recording at 60p, it also records in the greatly improved XAVC S format, which is similar to but far superior to AVCHD. This codec can record at a higher data rate of 50 Mbps with compression that maintains high video quality. The new processor even allows you to record AVCHD or XAVC S with lower resolution MP4 video simultaneously on the same memory card. This means you can have a high quality video for editing and an MP4 file to quickly upload to something like Facebook or Youtube which will compress your video files anyway.
The sensor on the A5100 is the same as the mid-range A6000.
However, still shooters are not left out. There are multiple scene modes that let you get the exact shot you want in any light situation. There are actually nine modes in total, ranging from portrait, sports/action, macro and even night scene. You can use them with the 10 different effects (Posterization, Pop Color, Retro Photo, Partial Color, High Contrast Monochrome, HDR Painting, Rich Tone Monochrome, Miniature, Watercolor, and Illustration) to enhance or completely change the mood of the photo. . You can also use posterization, pop color, retro photo, partial color, high contrast monochrome, toy camera and soft high-key effects to shake up your videos.
For beginners or those with more advanced photography designs, the A5100 is a great option.
Sony's A7-series mirrorless cameras have been lauded for their pro-grade video and full-frame sensors, but the bottom end of Sony's mirrorless range is arguably just as impressive. The A5100 is a perfect example of this, offering nearly all of the outstanding performance of the midrange A6000 with the compact size and maneuverability of the A5000. While we don't expect pro-level cameras to be this size anytime soon (if ever), we think this is a great transition system for anyone transitioning from a point-and- -shoot.
Although the A5100 and A5000 both have the same target user, the A5100 (at
$700 on Amazon
with 16-50mm lens) offers better overall performance than the A5000 (
around $400 on Amazon
with a 16-50mm lens), that's not a small price difference. The A5100 gives you a better sensor, improved video options, on-chip phase-detection autofocus, wider ISO range, and better touchscreen display, but $300 can get you a much better lens for your new camera.
The A5100 would be a go-to choice for advanced shooters, but there's also the A6000 (
$748 on Amazon
with 16-50mm lens) to consider. The A6000 is slightly larger than the A5100 with a sturdier grip, hot shoe, and amazing EVF for just $100 more than the A5100. It also shoots up to 11fps, almost twice as fast as the A5100.
So why choose the A5100? Well, for a little less money than the A6000, you'll get a selfie-friendly full-tilt touchscreen and virtually the same image quality as the A6000. The A5100 also gets the edge in the video department thanks to recording multiple video formats with the XAVC S codec, including 1080/60p at 50 Mbps as opposed to the A5100's use of AVCHD/MP4. A6000 for its 1080/60p video.
It's a tough choice, but we recommend experienced photographers go for the A6000. If you're not interested in action photography or an EVF - or just want a cheaper option - then our recommendation is to wait; the A5100 is a great choice, but you'll probably be able to find it soon for just under $500.
Even at full price, it's hard to beat the value offered by Sony's line of mirrorless cameras. With cameras under $600 offering compact frames, this kind of great performance, and easy-to-use features, it's no mystery why point-and-shoots are put to pasture. once for all. improved even compared to its big brother, the A6000. When capturing HD video, we achieved around 600 line pairs per frame height horizontally (LP/PH) and 575 LP/PH vertically. In low light, the A5100 dropped about 450 LP/PH both vertically and horizontally, which is normal with less light to work with.
Surprisingly, the A5000 only achieved 3.5 lux in our low light. Sensitivity test with the 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens. Although the resulting video is grainy and unusable for most people, so we recommend sticking around 8 lux or higher to get quality video that you can actually use. In a dimly lit restaurant or at a birthday party, however, the A5100 will do just fine.
The A5100 is capable of recording in Full HD 1080 at 60p, but the real advantage here is its use of the new XAVC S format. This codec can record at a higher data rate than AVCHD, reaching 50 Mbps with compression that better preserves video quality. The new Bionz X processor also allows you to record AVCHD or XAVC S with lower resolution MP4 video simultaneously on the same memory card. This means you can have a high quality video for editing and an MP4 file to download quickly if the highest quality is not so important.
Buy now on Amazon
$448.00 at Walmart< /p>
Meet the tester
Jackson Ruckar
Photographer / Producer
@JacksonRuckar
As a photojournalist, Jackson worked with bands, the military, and professional baseball teams before landing with Reviewed.com's camera crew. Outside of Reviewed.com, he can be found looking for the next game to relieve his "Player ADD" or grow a beard.
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