Ever since Panasonic and Olympus created their Micro Four Thirds mirrorless system, all the talk has been about what the other players in the market will do. Micro Four Thirds has been steadily building its market share, seemingly without response from the three companies that account for over 80% of DSLR sales (Canon, Nikon and Sony), to the extent that 'Micro' risks becoming the generic term for these mirrorless systems ('When will Brand X make a Micro camera?' has become a fairly common thread title on our forums).
The waiting is now over as, following the showing of some mock-ups at PMA and a torrent of teasers and leaks, Sony finally officially announces its NEX system. The details are exactly what you'd expect - HD video capable APS-C sensors in small bodies. What might take you by surprise is just how small the bodies are - the NEX-5 in particular being tiny. These NEX cameras will come under the Alpha brand but do not make use of the Alpha lens mount, instead using the completely new all-electronic E-mount.
Sony has made clear that it is aiming for compact camera users who wish to upgrade (a market it estimates at around 10 million potential buyers), rather than trying to offer a second camera for existing DSLR users. And the NEX models have more in common with compact cameras than DSLRs - including very few buttons and a resolutely unconventional interface. As part of this interface it offers not only the standard Sony option of showing a small description of each selected option, it also has a full user guide built in to the camera. Relevant sections of this guide are available in each shooting mode to give hints and advice about everything from how to hold the camera to how to archieve an out-of-focus background.
The company told us that it felt its competitors had merely miniaturized, rather than revolutionized, so it's no surprise that the NEXs are more than just the company's SLRs with the mirrors removed. Instead you get a wholly new system with metal-bodied kit lenses (something we didn't expect to see again in a mainstream product), and an accessory port instead of a conventional flash hotshoe.
As with Samsung and Panasonic, Sony's background is electronics (rather than cameras) so the incentive to move away from the optically complex DSLR design to one based more around electronic displays makes sense. Sony's situation is a little different in that it bought the respected Minolta brand and know-how but, despite plenty of new models, it has only been able to make a big impression on the DSLR market in a few selected regions. Consequently, it's understandable that it might want to combine its DSLR knowledge with its electronics expertise to establish some compelling competitive advantage.
The NEX series will initially comprise two cameras - the NEX-5 and NEX-3. In terms of specifications, both cameras are essentially identical - the NEX-5 gets a slightly smaller magnesium alloy body and 1080i AVCHD movie recording but in ever other respect they're the same.
The thing that's immediately apparent about the NEX-5 is just how small it is. Here, compared to the already compact GF1, it's clear that Sony has trimmed away all extraneous material.
There's very little to the NEX-5's body beyond the handgrip and the flip-out screen but, despite its small size, it is easy to hold and encourages a stable two-handed grip. One of the only distinctions between the NEX-5 and its less expensive sibling, the NEX-3, is its magnesium alloy construction, which gives a really solid feel. The metal-bodied lenses further enhance this sense of quality.
Lens compatibility
Three E-mount lenses are being announced alongside the cameras - an 16mm F2.8 pancake, a standard 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 stabilized kit zoom and a stabilized 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 superzoom. Although the company talks a great deal about shallow depth-of-field, none of the lenses initially offered will offer a great deal of control in that respect.
Sony is also taking the unusual step of offering screw-on adapterlenses for its 16mm F2.8 pancake lens (they attach to the bayonet of the lens so can't be used with other lenses). In a manner familiar from compact cameras, it will be possible to adapt the lens from its usual 24mm equivalent field-of-view using either an ultra-wide adapter taking it to 20mm equivalent or a fisheye that gives a 16mm equivalent view.
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