DSLR cameras offer the consumer a high level of creative control over very specific elements of the camera as well as the ability to change lenses to suit the type of photography undertaken at any given time. However, the body of the camera is much bigger than a typical ‘point-and-shoot’ compact camera, making it less appealing to the average consumer who wants something a little more portable.

Leaving the choice of a standard compact, or a bridge camera, with often less creative control and no ability to change lens.

Joining the Sony alpha family are two new models, the NEX-3 and NEX-5. The NEX-5 is the world’s smallest and lightest interchangeable lens digital camera and is also the first Sony alpha camera to offer HD movie recording with stereo sound.

Combining the choice of interchangeable lens’ and the available video formats gives the user a greater scope for creating videos of much higher quality than any compact camera has reached before.

Taking all the benefits of the lens’ that give great still photographs and allowing this to be applied to moving images too.

At the touch of a dedicated Movie REC button, the NEX-5 shoots Full HD (1920 x 1080) video as high quality AVCHD files which is the file format of choice for Blu-ray movies. Alternatively, 720p HD video can be recorded as a smaller MPEG4 file for convenient video capture, storage, and transfer to video streaming, and social networking websites.

The Sony NEX cameras are the first alpha models to feature Sweep Panorama. With one press of the shutter button in Sweep Panorama mode, gives the user the ability to ‘sweep’ the camera horizontally or vertically to easily take a panoramic photograph – something that otherwise would involve a tripod, lots of carefully aligned photographs, and extensive time with editing software. This is possible due to a fast burst of images being captured as the camera sweeps followed by a stitching process which all happens in a matter of seconds, providing a 23 megapixel, 226 degree panoramic photo.

In another world’s first, Sweep Panorama files can also be enjoyed in stunning 3D on compatible BRAVIA 3D televisions.

At the heart of both cameras is a newly-developed Exmor™ APS HD CMOS sensor with the resolution of 14.2 effective megapixels. Far larger than the sensor that you would usually find inside a conventional compact camera, giving the capability of capturing more light – essential for taking good quality photos with low levels of ‘noise’ which can particularly be seen in low lighting conditions as small multi coloured artefacts over the image, giving the kind of image quality that consumers have come to expect from DLSR cameras now in the form of a compact camera.

The Creative defocus is where the NEX range really shows the consumer what it is all about, as with a DSLR the user has to come to terms with “Aperture” and “Shutter” terminologies to really start to unlock the creative control a DSLR gives. Whereas the NEX-3 and NEX-5 allow the user to simply move the creative de-focus scale to chose whether they would like the background ‘crisp’ or ‘defocus[ed]’, leaving the camera to do the hard work of adjusting the shutter and aperture to gain this creative effect without baffling lesser experienced consumers with such jargon.

Still and video image quality is further refined by the powerful BIONZ processor that ensures speedy DSLR style shooting reflexes with quick, precise, autofocus and minimal shutter lag.

Both cameras can also capture fast-moving action with a high-speed burst of full-resolution images up to 7 frames per second (With the Auto Focus and Auto Exposure fixed from the first frame, keeping everything looking clear and in focus)

The cameras feature a helpful, uncluttered user interface that means the powerful creative possibilities of the NEX-3 and NEX-5 are accessible to photo enthusiasts and snap shooters alike. Shooting parameters are easily accessed via an intuitive control wheel and two soft keys. Turning the control dial, for example, allows depth of focus changes to be previewed ‘live’ on the LCD screen. Further help for photographers developing their skills is provided by a library of on-screen shooting tips and a friendly help guide.

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