Sony NEX-3 and NEX-5 Available to Pre-Order

Sony NEX-3 Amazon.co.uk  £440 Sony NEX-5 Amazon.co.uk   £550

Announced by Sony around one month ago, the NEX-3 and NEX-5 are seriously stylish compact cameras with interchangeable lenses and a strict minimum of physical controls. Both models are due for release soon and are currently available to pre-order.

Sony was quick to send us one of its new cameras to test, as just two weeks after announcing these new models, an NEX-5 was rushed over to our offices and into our testing lab.

The NEX-5 got five stars in our product test thanks to simply flawless image quality with the 18-55 mm lens supplied, a high-quality finish, and excellent design and handling. It seems that great cameras don't have to just be for experts! Olympus did a similar thing with its compact E-PL1, but Sony has taken the concept one step further with a range of super-stylish cameras with an ultra-compact design (particularly the NEX-5) and a strict minimum of physical controls (some would say there are too few).

However, we didn't get test the 16 mm lens, which at the time of our hands-on was yet to be confirmed for release. Test shots taken with the prototype gave some pretty dodgy results, which were the subject of intense discussion in online forums. Hopefully we'll be able to check out Sony's promised improvements soon with a test using the new and improved lens. With its ultra-flat design, this very-wide-angle lens (equiv. 24 mm) will certainly be a great selling point for the Sony E system, especially since competitors' pancake lenses are more like lightweight wide-angles of 35 to 50 mm.

The NEX-5 + 18-55 mm lens pack is a great choice for non-expert users. It's simple to use, very high quality and is sure to turn heads. When we took the NEX-5 out for a spin at a professional photography show, for example, many of our fellow photography geeks seemed more interested in the NEX-5 than some of the expert cameras on display!

Prices are as originally announced, with the NEX-3 starting at £440 and the NEX-5 starting at £550.

> Test: Sony NEX-5
> Hands-On: Sony NEX-3 and NEX-5


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