Sony Alpha ILCE-5100 Kit

Advantages: Fast autofocus
large ISO range
good display
relatively small weight and size

Disadvantages: Pretty confusing menu
the battery allows you to take no more than 200 photos,
The video button is inconvenient,
sharpening is possible to get more or less decent only in manual mode and in continuous auto-focus (AF-C) with a wide AF area,
poor moisture resistance.

Comment: We use the camera mainly while traveling. Acquired in 2012, the Sony HX9V compact set arranged in almost everything except one - inside museums and in churches a not entirely disgusting picture can be obtained only with an ISO of no more than 1600, which is often not enough when shooting with it. Therefore, the main criterion when choosing a new device was the claimed ISO of at least 25600 with a small weight and dimensions. Chose among mirrorless cameras with an eye to the future. After a long study of the characteristics and reviews, two candidates remained: the Sony A5100 and the Olympus OM-D E-M10. Still, after a careful comparison on imaging-resource.com photos taken in low light conditions, the choice was made in favor of Sony, although in normal conditions I like the picture from Olympus more.
In principle, he gives out what was required of the apparatus. I use the device mainly in automatic mode.Very fast focusing and correct metering ensure the almost complete absence of technical defects in conditions of short time for shooting.
The only thing I expected was a sharper picture.
Those who complain about the dim display may not have found in the "sunny weather" mode menu. In this mode, brightness is always enough for me.
Examples of daytime photos can be found here https://fotki.yandex.ru/users/kononenkoelen/album/232114/
photo in the aquarium through the glass https://fotki.yandex.ru/users/kononenkoelen/album/232113/
night shots https://fotki.yandex.ru/users/kononenkoelen/album/232117/
very bad light in the cave almost at the limit of sensitivity https://fotki.yandex.ru/users/kononenkoelen/album/232122/
In Rome, we came under heavy rain. The camera was packed into a backpack, but in 2 hours of rain the backpack was certainly wet through. The next day, the device failed to display. After returning from Italy, the device was handed over to the Sony service company in Moscow. To the credit of the service, it must be said that they repaired under warranty without question, but were warned about what should be protected from moisture.

Advantages: 1. Modern appearance, without flirting with antiquity
2.Video at the level of expensive video cameras
3.Easy, comfortable to hold and carry
4.Excellent automation
5. Comparatively sharp picture
6.Good sensor (matrix)
7. Well, finally the screen rotates 180
8.Not bad built-in stereo microphone, external is not needed.

Disadvantages: 1. Very dim pittled screen. Nothing is clear, nothing is visible in the sun.
2. The battery is half empty, artificially lowered capacity.
3. Very very long turn on.
4. Kit soaps, well, like a mobile phone straight.
5. Matrix is ​​hot; second half or half heat sink
6.Wifi is very weak. It connects for a long time, but everyone has it
7.Very expensive glass. It's easier to buy one more camera than a good interchangeable lens.

Comment: The software is very buggy and ill-conceived. For every little thing you have to climb a long time to search the menu. Each time it is turned on, it also warns about the inclusion in NTSC, it requires a few confirmations of the creation and the datemap verification on the card. And as a result shows empty files.
The battery lasts for half an hour of active use, but costs unjustified money. When the Chinese eat the market, then they’ll catch at the high-capacity and cheap AAs.
The sharpness of the whale at the level of top mobiles three years ago. However, all competitors Fuji, Olympus, Kenon, Nikon, Panasonic are still worse than porridge. Except surprisingly Samsung, who is at the level and probably will soon become the best.
With all the jambs, some of which, like creating and restoring unnecessary databases to anybody on each memory card, are simply furious, this is probably the best fotik.

Advantages: Personally, my, as mentioned earlier, the maiden "IMHO":
- A decent picture, not inferior to SLRs - and this is true.
- Lightweight (criteria for wearing at the bottom of the bag).
- Beautiful (I have a white case + bought a white leather belt and case - it looks like a bomb)
- Change lenses.
- The main function for me was the transfer of pictures on iPhone. Those. for a few meters you can take pictures of yourself or yourself with a dog, friends, loved ones, which is very cool. And the main thing down with a stick for selfie. But the tripod is obligatory, which would be more convenient to put, direct, rotate, unfold - in all poses.

Disadvantages: Personally, my cons.
- When there is no card, it is not annoyingly at the top, writing “no card” in the yellow small print and taking pictures, but the photos are not saved anywhere. (in the habit of transmitting photos to the laptop through the card, and not to connect the wire, and often forget the card in the laptop). I will put the best photos without a card and then I go sad =)
- on a sunny day, the screen is completely invisible. In this case, the viewfinder would save.

Comment: It was bought as a substitute for a heavy mirror nikon d3100. Sonya's picture is really wonderful, macro close up.I am going to buy a light-sensitive lens, I think, I’ll go down on beauty. If you are an amateur photo and just want very beautiful photos for yourself and your family, buy and do not think.
I did not even get to all the functions, she can not do much in auto mode.

Advantages: The camera is good in all respects, even an imitation of the shutter release caresses the ear. Workmanship is very good, the management is extremely convenient, I got used to it in 1 day. There is a very fine-tuning white balance and the necessary functions for video: picking, zebra (different modes), histogram. The video is very clean and clear up to 1600 iso, however, the image has characteristic cool tones.

Disadvantages: I bought this camera exclusively as the second one for video shooting, so I will list the shortcomings in this part. The most basic jamb - the matrix heats up after 12-14 minutes of continuous recording and the camera turns off automatically for cooling. Further, it is difficult, the record button is very inconveniently pressed, much more inconvenient than that of the A7S, which is scolded for; the button is small and recessed into the body, so, as they say, you cannot intuitively press it, I'm not talking about shooting with gloves in winter. Third - the battery sits in less than an hour, and you cannot connect to the network via usb (you can only charge in the off state), for this you need to buy a network adapter. Separate charging is also not included. The fourth drawback is the lack of a microphone input, in practice it is very bad because the built-in microphone is a complete misunderstanding. Well, from the display I would like the possibility of turning down and sideways, and not just up.

Comment: Given all the above disadvantages, I sold the camera after a month of use. And I really counted on it, the stated characteristics of the codec were very impressive. However, it fits perfectly for a photo. But only for the photo. Sonnies from Sony are not going to release a universal good camera.

Advantages: 1. Easy !!!
2. Small !!!
3. There is a 50 megabyte codec in the video.
4. A decent picture in the photo, not inferior to the SLRs.
5. A good tracking autofocus (and, in general, autofocus in general) with face detection for video because of what I recommend to buy only autofocus glasses to the device.
6. Lens 16-50 is fully automated and in good light, suitable for most shooting tasks. It also makes a small video camera out of a camera.
7. The Wi-Fi preview on the mobile gadget works quite fast. Faster than GoPro

Disadvantages: 1. Very close control joystick to the right edge of the camera. It usually appears when shooting a video - you accidentally press it and the ISO selection is on.
2. There is no hot shoe, but this is a fee for compactness, weight and a new codec.
3. One control wheel is missing, as in SONY Nex 5T and similar models. Fn button could also do.
4. Noise does not turn off - the picture always passes noise reduction at least to a minimum. After ISO500, the noise level always works and in some situations, for example, in low light in the video, frames with some kind of “striped” artifacts may skip. You can see it only on stopframe in montazhki. With continuous viewing is not noticeable.
5. Because mirrorless, then the matrix after lens removal is very much at risk of getting dirty with dust, which means that changing the optics is very often risky.
6. The battery eats pretty quickly, so you should immediately buy a spare battery for it

Comment: He bought the device for the soul, I like to take pictures and I wanted to have a device that you can always carry around with you and not strain yourself. The a6000 may be more convenient, but it’s still a big deal, and the XAVC codec is not in it, which put this model in an awkward position with regard to the video function, which is also important for me. I think that, over time, Sonya will still insert 4K in such a baby (although even 2.5-2.7K is enough) video and there will be no price! For the future of compacts

Advantages: A good matrix, respectively, and image quality, small size and weight, touchscreen display, excellent video quality, wi-fi, high burst speed and its duration, the ability to install additional applications.

Disadvantages: Not very convenient controls compared to 6000, the lack of GPS, not logical (from my point of view) the location of menu items, the slow speed of downloading photos via wi-fi.

Comment: Long chose the type of camera: a carcass or a small but advanced camera. I really did not want to carry a large device, but the quality of the pictures was also important. I chose it until I found Sony a 6000. “After feeling” it in the store and after talking with the seller, I realized that with such dimensions, I am completely satisfied with the quality of the photos and the functionality. What was missing in the 6000 for a complete ideal for me was the presence of a touch screen (for easy focusing) and GPS. The seller advised to look at the information in the nete about the new product - 5100. Indeed: the photo component was taken completely from 6000. Only really professional things were trimmed: advanced controls, viewfinder, hot shoe, flash is weaker, the speed of serial shooting is programmatically limited to 6 frames / sec. 6000 - 11). Of the benefits: the presence of a touchscreen display, higher video quality. I did not buy the camera for work, but for the house, so things like a hot shoe and a viewfinder were not very important to me. The price difference is small, so it was not taken into account. After much thought, I bought all the same 5100. After a month of operation I am very pleased. Comparison of 6000 and 5100: https://www.youtube.com/embed/a6K-Sppa8ow.