Sony a5000 - Sony Kills NEX Moniker

[kbg32]

http://petapixel.com/2014/01/07/sony-ups-mirrorless-game-a5000-kills-nex-moniker/

They are beginning to think for us -

".... a “Photo Creativity” mode that replaces standard photography terms with settings such as “Background Defocus.”

 

[aeturnum]

I think it's fantastic that manufacturers are adding shortcuts for the effects that users want to use. If people want to get down to the nuts and bolts of photography things like EV tables and stops of light will always be around. If people can take pictures they enjoy with less time invested, I'm all for it.

 

[pvdhaar]

".... a “Photo Creativity” mode that replaces standard photography terms with settings such as “Background Defocus.”

When I first started to use a camera (we're talking the mid-70's here), the hardest thing for me to grasp was that the aperture did and how it related to the f-stop numbers. Bigger aperture is smaller number made no sense whatsoever.. Processing and printing put a heavy burden on my piggy bank, so I couldn't go about shooting lots and lots of different settings to experiment. Consequence was that it remained a mystery for ages.

So, even though you can poke fun at Sony for being unconventional, I think they're very much in sync with what their customers who are not experienced in photo jargon really need..

 

[nemo2]

The important part of photography is "seeing", not f-stops.

 

[Scrambler]

http://petapixel.com/2014/01/07/sony-ups-mirrorless-game-a5000-kills-nex-moniker/

They are beginning to think for us -

".... a “Photo Creativity” mode that replaces standard photography terms with settings such as “Background Defocus.”

Ho hum. My cheaper-than-chips a3000 has that too. But it also has proper aperture priority mode, or manual mode if you want.

The bit I'm still trying to work out is the difference between Sony's "Intelligent Auto" mode (marked in green) and the gold "Superior Auto" version right next to it on the dial...

Aperture priority for dummies aside, Sony is still playing around in the parts bin to find a popular cheap camera. The a3000 only has bits that take decent photos while the rest is either left off or very basic. The a5000 adds back social media functions and power zoom. But its still a parts bin special at heart - that heart being the sensor designed for the SLT a58. It has slow contrast-only autofocus (because the phase-detection was off the mirror in its original body).

It should make for a decent body for adapted manual lenses but if you can do without selfies, Wi-Fi and HDMI out, the a3000 has the same guts.