Sony Alpha a5100: Small and Lightweight Camera with High-Tech Features

Sony has replaced many of the cameras that used to be branded with the NEX moniker, and so the a5100 has replaced the NEX-5T. Although the camera has the same shape as its predecessor, Sony has installed the same excellent 24.3 million pixel sensor and Bionz X processor as used in the a6000.

The number of autofocus points is increased to 179 for phase detection and 25 for contrast detection, which is another key change. The NEX-5T also had a hybrid AF system, but it had only 99 phase detection points and 25 contrast detect areas.

This gives the new camera a great coverage and only the outer edges of the image frame are not covered. Focusing speeds are claimed to be 0.07 seconds, which makes it slightly slower than the a6000 and Fuji X-T1, which (with 0.06 second AF speeds) are known to be the fastest focusing APS-C system cameras available on the market.

Features

The a5100 has the APS-C sized sensor, but it comes with the same gapless on-chip lens structure as the a7R. Therefore, it would be able to capture more light and perform better in low-light shooting conditions.