My $399 5n body arrived...

[kevistopheles]

It's nice. Coming from a C3 there are a few things I noticed right away. The 5n feels lighter than the C3 did. The larger grip is nice and it feels like it sits in the hand a tiny bit better. The UI is a bit different and I swear the image on the LCD looks bigger but I can't see why that would be as they are the same size. The extra features (like AEL and the ability to attach the Sony EVF) are welcome and I'm happy to have 1080p video. Overall I'm pleased with the upgrade. Now if the battery would just finish charging so I can play with it some more.

 

[Bimjo]

Congrats! That's a killer price.

I think you're going to really like the 5N. Once you get the button assignments set you seldom have to dive into the menu system. Be careful if you get the EVF- you may never want to go back to a fixed viewfinder again.

 

[Phoenix]

Congrats, thats certainly a good buy for an awesome camera.

 

[Dioptrick]

Cool!

It's inevitable that the 5N is going to be superseded by newer models with better features, but I think the 5N will always have a special spot in photographic history when it won Camera of the Year for 2012. I believe the 5N (although not perfect) was pivotal in bursting the 'mirrorless' door wide open in the marketplace.

The 5N continued to impress me for weeks on end after mine arrived... I couldn't get over the IQ, all the shooting modes, especially the solid metal rangefinder feel. I had it for about a month when I discovered focus peaking! Wondering what it was, I soon found out that is was a gateway into my old wonderful world of MF legacy lenses!!

I can see myself upgrading to a NEX6 a year or two from now, but I'll always be endeared to the 5N as THE camera that brought back my passion and interest in photography.

 

[Bimjo]

I can see myself upgrading to a NEX6 a year or two from now, but I'll always be endeared to the 5N as THE camera that brought back my passion and interest in photography.

Gotta love that!

 

[nianys]

Oly people are all over themselves as DxO just rated the EM-5 sensor (Sony chip, by the way) "almost as good as NEX". Since when being the next best thing has become the goal ??...
Personally I find the 5N, compared to the GX-1, slow, akward and quirky, really a couple of notches below in terms of shooting experience. It's a camera I wouldn't look at twice if it weren't for the IQ and focus peaking. But those two aspects make it a winner. I so, so hope the 6 improves on AF speed a bit, for me the 5N is on the verge of not usable in that area... As a manual focus machine though, it just can't be beat.

 

[pictogramax]

Congratulations, dixeyk! Do you plan to get the EVF also?
I guess it's a nice addition for us manual focusing lovers

 

[kevistopheles]

Congratulations, dixeyk! Do you plan to get the EVF also?
I guess it's a nice addition for us manual focusing lovers

Since I started with a C3 I really hadn't thought about it before but now that I have a 5n I can see picking one up if I find one at a good price.

 

[kevistopheles]

I so, so hope the 6 improves on AF speed a bit, for me the 5N is on the verge of not usable in that area... As a manual focus machine though, it just can't be beat.

I think that's they key. My C3 wasn't all that useful as a point and go AF camera and my GX1 is much nicer in that regard, in fact any m43 camera in that regard was probably better with the possible exception of the E-P1. I see the NEX and GX1 as being good at different things. They each excel where the other does not. I like the GX1 and m43 (great lenses) but I also like NEX and what it offers. It's a significantly different experience. I suppose I see my 5n and Pen-F 40/1.4 as about as close to owning something like an M8 as I will ever get (well...I suppose someday I might spring for a 40/2 Summicron-C).

 

[applemint]

There is a good long-term rolling review of the 5N here: #99. Sony NEX-5n – Why I’m saying goodbye to this little gem | Dear Susan,

Slightly concerned about the reliability issue but my Nex 5 is still fine after 2 years of use (touch wood!) - perhaps he was just unlucky?

 

[Bimjo]

I wonder if he's using stock Sony batteries or some aftermarket battery? This is the first issue like this I've heard of in 10 months of 5N ownership. Once, maybe. But twice? Same guy? Something's not right here.

 

[davect01]

Other than the video overheat issue their have not been too many reported issues.

 

[demiro]

Oly people are all over themselves as DxO just rated the EM-5 sensor (Sony chip, by the way) "almost as good as NEX". Since when being the next best thing has become the goal ??...
Personally I find the 5N, compared to the GX-1, slow, akward and quirky, really a couple of notches below in terms of shooting experience. It's a camera I wouldn't look at twice if it weren't for the IQ and focus peaking. But those two aspects make it a winner. I so, so hope the 6 improves on AF speed a bit, for me the 5N is on the verge of not usable in that area... As a manual focus machine though, it just can't be beat.

Why even bring Olympus in to this thread? What does the DxO sensor rating have to do with Kevin's new 5N?

 

[kevistopheles]

Me with 5n
View attachment 1701
image from here

Get it? Happy as a clam...then it dawned on me I had probably explain for anyone not familiar with this particular NW creature...that's a Goeduck clam not a severed elephants trunk.

 

[Bimjo]

Funny shot, the clam is bigger than your camera.

 

[quezra]

Me with 5n
View attachment 1701
image from here

Get it? Happy as a clam...then it dawned on me I had probably explain for anyone not familiar with this particular NW creature...that's a Goeduck clam not a severed elephants trunk.

Phew, I thought it might be some other part of an elephant's anatomy

 

[demiro]

Phew, I thought it might be some other part of an elephant's anatomy

Do a Google image search on this clam and it gets way worse...

 

[kevistopheles]

Do a Google image search on this clam and it gets way worse...

Yep...that's a rather small goeduck

 

[Dioptrick]

Me with 5n...

When you say, 'you with your new 5n'... did you mean that's your hand, or you took the picture? Because if it's both, I'm mighty interested on your shooting technique!

 

[kevistopheles]

When you say, 'you with your new 5n'... did you mean that's your hand, or you took the picture? Because if it's both, I'm mighty interested on your shooting technique!

It's neither, just a stock photo of a geoduck...it was meant to represent being "happy as a clam" but clearly it failed on that account...although I DO have a a huge double jointed arm growing out between my should blades making a shot like that very doable...