Quality & Size Options

The NEX-5 has a maximum resolution of 14 megapixels and a minimum of 2.9 megapixels — if you’re thinking about emailing images to friends and family, you’ll need to resize using your computer first. There are two aspect ratio choices, 3:2 and widescreen 16:9, each with three size options as listed below.

There are two JPEG compression settings, Fine and Standard. RAW and RAW+JPEG are also supported. When shooting RAW+JPEG, the file size is set to Large, compression to Fine.

Dynamic Range (9.31)

The NEX-5 handles high-contrast scenes very nicely, holding on to details in both bright and shadowed areas better than most cameras. In fact, only the Sony A550 offered a hair’s breadth superior performance, and none of the other comparison cameras came close.

The NEX-5 starts out with a very respectable range of nearly 8 stops at the lowest ISO 200 setting. The drop as ISOs increase is gradual; even at ISO 3200 we still measured a dynamic range over 5 EV, a very strong result.

As shown below, the NEX-5 has the widest dynamic range at ISO 200 among cameras in our test group. More on how we test dynamic range.

Sony clearly understands dynamic range optimization. While they use very different hardware, the two Sony models are the clear leaders in this category.

Image Stabilization (1.68)

Unlike Sony SLRs, the compact NEX cameras do not have in-camera image stabilization systems, relying instead on stabilized lenses. When we tested the kit 18-55mm zoom, though, we found it was much less effective than the in-camera stabilization we tested in the Sony A550. In fact, when the camera was shaken fairly aggressively, there was only a slight sharpness improvement at two shutter speeds, with no significant difference at all at 1/60 second or slower, where stabilization is most needed. With a lower shake intensity, there were minor improvements when shooting at 1/125 second and again at 1/15 second, but overall this new lens-based stabilization system made very little difference. More on how we test image stabilization.

Image Stabilization Comparison Table			Expand
	Low Shake IS Off	Low Shake IS On	High Shake IS Off	High Shake IS On
1/500
1/250
1/125
1/60
1/30
1/15
1/8

The stabilization system in the kit zoom lens proved less effective than any of the other cameras in our comparison group, including the in-camera system used in the Sony A550.