Customer reviews from sony.com
Sony - Alpha a5100 Mirrorless Camera (Body Only) - Black
Average customer rating
4.2
(52 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 52 reviews
5 Stars
29
4 Stars
15
3 Stars
2
2 Stars
0
1 Star
6
85%of customers recommend this product.
(
39 out of
46)
Customer Reviews for Sony - Alpha a5100 Mirrorless Camera (Body Only) - Black
Customer Rating
4
Amazing for it's size, lens options could improve
on July 9, 2015
Posted by: cameratime1212
Verified Purchase:Yes
Some background about me. I'm serious about photography but don't always want to carry around a backpack full of gear. My approach with the a5100 was to replace my aps-c DSLR with it. I think I'm going to settle on still having a dslr (but a full frame one), keeping the a5100, and using them each about 50/50.
The Sony a5100 is really awesome for a compact aps-c mirrorless camera. Most of the negative reviews come from the lack of an evf or physical controls. The a6000 has those, so if that's what you want, get the a6000. I prefer the a5100 because its just small enough to fit into a pocket with most of the lenses I have. I don't find switching settings too slow without the physical controls and the screen is pretty viewable in sunlight if you crank the brightness to sunlight mode (although admittedly an evf would be awesome if it stayed small).
Anyways the dynamic range is amazing (although really only useful if you shoot raw and post process), and the high ISO noise is good compared to other aps-c cameras, although still far from the full frame competition.
The only real downside to this camera is the lens selection/prices and the autofocus is awesome on slow moving subjects but isn't as good as a dslr when it comes to sports or fast action (I don't have kids, or shoot sports too often so this is fine by me but I'd imagine that's a lot of people's concern).
For the lenses I have the 55-210mm, the 20mm pancake, the 35mm f/1.8, the 50mm f/1.8, and the kit 16-50mm. I really like prime lenses for the large aperture and the general image quality (plus Sony's image stabilization works like a charm). The 50mm f/1.8 is awesome. Great image quality at a good price. The others disappoint a little, and some of the ones I don't own and even worse that don't exist are a letdown too. The 35mm should cost a little less or be a little sharper, and I really wish there was a high quality prime in the 20-25mm (~35mm full frame equivalent) range that was essentially like the Zeiss 24mm but doesn't cost as much (I don't care if it drops the Zeiss name). Canon, Nikon, Fuji, and Olympus have this, but the $1,100 for the Zeiss is simply too much. That lens is nice but nowhere near good enough to justify the price. The main competitors charge half. It's also, unfortunately my favorite focal length, so instead I'm using the 20mm pancake, which is decent for a pancake, although I'd personally rather have a bigger lens that's sharper and with a wider aperture, and I'd pay up to $600 for it.
Unfortunately too it seems Sony if focusing more on full frame lens development--not too many releases in the last year for aps-c, so my hope isn't likely to be fulfilled unless they do another price drop on the Zeiss. Also a faster standard zoom or telephoto would be great as well.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting sony.com
Posted by: Dougy88fresh
Verified Purchase:Yes
This camera is one of the best camera's I have purchased from Sony. Being I am more of an amateur photographer and just take family pictures and landscape pictures this camera allows me to take them like the pro's do. Very easy to use as compared to my older DSLR camera and much easier to switch out lens and take great shots. I would recommend this camera to everyone. Make a basic photo taker like a beginner pro!!
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting sony.com
Customer Rating
4
Missing the function menu
on June 27, 2015
Posted by: Bolom128
Very hard to use the camera without function menu.
We need function menu please fix it.
We need function menu please fix it.
Response from sony.comBy Mitch, Sony Support, June 29, 2015
Hi Bolom128,
Thanks for your feedback for the a5100. We will forward your request to the right people for future product developments.
Thanks for your feedback for the a5100. We will forward your request to the right people for future product developments.
Written by a customer while visiting sony.com
Customer Rating
4
Pretty impressive for such a small form factor.
on June 23, 2015
Posted by: joeinmiami
Verified Purchase:Yes
Upgraded from a Nex-5. Still learning to use it but I think this camera is a perfect choice for travel or casual photography. Low light conditions are no problem for this little one. Performance in daylight and sports is exceptional. WiFi to your cellphone/social media is truly a God-send. Thank you Sony!
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting sony.com
Posted by: RCRicci
Verified Purchase:Yes
I am still a photography novice, but somewhat familiar with video. I found the video quality to be amazing, - as well, the feature to save MP4 simultaneously with the HD video file.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Response from sony.comBy -Jen, Sony Support, May 6, 2015
Hi RCRicci, It's good to know that you are satisfied with the performance of this Sony camera. Thank you for posting your review, we appreciate it.
Written by a customer while visiting sony.com
Customer Rating
4
Great camera but one glaring flaw.
on April 22, 2015
Posted by: JeMO
This is a fantastic camera, it has the same APS-C sensor, processor, and auto focus system as the a6000 in a smaller package. You can accomplish some quite amazing photos and and is compact enough to have with you all day.
I'm rating it 4 stars but it should really be 3.5 due to one major glaring flaw (would be 5 if this issue is fixed). For what ever reason Sony has decided to remove the function menu in this camera. The previous NEX-5T and pretty much ever other Sony camera, even the RX100 has a function menu. Several of the buttons are programmable including the "?" button yet there is no ability to make it pull up the function menu for quick access to your most used setting.
This truly is a shame and cuts the camera off at the knees as it is otherwise extremely capable in M, A, or S mode. Without this function menu feature you are forced to menu dive to make changes to many of your favorite settings which is a huge chore. I am baffled why this feature is not in the camera and even more confused why it hasn't been fixed. Several reviews have mentioned this glaring omission and it should be easily resolved with a firmware update yet nothing has happened.
Response from sony.comBy Mitch, Sony Support, April 28, 2015
Hi JeMO,
Thank you for giving us feedback on the camera. We will forward your request to the right department.
Thank you for giving us feedback on the camera. We will forward your request to the right department.
Written by a customer while visiting sony.com
Posted by: Znem
Verified Purchase:Yes
I have always been a Nikon fan but Nikon has not done the small camera Mirrorless well. Sony, has always been the tops in making things small and this camera is no exception. It's a pleasure to carry around my neck for long time periods and the quality of the photos is amazing.
Written by a customer while visiting sony.com
Posted by: Tral4l4
Verified Purchase:Yes
This is a good camera, takes very nice pictures. Screen is a bit tough to see during sunlight. Touchscreen focus is very nice. If it would have a viewfinder and the touch screen would work in the menus as well, it would be the perfect camera.
I was deciding between this camera and the a6000, but chose the a5100 because it has the same guts as the a6000 + better video codec, is smaller, has flip up screen, and is smaller/lighter.
I am very happy with the purchase.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Response from sony.comBy Mitch, Sony Support, April 13, 2015
Hi TRal414,
It's very nice to hear that you love the a5100 camera. As for the LCD display, you can change the setting of the Monitor Brightness to Sunny Weather when using outdoors.
It's very nice to hear that you love the a5100 camera. As for the LCD display, you can change the setting of the Monitor Brightness to Sunny Weather when using outdoors.
Written by a customer while visiting sony.com