Sony NEX 5N With Wi-Fi, Faster AF And ‘Apps’

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Apps! Apps! Appsappsappsapps!

 

 

Sony has gotten on the connected, app-enabled camera bandwagon at last with the NEX-5R, an updated 5N which adds Wi-Fi, “apps,” an very sweet new AF system and a couple of extra buttons. Sony’s NEX series is already smoking hot, and these new features might just bring the fire brigade a-runnin'.

First, the camera-y bits. The 5R gets 99 phase-detection AF detectors on the sensor itself. Phase detection is the super-fast focus method used by SLRs, and usually relies on sampling the light siphoned off by the reflex mirror. Putting them on the sensor lets the camera focus faster, without a mirror.

Next up: Wi-Fi. You can connect to other gear for transfer or to the internet direct for uploading and the like. This ties in with the new “apps,” which aren’t apps as we have come to think of them (arbitrary third-party code available for install) but more like installable functions from Sony itself:

Picture Effect+; Bracket Pro; Multi Frame NR; Photo Retouch; and Smart Remote Control.

To me, those read more like Sony left out a bunch of features so it could make them downloadable and call them apps. But I’m a cynic.

Otherwise, there’s a programmable control dial and button, plus a 16.1MP APS-C sensor, maximum ISO of 25,600 and a body-only price of $650 ($750 with the 18-55mm kit lens.

Available October.

Source: Sony Blog

Thanks: Gillian!

 

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