Sony NEX-5 review

More samples please...

...as suggested in the PCPRO podcast!

BTW, who wrote this article? There's no credit. That's not very web 2.0

By ricksters on 16 Jul 2010

Interlace? Really? Why?

Does this really record interlaced footage or is it progressive (i.e. 25p) wrapped into an interlaced file?

I still don't quite fathom the logic of recording anything interlaced any more given that no LCD display is capable of displaying it properly - it is an outdated dinosaur belonging to CRT technology that should be buried as far as I am concerned.

By ricksters on 16 Jul 2010

Interlaced...

The camera records 1080i footage at a rate of 50 fields per second. Effectively this gives you Full HD footage at 25fps once it's been deinterlaced by either your TV, PC, video player or video editing software.

The resolution and the final framerate, then, is no different to 1080/25p. However there is arguably a disadvantage with interlaced recording. As each deinterlaced frame is made up of two sequential fields, in situations where fast motion is being recorded the position of elements in each field can be slightly different, leading to a slight blurring of the subject matter.

Just to confuse the issue, according to some schools of thought, this blurring can actually help with fast motion, as it helps smooth the transition from one frame to the next. Sky Sports is transmitted in 1080i.

Obviously 1080/50p would be better, but there aren't many camcorders at this price that offer that mode, nor much video editing software that can take advantage of it the format.

Jonathan Bray,
Reviews editor,
PC Pro.

By JonBray on 16 Jul 2010

"the contrast autofocus system is snappy"

I'd hoped for a closer look at this, as the use of contrast detect over the much faster phase detect autofocus is (or was) an issue.

can it keep up with fast moving things - wildlife, kids (arguably the same thing) and sports? Can it focus-track people or objects as they move towards or away from the camera (i.e. does it have an ai-servo function)?

One other more mundane question; I note the flash is very close to the lens. Does it pop up when used or is there a large shadow on the subject when they're close to the camera?

By Mark_Thompson on 16 Jul 2010

Rollocks, another question about focus - how does its contrast detection autofocus perform in poor light? (another challenge for this method of focus, and exacerbated by the smaller depth of field resulting from the larger sensor).

By Mark_Thompson on 16 Jul 2010

Interlaced....

Jon,

Different temporal resolution with interlace...but anyway.

My point is why record in a format that is not supported by any display device? - As you correctly point out the signal is deinterlaced (by a very cheap!) DSP chip in the TV resulting in an inferior picture quality compared to what you would get if it simply recorded 25p natively. By way of an example at work we have a £10K professional piece of kit just to remove interlace properly. I suspect therefore that a 10 quid scaler/deinterlacing chip in a domestic TV is not going to cut the mustard. :)

Most digital video cameras implement 1080p25 for the nice filmic look and 720p50 (or 60) when you want to capture high speed motion - both of these formats being supported natively by LCD TVs.

1080p50 will of course look lovely, but it will be "video" lovely rather than "film" lovely. Higher frame rates do not necessarily lead to more pleasing images.

By ricksters on 19 Jul 2010

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By laptopbattery on 21 Jul 2010

Ralph Ireland

Nice camera. Pity about the weight you report:
Weight 508.000kg

By RalphEIreland on 22 Jul 2010