SONY a5000 Compact System Camera (Zoom Lens & Camera Case Bundle) - £249 @ Currys

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SONY a5000 Compact System Camera (Zoom Lens & Camera Case Bundle) - £249.00 @ Currys

£249 Currys18 Nov 15

Source: HotUKDeals | Deals > Technology

Opening post

HUFCsteve

15 Nov 15

My son is becoming increasingly interested in photography and I thought that this looked like a decent camera at a reasonable price. Looking at the specs this should be good enough to use for close up pics as well as taking videos...

Compact system camera
Resolution (20.1 megapixels)
Size: APS HD (23.2 x 15.4 mm)
Format (3:2)
Anti-dust system: Charge protection coating on Optical filter
ISO sensitivity (100 - 16000)
Image stabiliser (Optical)
Lens type (Zoom)
Lens mount (Sony E-Mount)
Focal length (16 - 50 mm)
35 mm equivalent (24 - 75 mm)
Maximum aperture (f/3.5 - f/5.6)
Minimum aperture (f/22 - f/36)
Normal distance (25 cm - infinity)
Focusing (Autofocus & manual)
Focus area points (25-point focus)
Digital zoom
- L: Approx. 4x
- M: Approx. 5.6x
- S: Approx. 8x
Screen (3.0" LCD)
Screen features
- 180° adjustable angle
- Resolution: 460,800 dots
Shutter speed (30 secs - 1/4000th)
Continuous shooting
- Continuous mode: 2.5 fps
- Speed priority continuous shooting: 3.5 fps
Self-timer
- 2 seconds
- 10 seconds
Exposure modes (Portrait, Sports Action, macro, landscape, Sunset, Night Scene, Hand-held Twilight, night Portrait, Anti-Motion blur)
Effects (13 types: Posterization (Colour), Posterization (B/W), Pop Colour, Retro Photo, Partial Colour (R / G / B / Y), High Contrast Monochrome, Toy Camera (Normal / Cool / Warm / Green / Magenta), Soft High-key, Soft Focus (High / Mid / Low), HDR Painting (High / Mid / Low), Rich-tone Monochrome, Miniature (Auto/Top/Middle (H) / Bottom/Right/Middle (V) / Left), Watercolor, Illustration (High / Mid / Low))
Panorama mode (Yes)
White balance (Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Warm White, Cool White, Day White, Daylight, Flash,Underwater/ Colour Temperature & colour filter)
Maximum photo resolution (5456 x 3632p)
Photo file formats
- RAW
- JPEG
- RAW & JPEG
- JPEG fine
Video mode (Yes, with sound)
Maximum video resolution (Full HD 1920 x 1080p, 30 fps)
Video file formats
- AVCHD
- MP4
Memory card
- Memory Stick PRO Duo
- Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo
- Memory Stick XC-HG Duo
- SD
- SDHC
- SDXC
Built-in Flash (Yes)
Guide number (4 m at ISO 100)
Interface
- Multi / Micro USB terminal
- HDMI micro connector (Type-D)
- Mass-storage
- MTP, PC remote
Bluetooth (Yes)
NFC (Yes)
WiFi connectivity (Yes)
Battery type (Lithion-ion NP-FW50)
Battery life (Approx. 420 shots)
Colour (White)
Dimensions (H 62.8 x W 109.6 x D 35.7 mm)
Weight (210 g)
Manufacturer’s guarantee (2 years)

All comments (40)

PhilK

15 Nov 15 #1

Best camera Ive ever had by a mile. Got it for £143 off Sony Outlet (It closing down is a disaster) and was brand new.
You've chosen well for your son I think
Add:- Just noticed the bag is same one I bought off eBay for it and it's been fine too :smirk:

eatmorefish to PhilK

15 Nov 15 #9

Yeah, I got some great things from the Sony outlet in the past. Any idea what they are now doing with all their refurbs? eBay store?

Ruffuz

15 Nov 15 #2

its a good camera, but screen is total rubbish

JamesBonds

15 Nov 15 #3

i need a camrea so i can take photos of rooms, i've been told i need a very wide angel lens will this be suitable?

siobhany2k3 to JamesBonds

15 Nov 15 #5

This camera seems to have a wide viewing angle and takes good panoramic photos too. The lens is removable (like an SLR but a compact version) so you can interchange the lens if you need to.

cikki100 to JamesBonds

15 Nov 15 1 #10

i don't think any camera's would take pictures of wide angels

siobhany2k3

15 Nov 15 #4

Bought this camera a couple of weeks back following great online reviews. I am no expert but it does take a lovely picture for an amateur camera. I negotiated with Currys over the phone and had a good 64gb memory card thrown in for an extra £10. Very easy to use and I feel good value for money.

spruceyb

15 Nov 15 #6

You won't get a lens much wider than 24mm (35mm Equiv) without spending a lot of money though.

toaster

15 Nov 15 2 #7

It's only in naff white with the free case, rather have black and no case as they are cheap enough to source on Ebay. £249 is the current standard selling price without case at all other outlets.

Norman-B

15 Nov 15 #8

Nice deal. Not keen on the White. I'm hanging on for the A5100.

ChampEon

15 Nov 15 #11

Does this take better photos than the Nikon d3300? I realise that one's a DSLR but I'm a noob when it comes to cameras.

surfbabe10

15 Nov 15 #12

This or the Sony RX100?

Norman-B to surfbabe10

15 Nov 15 #13

http://snapsort.com/compare/Sony-Alpha-A5000-vs-Sony-Cybershot-DSC-RX100

Norman-B

15 Nov 15 #14

I just can't make a decision! One minute I'm waiting for the A5100, then I'm unsure and should I go for the Sony RX100.
One camera store suggests one and another store suggest the other!?? I have a Panasonic TZ35 but getting restless re results. Nearly all my photos now are of my grandchildren.
Decisions.

spruceyb to Norman-B

15 Nov 15 1 #16

RX100 for pocketability. Plus with kids you'll want that wide aperture to let in more light.

I'd also suggest looking at the Nikon 1 S1 Refurb from Camera Centre for £119 (10MP 1" Sensor type)

brilly to Norman-B

15 Nov 15 #19

take a look at the pictures you have taken, if you use zoom pretty often then rx100 isn't going to be that great for you

yep, not much of a deal imo

surfbabe10

15 Nov 15 1 #15

Thankyou

Norman-B

15 Nov 15 #17

Thank you!

surfbabe10

15 Nov 15 #18

Hopefully some good bargains on Black Friday

Norman-B

15 Nov 15 #20

I rarely use the large zoom now.

brilly

15 Nov 15 1 #21

remember that no (reasonable) dslr zoom is large vs your fz35
it reaches 6 times the a5000 and kit lens and 5-7 times rx100 (depends on model)
so even zooming in half way currently is further than youd get with these

GuigsyUK

15 Nov 15 #22

I've got the largely very similar a6000. It's an excellent camera and easily competes with mirrored DSLRs in pretty much every situation. However, if you are serious, think about getting other lenses. I've had the two kit lenses for mine for a while (this 16-50mm one and 50-200mm zoom) and while they produce nice shots, they didn't blow me away. Recently I got the Sony 35mm prime lens and it's amazing. Every shot is so much crisper and portrait shots look so nice (F1.8 ). The problem is, I now want a wider fixed lens too!

ElGofre to GuigsyUK

16 Nov 15 1 #28

I would actually give slightly different advice, and that's to save the money and not immediately buy new lenses until you're sure what you want. Like a lot of beginner photographers I fell into the trap of buying a new lens every few weeks because I couldn't achieve a single shot, or just because I had convinced myself I needed it, and I ended up wasting money on a bag full of lenses that either never got used or could have instead funded a really high quality lens or two that I would have used often.

Experienced photographers will probably know what they want and need, and will buy lenses accordingly. For beginners, I always recommend trying to stick to the kit lens for the first month or two (unless they're set on doing a particular style of photography that benefits from a different lens). In that time they'll start figuring what's restricting them in getting the shots they want most often, what focal lengths they shoot at the most, things like that. It lets you spend your money a bit more wisely, rather than jumping in immediately on something that may just end up gathering dust in a desk drawer!

sparklehedgehog

15 Nov 15 #23

You can get a 16mm pancake cheap on eBay used that is sonys own lens. Used to be bundled with the early nex series cameras which is the same e mount.

This camera was cheaper recently but without the case for about £220 so not outstanding deal but still a good buy even at this price

u0421793

15 Nov 15 #24

I’ve got the not quite so largely similar NEX-3n, which is an ancestor of this one. It’s also an excellent camera and competes, etc. This is a good price for what you get. The zoom is from a touch wider than you’d expect, to fairly mid-normal-tightish. This camera is also very good for video (except that the lens stabilisation is not really as effective in video, so keep it still or use a tripod or cushion). I think for two hundred and fifty quid, you probably can’t spend it any better than this.

xjcb200

16 Nov 15 #25

For wide angle interior shots you need Sony's 16mm pancake lens plus ECU1 attachment. Produces great results with any E-Mount Sony cameras

LandOfConfusion to xjcb200

17 Nov 15 #34

Not true I'm afraid.

At the risk of attracting the wrath of the camera incogsenti (I've given similar advice to this on here before) you're dead right.

I always suggest buying something cheap to work out if (a) if you actually like this hobby and (b) what sort of photography you want to do. That way you won't have wasted much money if you go either way and what you buy may actually be all you need.

spruceyb

16 Nov 15 #26

That 16mm is 24mm (35mm Equiv). The wide end of the kit power-zoom is 16mm anyway. The only way you get wider than that is buying the VCL-ECU1 which is x0.75 so makes it a 12mm which is 18mm (35mm Equiv).

To get that you'd spend say £80 each on Lens & Converter, so around £160. For that kind of money you could just get a Lumix FZ72 which is 20mm (35mm Equiv) at the wide end.

brilly

16 Nov 15 1 #27

why would you get the 16mm? its worse than the 16mm end of kit other than in speed which isn't relevant when using tripod inside anyway
only reason would be to use the adaptor as xjcb said
better lenses than that would be samyang 12/2 or canon wide angle and adapter
tbh if interiors was all that was being shot may as well just get a canon

PhilK

16 Nov 15 #29

I presume they'll be going the eBay route like Curry's etc
Just can't see where the savings are, closing the Outlets

alcurtis93

16 Nov 15 #30

I wouldn't get this camera for someone interested in photography. I'd get this for someone to take nice holiday snaps.

ElGofre to alcurtis93

16 Nov 15 #31

Why wouldn't you get this for someone interested in photography? It's got DSLR grade internals and image quality, interchangeable lenses, full manual controls, it's as capable as any other enthusiast camera in this price range. The only thing missing is a viewfinder, which is understandable for a mirrorless camera at this price point and will be down to each buyer's personal preference on whether they'd rather have the viewfinder of a DSLR or the compact size of a mirrorless system.

rbjim

16 Nov 15 #32

in the correct light we've had some fantastic results with this camera.

u0421793

16 Nov 15 1 #33

The big difference between this and a DSLR that costs significantly more (as opposed to a DSLR of similar price) is the control surface. This family of cameras at this end of the price range has all the controls in software, on soft buttons, on a screen. A DSLR of at least triple this price has external buttons, knobs and dials, and that makes the huge difference for someone taking photos all the time under a variety of conditions. However, for similar conditions all the time, you just set this to how it will be, and shoot away. It’s every bit as capable of manual operation, just more difficultly in terms of accessibility and quick changes. The quality is every bit as good as you’d want too.

It’s fine for holidays and pretty good as an intro camera for someone getting into photography, up to a point, then when the irritation of the user interface (don’t forget, it’s a Sony!) finally gets too much, an upgrade will be the thing to do. Where you upgrade to is a question — a higher E-mount Sony with more knobs on? Or something like a 7xxx series Nikon, veritably festooned with knobs? That’s the question that can only be individually answered. In the meantime, this package, with the (quite passable but highly software-corrected kit lens) can just about be stuffed into a winter coat pocket and will remain highly useful for that even alongside a future DSLR (if the interest was kept up to pursue photography that far).

By the way, another thing: for interiors, if well-lit, this camera does the Sony “sweep panorama”. If the camera is held sideways and the sweep direction set appropriately, you’ll get quite a wide image with a usefully tall vertical field of view too. You should be able to get good portion of a a room in. Be careful with movement, though — on my NEX 3n, I get a ‘choppy’ effect with motion such as windy water on the lower portion of a scene, or with people moving about. It obviously shoots slices and stitches them together in real time. I’ve had better examples of sweep panorama than this one, but for static subjects, this one works.

yoyo59

19 Nov 15 #35

is this better than my old sony Nex-5nb?

spruceyb to yoyo59

20 Nov 15 #36

Not really. A5100 is more of an update to the NEX-5 line, A5000 is more of a NEX-3 replacement.

thelatics

27 Nov 15 #37

Due to Amazon black Friday deal on the A5100 (£279), just returned my A5000 to Curry's.

What's even better he says to me the Sony case is coming up at 99p, am I sure I want to return that, to which I say no, so have a refund of £248, and kept the case, result.

Norman-B

27 Nov 15 #38

£279 for the A5100?

LandOfConfusion to Norman-B

27 Nov 15 #39

I haven't checked but if Amazon are doing it for £279 then it's the same as last year's Black Friday Deal. And at that price it's a bargain.

thelatics

29 Nov 15 #40

yup, £279. I know it's £30 more but for that you get touchscreen with double the pixels, 179 focus points instead of 20 and a couple of extra MP.

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