Sony's camera team has been on a tear in the past year and a half, quietly assembling one of the more enviable top-to-bottom lineups on the market. The full-frame mirrorless A7 series won the company a number of awards, but stellar values like the compact A6000 and traditional DSLRs like the A77 II are also strong bets. These are all on top of Sony's best-in-class point-and-shoots, including the RX10and RX100 III.
Looking to add to what is already a very impressive and thorough lineup, Sony has decided to slip another model between the low-end A5000 and the aforementioned A6000. Enter: the new Sony Alpha A5100 (MSRP $549.99). The A5100 bumps last year's NEX-5T out of the current lineup, ending Sony's "NEX" era forever while borrowing most of the same tech from this year's eye-catching A6000.
Describing the A5100 isn't difficult; it's basically a slightly slower A6000 minus a few creature comforts. The notable absences: You don't get the A6000's EVF (electronic view finder), hotshoe, 11fps burst shooting, or the extended ISO range. That's all a bummer, but it's $100 cheaper than the A6000 and prices should continue to fall. On the other end consider that for just $70 more than the low-end A5000 you get higher resolution images, 60p video, and a host of other improvements.
All three of these new E-mount Alphas are mighty impressive, but can this middle child stand out from the pack?
