Samsung NX5 vs Sony WX70: An Expert’s Detailed Comparison for Photography Enthusiasts

When diving into cameras aimed at entry-level enthusiasts, particularly those balancing budget, portability, and image quality, the Samsung NX5 and Sony Cyber-shot WX70 emerge as two prominent - but fundamentally different - options. Though their announcement dates are two years apart (NX5 in mid-2010 and WX70 in early 2012), they curiously target overlapping users with distinct photographic goals. Over my 15+ years testing thousands of cameras, I have found that such comparisons are essential to disentangle marketing jargon and jargon-clouded specifications into practical decision-making insights.

This comprehensive comparison will dissect every relevant aspect of these two models, exposing strengths, compromises, and their suitability for diverse photography genres - ranging from landscape to sports, portrait to video work. Wherever appropriate, I will integrate side-by-side analysis, technical nuance, and real-world observations to empower you, the reader, with clear guidance tailored to your unique creative ambitions.

Built to Handle or Pocket-Friendly? Physical Size and Ergonomics

The Samsung NX5 is fashioned in the classic SLR-style mirrorless body, a design philosophy that prioritizes ergonomic comfort and manual control access, while the Sony WX70 is a small sensor compact, favoring extreme portability and convenience.

The NX5’s dimensions - 123 x 87 x 40 mm, weighing 499g - lend it a reassuring heft that seasoned photographers associate with high handling stability and balanced lens mounting. Its thoughtful grip and intuitive button placements make prolonged shooting more comfortable and precise, a key advantage especially for manual focus or more deliberate exposure work. This form factor naturally supports lens interchangeability, something the NX5’s Samsung NX mount encourages.

Conversely, the WX70 shrinks to a diminutive 92 x 52 x 19 mm and a featherweight 114g, designed to fit effortlessly into a pocket or purse. This compactness, while superb for street photography or casual travel, sacrifices some manual dexterity and reduces tactile control with smaller buttons and less pronounced grips, potentially taxing during extensive shooting sessions.

The ergonomics differential extends to user interface design - NX5’s clearly segmented dials and buttons compare favorably to WX70’s sleek, minimalist compact approach optimized for casual snapshots.

User Interface and Controls: Fastidious Manual or Streamlined Automation?

Samsung’s NX5 comes equipped with multiple manual exposure modes including shutter and aperture priority as well as full manual control - features that have long been indispensable to enthusiasts and professionals who want direct, immediate control over image formation parameters. Physical dials, customizable buttons, and clear access to exposure compensation underline this camera’s philosophy.

The Sony WX70, meanwhile, makes brewing photographic magic a simplified affair. Manual exposure modes are notably absent, placing it firmly in the automatic point-and-shoot category, albeit with a rich suite of scene modes and touch control functionality (its touchscreen LCD facilitates this). It does support manual white balance adjustment and offers face detection autofocus, but full manual control is missing, which will undoubtedly constrain creative freedom for advanced users.

The NX5 also boasts a fixed 3-inch Active Matrix OLED screen, trading off some resolution (230,000 dots) for vivid color and contrast rendering - a boon when composing in bright conditions. The WX70, in contrast, sports a 3-inch XtraFine TFT LCD boasting a much sharper resolution of 922,000 dots and touchscreen support, optimizing for ease of navigation and compact camera familiarity.

In practice, the NX5’s control depth caters to photographers willing to invest time learning their craft, while the WX70 appeals to those valuing simplicity and instantaneous capture, a true "grab and shoot" machine.

Sensor and Image Quality: APS-C Brilliance vs Compact Convenience

At the core of any camera system, the sensor defines the foundational image quality, dynamic range, noise performance, and resolution potential. Here, the Samsung NX5 asserts a major technological lead: its APS-C CMOS sensor spans 23.4 x 15.6 mm, delivering 15 megapixels. By contrast, the Sony WX70’s sensor is much smaller - a 1/2.3-inch BSI-CMOS unit measuring just 6.17 x 4.55 mm, with a slightly higher pixel count of 16 megapixels but far less physical surface area.

This size disparity translates into real-world image quality differences. The NX5’s larger sensor area gathers significantly more light per pixel, enabling superior low-light performance, less noise at higher ISOs, and greater control over depth of field - critical for professional portraiture and landscapes that benefit from rich tonal gradations and dynamic range.

While the WX70 offers a generously high maximum ISO of 12,800 (compared to NX5’s 3,200), the inherent noise penalty is substantially higher due to sensor limitations. Its smaller sensor constrains dynamic range and produces less pleasing bokeh, though it compensates somewhat with a fast f/2.6 aperture at the wide end.

Image sharpness, color depth, and fidelity strongly favor the NX5 despite the WX70’s sensor boasting slightly higher pixel count - underscoring that megapixels alone are misleading without sensor scale context. For photographers prioritizing large prints or post-processing flexibility, the NX5’s sensor easily justifies its design choices.

Viewing, Live Preview, and Autofocus: Precision vs Simplicity

The NX5 features an electronic viewfinder (EVF) offering 100% coverage and 0.57x magnification, which is critical for handheld framing accuracy in bright light or when viewing detail through long lenses; a feature absent in the WX70, which relies solely on its rear LCD for composition. The larger EVF not only aids in stability but mitigates the glare issues that plague many LCD-only compacts.

Autofocus (AF) systems present a stark contrast - Samsung NX5 uses a contrast-detection only system across 15 focus points, with face detection enabled but lacking advanced tracking or animal eye AF. Despite being modest by modern standards, it delivers sufficient focus accuracy in controlled shooting scenarios but can falter on fast-moving subjects.

Sony WX70’s AF is contrast-detection-based as well but incorporates face detection and arguably better AF tracking algorithms within its compact constraints, paired with a touch-to-focus interface enhancing usability for casual users. However, the WX70’s smaller sensor and fixed lens mean fewer opportunities for creative AF zone selection or customization.

Neither model supports phase-detection AF or hybrid AF, which limits continuous autofocus performance under demanding shooting conditions like sports or wildlife action.

Samsung NX5 screen back Sony WX70 front Sony WX70 screen back

Real-World Image Performance: Portraits, Landscapes, and Beyond

Portraits: Samsung NX5’s APS-C sensor combined with interchangeable lenses translates into beautifully rendered skin tones, subject isolation, and natural bokeh that entry-level compacts struggle to emulate. Eye detection autofocus on the NX5, while rudimentary compared to today’s standards, enhances sharpness retention on facial details. The WX70 offers adequate portrait results for social sharing but cannot rival the depth or tonal subtlety achievable on the NX5.

Landscapes: Here, the NX5 shines again with wider dynamic range and 3:2 aspect ratio native to APS-C sensors, better suited for capturing vast tonal gradations and detail preservation in highlights and shadows. The WX70’s 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios are more limited, and its smaller sensor constrains image detail and pixel-level sharpness.

Wildlife and Sports: With a continuous shooting speed of 3fps and 15 AF points, the NX5 is only modestly equipped for wildlife or sports shooting. The WX70, though boasting a faster 10fps burst, suffers from limited AF refinement and narrower maximum shutter speed range (max 1/1600s), restricting its utility in rapidly freezing action.

Street Photography: The WX70’s ultra-compact size and quiet operation lend it appreciable stealth and unobtrusiveness, essential traits for candid street photography. The NX5, bulkier and louder, is less discreet but compensates via superior image quality and AF control.

Macro: Neither camera excels in macro photography. The WX70 provides a respectable minimum focusing distance of 5cm, but image quality and depth resolution will be inferior compared to dedicated macro lenses available on NX5’s mount, which offer precise manual focusing and magnification ratios.

Night and Astro: The NX5’s APS-C sensor and lower base ISO provide cleaner long-exposure noise profiles and better highlight roll-off, favoring nightscape or astrophotography with manual controls and longer shutter speeds up to 30 seconds. The WX70’s max shutter speed at 4 seconds curtails long-exposure potential.

Video Capability: From Simple Clips to Creative Expression

The Samsung NX5 maxes out at 720p HD video at 30fps, using H.264 compression. It lacks modern conveniences such as external microphone input, headphone monitoring, 4K resolution, or advanced video stabilization. This limits its appeal for serious video shooters, though it can produce decent home movies or tutorials as a bonus.

Sony WX70, designed after the rise of video in compact cameras, offers full HD 1080p recording at 60fps (MPEG-4 and AVCHD), and includes optical image stabilization - a critical advantage for handheld footage smoothness. However, it lacks any external audio ports or manual exposure/video controls.

For creators prioritizing video alongside photography, the WX70 represents a better off-the-shelf compact video solution, albeit without professional-grade features, while the NX5’s video capabilities are an adjunct rather than a focus.

Build Quality, Durability, and Weather Resistance

Neither camera offers official weather sealing or ruggedness. The NX5’s more substantial body and Samsung NX lenses may handle light environmental challenges better, but neither should be relied upon in harsh conditions. The WX70’s plastic compact body is optimized for portability rather than durability.

Lens Ecosystem: Flexibility Versus Fixed Lens Simplicity

A significant advantage of the NX5 is its Samsung NX mount, supporting over 30 native lenses in focal lengths ranging from ultra-wide to telephoto primes and zooms, including several high-quality optics crafted for APS-C format. This selection provides unparalleled creative scope compared to the WX70’s fixed 25-125mm zoom lens.

The WX70’s versatility is limited to this integrated lens, although the lens is reasonably bright (f/2.6 to 6.3), covers a useful 5x zoom range, and supports macro focus down to 5cm.

Battery Life and Connectivity

NX5 employs a rechargeable BP1130 battery lasting up to 400 shots per charge, a solid performance for mirrorless cameras in its class.

WX70’s smaller NP-BN battery offers around 240 shots, meaning more frequent charging for heavy users.

Neither camera offers built-in wireless connectivity such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth - unsurprising for models from their era - but both provide HDMI output and standard USB 2.0 data transfer, with the NX5 featuring optional GPS addition.

Storage and Price-to-Performance Evaluation

Both cameras utilize SD card formats, but the WX70 expands its compatibility to Memory Stick Duo and Pro variants as well, reflecting Sony’s proprietary ecosystem. Neither supports multiple card slots.

In price, the NX5 commands roughly double the asking price of the WX70 ($499 vs $241), a reflection of its larger sensor, interchangeable lens system, manual controls, and superior image quality.

Tailoring Your Choice: Which Camera Excels Under Which Lens?

Conclusion: The Experienced Photographer’s Versatile APS-C, or the Casual Shooter’s Pocket Companion?

In summary, the Samsung NX5 offers a compelling package for aspiring photographers who value creative control, superior image quality, and lens flexibility, despite its dated user interface and modest autofocus speed. Its APS-C sensor remains a formidable advantage, especially for portrait, landscape, macro, and night shooting genres, reinforcing its position as a true entry-level mirrorless system designed for learning and growth.

The Sony Cyber-shot WX70, with its pocketable form factor, responsive touchscreen, and full HD video at 60fps, favors photographers seeking a simple, compact camera for casual shooting, travel convenience, and basic video capture without the complexity of interchangeable lenses or manual exposure controls. It serves well as a lightweight everyday carry but falls short when creative control or image quality is paramount.

When investing in your photographic journey, consider your priorities across these axes: Will you expand your lens lineup and benefit from granular exposure control? Choose Samsung NX5. Do you seek a point-and-shoot solution for immediate portability and video capture? Opt for Sony WX70. Both cameras offer value reflective of their era and design goals, but your choice should align squarely with your creative ambitions rather than price alone.

I hope this expert comparison illuminates the capabilities and compromises inherent in each, equipping you to craft images that not only capture moments but also realize your artistic vision.

If you want to dive deeper into specific test images or detailed charts, please refer to the integrated visuals throughout this review - or get hands-on with each camera to experience their unique character firsthand. Photography transcends specifications; it thrives in the synergy between camera, lens, and photographer’s eye. Choose wisely, shoot often, and let your creativity flourish.