Sony A7S vs Sony NEX-5

Its time to take a deeper look at the Sony A7S vs Sony NEX-5, former being a Pro Mirrorless while the other is a Entry-Level Mirrorless and they are both designed by Sony. The sensor resolution of the A7S (12MP) and the NEX-5 (14MP) is fairly comparable but the A7S (Full frame) and NEX-5 (APS-C) come with totally different sensor size.

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The A7S was introduced 3 years later than the NEX-5 and that is a fairly large difference as far as camera technology is concerned. Each of these cameras offer different body type with the Sony A7S being a SLR-style mirrorless camera and the Sony NEX-5 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before diving in to a complete comparison, below is a concise summation of how the A7S scores versus the NEX-5 in regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Following is a sample of the gallery pictures for Sony Alpha A7S & Sony Alpha NEX-5. The whole galleries are provided at Sony A7S Gallery & Sony NEX-5 Gallery.

For anyone who is aiming to lug around your camera often, you'll need to take into account its weight and proportions. The Sony A7S has exterior measurements of 127mm x 94mm x 48mm (5.0" x 3.7" x 1.9") along with a weight of 489 grams (1.08 lbs) and the Sony NEX-5 has measurements of 111mm x 59mm x 38mm (4.4" x 2.3" x 1.5") having a weight of 287 grams (0.63 lbs).

Examine the Sony A7S vs Sony NEX-5 in our newest Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an ILC will differ based on the lens you select at that time. Here is the front view measurement comparison of the A7S and the NEX-5.

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the A7S and NEX-5 is 77 and 89 respectively.

Normally, its hard to visualise the difference in sensor measurements just by checking out a spec sheet. The graphic below will give you a much better sense of the sensor sizing in the A7S and NEX-5.

As you can see, the two cameras enjoy different megapixel count and different sensor measurements. The A7S having a larger sensor will make getting shallow DOF simpler and the Sony NEX-5 will show more detail using its extra 2 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also make it easier to crop images far more aggressively. The younger A7S will have an edge in sensor technology.