Sony NEX-5 vs Sony WX5

Following is a detailed review of the Sony NEX-5 versus Sony WX5, former is a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the other is a Small Sensor Compact and both of them are designed by Sony. The sensor resolution of the NEX-5 (14MP) and the WX5 (12MP) is fairly close but the NEX-5 (APS-C) and WX5 (1/2.3") posses different sensor sizing.

Photography Glossary

The NEX-5 was unveiled within a month of the WX5 which means that they are of a similar age. Both cameras have different body design with the Sony NEX-5 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Sony WX5 being a Compact camera.

Before diving into a in depth comparison, here is a short overview of how the NEX-5 scores versus the WX5 in regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

Following is a sample of the gallery pictures for Sony Alpha NEX-5 & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX5. The full galleries are available at Sony NEX-5 Gallery & Sony WX5 Gallery.

If you're looking to carry around your camera, you are going to need to think about its weight and proportions. The Sony NEX-5 comes with outer dimensions of 111mm x 59mm x 38mm (4.4" x 2.3" x 1.5") with a weight of 287 grams (0.63 lbs) whilst the Sony WX5 has measurements of 92mm x 52mm x 22mm (3.6" x 2.0" x 0.9") along with a weight of 146 grams (0.32 lbs).

Contrast the Sony NEX-5 versus Sony WX5 in our completely new Camera & Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into consideration, the weight of an ILC will vary based on the lens you are utilising during that time. Following is a front view overall size comparison of the NEX-5 versus the WX5.

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability score of the NEX-5 and WX5 is 89 and 95 respectively.

Quite often, it can be difficult to picture the difference in sensor sizes purely by looking through specs. The picture underneath will provide you a more clear sense of the sensor dimensions in the NEX-5 and WX5.

As you can plainly see, the two cameras have different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The NEX-5 with its larger sensor is going to make achieving shallow depth of field simpler and the Sony NEX-5 will render extra detail having an extra 2MP. Greater resolution can also allow you to crop images a bit more aggressively.