Two for the Price of One: An Evening out with the Sony A5000

Two for the Price of One: An Evening out with the Sony A5000

In this epic…

An Evening Test with a Sony A5000

Time for some travel technology. Normally, I’d take a big DSLR with me (the Canon 6D or Canon 100D… my normal “Travel Sized” DSLR) when travelling to locations.

But how does a Compact Camera system camera like the Sony A5000 hold out… and more importantly – in ever decreasing light conditions? Let’s put it to the test and find out.

I’m taking the little camera out for a spin – mainly as I’m not in the mood to carry a heavy bag of kit after a long haul flight. Believe it or not, I value what remains of my back.

Let’s quickly remind you of what a Sony A5000 is. It looks at bit like this:

Sony A5000 in white – Image, Economy Class and Beyond.

It’s a Compact System Camera System – meaning the lens can be changed if needed if I wanted to change, and there’s no tradition mirror that has been used to look at images before shooting them.

I was planning to vlog a lot on this trip… but… what’s the term? “The best laid plans of mice and men”.

Plans do fall through. Least of all when jet-lagged for a lot of a trip.

The camera itself is a light little unit, so it can fit in the pocket without too many issues. It does have a “proper” DSLR sensor with an APS-C style sensor.

So. How does a little compact mirrorless handle things when you’re suffering badly from jetlag? And how does it handle eveningtime?

Let’s find out.

We’ll start our adventure under Chicago O’Hare Airport nearing the CTA station.

And as you can see, our old friend barrel distortion has made an appearance. Here’s the correct version:

16mm on this lens is not good at all – as I keep on forgetting. Thankfully, software like Adobe Lightroom can make it a quick fix.

Inside the station, it can present a challenge with the differing lighting conditions

Edits made: Cropped the bottom off.

I’m liking this picture – there’s a lot of action going on showing how busy this station is. There is a fair amount of noise when you zoom in, but it’s not super-splotchy. It’s more than acceptable for a web image.

Barrel distortion and vignetting (look at the top left). Lovely combination

Corrected version

More Barrel distortion in action. You’ll notice there’s a bulge towards the centre of the image.

Corrected: The light sticks are now all straight. The night performance is pretty good for a £250 camera.

Let’s talk about noise in these pictures. I’ve limited the ISO speed of ISO3200… and the results are usable – if a little grainy (look at the stone wall, and you’ll notice it isn’t smooth). When scaling down the images – they’re acceptable.

Let’s try some moving targets with the Chicago L.

Again, there’s plenty of noise (not helped by the rain). The camera has caught the train moving and “froze” it in time nicely, and its done a nice job of catching the wet evening in Chicago.

Overall: The Sony A5000 continues to impress me in terms of lightness and chuckabity to put it into any situation, and gives reasonable results no matter the environment.

Combined with simple USB charging, easy file management and video taking, I like the camera body.

However, the kit lens is a pile of rubbish at the wide end – and to take advantage of the lens, you need to correct the images via software.

For those of you using Adobe Lightroom – consider clicking “Enable Profile Corrections” in the Develop module

You can also control other settings through here – I tend to stick to Enable Profile Corrections before applying any other lens correction.

For the photographer who hasn’t got time, I’d strongly recommending throwing away the kit lens and get another lens that is more corrected.

For me: to take advantage of this camera – I’ll be looking to switch the lens to something a bit more potent when I have time (and cash).

The Sony A5000 is a reasonable enough camera for those dipping their toes into photography with the ability to customise and control – I just wish Sony would spend some more money on developing a kit lens that takes advantage of the camera.

NEXT: The Hyatt Regency O’Hare

Welcome to Economy Class and Beyond – Your no-nonsense guide to network news, honest reviews, with in-depth coverage, unique research as well as the humour and madness as I only know how to deliver.

Follow me on Twitter at @EconomyBeyond for the latest updates! You can also follow me on Instagram and Snapchat too

Also remember that as well as being part of BoardingArea, we’re also part of BoardingArea.eu, delivering frequent flyer news, miles and points to European readers

Related