NEX-3

Who wouldn’t want the promise of high image quality and blistering performance and the photographic versatility of interchangeable lenses without the bulk one associates with a digital SLR camera? After Olympus and Panasonic, the latest entrant into the rapidly growing compact interchangeable lens market is Sony, with its NEX-5 and NEX-3 cameras. With both the NEX cameras, Sony’s clearly upped the specs ante in this game, but is this just on paper? I took both cameras through their paces to find out!

Soon as you pull either the NEX-5 or the NEX-3 out of the box, expect jaws to drop at just how small these babies are. They both look a million bucks, with an excellent finish and sturdy feel. Both look essentially like a point and shoot camera with a dSLR lens sticking out of the front — attach a larger 18-200 lens and it looks like the camera’s hanging off one end of the lens. Also, at this size, the cameras are too small to include in-body image stabilisation components, as is the case with Sony’s Alpha digital SLRs, and instead use a lens-based ‘Optical SteadyShot’ mechanism to stabilise your images. Keep in mind that while they operate under the same Alpha brand, these cameras do not use the same lens as the bigger siblings, opting to use a completely new all-electronic E-mount series of lens.

NEX-5

Size and looks aside, it’s really what is inside that’s making the headlines. Both the NEX cameras feature a comparatively huge sensor — at 23.4mm x 15.6mm, it’s a sensor of the same size and format as the ones you will find in pretty much every budget to mid-range digital SLR today.

So in theory, the images ought to be as good, right? Well, yes and no.

Thanks to this sensor, images show up in great detail, and the sensor noise that creeps in at high sensitivity images (high ISO) is significantly lower than any point and shoot I’ve seen. This translates into excellent low-light photos, and you can push up the ISO to as high as 6400 or 12,800 to shoot without a flash, which is just as well — the screw-on flash is awkward to attach and shaky in use.

NEX-5

Shot to shot time is extremely low, and the continuous shooting modes (one at 2.5 fps and the other at 7fps) are both extremely impressive. And for the Spielbergs out there, there’s a 1080i HD video mode in the NEX-5 (720p in the NEX-3) and a lovely sweep panorama feature, which allows you to quickly stitch together a multiple-frame image without resorting to manual image stitching.

In the end, I did miss the quick- access controls that I’m used to on a dSLR, having to resort to the menu to change pretty much every setting. A good dSLRs will also edge the NEX cameras out on image quality, but only just. And remember, it is still slim pickings in the E-mount lenses department right now, and choices are limited especially compared to competing brands, but for many consumers, the NEX-5 is a solid bet — it’s lighter and smaller, hence altogether more vacation friendly, while still delivering on most of the advantages a dSLR would.

• Rating: 8/10

• Price (both with the 18-55 kit lens): NEX-5 (Black) - Rs 34,990; NEX-3 (Black & Red) - Rs 29,990

• URL: http://bit.ly/dMag4r

Audio treat

Bose’s TriPort series of around-ear headphones have impressed us for years, and the latest iteration, the AE2 continues in much the same vein. They build on the same basic design, but now fold flat and also feature a single-cord design, so you can wear these simply to cover your ears and muffle sound. Like its predecessor, there’s no noise cancellation like the more expensive QuietComfort series, but they do offer a tight seal and filter out a lot of noise from the outside world. They’re comfortable to wear for extended periods of time, thanks to the large earcups and soft ear cushions.

Compared to the TriPorts, the sound is much improved on these new models, offering well defined bass and extremely clear highs. Because they accentuate a lot of detail in your music, they are, to be honest, a bit unforgiving to badly recorded music. The flip side is that they are that much more rewarding of the good stuff. Of course, at the price you’re paying, they better be!

• URL: http://bit.ly/e38Qmj

• Price: Rs 8,100

A cool connection

Conference calls, especially the really long ones, are the necessary evil we must all suffer for our paychecks, and Plantronics Calisto 800 series “multi speakerphone” devices are just what the doctor ordered. You get standard connectivity to an analog phone line or a mobile phone over Bluetooth, and even a PC over USB, letting you dial out and talk over a full duplex speakerphone with noise cancellation. You can also hook up an optional wireless microphone if you wish, which may be useful in some conference situations.

• URL: http://bit.ly/eVgTBs

• Price: $199.95