Sony A5000 Review – Design

The Sony A5000 is certainly on the compact side, weighing in at a little over 250g with battery and SD card included, meaning that it’s not that much heavier than some compact cameras. Even when you attach the camera’s standard kit lens – the Sony 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 – the model will happily fit in to most bags and jacket pockets.

As you’d expect for a camera that’s targeted at the entry-level market, the A5000 places an emphasis on simplicity and making the shooting experience as straight forward as possible for those making the step up from either their smartphone or a compact camera.

As a result, in terms of physical controls the A5000 is certainly a touch sparse. In terms of accessing the camera’s shooting settings, most are arrived at from the camera’s control wheel and D-Pad along with one customisable button.

D-Pad control

The D-Pad offers direct access to the more common shooting adjustments including ISO, Display mode, Exposure compensation and Drive mode. The centre of the scroll wheel, meanwhile, offers direct access to the camera’s scene modes which are most likely to be used for the target market.

The custom button meanwhile – which is denoted by a ‘?’ on the rear of the camera – can be assigned to a host of other commonly used settings including White balance, metering and Focus settings.

In terms of build quality, the A5000 does feel solid in the hand. Furthermore, a textured hand grip aids the handling of the camera and gives it a secure hold when shooting, especially when combined with the camera’s matt finish.

That being said, it’s certainly the case that the camera has been built with a view towards keeping cost down as opposed to winning any awards for a luxury and high-end finish.