Sony A5000 Review – Image Quality

Colour and White balance

The Sony A5000 can be relied upon to deliver even colours accurate to the scene at which you’re aiming the camera. Of particular note is the depth of the vibrancy of the blues captured, although all colours appear with an even and pleasing saturation.

The camera’s auto white balance setting is also reliable, with very little noticeable bias to either end of the scale and in any lighting conditions. As ever, choosing from one of the many presets can deliver a more accurate colour setting, although you can rely on the auto white balance should the need arise.

Exposure

As mentioned previously, the metering system inherited from further up the range delivers even exposures in both bright and dark conditions. If anything, there is a slight tendency to retain detail in the shadows by slightly overexposing, although the sensor is more than capable of retaining that highlight detail.

This is also a sign that the camera delivers a decent dynamic range, although closer technical inspection reveal that it’s not hugely ahead of other cameras in its class.

Resolution

Thanks to the camera’s relatively high megapixel count, you can rely on the A5000 to resolve a reasonable amount of detail at the base ISO setting, measuring in at around 30 lines per mm (lpmm) on our test charts.

The level of detail resolved is fairly well maintained throughout the ISO range, as even at ISO 6400 the A5000 is still capable of resolving around 26lpmm

Noise

Thanks to the addition of Sony’s Bionz-X processor, the A5000 handles noise well throughout the ISO range. The processor is capable of applying area-specific noise reduction, so even at the higher end of the scale noise is noticeable by its absence.

However, this noise reduction does come at a cost, and towards the top of the scale fine detail can appear a little smudged and painterly.