Sony Alpha 5100 vs Sony Alpha 5000

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Sony Alpha 5100 and the Sony Alpha 5000, highlighting the advantages of each over the other, discussing their pros and cons, shared strengths and weaknesses, and providing a rating based on their available features and specifications to assist you in choosing the one that best suits your needs.

Sony Alpha 5100 was introduced in August 2014 and Sony Alpha 5000 was introduced in January 2014. Let us first list highlights of the models.

Now that we've looked at the most essential specifications and gained a basic understanding of these cameras, we can delve into more details and see the differences between them.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Sony Alpha 5100 over Sony Alpha 5000.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Sony Alpha 5000 over Sony Alpha 5100.

We already listed pros and cons of each model. However, you may also find useful to look at their common strengths and weaknesses shown side-by-side.

Screen

Sony Alpha 5100 and Sony Alpha 5000 have 3.0" Tilting screens with 922k dot and 461k dot resolutions respectively. Tilting screen makes cameras very useful for photography purposes but not so useful for video shooting. Sony Alpha 5100 also features touchscreen which has advantages such as easy menu navigation, intuitive controls, quick setting adjustment and most importantly a Touch-to-Focus functionality allowing users to select a specific point on the screen where they want the camera to focus. This feature can be helpful for achieving precise focus in both photo and video recording.

Sony Alpha 5100 features a 24.3 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor with dimensions of 23.5 x 15.6 mm and a total area of 366.6 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 25,600. Sony Alpha 5000 features a 20.1 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor with dimensions of 23.2 x 15.4 mm and a total area of 237.2 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 16,000.

Here is a sensor size comparison chart where you can see how different sensors compare with each other:

Sensor size chart

	Sensor	Dimensions	Area	Aspect Ratio	Crop Factor
	Medium Format	44 x 33 mm	1452 mm2	4:3	0.79x
	Full Frame	36 x 24 mm	864 mm2	3:2	1x
	APS-H	27 x 18 mm	486 mm2	3:2	1.3x
	APS-C	23.6 x 15.6 mm	368.2 mm2	3:2	1.5x
	APS-C (Canon)	22.3 x 14.9 mm	332.3 mm2	3:2	1.6x
	Micro Four Thirds	17.4 x 13 mm	226.2 mm2	4:3	2x
	1-inch	13.2 x 8.8 mm	116.2 mm2	3:2	2.7x
	1/1.7-inch	7.44 x 5.58 mm	41.5 mm2	4:3	4.7x
	1/2.3-inch	6.17 x 4.55 mm	28.1 mm2	4:3	5.6x

Cameras are equipped with BIONZ X processor.

Lens Mount

Cameras have Sony E lens mount. Due to their APS-C sensor their crop factor (also called lens multiplier) is equal to 1.5x. This means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length times 1.5.

No Image Stabilization

The cameras do not have image stabilization. On Sony Alpha 5100 it means that you need lenses with optical image stabilization for vibration reduction. As for Sony Alpha 5000 nothing can be done. On Sony Alpha 5000 it means that you need lenses with optical image stabilization for vibration reduction. As for Sony Alpha 5100 nothing can be done.

Built-in Wi-Fi

Cameras have built-in Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n, 2.4 GHz) which allows to easily transfer photos and videos from the camera to other Wi-Fi-enabled devices, such as smartphones, tablets, printers, or computers. This eliminates the need for cables and allows for quick and convenient media sharing and social media integration. It gives you the ability to control your camera remotely using a smartphone or tablet. This is particularly useful for taking self-portraits, group shots, or capturing images in challenging conditions without having to touch the camera. Firmware updates can also be downloaded and installed wirelessly.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in WiFi.

NFC

Cameras have Near Field Communication (NFC) technology which simplifies the process of pairing it with other NFC-enabled devices like smartphones or tablets. It allows to quickly transfer photos and videos or remotely control the camera from compatible device. NFC can also be used for authentication and security purposes. It can verify your identity before accessing certain features or transferring sensitive data. It can be used with NFC-enabled accessories as well, such as lenses, flashes and GPS devices.

USB Inputs and HDMI Outputs

Both models have USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) inputs for data transfer. Sony Alpha 5100 has a Micro HDMI and Sony Alpha 5000 has a Micro HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Sony Alpha 5100 and Sony Alpha 5000 come with NP-FW50 battery pack with battery life of 400 shots on Sony Alpha 5100 and with battery life of 420 shots on Sony Alpha 5000.

External Storage Slots

Sony Alpha 5100 has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC/Memory Stick Duo Hybrid (UHS-I) card slot. Sony Alpha 5000 has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC, Memory Stick Pro Duo card slot.

Shutter

Sony Alpha 5100 has Electronically controlled Vertical-traverse Focal-plane shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/4000 sec on Sony Alpha 5100, and up to 1/4000 sec on Sony Alpha 5000. Sony Alpha 5100 can shoot continuously up to 6.0 fps. Sony Alpha 5000 can shoot continuously up to 3.5 fps.

Focusing

Sony Alpha 5100 has Fast Hybrid AF (Phase-detection / Contrast-detection) system with 179 focusing points and Sony Alpha 5000 has Contrast-detection AF system with 25 focusing points. Sony Alpha 5100 has detection range from -1 to +20 EV.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Sony Alpha 5100 ranges from -1 to +20 EV and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±3 EV range. You can also do exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Sony Alpha 5100 and exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Sony Alpha 5000.

Flash

Cameras have built-in flash with maximum range of 4.00 m at ISO 100.. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/160 sec on both cameras.

Sony Alpha 5100 and Sony Alpha 5000 bodies have the same dimensions of 110 x 63 x 36 mm (4.33 x 2.48 x 1.42"). Sony Alpha 5100 weighs 283 g (0.62 lb / 9.98 oz) and Sony Alpha 5000 weighs 269 g (0.59 lb / 9.49 oz).

Sony Alpha 5100

Sony Alpha 5000

110 mm

63 mm

110 mm

63 mm

63 mm

63 mm

36 mm

36 mm