Nex-5 gen 1, should I upgrade? 2k max budget includes lens

My wife and I are starting a business and she is thinking of getting into travel blogging. We currently have a gen 1 Sony nex-5 and 3 Sony e mount lenses 18, 18-55, and 55-210. Thoughts on if upgrading is worthwhile?

What are you missing? What do you want to do? Just photos? Just video? Both?

The nex 5 takes decent pictures, but many of the settings are buried so it makes and manual settings a pain to do. The flash is also not permanent which I'd like. Mostly wondering if sensors on full body cameras have got better at low light (tripod).

I also get the new toy itch ever once in a while.

Only so much space for buttons on a body that tiny. But yeah, Sony isn't well known for it's amazing menu system and there is a reason for it. ;)

You mean instead of a popup flash? Honestly, just don't use those built in flashes.

In general the sensor should not be a problem if your camera is on a tripod.

This all reads like you want to do things but you might be lacking some basic photography knowledge. Do you have some of your pictures online?

I'm definitely not in the realm of being proficient w/o a cheat sheet. You hit that one on the head.

90+% of what I do is auto. I'm never going to be a photography buff though I do like to think I have a good base of light physics as I'm a EE with optics classes. How much I remember after 10 years....

If I want a specific effect I'll google suggested ISO/aperature/shutter settings and work from there. Not a total idiot but close.

You would be shocked at how easy it is to leave auto forever. If you know the exposure triangle you are basically already there. In your case I would invest a part of your budget and maybe one day of time into knowledge. That is all it takes to get a basic understanding of what to do. Seriously, take a photo course! It will help you a lot.


Personally I am a Fuji fan. I shot Nikons for years and have had bodies of every tier they make. I had some Olympus stuff, I am using Panasonics for video, I had a NEX7 for a short time... Today when I need a camera to shoot pictures, I'd grab a Fuji over anything else. So naturally that is what I recommend. What you need now is a simple camera, not a photo-playstation. And when I read travel blogging, I think X100T. You can buy one used and save quite a bit. The risk is minimal for the most part, these little bastards are not that easy to kill. And believe me, I tried.

The one tradeoff you have to make is the fixed lens. And I mean no zoom and no changing to a different lens. It is 23mm on APS-C, no matter what. And as counter intuitive as it may sound, that will help you take better pictures.

Really appreciate you taking the time to help out! Thanks