Copykate: [ADV] Sony α5000 Bloggers Tea Gathering @ Carcosa Seri Negara

On 15^th February 2014, I had the honour to witness the launch of Sony α5000 during the bloggers tea gathering organized by Sony Malaysia at Carcosa Seri Negara.

Courtesy of Sony Malaysia, each of us were given the opportunity to test the brand new Sony α5000 for 2 weeks! The camera comes in 3 colours – pink, white and black. Needless to say, I chose a unit in my favourite colour - pink!

The tea party venue was filled with beautiful flowers and delicate desserts. Everything was so pretty I couldn’t bear to eat them.

The event started with the product briefing by the Sony product manager highlighting the features of the camera which includes the large APS-C sensor which is 13x bigger than normal compact camera sensors and even bigger than micro 4/3 sensors. This allows the camera to capture images in higher detail.

We were then given a slideshow presention by Photoriders – a group of cyclists and photographers from Penang who travel around on their bicycles. Instead of using a DSLR, they opted for Sony α5000 on their travels.

Why? Well the Sony α5000 comes with light, compact body weighing in at only 269g with the battery and memory stick, making it the world‘s lightest interchangeable-lens digital camera equipped with an APS-C sensor as of January 2014.

It's also equipped with a handy pop-up tiltable flash means you can bounce the flash off a nearby wall or low ceiling instead of using direct flash which can be rather harsh sometimes.

It is also compatible with E-mount lenses, and has ISO sensitivity is up to ISO16000. All the amazing functions and the fact that it's so light and portable made Sony α5000 a much better choice compared to DSLR, or better known as BBBB – Bulky Big Black Brick which the Photoriders call it ha ha! XD

There’s no denying the capability of the Sony α5000. All the photos presented by Photoriders during the talk were stunningly beautiful.

After the presentation, introduction speeches and demonstration on the camera features, it was time for the highlight of the event – photography contest! We were given an hour to shoot anything in the hall and submit our best shot within the given time frame. The winner would be the first official owner of Sony α5000!!!

We didn’t waste any time putting the awesome Sony α5000 to the test!

Kelly is always very serious when it comes to food!

Careen was clearly enjoying herself!

Steph and I were busy shooting selfies which are really convenient with Sony α5000’s comfortable grip and 180 degree tiltable LCD screen. Moreover there’s even Soft Skin Effect function to achieve beautiful skin!

The photos we submitted were judged based on 3 criterions – photo quality, background defocus and creativity. Well I tried, but being an amateur camera user I wasn’t looking forward to be the winner.

One special feature of the camera is no doubt its NFC and WiFi for One-touch sharing/remote control with smartphones and tablets. I get to share my photos wirelessly on my mobile through a few simple steps with the aid of PlayMemories app!