Good Design Gold Award 2010
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Award Number :10E03028

Award-winning item :

Interchangeable lens digital camera / Interchangeable lens digital HD video camera recorder ["alpha" NEX-5 / NEX-3 and "Handycam" NEX-VG10]

Company :

Sony Corporation

Producer :

Sony Corporation, Consumer, Professional & Devices Group, Personal Imaging & Sound Business Group

Director :

Sony Corporation, Creative Center, Takuya Niitsu, Masahiro Takahashi

Designer :

Sony Corporation, Creative Center, Noriaki Takagi, Keita Hibi, Shin Miyashita

Description

"The NEX-5 and NEX-3 are α (alpha) series interchangeable lens digital cameras that use a combination of an APS-C size "Exmor" APS HD CMOS sensor and high-performance interchangeable lenses to take SLR camera-quality photos (characterized by high resolution, low noise and an attractive out-of-focus effect) and full HD video. The NEX-5 in particular provides the world's most compact and lightweight body of any interchangeable lens digital camera (as of the announcement on May 11, 2010). The digital HD video camera recorder NEX-VG10 with similarly interchangeable lenses can likewise be combined with an APS-C size imager to shoot videos, capturing the wide range of expressiveness impossible with earlier video cameras."

Evaluation

With the recent proliferation of blogs and social networking sites, increasing sectors of society want to take photographs and create images to show to the world. Such people are potential buys of digital SLRs and highly functional full HD video cameras, but in fact, they hesitate to purchase these kinds of cameras due to their weight and size and the resulting poor portability, difficulty of operation, and high prices. However, the E-mount lens product group presented by Sony has the ability to sweep away these doubts, the ability to evoke a desire to own the products, and the ability to satisfy customers in both the hardware and software aspects of the product. For example, it uses the APS-C size imaging device used in Sony's digital SLRs and exerts a strong pull on users who want rich, full expressive power. The distance between the lens attachment surface and the imaging device has been shortened as much as possible, increasing compactness and portability. The easy operability was provided by the carefully designed GUI, which includes a high-precision LCD monitor, and a nearby soft key and control wheel (control dial on the video camera). These features are congruent with the image of the target user. We would especially like to note the approach to modeling this series. The earnest attitude toward design and the creation of new original forms shows us the way to the future of manufacturing in Japan.

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