
Despite this, the pictures I saw a friend taking at the beach with his Canon T2i on a recent trip convinced me that the inevitable shoulder injury I’d incur by purchasing one would be worth it. So I went to a local, well-respected camera shop and told the salesman what I wanted. He watched me as I held the camera, likely noticing the slight frown on my face as I turned the bulky gadget in my hands. After describing the reason for my trepidation to him as well as my camera needs, he showed me a Sony NEX-5, which turned out to be a very cool camera and I ended up purchasing one.
This isn’t meant to be a product review or an ad for Sony but more a testament to the powerful advances in technology that are going on around us all the time. Without going into technicalities, this camera (and I’m sure other manufacturers are coming out with similar offerings) has an interchangeable lens and employs the same sized image-sensor as a DSLR but is half the size and weight. Through the use of some fancy software magic Sony has produced a relatively small camera that takes very high quality pictures. Obviously it can’t compete with higher-end professional cameras and it isn’t meant to, but for my needs it does a very nice job. And my shoulder feels fine.