NOTE: see updates at the end of reviewThis is my first 'real' camera and my first foray into photography. I spent a long time comparing this camera (Sony a5100) to other Sony mirrorless models, specifically the a6000 and a6300. What sold me on the a5100 was the advertised touchscreen. In my mind, I imagined using it to adjust focus the same way I do on my phone camera; in this regard, I was extremely disappointed. The touchscreen on this camera feels like its from 2012, and is pretty much completely useless.Another key aspect for me was size & weight, since I value mobility. In this regard, the camera excels; my lens often weighs as much or more than the camera, and the total weight is rarely much over 1lbs.I don't do a lot of video recording, and when I do I use my phone anyway, so I did not need any of the better video/audio connectivity features of the a6000 or a6300, and don't currently have plans for using flashes either, so I don't really need the flash hotshoe they offer either. I've also never been big on viewfinders, especially since I often wear glasses. The LCD monitor on the a5100 has been completely adequate so far, especially if you enable "Sunny Day Mode" in the setting to boost its brightness.I got this one with the kit lens, and quickly became dissatisfied with it. I immediately replaced it with a Sigma 30mm f2.8 lens ($180), then later with a Sigma 30mm f1.4 ($350). This combination has been working really well for me, and feels perfect for taking around the city for street photography. I end up leaving it set to auto-ISO in M (manual) mode, turning the shutter speed up until I get a good balance of exposure vs. camera shake & motion elimination, and then tweaking the aperture as needed. For reference, I am using prime/fixed lenses here with no stabilization, so camera-shake sets in very quickly and I try to keep the shutter set to at least 1/500.A summary of thoughts on this camera;The Good:- relatively inexpensive- very light- good option if you dont need any of the features offered by a6000 or a6300- LCD screen looks great and functions well, even if the flip-up mode is a gimmick- app for your phone lets you wirelessly sync JPEGs (not RAWs) to your mobile device- the '?' button gives you a description of every single menu item, so helpful for a complete beginner!- I have had no trouble finding lots of options for lenses and accessoriesThe Bad:- touchscreen is completely useless, just forget its there, its an anti-feature- atrocious battery life; when they say "300 pictures", *they mean it*. I end up around 50% battery after 150 or less pictures, sometimes this works out to costing 1% battery life per minute if I am taking a lot. You need to constantly monitor your battery life on this camera if you plan to be out all day- you need to spend a LOT of time learning the menu's, there are a lot of settings divided up over many sub-menus in non-intuitive ways- it can end up taking a lot of button presses and menu digging to adjust settings, so do not plan on doing this "on the fly", you really need to take the time to learn what settings you need, and then plan & configure them *before* you start shooting- there is no in-body stabilization (a premium feature), so you need to keep this in mind when using lenses that lack their own stabilization- sometimes I end up fighting with the auto-focus to get the right focus point, supposedly there is a way to 'nudge' it or make fine adjustments, but I haven't figured out how to use it, I mostly just keep it set to center-focus instead, but that does make certain framing situations more difficult (e.g. off-center subjects, or multiple subjects not in the center of the frame)- the built-in flash seems pretty horrible, and does not seem to be very adjustable; you can aim it but it snaps back to its original position when you let go.In conclusion, I am pretty satisfied with this camera so far (2 months, 2500 shots, and several trips and photo-outings). It has some short-comings, but none of them are really worth the upgrade for me to the a6000, a6300, or a more expensive camera.Included a pic of the camera with kit lens, and a couple shots I've taken with it (using the described Sigma lenses).UPDATE:Coming up on almost 7 months with the camera and there are some more observations & thoughts;- the battery life increased dramatically after I disabled Pre-AF. I think this feature was constantly refocusing the camera while I was walking around; focusing is the largest drain on battery, and it gets worse with larger heavier lenses. It also helped for me to enable Power Saver standby modes. When the camera is 'asleep' in these modes, the battery can actually last more than a day on standby, as long as you don't hit any buttons accidentally to wake it up.- I am really regretting the lack of a viewfinder. I miss so many shots because I can't see clearly enough if I've got the right focus spot. It's been getting increasingly annoying to frame everything with the LCD alone. I end up having to bring the camera up to my face to get the most clear view of the LCD while shooting, at that point I really wish I just had a viewfinder.- Speaking of focus, it's the number 1 reason why I miss shots. And even with a large lens like my f1.4, trying to get quick focus on moving subjects in low light is very difficult. Don't plan on shooting any fast moving objects at night unless the area is extremely well lit.- the lack of features on this camera have been catching up to me and I'm eager to upgrade to something like the a6500 instead.UPDATE 2:I eventually did upgrade to the A6500 and it solved pretty much every problem I had with this camera. To anyone shopping today, I cannot help but suggest the A6500 since it's almost perfect. The IBIS in particular opens up a lot of new doors for low light and night photography. If the price on the A6500 (used) is still too much for you then I would suggest any Sony A6xxx series with a viewfinder instead of this A5100. The inclusion of a viewfinder is probably the single most important feature that is lacking in the A5100.