What is the difference between Sony Nex and alpha cameras.

[BADGER.BRAD]

I've just been looking on eBay at Sony cameras and found they were 24.3mp sensors on the Nex 7 so what makes the Alpha cameras better than the Nex ? Is there any real difference between the Alpha range ?

Thanks all

 

[ancient_mariner]

NEX were a compact range-finder style model series using crop sensors and the Sony E mount, probably named to differentiate them from the older A mount alpha series cameras. That's it, really.

 

[BADGER.BRAD]

Thanks Toni, I had thought about a Nex 6 as a second camera and as my wife has shown an interest one for her to use.

 

[Faldrax]

Sony bought the camera division of Minolta in 2005/2006, and released the A100 - an APS-C DSLR, based on Minolta technology, and using the Minolta A-Mount.
This was the start of their 'Alpha' line of cameras.
In 2010 they brought out the Nex-5, their first E-Mount camera, using the 'Nex' naming to help differentiate from the A-Mount cameras.
In 2013 they released the A3000, A7 and A7R - the first E-Mount cameras to use the 'A' prefix instead of 'Nex', and all cameras released after that (both A Mount and E-Mount) used the 'A' prefix, and they started to refer to both lines as 'Alpha'!
(The last A-Mount camera was released in 2016, the A99ii).
Frankly, the naming used is crazy, and for a couple of years forums like this had lots of questions from people who had purchased a Sony and had no idea what lenses might fit!