Sony NEX-3 review

It’s easy to be sceptical about the NEX-3. Wearing its trendy Sony logo, and a svelte 30mm deep without a lens, it looks too pretty to be any great shakes as a camera.

As we turned to our image tests, though, any hesitations faded away. Where other mirrorless cameras such as the Olympus E-PL1 have smaller sensors, the Sony’s APS-C sensor is roughly the same size as those in “proper” DSLRs, theoretically giving it a chance to provide the same image quality.

Our greatest concern – ISO performance – was quickly laid to rest. The NEX-3 can be pushed to ISO 12800, and while the final two stops are best avoided, ISO 3200 produced excellent images. Our image tests rank the NEX-3 and NEX-5 together behind the table-topping Canon, Nikon and Pentax DSLRs, but only by a fraction.

Zoomed out, the 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens produced good results outdoors. Chromatic aberration was present but not at all obvious, and we had no problem with sharpness at either f/5.6 or f/16. Twisting the zoom ring did produce some problems, though. At its maximum zoom of 55mm, the NEX-3’s image corners suffered at f/5.6. Blurry and indistinct, crucial details were lost in the haze. Closing down the aperture to f/16 largely solved the problem.

Where the NEX-5 shoots in Full HD, the NEX-3 can only muster 720p recording, but otherwise the two cameras offer few differences. Except the NEX-3 is a little less stylish and almost £100 cheaper.

Still, compared to traditional DSLRs the NEX-3 is expensive. It’s only £55 cheaper than the superb Nikon D5000, and if you want a camera that will grow with you, the latter is a more sensible option. You can attach the £100 Alpha mount adapter, which allows you to use lenses from Sony’s DSLRs, but the range of available glass doesn’t compare. Nevertheless, if you’re after a slim, stylish camera that doesn’t offer many quality compromises, the Sony NEX-3 is the best we’ve seen.

Author: Dave Stevenson