Sony NEX-3 review

I spent the KEH gift certificate I won in the PhotographyTalk.com registration contest (Thanks, Alex!!!!) earlier this year on a Sony NEX-3, 18-55 f/3.55.6, and 16mm f/2.8 lens. This is the old NEX-3 not to be confused with the more recent NEX-3C. I went with the NEX-3 over the NEX-5, because it was at least $100 cheaper. They have the same sensor. The NEX-5 is a smidge smaller, has a different shaped grip, and has some additional video options.

I've been shooting with this camera for about a month. At first I was worried that this camera would be too small. It was hard for me to get a good idea of how it would be in my hands from the pics on the web. I debated going with the NEX-5, because it seemed to have a more prominent grip, but it was a lot more expensive. I'm glad I went with the NEX-3. It fits in my hands nicely, and the grip is easy to hold. I was initially planning on getting a stick-on grip from these guys, flipbac.com/camera-grip-about.htm , but I don't have any problems keeping a secure grip on the camera even one handed. The body is very small, but with lenses attached it is larger than many compact digital cameras. It fits easily in a jacket or cargo pocket, but wouldn't fit in a regular pants or shirt pocket. Even so it fits in a small camcorder bag (approx 3"x3"x7") with both lenses, flash, and extra batteries.

I'm shooting in raw, and processing with Adobe Camera Raw. Since my ACR is from CS4 I have to use Adobe DNG to convert the raw to DNG before processing. I've only switched to jpeg to try out some of the fancy gizmos such as pano stitching and in-camera HDR. They don't work with raw. I've been pretty impressed with the stitching and HDR. This camera does a great job with it, but I'm probably still going to shoot raw and just do it myself. I've been mostly shooting in M and Av. It has all the other typical exposure modes, and some creative styles and such. I haven't been using them.

Stuff I like about this camera.

Very small and easy to carry: See above.

APS-C format: Image quality is a lot nicer than my old Canon G7, especially at high ISOs. I've tried it up to ISO 6400. For my taste I'm very happy with ISO 1600 or less. ISO 3200 is tolerable. ISO 6400 might be okay for some things, mainly web only and BW.

Sharpness: Kai at Digital Rev says the lenses are soft, but they are more than sharp enough for me to make large prints. I use slightly more sharpening (in ACR) for these photos than those from my DSLRs, but I'm thrilled for a compact camera.

No shutter lag: At least none that I can detect. Way better than any other compact digital I've used.

Wonderful LCD: Bigger and nicer than the one on my 5DII. It's my first camera that has an LCD that can be moved. I love it for waist level and above the head shooting (see below about vertical composing though). It has a "sunny weather" setting that is fantastic. I have no problems seeing the screen in direct sunlight, with sunglasses on, etc...

Full histogram display: It can be set to show both luminosity and RGB histograms. Blinkies for both blown out highlights and empty shadows.

Focus peaking: Great for manual focusing. Wish my DSLRs had this.

Stuff that I don't like, but isn't a big deal for me.

Min ISO 200: ISO 100 would be nice.

No remote available: The NEX-5 has a remote, but none for this camera. No big deal for my plans with this camera.

Auto white balance is not as good as my Canon DSLRs: Even my DSLRs usually need awb tweaked, but the photos from this camera has been further off than I am used to. I'm only shooting raw though, so not much of a problem.

Not many lenses: I'd like a fast normal or slightly wide prime. Maybe 24mm and/or 35ish mm. Zeiss is coming out with a 24mm, but I'm afraid it's going to be really expensive. From the test shots I've seen I'm not impressed that it's any sharper than typical Sony lenses for this camera, so I'm not willing to spend a bunch just for the Zeiss label. Supposedly Tamron and Sigma are coming out with some lenses for NEX also. I have high hopes for those.

Chromatic aberrations: There's definitely more red/cyan fringing along high contrast edges when shooting wide angle than I'm used to from my DSLRs, but I seem to be able to eliminate most of it with the Lens Corrections tab in ACR. At normal and longer focal lengths I don't see it.

Noisier than 35mm digital: DXOmark.com ranks the sensor right along with the Canon EOS 7D and Nikon D3100, but I guess I'm just spoiled.

LCD doesn't swivel for vertical composition: That would be nice. I do a lot of vertical shooting.

Auto bracketing: Maxes out at +/- 0.7 stops. Exposure comp can be set up to 2 stops (in 1/3rd stop increments) in either direction. I wish I could have that sort of range in auto-bracket mode. Another thing that could be fixed in the firmware?

Stuff that I don't like about this camera, and wish I could change.

Flash sync speed 1/160th: I'm really surprised it's not 1/250th or 1/500th. With a minimum ISO of 200 it means outdoor, sunny day fill flash has to use a smaller aperture. I may have to get a x8 ND filter.

Crazy flash socket: Leave it to Sony to fix stuff that ain't broke. This isn't even their DSLR flash shoe; it's an all new screw-in socket. It is very compact, but a regular flash shoe would still fit on this body. Even with point-n-shoots I want the option for occasional off-camera flash. I was able to do that with my Canon G7. I need a cable or something. Sony doesn't offer one. Hopefully someone else will come up with one. If I could get a Sony NEX to regular flash shoe adapter that would be nice. Then I could use Pocket Wizards. Sony is coming out with a slightly larger flash unit that can be bounced off the ceiling. That will satisfy me for a while, but even a short cord that would allow me to hold the included flash unit out the the side would be great.

Horrible menu organization: Maybe I'm just not used to it, but it seems like I have to search for stuff and things aren't where I'd expect them. They've offered some button customization in the recent firmware upgrade, and that really helps, but I'd like to see a customizable menu like Canon offers. I've heard a lot of others complaining about this. I think it could be fixed with a firmware update.


Overall I'm pretty happy with this camera. I've been wanting an APS-C format compact for a long time. Micro 4/3rds just can't match the high ISO quality, and that's really important for me. The NEX-3 is under $500, and with many new models coming I think that price will drop. I think I might like some of the other APS-C compacts better, such as ones offered by Fuji and Leica, but I'm just not paying $1200+ for a compact camera. It's not going to replace my DSLRs in most situations, but for a wander around and family snaps camera it's much better than my old G7.

There is a gallery of in-camera HDR test shots at my PhotographyTalk.com profile page. I'll try to post some more shots from this camera soon. Here are a few from my family snaps albums at my website. I am pretty sure all the photos in the July and August galleries were shot with the Sony NEX-3.


mattneedham.zenfolio.com/p804678662

mattneedham.zenfolio.com/p387534674

MSRP on the Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 is $999.99. Way too much for me to spend on compact camera gear. Come on Tamron and Sigma! I know you won't let me down!

Nice write up. I have an NEX-3, got it almost 1 year ago and love it. My reason for getting the NEX-3 was image quality and portability. The size is perfect when I want to go light. This is especially good when I'm going on a hike in the upper elevations and don't want to lug the larger DSLR along. So far, I don't feel too limited by the 18-55mm lens, I suppose its because I understand what I can and can't do with it. If I need something more, I'll break out the Canon gear. I now shoot mostly in RAW, but do like to play around with the panorama mode and the HDR. So far, I have been very pleased with my purchase!