Camera users, pros and amateurs alike, have some common desires: Produce great images from smaller and lighter-weight cameras. While each has differing requirements about whether the camera is fully automatic or preserves the flexibility of professional digital single-lens reflex cameras (DSLR), more in less is what the camera designers are striving for.
I’ve been using a camera that comes as close as any in providing DSLR-like shooting in a package that fits into a jacket pocket. It’s another gem from Sony, which has been on a roll delivering terrific cameras to meet a wide range of photographers’ needs. It’s the NEX-3N and targets advanced amateurs looking to step up to something more substantial than a typical pocket camera. Yet it’s equally appealing to more experienced photographers who want something they can carry with them most of the time.
I previously reviewed the Sony RX100, an amazing little camera with a 1-inch sensor that fits in your pocket. It’s been widely acclaimed as the best pocket camera available, although at $649 it’s pricey.
The NEX-3N, the entry model to Sony’s NEX series of mirrorless cameras, is a worthy competitor with a different set of features. The mirrorless category is the class of compact cameras with interchangeable lenses, but no mirror behind the lens as on DSLRs. That allows the lens to be closer to the sensor and the bodies to be much more compact. But while the bodies are slim, the lenses usually are bigger and stick far out in front of the body. Mirrorless cameras are available from most of the camera manufacturers, but they don’t all use the same size sensors.
The Sony NEX mirrorless line uses some of the biggest sensors, called APS-C CMOS, the same as found on midpriced DSLRs. Its diagonal is almost twice that of the sensor in the RX100.
This latest entry model, the NEX-3N, is equipped with an interchangeable 16-50mm (f/3.5-5.6 ) zoom lens, the first interchangeable lens that collapses to become less deep.
The tiny camera body measures 3 inches wide x 2.4 inches high x 1.4 inches deep. The lens doubles the depth to just less than 3 inches. At $500 it could be today’s best bargain for an interchangeable lens camera with such a large sensor.
The camera comes with a neckstrap and a cable to charge from your own USB charger. Sony has eliminated a separate battery charger, which I appreciate. There’s no need to carry a custom charger that can get lost.
The camera has a Sony-made 16-megapixel sensor, which allowed me to take a wide range of beautiful images under many lighting conditions, some at ISO speeds as high as 16,000. While you use it much like a simple compact, the images are noticeably sharper, and colors are very well-balanced. Results were comparable or just slightly less than their RX100.
The camera has a built-in pop-up flash, and a large bright LCD panel on the back that hinges upward for waist-level shooting or self-portraits. The screen is about half the resolution of the top-of-the-line displays, but still very sharp and bright with exaggerated colors to better compose in bright light. The camera and lens housings are well constructed, using a number of metal parts. With its built-in handgrip and off-centered lens, the camera feels solid in the hand, with good balance for one-hand use. Power zooming can be done from the camera or using a sliding button on the lens.
The camera’s menu system is similar to other Sony cameras, and is one of the most usable of all brands. It uses graphics to designate modes, and displays many screens with explanations, rather than just using text-based menus found on other brands.
However, it can be mind-boggling to figure out the meaning all of the 30 little icons displayed alongside the image when you’re composing. A suggestion to Sony: Define these icons on the panel beneath the tilting viewfinder display instead of filling it with the list of regulatory approvals.
The camera has a full range of settings that should please everyone: Intelligent Auto, Superior Auto, Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual, Panorama and Scene modes. While there’s no rotary dial on the top of the camera to select the mode, you use the now standard five-way rotating control on the back to the right of the display. Turn the dial to see an image of a turning knob in the viewfinder, and press the middle button to access that mode. Alongside each setting is a description of the setting.
There’s no hot shoe for an external flash or viewfinder and no touch-screen, as on more advanced models. I still miss a real viewfinder, real or electronic, and that’s this camera’s major drawback. Access to the SD memory card is from a convenient door on the left side of the camera, while the battery is accessed from the camera’s bottom.
I found the NEX-3N easy to steadily grasp and inviting to shoot (once you removed the manual lens cap). The under one-pound weight and solid construction felt good in the hand.
Sony is the only camera manufacturer to make its own screen protectors, and I’d recommend one for this camera. It’s easy to install and has a black border and Sony logo, making it look like part of the camera.
In short, this is a camera I’d recommend to anyone looking for an advanced amateur camera under $500. It’s versatile, takes excellent pictures, and is a very good value.
Baker is the author of “From Concept to Consumer” published by Financial Times Press. Send comments to phil.baker@sddt.com. Comments may be published online or as Letters to the Editor.
Article source: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/patrick-lichfield-lord-and-master-of-the-celebrity-snap-7600572.html
Sony NEX-3N: Large sensor in a small package
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