Sony NEX-F3 Review
As I hold this new baby in my hands I don’t wonder at how Sony is pursuing an obviously successful plan with its NEX line of cameras but seriously puzzle at the situation where Canon has not entered the same interchangeable camera sector. Others, such as Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic and others are in there …
Never mind. Enjoy the Sony! And there is much to enjoy with such an attractively-priced camera.
The NEX-F3 is very simply configured with very few external controls: top deck has the power button and onboard flash; rearside is where you find buttons for movie record, replay, mode (to set auto, Program AE etc), menu and a novel, dedicated zoom button (up to 2x), which you negotiate to zoom while in ‘shoot’ mode. A largish control wheel is placed centrally.
There’s no ID beside each control; but what you do get is a display on the LCD screen sitting beside each button. What does get a little confusing is that the buttons lead dual lives, depending on which mode you’re in (shoot or replay). For instance, zoom in shoot becomes erase in replay, while replay zoom is handled by the button which was previously the mode dial command. I guess familiarity should overcome these niggles.
Sony NEX-F3 Features
The camera is well-balanced in the hand, mainly due to a substantial handgrip; when a lens is attached, such as the kit 18-55m optic, the camera obviously becomes larger but balance is still maintained.
Viewing is via a rear 7.6cm LCD screen which tilts vertically through 180 degrees, allowing waist level or overhead viewing as well as presenting (if you wish) a view to the subject before the lens — such as yourself!
The 16.1 megapixel CMOS captures a maximum image of 4912×3264 pixels, or as a 42x28cm print.
Movies up to Full HD res of 1920×1080 pixels in AVCHD or 1440×1080 as an MPEG4 file can be recorded. Take note: you cannot shoot stills while recording a movie.
Sony’s well-developed sweep panorama feature is installed, allowing you to shoot panos up to 12,416×1856 pixels in size. But just try and print one!
Sony NEX-F3 ISO Tests
By ISO 3200 noise is just becoming apparent. ISO 6400 sees just a little more.
Surprisingly, ISO 12800 is noisier but still useable.
At ISO 1600 the noise is clumpy but would suit certain subjects.
A very good performance.
Sony NEX-F3 Verdict
Quality: Above average.
Why you’d buy the Sony NEX-3F: attractive price; access to E-mount and A-mount lenses.
Why you wouldn’t: too simple for your level of expertise.
An ideal camera for the photographer about to take the leap from compacts to a DSLR. The body and lens price is attractive, but remember, for that figure you get a slow, f3.5 kit lens.
One annoying element is that the battery charger is not a stand alone type; you must load the battery into the camera, then attach the charger so, unless you have a second battery, while you’re charging you can’t go shooting!
Sony NEX-F3 Specifications
Image Sensor: 16.1 million effective pixels.
Metering: multi zone, centre-weighted, spot.
Lens Mount: Sony E-mount.
Exposure Modes: Program AE, shutter and aperture priority, manual.
Effective Sensor Size: 23.5×15.6mm HD CMOS.
35 SLR Lens Factor: 1.5x.
Shutter Speed (stills): 30 to 1/4000 second and Bulb.
Continuous Shooting: 2.5 or 5.5 fps.
Memory: SD/SDHC/SDXC, Memory Stick Pro Duo cards.
Image Sizes (pixels): Stills: 4912×3264 to 2448×1376.
Movies: 1920×1080 (AVCHD); 1440×1080, 640×480 (MPEG4).
Viewfinder: 7.6cm LCD screen (920,00 pixels).
File Formats: JPEG, RAW (Sony ARW 2.2), JPEG+RAW, MPEG4, AVCHD.
Colour Space: sRGB, Adobe RGB.
ISO Sensitivity: Auto, 200 to 16000.
Interface: USB 2.0, HDMI mini, EyeFi.
Power: Rechargeable lithium ion battery, DC input.
Dimensions: 117.3×66.6×41.3 WHDmm.
Weight: 314 g (memory card and battery).
Price: Get a price on the Sony NEX-F3 at Amazon.
6 Responses to “Sony NEX-F3 Review” - Add Yours
July 13th, 2012 at 6:22 am
Well, if you don’t have a second battery, you can’t go shoooting while charging with any camera, what’s the point?
July 19th, 2012 at 8:18 am
“One annoying element is that the battery charger is not a stand alone type; you must load the battery into the camera, then attach the charger so, unless you have a second battery, while you’re charging you can’t go shooting!”
Sounds to me like you would do no good with a second battery as long as you don’t buy a stand alone charger too? Or you could get two batteries and two camera bodies! But that would just be stupid.. right? Almost as stupid as selling camera without a charger that lets you charge the battery out of the camera
July 22nd, 2012 at 7:26 am
Purchased my Nex 3 with the 18-55 lens while visiting St. Maarten.Great camera at a great price. When I returned home to Louisiana,I sold my Nikon D90…and various Nikon lenses.With the money from this sale
I purchased the Sony 16 mm and 55-210 lenses.best move I made…no more lugging around all that heavy and bulky stuff. Really enjoying great pictures..great movies.
August 1st, 2012 at 4:19 am
“At ISO 1600 the noise is clumpy but would suit certain subjects”
A little typo should be ISO 16 000 not 1600.
August 21st, 2012 at 11:23 am
I have a Sony NEX F3 and bought a plug-in battery charger and spare battery from Amazon.com. They were inexpensive and the charger (and battery) work fine. No big deal. The camera with that big DSLR sensor in it is amazing! Love it!!!!!!!
March 7th, 2013 at 10:16 pm
You can charge the NEX-F3 battery using the USB connection cord. As long as the camera is not switched on, the battery is charged. As you can use any USB-charger as power supply you don’t need to bring your PC and can even charge the battery in the car.
The setup is a bit fiddly and I don’t wonder the manual contains 201 pages. I got the flash and a Tamron 18-200 lens in addition to the SONY 18-55 and equipped both lenses with a circular polarization filter.
The custom-button is set to the (for my usage) main functions such as AF-mode, picture quality, …
The camera is a good bridge between compact and DSLR ( I generally use a NIKON D90) and will substitute my SONY DSC-F828.
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