3 thoughts on “Sony Alpha NEX-3 Interchangeable Lens Digital Camera w/18-55mm Lens (Black)-14.2 Mpix Reviews”

1. 225 of 228 people found the following review helpful:

   
   Finally, the perfect camera!, June 24, 2010

   By 

   Justin T (Mid-Atlantic USA) –

   Amazon Verified Purchase(What’s this?)

   This review is from: Sony Alpha NEX-3 Interchangeable Lens Digital Camera w/18-55mm Lens (Black)-14.2 Mpix (Camera)

   I have been waiting a lifetime for this camera and it was worth the wait! It provides excellent quality shots in the smallest possible sized body. I am a point-and-shoot user who has been disappointed with the photo quality that comes from even expensive point-and-shoot cameras but who has never bought a DSLR because I knew I would never want to lug one around. If this describes you, then this is your perfect camera. Or, if you own a DSLR and use 5% or less of the features on your camera, this is also the camera for you. On the other hand, if you’re a skilled DSLR user, skip this camera because you’ll be frustrated the compromises that make this camera a smart choice for the average consumer.

   Why is this camera “perfect” if you’re a typical or even advanced point-and-shoot user?

   COMPARED WITH POINT-AND-SHOOTS, you’ll immediately see the following improvements:
   – Low light/indoor shots are dramatically better
   – Quicker shutter response time
   – Ability to do continuous shooting at 7 frames per second and other DSLR-like features
   – Great HD video

   COMPARED WITH DSLRs, you get:
   – A much smaller camera than a DSLR that you can actually carry around on a regular basis
   – As good or better HD video because of the advanced auto-focus technology in the Sony Alpha Nex which does a better job of continuous auto-focus than the average DSLR
   – Photo quality that is comparable to a DSLR for the average user (again, if you’re an advanced DSLR user, skip this camera)
   – An easier-to-use camera that was designed to make the most important features very accessible with the advanced features tucked away in the menus. The advanced features are there if you need them but if you’re more likely to set the camera on the auto setting, you won’t need the advanced stuff much and will appreciate how straight-forward the camera is to use.

   COMPARED WITH OTHER WANNABE PERFECT CAMERAS, you’ll be glad you waited for the Sony Alpha Nex because it’s:
   – Smaller in size than the other options
   – Has better photo performance due to the larger APS-C sensor (12X the size of a typical point-and-shoot and also significantly larger than the competitive Micro Four Thirds sensor)
   – Has better video performance
   – Is similar or cheaper in price

   Other wannabe “perfect cameras” I’ve considered and almost purchased have all been “Micro Four-Thirds” cameras, which owned this category of cameras before the arrival of the Sony Alpha Nex.

   Panasonic Lumix GF1: Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1 12.1MP Micro Four-Thirds Interchangeable Lens Digital Camera with 14-45mm Lens

   Olympus PEN E-PL1: Olympus PEN E-PL1 12.3MP Live MOS Micro Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Digital Camera with 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 Zuiko Digital Zoom Lens (Black)

   And I am glad I waited. The Sony Alpha Nex has better photo and video performance than both, a smaller form factor than both and is cheaper than the Panasonic (though slightly more expensive than the Olympus which cut its price when the Sony was announced).

   As for the Nex-3 vs Nex-5, if you care about the dollars involved in the price difference, then you should get the Nex-3. Three key differences are not really worth the added cost if you’re looking to maximize value: (1) the typical user will not see a noticeable difference between the higher 1080i video resolution in the Nex-5 vs the 720p resolution in the Nex-3 (and I have a hard time believing that home movies can even benefit from the higher resolution). (2) The Nex-5 has a metal body vs plastic for the Nex-3 which is an aesthetic nice-to-have but not a need-to-have. (3) The Nex-5 is marginally smaller in two of the three dimensions (0.2 inch and 0.1 inch). Because of the overall size of the camera with its lens, shaving a little off of the height and width just won’t make a practical difference. Spend your savings on stuff that will actually impact how you use the camera like a spare battery or a larger memory card.

   Other things to note:

   – The flash is small and detachable, and it’s different than almost any other camera you’re considering. PRO: you don’t need it often because of the great low-light performance and you get a more compact camera as a result. CON: there’s a part you can lose or forget to bring with you if you really need it.
   – If you’re looking to own multiple lenses, there aren’t many available lenses directly compatible with the camera and they’re expensive compared to competing lines. But for the advanced point-and-shoot user, you don’t need…

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2. 58 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

   
   Great camera with poor battery life, July 10, 2010

   By 

   Julie Le (Ontario Canada) –

   This review is from: Sony Alpha NEX-3 Interchangeable Lens Digital Camera w/18-55mm Lens (Black)-14.2 Mpix (Camera)

   The reviewer above did an excellent review, so mine will pale in comparison. I bought this camera the very first day it was available (June 29) and have been playing around with it since. It takes beautiful low light photos, even without a tripod, which I’m very pleased with. I have yet to use the flash that came with it.

   Anyway, great camera, don’t regret my purchase… The only downside that I want to point out is the battery life. I realize the big screen and the continuous autofocus uses up a lot of power, but this camera REALLY sucks up battery power. If you went out for a day of shooting on a fully charged battery, you will need an extra. The camera seems to even suck up a lot of power when it’s not even on. There is new firmware that claims to reduce battery consumption when off, so hopefully that will be an improvement. Which leads to another downside, which is that firmware is only available for Windows and not Mac.

   Other than that, beautiful beautiful camera.

   *** Just a note that the battery life has improved greatly after the firmware update. Much happier with the camera now!

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3. 47 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

   
   good for what it is, but pickier buyers may not be satisfied, July 11, 2010

   By 

   David Eng (New York, NY) –
   
     

   This review is from: Sony Alpha NEX-3 Interchangeable Lens Digital Camera w/18-55mm Lens (Black)-14.2 Mpix (Camera)

   Update: with latest firmware updates, the battery life glitch and start up times have been vastly improved.

   The reviews of this camera are pretty correct – if you are a compact point and shoot person that wants to move up to greater picture quality but not necessarily wanting to put up with the bulk of a SLR or the complications of different aspects of photography, then this camera should do nicely for you.

   Pros:
   1) cost – for what it is, it could have been more expensive, though the additional lenses will cost you.
   2) size – it really is a small body, comparable to some of the larger point and shoots. It’s also a nice looking camera, if you care about those kinds of things (I have the red model, which is particularly cute).
   3) picture quality – out of the box has been better than my previous point and shooters with the ability to do background defocus and panoramic shots.
   4) shutter speed – camera really is fast and you’ll see a big decrease in blurry pictures, even with action shots
   5) low light shooting – camera comes with a flash but the camera’s able to take decent pictures in low light settings without the flash.
   6) flip screen – pretty handy for shooting different angles.
   7) video quality is good and has all the pluses of being able to shoot video with an SLR type camera – changeable lenses/settings, high quality.

   Cons:
   1) battery life could be better – I shot about 100 photos and the battery drained down to about 33% after about 2 hours of shooting
   2) navigation speed – the camera is slow when jumping between shoot mode and playback mode. NOTE: this issue seems to have been addressed with the firmware update.
   3) navigation – it did seem to be a bit cumbersome that there isn’t a back button to go back to where you navigated from
   4) picture quality – I know I listed this as a pro, one bit of downside on the automatic settings is that sometimes the color is not as vibrant as probably the SLRs are capable of – you might need to futz with the manual settings to capture the best color. In some settings, particularly low light, some of the colors seem a bit washed out.
   5) LCD screen is not the most visible in sunlight and gets smudgy at times.
   6) would have been nice if it came with body cap and lens back cap, so that you could store the lens and body separately.
   7) movie artifacts – sometimes, at the end of a clip, there may be some jagged artifacts. These can probably be snipped off by video editing software.

   I’m pretty happy with this camera, though I imagine that an SLR can probably take better pictures – though you’d have to learn how to do so.

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