Just Posted - Sony NEX-F3 review

I think this constant criticism of NEX that the system "needs more lenses" or "needs better lenses" needs to be qualified.

The people who buy NEX 7 cameras certainly will want a much wider and better lens selection. I am really not that certain if very many NEX F3 buyers are that concerned about lens selection.

A great many buyers of entry level ILCs will never even buy a second lens. These are the P&S upgraders, who have no need or desire to spend a lot of money assembling large lens collections.

This fact suggests that we have two different markets here. One for a basic camera plus a kit lens, and one for an advanced camera with multiple lenses available.

I'd say the new NEX F3 does a very good job of meeting the needs of that first market, and shouldn't be faulted for lacking something those buyers don't need. Having said that, it is still fair game to criticize Sony for not meeting the needs of NEX 7 buyers....

Well that is great that you guys are reviewing each camera and it seems that you have been "playing" with each before you guys make the review. I use you for reference and would like it to be as accurate as possible. HOWEVER I have to ask you to go through this one and fix all the references you made to C3 as just on the introduction page I've noticed there are misleading informations. I owe C3 and have latest firmware on it installed. I can tell you that ISO does not go to 100 and it never did. It does have face recognition and focus peaking. I have not read full review yet and first page stopped me from doing so. PLEASE fix this. ISO's importance doesn't have to be mentioned and focus peaking is what makes that camera so great with manual lenses. Thanks and looking forward to reading this after the fix.

Nice sensor, BAD Lenses. Come on Sony. Even your compact RX100 with a proper lens has far better quality. Compare samples here. http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/sony/dsc_rx100-review/gallery

Best camera one can buy for $600 regular price, period

I am once again very impressed by the sensor technology and IQ, but still underwhelmed by handling and limited range of available lenses... :-(

The grip on the NEX series makes them feel good in the hand. The trouble for me is, the lenses are so large it takes the advantage of the compactness away. This is why the 4/3rds makes more sense. The Nikon 1 system is even smaller when you want to use the telephoto lens.

Sony seems to have come a long way in refining their noise reduction technique... definitely one of the best performing APS-C cameras available along with the NEX 5N & X-Pro 1...

Wish Sony would implement their stacked CMOS technilogy into APS-C sensors soon... Redesigning & tweaking their existing wafers shouldn't pose too much of a problem... especially given the sensor market share they currently enjoy...

Pretty impressive sensor.
Up to ISO 1600 noise is on par with the D800. And it makes the NEX-7 look really old.

Sony's sensor division seems to be cutting edge.

Never seen a review here with so many errors, typos, and grammatical problems. Professional proof-reading is evidently needed, urgently!

For instance, what is this supposed to mean: "Should you choose the lens kit, then you'll be find the F3.5-5.6, 18-55 mm ..."

Weird.

Awaiting the NEX-6 review ....

I was really looking forward to the third issue of the Nex series and am terribly disappointed with this one and what is coming. I thought they would improve the battery and menu system and was looking forward to the follow up of Nex 7. I think Sony is moving sideways instead of going foreward.

Great review!

Typo 1:
Page 4, Picture 5
Instead of "not so great for stills (which are 4:3)"
Should be "not so great for stills (which are 3:2)"

Typo 2:
Page 9, Title,
Instead of "Olympus PEN E-PL3 Dynamic Range (JPEG)"
Should be "JPEG Tone Curves / dynamic range"

Regards

First, congratulations on the review. It is mostly accurate and very informative.

The F3 looks a very cute "entry-level" NEX. Speaking of that "entry-level" intended audience, I understand the drive to redesign the flip screen to allow self-portraits...

I understand the benefit for the NEX-F3 intended audience, but I hope that the next generation NEX-5 and the rumored NEX-6 will retain the old design - for me being able to tilt the mirror down 45deg' is very important for high level and above people heads shooting.

Hi DCR and DPreview,
thanks for the review but it puzzles me why there is no comparison with K-01. Just why. Feature wise, it looks like the most direct compatitor (on board flash, not the smallest of ILCs, no EVF etc).
Please place K-01 in the comparison pictures and comparison graphs too and you will see why I ask. That would be only fair. AF speed should be also compared. Also the influence of shake reduction in regards to body or lens weight and volume of the whole imaging device (stabilized camera+lens).
Thanks again for the review.

Kind Regards,
Spyros

The bulk of the lenses, as well as the lack of breadth in choices, makes the NEX just a curiosity to me. And while this one does appear to have positive qualities, I wonder if the IQ isn't quite so impressive as presented. From the 'RAW Noise" section of the review:

"At ISO 3200 and above, the F3 delivers more satisfying image quality than its nearest mirrorless competitors, and as we'd expect from a camera with such a large sensor, it compares very well with some of the best low-end and mid-range DSLRs, as well."

Granted it is not its nearest mirrorless competitor, but the OMD EM5's RAW noise performance is visibly superior by your own crops across the entire range of sensitivies. I can't see the performance being delivered by the Nex F3's larger sensor as being that laudable. The Sony sensor in the OMD appears more talented, and the only reason that the F3 compares well to its nearest mirrorless competitors is that they haven't adopted the latest sensor technology... yet.

Too big and bulky. Slow lenses. Blown away by MFT. Sony should just stick to making sensors. Just like its consumer electronics, Sony has lost its mojo on design a long time ago.

Menu systems on NEX cameras - "gag me with a spoon". Ruins an otherwise nicely designed camera line that has excellent image quality. I'd score it lower based on the useability of its menu system alone.

Great review though overall.

Sony corrected a few serious design flaws, by adding a flash, and also a tilting LCD to make the lack of EVF more bearable.

It looks like a really nice entry level small camera for the new generation of users who grow up using iphones and portable gadgets with very little buttons but heaps of features. It is very imbalanced. The lack of dials and buttons limits its usefulness as a serious camera and makes it a very basic camera in terms of usability, but the IQ is excellent.
The large size of APS-C lenses is also something that can never be fixed due to a poor choice of registration size. Another imbalance, with large lenses on a tiny body.

Sony should instead focus on developing a new interchangeable lens system using a 1-inch sensor like the one in the RX100, for a better small camera. As sensors gets better and better, that would look more promising than these tiny NEX cameras. M43 offers much more as a serious APS-C or close to APS-C system, for people to invest in.

Me owning the original NEX 3 was the most frustrating camera experience I've ever had. Both the 18-55 and 16mm lenses sucked and I just could not get used to shooting a "DSLR" (I know I know) point and shoot style. Every time I read the word NEX I start to shiver.

And for the uninitiated, no, the NEX is not pocketable with a lens attached so what's the point?

Some typo on the last page: "Sony Cyber-shot DSC-F3" I believe you that is not the name of the NEX-F3, tough many trolls would like to demean it to a compact level.

How do we boot IcyVeins from this server?

"....quality of manuals is not great"

Man, you gotta dig hard to find something wrong with this camera!

Seems like the ACR 7.2 profile for the F3 could use some tweaking still, since the blackpoint is much lower than for previous NEX cameras and cameras from other brands. See for example the "black box" with coloured threads. Deepest blacks seem too bright.

Is the 1080i video true 1080i/60 or 1080i/30p PSF?

1080i/60 = bad

1080i/30p = good

On the first page it says that the F3 has a 'wider ISO range'. But... wouldn't it be the opposite? The C3 has a range that is 100-12800 whereas the F3's range goes from 200 to 16000. It lost one full stop on the lower end and gained only 1/3 stop at the higher end. So, the F3 is 2/3 stop 'narrower'.