Review of Sony NEX-F3 (E-mount, May 2012, 16 MP)

Sony NEX-F3

Sony NEX-F3

Sony NEX-F3 APS-C Mirrorless Camera Unveiled 17 May 2012 year.

Sony NEX-F3 is one of four amateur models of mirrorless Sony cameras with interchangeable optics and an APS-C sensor: Sony NEX 3, Sony NEX-F3, Sony NEX-3N, Sony NEX-C3.

Sony NEX-F3 is the lightest model in the entire line of similar Sony cameras, weighing only 214 grams (without battery).

Sony NEX-F3

Sony NEX-F3 with lens Sony 18-55mm f / 3.5-5.6 OSSThe flip-out display allows you to take “selfies”, in this mode you can set up automatic image rotation for easy viewing.

Main features of Sony NEX-F3:

  1. The camera is mainly controlled via the main menu of the camera. The hot keys only allow you to select the advance method (the “left” key sets the shooting speed and the shutter release type), compensation exposure (down key) and ISO (right key). The up key changes the type of information display (bar chart, settings). Even switching between modes P, A, S, M is done through the menu. You can get used to such control quite quickly. Many users of more advanced cameras complain about minimalism in control, but over time the feeling of insufficient number of controls disappears.
  2. The heart of the camera is a 16 MP Sony Exmor APS-C HD CMOS image sensor (maximum image size 4912 x 3264). Most likely, this is the same sensor used in the cameras NEX-C3, NEX-3Women, NEX-5Women, as well as in some SLR cameras like the Sony SLT-A37 translucent mirror camera, possibly in some other Sony film/video camera models, as well as in some other camera models from Nikon, Pentax, Samsung. Various modifications of this sensor became very popular and productive in their time. This sensor is significantly better than the 14 MP sensors in the first Sony NEX-3, Sony NEX-5 models. In general, the image quality from the NEX-6, NEX-5R, NEX-5T models is slightly better due to a wider dynamic range.
  3. The ISO range is 200-16.000 units in 1-stop increments (except 12.800 -> 16.000). There is auto-ISO without adjusting any parameters (excerpt automatically adjusted depending on the focal length of the lens, and with manual lenses is always 1/60 second), works only in the range of ISO 200-3200. The noise level is close to similar 16 MP sensors from Sony.
  4. Mechanical shutter, it is possible to use the front electronic shutter, excerpt from 1/4000 second to 30 seconds. Exposure 1/160 second synchronization. The fully mechanical shutter allows you to always get the “right bokeh” (the problem is described here).
  5. Automatic focusing is performed only by the contrast method. There is an option for automatic focusing by face. The camera does not recognize faces in the frame very well. Automatic focusing in video mode is available only by pressing the focus activation button.
  6. Full HD 25p or 50i AVCHD H264 High L4.0 video is available with a 24 or 17 Mbps stream to choose from for each scan (60i is available for some countries), a built-in stereo microphone, recording clips up to 29 minutes long. There is an HDMI Mini port. During video shooting, you can change ISO values ​​"on the fly", excerpts and diaphragms. The camera divides continuous video clips into files no larger than 2 GB (the size is always different, but is within 2 GB). During video recording, you can perform additional digital zoom up to 2X without losing quality. Also available is the video recording mode in the format '.MP4' 1440 X 1080 12 Mbps 25p or 640 X 480 3 Mbps. Sound is encoded with Dolby AC3 48KHz, stereo 256 KBps settings.
  7. The display is 3 inches and 921.000 dots, rotating, folding (you can take selfies, the image can “flip” when you fold it 180 degrees), not touch-sensitive. The downward tilt is only 13 degrees.
  8. There is a Smart Accessory Terminal connector for connecting peripherals, such as an external Sony FDA-EV1S XGA viewfinder or external flash.
  9. Maximum burst speed - 6 frames per second (but without tracking autofocus, focusing is locked on the first frame). Unfortunately, there is only a choice of continuous high-speed shooting with a frame rate of 3 frames per second (which is low, but gives tracking autofocus) and 6 frames per second (which is sometimes too much).
  10. In RAW+JPEG format at 6 fps the buffer holds approximately only 4-5 shots, after which the continuous shooting speed drops significantly. In RAW format there are about 6 shots, in JPEG L FINE format there are about 10 shots. The camera does not display the frame buffer capacity, the buffer size is indirectly determined by the length of the frame series.
  11. The camera can use SDHC/SDXC and Memory Stick PRO Duo / XC-HG Duo memory cards. There is no support for the fast USH-I bus, so there is no particular point in memory cards with a write/read speed higher than 12-13 MB/second. The memory card slot is located on the bottom of the camera, near the tripod socket. When the camera is mounted on a tripod, replacing the memory card will be extremely difficult. At the same time, the battery compartment usually protrudes beyond the tripod head and replacing the battery is not a problem. For work, I still use Fast Kingston SDXC cards with USH-I bus with capacities from 32 to 256 GB without any problems, it allows me to copy materials faster through Fast card reader with USB 3.0 support with support for memory cards with buses USH-I и USH-II.
  12. RAW files use 12-bit color depth and lossy compression, with the average Sony “.ARW” RAW file size being around 16MB.
  13. There is a function for cleaning the sensor from dust. However, with frequent lens changes, the sensor still gets dirty quickly.
  14. There are several interesting and useful features: Auto HDR, Auto DR, automatic correction of some imperfections of lenses, release of the shutter by smile, detection of faces in the frame, various creative shooting modes, focus picking, a quick panorama function, quick zoom for precise focusing, additional digital zoom up to 2X, automatic framing during portrait shooting, etc.
  15. The Sony NEX-F3 has a built-in frog flash (it jumps out of the body when you press the corresponding button). The flash always works in automatic mode without the ability to set its power manually.
  16. A battery with a small capacity, but the number of shots that can be taken on a single battery charge will very much depend on the manner of shooting. Details on this matter described here. Once, after 1 hour of intensive shooting, I got 2000 RAW+JPEG shots, and the battery charge dropped to 10%. The camera can be charged via a regular USB Micro-B port, although the camera charges quite slowly.

Sample Photos

Many sample photos (RAW/JPEG) can be found in the following lens reviews:

  1. PERGEAR 25mm 1: 1.7 HD.MC
  2. felttrox AF 56mm 1:1.7 STM ED IF
  3. Risespray 35mm F1.6
  4. Meike 50mm F/0.95 Multi Coated
  5. MEIKE 35mm F/0.95 Multi Coated
  6. MEIKE 7.5mm F1:2.8 FISH-EYE
  7. Brightin Star 60mm F2.8 2X Macro
  8. Brightin Star 7.5mm 1: 2.8 Fisheye
  9. 7Artisans 1: 1.8 / 50mm HD.MC
  10. 7Artisans 25mm 1:0.95
  11. AstrHori 85mm F2.8 Macro Tilt
  12. TTArtisan AF 35/1.8 ED
Sony NEX-F3

Sony NEX-F3

My experience

Sony NEX-F3 is already a “retro camera”.

Sony NEX-F3 is one of my favorite cameras. It is very small, light, with a flip-up sensor, which often helps out a lot. Pleasant shutter noise. The 16 MP sensor from Sony after two decades does not show outstanding results, but is quite suitable for high-quality photography at ISO 200-400. True, sometimes you can get good quality even at ISO 1600. The image quality in general, for example, seems to me very similar to SLR cameras Nikon D90, D5000, Pentax Kx, Pentax Kr.

The almost completely folding display (it does not fold down completely) is a godsend for photo and video shooting, a feature I really missed in the models NEX-C3, NEX-3Women.

Minimum ISO and excerpt 1/4000 of a second does not always allow for convenient work with high-aperture optics.

Sometimes the camera can underexpose a scene by 1/3 stop, but I'm a big fan of shooting in 'RAW' format with further batch processing (watch my video on this topic), after which minor exposure problems become unnoticeable.

It is very strange that you cannot view the recorded video and photos at the same time; you must select in the menu which content will be displayed during viewing.

I originally bought this camera for my wife, who also loves photography. But later I began to notice more and more often that the small size of the camera paired with small manual lenses is very pleasant to use. Step by step, the love for the Sony NEX-F3 has exceeded all my skeptical expectations. I have a lot of experience using various mirrorless cameras from Sony, but the number of shutter actuations of the Sony NEX-F3 is growing insatiably every day, even when 2025 looms outside the window.

All Sony E-mount cameras with APS-C sensor

All Sony E lenses for APS-C

Fix Lenses:

  1. Sony 11 mm f/1.8 (announcement) [2022, black, BHphotovideo]
  2. Sony 15 mm f / 1.4 G (announcement) [2022, black, BHphotovideo]
  3. Sony 16 mm f/2.8 (overview) [2010, silver, BHphotovideo]
  4. Sony 20 mm f/2.8 (announcement) [2013, silver, BHphotovideo]
  5. Sony 24 mm f / 1.8 ZEISS ZA (overview) [2011, black, BHphotovideo]
  6. Sony 30 mm f / 3.5 MACRO (overview) [2011, silver, BHphotovideo]
  7. Sony 35 mm f / 1.8 Health Care (announcement) [2012, black, BHphotovideo]
  8. Sony 50 mm f / 1.8 Health Care (announcement) [2011, black/silver, BHphotovideo]

Zoom Lenses:

  1. Sony 10-18mm f / 4 Health Care (announcement) [2012, black, BHphotovideo]
  2. Sony 10-20mm f / 4 G PZ (announcement) [2022, black, BHphotovideo]
  3. Sony 16-50mm f / 3.5-5.6 PZ Health Care (overview) [2012, black/silver, BHphotovideo]
  4. Sony 16-50mm f / 3.5-5.6 PZ OSS II (announcement) [2024, black/silver, BHphotovideo]
  5. Sony 16-55mm f / 2.8 G (overview) [2019, black, BHphotovideo]
  6. Sony 16-70mm f / 4 Health Care ZEISS ZA (overview) [2013, black, BHphotovideo]
  7. Sony 18-50mm f/4-5.6 (overview) [2014, black]
  8. Sony 18-55mm f / 3.5-5.6 Health Care (overview) [2010, black/silver, BHphotovideo]
  9. Sony 18-105mm f / 4 G PZ Health Care (overview) [2013, black, BHphotovideo]
  10. Sony 18-110mm f / 4 G PZ Health Care (announcement) [2016, black, BHphotovideo]
  11. Sony 18-135mm f / 3.5-5.6 Health Care (overview) [2018, black, BHphotovideo]
  12. Sony 18-200mm f / 3.5-6.3 Health Care (overview) [2010, silver, BHphotovideo]
  13. Sony 18-200mm f / 3.5-6.3 Health Care LE (overview) [2012, black, BHphotovideo]
  14. Sony 18-200mm f / 3.5-6.3 PZ Health Care (announcement) [2012, black, BHphotovideo]
  15. Sony 55-210mm f / 4.5-6.3 OSS (announcement) [2011, black/silver, BHphotovideo]
  16. Sony 70-350mm f/4.5–6.3 G OSS (announcement) [2019, black, BHphotovideo]

Third-party autofocus lenses for Sony E APS-C:

Many interesting manual solutions are provided by Chinese manufacturers and brands. 7Artisans, TTartisan, Meike, Neewer, PerGear, Kamlan, Brightin star, Mitakon Zhongyi, Venus laowaFujian, ARTRALABAstrHori other. Autofocus Speed ​​Boosters are also interesting Viltrox Canon EF -> Sony E 0.71X и Metabones Canon EF -> Sony E 0.71X... List of full-frame cameras and lenses Sony FE (Full Frame E) here

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Material prepared Arkady Shapoval.

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Comments: 6, on the topic: Sony NEX-F3 Review (E-mount, May 2012, 16 MP)

  • Sergei

    In my opinion, this camera is a good inexpensive solution for lovers of minimalism.
    Especially with a pancake lens or a 16-50 standard lens.
    If you want to use interchangeable lenses often, then for similar money the Sony a3500 is more interesting.
    20 MP sensor, comfortable grip, electronic viewfinder. But it is noticeably larger.

    • Arkady Shapoval

      The a3500 has a much worse display, and it doesn't swivel, and it doesn't have a fully mechanical shutter, and it has a much slower burst speed, and it doesn't have a simple RAW mode (only RAW + JPEG). I would definitely leave the F3 between these two. But I have both of them, so I don't have to choose.

      • Rodion

        It's a pity that the A3000/3500 didn't get a sequel. They could have brought back the cut out features and there would have been a great crop for photos, not for video, like the A6000 series.

        • Arkady Shapoval

          They brought back the “mirror” grip in some of their FF cameras

  • Human

    A very big special advantage of these cameras has not yet been mentioned, they come in pink, and, together with the low price, in principle, any camera from the NEX series is great for a child to learn to take pictures or just as a toy - this is much nicer than stupid toy Chinese cameras, and the price of the issue is only 2-3 times more

  • Ivan

    My favorite Sony. A very cool camera, I've snapped a lot of shots like it. I especially liked it in combination with the Sigma 30 2.8. I recently switched to Canon only because I need to shoot long videos (ML helps out). If Sony had something like this (restarting video shooting after finishing), I would never have switched.
    And the wide-angle lens is the cheapest (16 mm) and the built-in flash, which can be easily aimed at the ceiling without any extra gadgets, and the dimensions and weight – everything is great.

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