Sony NEX-C3 Review

Overview

Sony NEX-C3 Overview

by Shawn Barnett and Zig Weidelich
Hands-on Preview: 06/08/2011
Full Review: 11/02/2011

After making a splash in 2010 with very aggressive NEX-5 and the more moderate NEX-3, Sony returned just over a year later to announce the more conservatively styled Sony Alpha NEX-C3. Aggression has merged with moderation to create a handsome successor that is smaller than its predecessors, and probably more broadly appealing. While the NEX-5 in particular was designed to emphasize its extremely small size, the NEX-C3 was designed to make such diminutiveness look easy, with soft curves and subtle accents.

Packed with unique Sony features like Handheld Twilight and Sweep Panorama, the Sony NEX-C3 adds a few new features, like Picture Effects filters, and an Intelligent Auto with simple adjustments that replace terms like White Balance with simpler descriptions like Color, which has a scale ranging from Warm to Cool. We've seen something similar in the Olympus Pen cameras.

Providing a smaller grip than either of its predecessors, the Sony NEX-C3 is at times a little more difficult to hold, especially compared to the NEX-5's steeper grip. However, when I adjust my grip, pressing the right side of the camera into my fingers rather than my palm, as I do with pocket cameras, I find the NEX-C3 is easy enough to hold in most situations. Using two hands is recommended for most of these smaller cameras, and you'll need the second hand to zoom the lens, so the left hand should already be employed most of the time.

The Sony NEX-C3's body is a duo-tone design, something borrowed from the low-end Alpha SLR line, but it works much better here.

Moving the shutter button back off the grip bulge allowed room for the Sony logo to appear in a more prominent position on the front, above the grip, upper left of the AF-assist/Self-timer lamp. The right and left microphones face forward (rather than upward as on the NEX-3) positioned on opposite sides of the lens mount, and the lens release button is in the same position as its predecessors. Note the silver Alpha logo in the upper right corner, while the A-mount cameras have the cinnabar (orange) logo.

The top deck is similar to the NEX-3, simplified with the removal of the left and right microphones, while the shutter button has moved back and the power switch surrounding it is now actuated from the side rather than the rear. Playback and Record buttons are in roughly the same locations. A large plastic, rubber-tethered port door just right of the shiny HD logo opens to reveal the Smart Accessory Terminal, meant to attach flashes, optional microphones, and viewfinders. An included flash mounts here with a thumbscrew, integrating well into the design.

A very tacky rubber forms the thumbgrip on the back. It's a little far to the right for me, but it's designed to keep the thumb off the top soft key, which usually acts as the Menu button. The sparse control cluster is made even more sparse with the omission of the left and right Drive and Flash mode icons, necessary because of the slight slimming of the NEX-C3 left to right. However, these two positions are customizable now, offering more interface flexibility, as is the lower soft button just right of the LCD and the button in the center of the wheel.

The Sony NEX-C3's LCD is the same gorgeous 3-inch, 921.6K display, and it tilts up and down the same as well. Lifting the LCD from its retracted position is more difficult than on the NEX-C3's predecessors, because the bottom of the panel doesn't stick out as much as it does on the other two. For some time I just pulled it outward using the top left notch, but I finally noticed that the door covering the HDMI port has a thumb-notch that extends all the way back to the LCD, and it's the easiest way to open the tilting LCD.

Sensor & Processor. The Sony NEX-C3 sports a newly-developed 16-megapixel Exmor APS HD CMOS sensor, the same that appears in the A35, but different from the one that shipped last year in the A55, Sony's quick to point out. As with most new sensors, the new Exmor is optimized to produce low noise for greater image quality in low light. It also supports the company's image compositing technology. The new Exmor sensor is supported by a BIONZ processor, about which not much is mentioned other than that it's fast and is supposed to help maintain better detail and smooth gradations.

Dust. The Sony NEX cameras have a dust abatement and removal system, where they've included a charge-protection coating on the low-pass filter, and they also vibrate the low pass filter to shake dust free.

Autofocus and metering. The Sony NEX-C3 uses contrast-detect autofocus only. It has two autofocus modes AF-S for single and AF-C for continuous focusing. There are three autofocus area modes, including Center, Multi, and Flexible Spot modes. You can also choose full Autofocus, DMF, which allows you to adjust focus after the autofocus operation, and Manual Focus. Focus is fast and fairly accurate.

The Sony NEX-C3 has the option of Spot, Center-weighted, and Multi-area metering.

Optics. Sony's E-series of lenses is all new, developed for the NEX-series digital cameras. Designed to respond more quickly than conventional SLR lenses, with the main purpose of enabling autofocus while shooting video. As such, they are fast and quiet when focusing, and their stepper-motor-driven aperture blades move smoothly to prevent sudden jumps in brightness as the aperture changes in the middle of a video recording.

Five Sony E-mount lenses are already shipping in the US market: a 16mm f/2.8 prime, an 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 stabilized zoom, an 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 stabilized zoom, a 55-210mm f/4.5-6.3 stabilized zoom, and a 30mm f/3.5 macro prime lens. Further lens models arriving later this year should see the lineup swell to seven models, including a Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* E 24mm f/1.8 prime in December, and a Sony 50mm f/1.8 stabilized prime also in December. The company's roadmap further calls for a Sony G-branded standard zoom, a wide angle zoom, and a mid-telephoto prime during 2012.

Interface. Sony has improved the interface somewhat, mostly by allowing four of the back buttons to be reprogrammed by the user, at least in Record mode. The menu is still confusing, and very deep, but conveniences that were added in the firmware update to the last two cameras persist in the NEX-C3, things like having the menu come up preselecting the last item modified.

Because there is no physical mode dial, changing modes is a slightly longer process, requiring the user to press the Menu button, then navigate to the Mode dial graphic in the six-icon menu, and then press the navigation disk's center button. Then a large mode dial appears on the right of the screen and turning the navigation disk turns the virtual dial to the desired mode. From there you press the center button again, and the camera returns to Record mode with the new mode selected.

Scene modes include Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Sports Action, Sunset, Night Portrait, Night View, and Handheld Twilight. Anti-Motion blur is a Scene mode available on the virtual mode dial.

HDR shooting. The Sony NEX-C3 also offers High-Dynamic Range shooting, found under the Brightness/Color Menu, oddly, where it seems more at home in the Scene Modes, or on the virtual mode dial.

Intelligent Auto. Sony has taken a similar approach to Intelligent Auto as other companies have, allowing the camera to either select the mode for you, or else to let you apply a lot of filters via its Photo Creativity tool.

Flash. While the NEX-C3 ships with a small screw-mounted flash that flips up on demand, Sony's created a new mid-size flash called the HVL-F20S, which also attaches via the Smart Accessory Terminal. The new unit requires no batteries, instead taking power directly from the camera's battery. As seen in the animation at right, the HVL-F20S flips up to power on, down to power off. Two internal mechanisms allow you to point the flash element forward or upward to bounce light off the ceiling or walls. A flash diffuser can also swivel into place to cover a wider area in either mode.

Photo Creativity. Accessible from the Intelligent Auto mode, Photo Creativity offers several effects with a press of the center button on the control wheel. With a click and a "swiff" sound, the rotating menu slides out, with each selected item jutting out from the rest, with text describing each mode. Modes include Background Defocus, Picture Effect, and Soft Skin Effect. You can also set the Drive mode, and access the simplified adjustments that Sony's offering instead of the more technical-sounding White Balance, Saturation and the like. Instead, you find Vividness (ranging from vivid to soft), Color (warm or cool), and Brightness (bright or dark).

You can even layer effects, using background defocus with vividness and brightness, and a picture effect like Toy camera, for example. Small icons line the left of the screen indicating the stacks of effects applied. All settings remain until you turn off the camera or "undo" them with the Undo soft button.

Picture Effects include Toy Camera, Posterization (color), Posterization (B&W), Pop Color, Retro Photo, Partial Color (Red), Partial Color (Green), Partial Color (Blue), Partial Color (Yellow), High Key, and High Key (B&W).

Soft skin effect. Also new is the Soft Skin Effect, which removes or reduces blemishes and smooths skin texture. It also maintains sharpness in higher contrast areas, like eyes and mouth.

3D Sweep Panorama. Like past models, the Sony NEX-C3 offers 3D or 2D Sweep Panorama, which allows you to capture panoramic images with ease by just sweeping the camera across a scene. 3D Sweep Panorama makes images that you can view on a 3D television, and Sweep Panorama just captures the 2D version, which is nonetheless impressive.

Peaking function. One of the more valuable features for the enthusiasts likely to be attracted to the Sony NEX-C3 is the Peaking function, where the sharpest, high-contrast areas of the frame appear colorized, indicating the band or area of sharpest focus. You can choose among red, yellow, and white colors, and the range of focused areas that it affects. It seems to be that the Low setting offers the narrowest band, while High has a tendency to be more forgiving, marking areas that are noticeably out of focus in the final shot as in-focus. Many older digital cameras used to hyper-sharpen in-focus areas on the LCD to help verify focus, but this goes quite a bit further, invoking a technique also used in Canon and Sony's higher-end HD camcorders, as well as a few high-end HD monitors for video-capable SLRs.

Peaking is usable with Sony's autofocus E-mount lenses, but its true value is seen when using third-party manual-focus lenses, making for a quick and easy way to verify focus rather than zooming in to check with every exposure. Another benefit is that you see the peaking at the actual aperture, for a better representation of the available depth of field.

Video. Movie mode on the NEX-C3 is limited to HD, meaning 1,280x720 progressive, recording in MP4 encoding. Sony's optics are optimized for video, though, which means that it focuses quietly enough to record video while tracking focus, even on a rapidly moving subject.

Size and Weight. The NEX-C3 is less than a millimeter reduced in width than the NEX-5, but about 6mm narrower than the NEX-3. Its greatest thickness, measured from the grip, is the same as the NEX-3, but 6mm thinner than the NEX-5. And its height is the same as the NEX-5's, at 60mm, and 3mm shorter than the NEX-3. Weight is reduced from the NEX5's 17.7 ounces (502g) to 17.5 ounces (497g) with the lens, hood, card, and battery.

Storage. The Sony NEX-C3 is compatible with two memory card standards, each with various permutations. The first is the Memory Stick Pro Duo/Pro-HG Duo/Pro-HG HX Duo, and like Olympus did with the Pens last year, Sony now also supports SD, SDHC, and SDXC media in the same slot.

Battery. The Sony NEX-C3 uses the same 7.2V 1080mAh lithium-ion battery with part number NP-FW50. Tested to the CIPA standard, the Sony NEX-C3 is expected to get 20% better battery life than its predecessors, capturing up to 400 shots on a charge.

Sony NEX-C3 size comparisons

Sony NEX-C3 vs Sony NEX-5

Sony NEX-C3 vs Sony NEX-3

Sony NEX-C3 vs Olympus E-PL2

Shooting with the Sony NEX-C3

by Shawn Barnett

The Sony NEX-C3 is remarkably small, with a decent grip and a smallish rear thumbrest. Some will find its very small size problematic, especially given the larger size and weight of the lens, but I found it just fine knowing what I was getting away with by carrying it. It's really a lot like taking a pocket long zoom digital camera and attaching a big lens to it (if you use the 18-55mm kit lens, rather than the 16mm). So it's a little awkward at first. But when you remember that you have a larger sensor--the same size as most consumer SLRs--in this insanely small body you really do feel like you're getting away with something.

Hiking. The NEX-C3 seems like a very good hiking camera, as it doesn't take a lot of space and weighs very little.

As such, the Sony NEX-C3 was an ideal hiking camera. Out walking a nearby trail, I was able to bring along both the Sony NEX-C3 and the Olympus E-PL1 in a small satchel. Both cameras were so light, the bag felt like it was empty. Since I was out with an unannounced camera, I was careful to conceal it when it wasn't in the bag. It hid completely behind my palm with my thumb and index finger wrapped around the lens barrel. Since it's even smaller than the NEX-5, with fewer soft edges, it was comfortable to hold this way.

The LCD wasn't as good in bright light as I'm used to, mostly because of the very reflective outer glass, so the tilting screen came in handy. I shot high up and down low with relative ease, though when shooting vertically from down low, which I do often, I had to guess and hope I was framing correctly, which wasn't always the case. Some of my shots were ruined because I cut off feet or tops of heads, especially when framing shots of my toddler.

Flash. There was lots of light, but lots of shadow too. Just a flip activated the flash and saved this shot, silly expression and all, though there is some red-eye.

I attached the small flash that comes in the kit, and it came in handy without adding a lot of weight. I made several images that I decided might look better with a little flash, and it was easy to just flip up this little accessory and see what happened. I found it powerful enough for fill inside about 20 feet. Because it doesn't flip up very far, you can expect to see some red-eye, as in the shot at left.

Optics. I was very happy with the Sony NEX-C3, all I wanted was some variety in the lens department. The new 30mm f/3.5 shows Sony's commitment to adding lenses to the lineup, as does their list of projected lenses, due by 2012. What I needed on that hike (and had with the Olympus) was an extra-wide-angle zoom lens, and a light and small telephoto. The Sony 18-200mm lens is still smaller than most SLR lenses, but it is a little big on the NEX-C3.

Memorial. Out placing flags for memorial day, I was happy I could easily conceal the NEX-C3 from view.

Controls are similar to past models, and I still find it a bit fiddly having to go into a menu for certain aspects that should have their own buttons, especially when there are so many steps and screen changes along the way. But that's one of the tradeoffs when cameras get this small, and the programmability of four of those buttons means that I can at least make the Sony NEX-C3 work the way I want it to.

Revisiting the Sony NEX-C3 after playing with the NEX-5N and a slew of other compact system cameras since, I still find it a tight little design that's as nice to hold as it is to use. Several of my old shots with the C3 were a little softer than I liked, but I didn't say much about it because of its prototype status. I'd been thinking that the 18-55mm lens our sample came with wasn't as good, but looking at our Still Life target at the lowest common ISO (200) shows the NEX-5N to be a little sharper than the NEX-C3, a distinction that becomes more apparent as ISO rises. We shoot the Still Life target with our laboratory standard Sigma 70mm f/2.8, a remarkably sharp lens. And while both are what could be called sharp, the 5N's ISO 100 and 200 shots clearly redefine sharp when put next to the NEX-C3's images.

Rainbow. There's a slight rainbow running right across the door in this shot, thanks to the lack of a lens hood for the 30mm.

30mm. Since I was concerned about the 18-55, I did a little more shooting with the new 30mm f/3.5 Macro lens, and found that to be more fun. Zoom lenses, for all their practicality, tend to make me lazy, so I like the challenge of shooting with a prime. While it's about as long as the kit zoom, the 30mm Macro sports a lot less glass, making it both lighter and a little less impressive. Its objective lens is only about 14mm across, yet it's surrounded by a shiny bezel that looks a little like an extension of the lens. That seems a little bit like cheating, and for fans of big glass optics, it's a bit disappointing, but it's not the first time we've seen it.

Sharp. The 30mm seemed pretty sharp, with decent bokeh (background blur).

I liked the 30mm, but noticed some rainbow lens flare when shooting with the Sun hitting the lens. Our copy did not include a lens hood, and a quick glance online doesn't show a hood available. Because most of the Sony SEL lenses have the same 49mm cap size, they also seem to use the same hood bayonet mount, so the 18-55mm hood works, though I doubt it would have helped in the shots that included the rainbow.

Sweep Panorama. One of our favorite Sony innovations is Sweep Panorama, and the NEX-C3 does fairly well even in these relatively low-light shots. It's a bit of a trick each time I do it to get the right speed, capturing enough images to cover the range before the buffer fills. If you don't sweep fast enough, you end up with a gray bar on the right or left of the file (depending on the direction you sweep), but if you go too fast, especially on a dreary day like this, you end up with blurry images.

First I held the camera horizontally and did a standard sweep. Dimensions are 8,192 x 1,856 pixels.

Next I switched to Wide mode and got a really wide sweep. This one was difficult to get given the low light, so you'll notice it's a little more soft and there's a black bar on the right, indicating that I didn't go fast enough. Dimensions are 12,416 x 1,856 pixels.

Then I switched to vertical orientation and returned to Standard width by selecting "Down" in the sweep direction menu, and sweeping right. That allowed me to get the top of the house and some more of the trees in the shot. Dimensions are 3,872 x 2,160 pixels.

Finally I kept it in vertical mode, but switched to Wide, which gave me a little more of this grove of trees. There are slight errors in among the trees, a very common outcome in Sweep Panorama shots from most companies that offer them, but the detail is pretty good overall. Dimensions are 5,536 x 2,160 pixels.

DRO and HDR. The NEX-C3 has Dynamic Range Optimizer and High Dynamic Range modes. At first I thought the C3 was confined to Auto modes, but that's thanks to an interface quirk. While you're selecting the Auto HDR mode, for example, the second soft button in the lower right has changed to Option. Pressing this button allows you to use the rear dial to choose from five levels of DRO adjustment, or six levels of EV for HDR. It's harder to tell in these thumbnails, but there's a difference in the brightness of the house and the detail in the clouds in both the DRO and HDR shots below.

It's a little frustrating that you can't use a two-second self-timer in HDR mode, the one place I needed it more, with my slightly wobbly tripod. I'm not likely to use either mode, but if I did need a little more help with dark shadows against bright skies, I'd go straight for HDR Auto. See our test shots for more on the various settings for both modes.

Video. Though not tack sharp, the NEX-C3's video looks pretty good. (Click to download 14.2MB MP4.)

Movie. As we already said, Movie mode is limited to 720p Fine quality at best, and encoding is MP4, not the more compact AVCHD standard. Nevertheless, the NEX-C3's movies will more easily play on computers without special software. Movie quality is pretty good, with good contrast and detail. Other video options include a 720p at Standard quality, and 640 x 480. See our Video page for more detail on the NEX-C3's video capabilities.

Menu. I'll have to momentarily rant about the Menu system, too. One aspect, the main screen, containing six icons, is poorly conceived. Too many of the items you want to set are in separate menus, where normally they'd be under the Camera icon. ISO, for example, should not be under Brightness/Color; this menu shouldn't even exist. The only reason I can think of for including Image Size and Brightness/Color menus as separate icons is because six icons filled out the wide screen better than just four. Remembering where I should search for a given setting among these three icons is a constant nuisance with all of the NEX cameras I've used. Add that certain settings become unavailable in certain modes, and the NEX series menus can be pretty frustrating.

On the positive side, Sony made many improvements over the initial iteration of the NEX menu, including menus that wrap around when you've reached the end, and a general tendency to return to the last menu item selected, so it's easier to return directly to your last modified item for more changes, or to disable them altogether.

Minor usability issues aside, though, there's no question that the Sony NEX-C3 is a very competent little camera, one that's attractive and very small.

Sony NEX-C3 Image Quality

Most digital SLRs and CSCs will produce a reasonable ISO 100 shot, so we like to push them and see what they can do compared to other cameras at ISO 1,600, 3,200, and 6,400. Recent advances in sensor technology have made ISO 1,600 look a lot more like ISO 100, but there are still cameras whose quality starts to fall apart at this setting. We also choose 1,600 because we like to be able to shoot at least at this level when indoors and at night.

NOTE: These images are best quality JPEGs straight out of the camera, at default settings including noise reduction. All cameras in this comparison are always shot with the sharpest lens we have on hand.

Sony NEX-C3 versus Olympus E-PL2 at ISO 1,600

Sony NEX-C3 at ISO 1,600	Olympus E-PL2 at ISO 1,600
Taking nothing from the Olympus E-PL2's performance at 12-megapixels, this comparison does demonstrate the value of the Sony NEX-C3's larger, 16-megapixel APS-C sized sensor. Despite the NEX-C3's very aggressive noise suppression, which blurs the background while sharpening makes the label in the top tile pop almost unnaturally, it renders more detail in the mosaic bottle and red leaf swatch. It even captures some thread pattern in the pink swatch below that.

Sony NEX-C3 versus Panasonic GF2 at ISO 1,600

Sony NEX-C3 at ISO 1,600	Panasonic GF2 at ISO 1,600
Another Micro Four Thirds sensor doesn't do well at all against the Sony NEX-C3 at ISO 1,600, failing mostly in the color department. Or you might just say that the Sony NEX-C3 is that much better, impressively rendering the colors despite the high ISO setting, where the GF2 really struggles.

Sony NEX-C3 versus Panasonic G3 at ISO 1,600

Sony NEX-C3 at ISO 1,600	Panasonic G3 at ISO 1,600
Panasonic's next generation of quality can be found in the G3, which is considerably more comparable to the Sony NEX-C3, as you can see above. The two cameras have different aspect ratios, which accounts for the different sizes of the elements in these crops, but both are 16-megapixel sensors. The Sony does better in the red swatch, and probably in certain elements of the Mosaic bottle when you factor in the larger image size produced by the G3 in this case, but otherwise they're a fair match at ISO 1,600.

Sony NEX-C3 versus Samsung NX100 at ISO 1,600

Sony NEX-C3 at ISO 1,600	Samsung NX100 at ISO 1,600
Two APS-C sensors look quite different from one another. We had hoped to see the NX200 in this spot, but we'll have to wait and perhaps update the review after, as this sensor is quite a bit older. The Sony NEX-C3 renders noticeably more detail with less noise in each of these shots.

Sony NEX-C3 versus Sony NEX-5 at ISO 1,600

Sony NEX-C3 at ISO 1,600	Sony NEX-5 at ISO 1,600
Up against its 14-megapixel successor, the NEX-C3 resolves more detail, but does it in the same spirit as the NEX-5, making the family resemblance obvious.

Today's ISO 3,200 is yesterday's ISO 1,600 (well, almost), so below are the same crops at ISO 3,200.

Sony NEX-C3 versus Olympus E-PL2 at ISO 3,200

Sony NEX-C3 at ISO 3,200	Olympus E-PL2 at ISO 3,200
At 3,200, the Sony NEX-C3 holds noticeably more detail compared to the Olympus E-PL2, the latter also losing grasp of color a little more.

Sony NEX-C3 versus Panasonic GF2 at ISO 3,200

Sony NEX-C3 at ISO 3,200	Panasonic GF2 at ISO 3,200
Likewise against the Panasonic GF2, the Sony NEX-C3 flexes that large-sensor muscle, retaining more color and greater detail.

Sony NEX-C3 versus Panasonic G3 at ISO 3,200

Sony NEX-C3 at ISO 3,200	Panasonic G3 at ISO 3,200
Again, the more modern sensor in the Panasonic G3 does noticeably better at detail and color, except in the red swatch. Impressive for a smaller sensor, but for practical low-light purposes, the Sony NEX-C3 has the edge.

Sony NEX-C3 versus Samsung NX100 at ISO 3,200

Sony NEX-C3 at ISO 3,200	Samsung NX100 at ISO 3,200
Samsung's NX100 suffers dramatically at ISO 3,200, which shows clearly in these crops. The images speak for themselves.

Sony NEX-C3 versus Sony NEX-5 at ISO 3,200

Sony NEX-C3 at ISO 3,200	Sony NEX-5 at ISO 3,200
Again, here, same family, different resolution, yielding more detail from the NEX-C3.

Detail: Sony NEX-C3 versus Olympus E-PL2, Panasonic GF2, Panasonic G3, Samsung NX100, and Sony NEX-5

Sony NEX-C3 ISO 200 ISO 3,200 ISO 6,400	Olympus E-PL2 ISO 200 ISO 3,200 ISO 6,400	Panasonic GF2 ISO 100 ISO 3,200 ISO 6,400	Panasonic G3 ISO 160 ISO 3,200 ISO 6,400	Samsung NX100 ISO 100 ISO 3,200 ISO 6,400	Sony NEX-5 ISO 200 ISO 3,200 ISO 6,400
Detail comparison. High-contrast details are often sharper as ISO rises, so they're worth a look as well. The NEX-C3 does just slightly better than the NEX-5, as you'd expect. The red in the letters across the top are a little softer and more sharpened, as you'd also expect from a higher-resolution sensor at the same size. The C3's images are better than the E-PL2, G3, and NX100 at the higher ISO settings, with the only close call being the E-PL2 at ISO 1,600. The Panasonic G3 also does well, but the different aspect ratio throws a wrench into the comparison, making it hard to tell how well the NEX-C3 would do if the letters were rendered at the same scale on both sensors.

Sony NEX-C3 Print Quality

Great 20x30-inch prints from ISO 200 to 800; ISO 3,200 shots are good for a 13x19-inch print; ISO 12,800 makes a good 8x10.

The Sony NEX-C3 has sufficient detail to make good quality 20x30-inch prints. Color is good, and shadows are fairly smooth.

ISO 400 shots also look good at 20x30 inches, though detail in reds is slightly soft.

ISO 800 images have quite surprising detail, still at 20x30 inches. Some ares are very slightly softer than ISO 400, like reds, but not at all bad.

ISO 1,600 shots are usable at 20x30, but shadows and red areas are softer. Reducing to 16x20, though, brings quality back to quite good.

ISO 3,200 images have good detail, but shadows start to show zones in places, and reds are softer still. Reduction to 13x19 inches helps with most of this, with very good detail.

ISO 6,400 files have excellent detail at 13x19 inches, but with noisy, inky shadows. Reduction to 11x14 helps, but the image has also darkened by this setting, as saturation has risen.

ISO 12,800 images exhibit sufficient high-contrast detail, but lower contrast detail is pretty soft at 11x14 inches, and shadows are rough. But printing at 8x10 makes a pretty decent image.

Overall, the Sony NEX-C3's images prove that this is a camera you can rely on in low light. It outputs 20x30-inch prints with great color and excellent detail from ISO 200 to 800, which is pretty impressive.

In the Box

The Sony NEX-C3 ships with the following items in the box:

• Sony NEX-C3 body
• 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 w/lens hood or 16mm f/2.8 lens (depending on kit)
• HVL-F7S Flash
• Body cap
• Lens caps
• NP-FW50 Lithium-ion battery
• BC-VW1 Battery charger with power cord
• USB cable
• Shoulder strap
• CD-ROM
• Quick Start manual
• Warranty card

Recommended Accessories

• Extra battery pack
• Protective case
• Large capacity, high-speed SDHC/SDXC or MS Pro Duo memory card. 8-16GB or larger makes sense if you plan on shooting lots of HD video. Look for a speed grade of at least Class 4 for HD video capture.

Sony NEX-C3 Conclusion

When Sony set out to revamp and more clearly delineate its consumer NEX camera, they did so by making it about as small as the more enthusiast-targeted NEX-5. Now that we've seen the launch of the NEX-5N and NEX-7, we see quite well where the NEX-C3 sits in the lineup. It's designed to appeal to the discerning consumer who wants a handsome, small, tight compact system camera that can go anywhere and bring back quality images and videos.

The Sony NEX-C3 is a lot of fun to shoot with, and its sporty design looks great hanging around your neck. It's also comfortable to use with a wrist strap, being just a little smaller than most super zoom digital cameras. We liked the tilting LCD, and the grip is good, with a texture that provides good hold. The menu continues to give us trouble, particularly with its odd split among six icons when four would be better. But we're content to live with it, especially given the improvements to the menu's overall behavior.

720p video worked well enough, with stereo audio to boot, and autofocus was pretty smooth and accurate in most situations. Sweep Panorama and Handheld Twilight modes make short work of formerly difficult photographic problems, and the Peaking function makes manual focus considerably more accurate than most other methods that we've seen.

Overall, the Sony NEX-C3 is a great consumer compact system camera that we think will serve a broad base of users. Image quality is very good among compact system cameras, with remarkable ISO performance from 200 to 1,600, producing images that look good printed at 20x30 inches. We did have some problems with the kit lens, with soft corners and noticeable chromatic aberration, and image quality was not quite as good as the images from the NEX-5N, despite the matching 16-megapixel resolution. It turns out that the lens looks better on the 5N because that camera corrects for the lens's shortcomings; the 5N also produces slightly sharper JPEG images with less noise. So enthusiasts and picky types should take note and consider the NEX-5N, available for about $100 more. However, that doesn't take away from the NEX-C3's quality build, great images, and low price, which combine to make it a Dave's Pick.

Operation

Sony NEX-C3 Operation

Sony NEX-C3 Capture Mode

When powered on, the camera is automatically placed into Record mode. The main shooting mode is selected from the Shoot Mode menu, accessed by pressing the Soft key in the center of the Control wheel, except when in Intelligent Auto mode -- in which case it's accessed from the main menu. The Shoot Mode menu offers the following options:

	Program AE. Lacks a Program Shift function, so you're limited to whatever aperture / shutter speed combination the camera chooses.
	Aperture Priority.
	Shutter Priority. Shutter speeds range from 1/4,000 to 30 seconds.
	Manual. Includes Bulb mode.
	3D Sweep Panorama. Captures a burst of images while the shutter button is held down, then creates separate left and right views in-camera, and saves the result as a panoramic .MPO file.
	Sweep Panorama. Similar to 3D Sweep Pano, but creates a single panoramic view in JPEG format.
	Anti Motion Blur. Stacks multiple images in-camera to reduce noise, allowing higher sensitivity and faster shutter speeds.
	Picture Effect. Options are Posterization (Color or B/W), Pop Color, Retro Photo, Partial Color (Red, Green, Blue, or Yellow), High-key, High Contrast Monochrome, and Toy.
	Scene Selection. Options are: Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Sports Action, Sunset, Night Portrait, Night View, and Hand-held Twilight.
	Intelligent Auto. Recognized scene types include Night View, Tripod Night View, Night Portrait, Backlight, Backlight Portrait, Portrait, Landscape, and Macro.

Movie Record Button: Pressing the dedicated movie record button on the camera's top panel will start and stop movie recording -- even if the NEX-C3 is in Playback mode or a menu. Movies are recorded using Program exposure and multi-segment metering, regardless of what modes are currently selected in the camera's menu system. Exposure compensation is available both before and during movie capture, and stereo audio recording can also be enabled or disabled.

Playback Mode: The Playback button on the top panel accesses the NEX-C3's Playback mode, which retains the unusual design from past models that allows you to review either captured still images, or movies. but not both side by side. The left and right arrow keys scroll forward and backward one image or movie at a time, and turning the Control dial has the same effect. The Up arrow key cycles through the various display modes -- image only, image plus basic information, and RGBY histogram with detailed information, of which only the first two modes are available in movie playback. Using the control dial and its center soft key, you can enlarge captured still images by as much as 11.8x, while the arrow keys pan around the zoomed image. Panoramic images can be automatically scrolled across the screen by pressing the soft key, and paused with a second press. The same controls are used to play, pause, and cue through movie files. By pressing the down arrow key, the NEX-C3 can also display images or movies in an index format for quick viewing, with either six or twelve thumbnails per page. The index includes tabs on the left hand side with which to switch between still image or movie playback, and this can also be done through a Playback menu option. The NEX-C3 also remembers whether you captured a still image or movie most recently, and defaults to entering the Playback type relevant to the last image or movie capture performed.

Sony NEX-C3 Menus

Pressing the Menu button provides access to the camera's full menu system. The following options are available in most camera modes, through five submenus accessed from a graphical menu index which also links to the Shoot Mode screen described previously:

Camera Menu 1:

Camera Menu 2:

Image Size Menu 1:

Image Size Menu 2:

Brightness / Color Menu 1:

Brightness / Color Menu 2:

Playback Menu 1:

Playback Menu 2:

Playback Menu 3:

Setup Menu 1:

Setup Menu 2:

Setup Menu 3:

Setup Menu 4:

Setup Menu 5:

Setup Menu 6:

Setup Menu 7:

Setup Menu 8:

Setup Menu 9:

Shooting Tip List:

Optics

Sony NEX-C3 Optics

Kit Lenses

The Sony NEX-C3 is available bundled with either an 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom lens, or a 16mm f/2.8 prime. The zoom lens offers 35mm-equivalent focal lengths from 27 to 83mm, while the prime is a 24mm equivalent.

With the 18-55mm zoom lens mounted, the NEX-C3 is rather too bulky to be considered pocketable, although it's still a fair bit smaller than the typical consumer SLR with a similar lens. Sharpness is about average, while autofocus is fairly quick, quiet and well-suited to movie capture, and the Optical SteadyShot image stabilization proves useful, especially towards the telephoto end of the zoom range. In the in-depth tests performed at our sister site, SLRgear, we did find some issues with chromatic aberration towards the middle of the zoom range, as well as distortion at most focal lengths, however. More details can be found in our SLRgear.com review.

As for the 16mm prime lens, it offers an interesting proposition as a walkaround lens, making the NEX-C3 just about pocketable without first removing the lens. In testing at SLRgear, we did note high levels of chromatic aberration, as well as prominent distortion and rather soft results, especially at maximum aperture. Many consumers may well be willing to overlook these shortcomings given the lens' affordability and compact size, however.

Lens Compatibility

Like all NEX-series cameras, the Sony NEX-C3 features a Sony E lens mount. Thanks to its use of an APS-C sized image sensor, the NEX-C3 has a 1.5x focal length crop.

Although it's still a fairly young system, there's quite a healthy selection of glass available for E-mount cameras. As of this writing (October, 2011), Sony offers seven E-mount lenses: three zooms that together cover a range from 18-210mm (27-315mm equivalents), and four primes from 16mm to 50mm (24mm to 75mm equivalents.) For the zoom lenses, all are stabilized. Among the primes, only the 50mm lens offers stabilization. There's also one lens carrying Carl Zeiss branding, the Sonnar 24mm f/1.8, which is tied with the 50mm prime as brightest first-party lens available for the E-mount.

In full, the list of E-mount lenses available from Sony is as follows:

In addition, two conversion lenses which can be mounted on the front of the 16mm prime increase the wide-angle possibilities for E-mount photographers still further, to either 15mm or 18mm equivalents. It's also possible to use Alpha-mount lenses (including older glass from Minolta and Konica-Minolta) with the NEX-C3, using either the LA-EA1 or LA-EA2 mount adapters.

Beyond the optics and adapters provided by Sony themselves, a wide variety of third-party options are also available. Sony has been uncommonly open with its E-mount, providing basic specifications to lens and mount adapter manufacturers without fee, and while that hasn't yet resulted in a flurry of third-party lenses, there are a vast array of mount adapters available that allow use of lenses from most common mounts. If you have a lens from a mount that's at least reasonably well-known, chances are an adapter will be available; there are so many that it's really beyond the scope of this review to attempt to cover them all. Suffice to say that there will be limitations in their use, however -- most notably with the lack of autofocus, and with vignetting on lenses designed to provide an image circle smaller than the NEX-C3's APS-C sized image sensor.

Third party lenses, at this time, are all completely manual, and include an 8mm fisheye from Korea's Samyang Optics, plus three primes (28mm f/2.8, 35mm f/1.7, and 50mm f/0.95) from Hong Kong's SLR Magic / Noktor. Japan's Sigma Corp. showed prototype lenses for the E-mount in early 2011, but has yet to release any products. A number of other manufacturers have expressed interest, but likewise have yet to release any E-mount lenses.

Image Stabilization

There are two approaches to mechanical image stabilization in compact system cameras: lens-based, or in-body (sensor shift). For the NEX series models, including the C3, Sony has opted for a lens-based system, branded as "Optical SteadyShot". One of the main advantages of lens-based stabilization in SLRs--the fact that the optical viewfinder image is also stabilized--doesn't apply in compact system cameras, since they're always operating in live-view mode, thus allowing sensor shift systems likewise to provide a stabilized preview. Still, lens-based stabilization typically performs better at longer focal lengths than do sensor-shift systems. There is a drawback, though: with a lens-based system, you must decide whether to opt for a stabilized version of each lens, and pay a premium for the stabilization, where in-body systems offer stabilization with pretty-much any lens.

Of the two available kit lens choices, only the 18-55mm zoom is stabilized, as are all currently-available E-mount zoom lenses from Sony. With the exception of the 50mm f/1.8, none of the current primes are stabilized. When using Alpha-mount lenses with the optional mount adaptors, stabilization is not available, since Sony's Alpha-series image stabilization relies on sensor shift ("SteadyShot Inside") technology inside the camera body, something that's not available in NEX-series bodies.

Autofocus

Like any compact system camera, the NEX-C3's lack of a mirror box means that there's nowhere in the optical path to put a dedicated phase detection sensor. Instead, the NEX-series cameras are reliant on the image sensor itself for autofocus. This means using contrast detection autofocus, by default, as do all mirrorless models except Nikon's J1 and V1. (Those cameras don't have a dedicated phase detect sensor, but include phase detection AF points on the main imaging sensor.) Sony's E-mount lenses were designed from the ground up with contrast detection autofocus performance in mind, with the weight and positioning of the focusing group tuned appropriately, and focus drive is provided by a near-silent stepper motor. This, along with the increased processing power of modern cameras, means that contrast detection autofocus is a much more useful proposition than was the case a couple of years ago, although it's typically still somewhat slower than phase detection. The advantage of contrast detection, though, is that it negates problems with front or back focusing, and generally provides higher autofocus accuracy.

Some Alpha-mount lenses attached via the LA-EA1 mount adapter that's running current firmware can also be used with the NEX-C3's contrast detection autofocus system, but only if they use an in-lens autofocus motor. That rules out screw-drive lens models, which must be focused manually when using this adapter. Since Alpha-mount lenses weren't designed with contrast detection autofocus operation in mind, performance may suffer to varying degrees--depending on the lens model--both in terms of AF speed and power consumption. If shooting video, lens drive noise may prove objectionable.

With the alternate LA-EA2 mount adapter, the NEX-series cameras are uniquely able to provide for phase detection autofocusing with Alpha-mount lenses, courtesy of a dedicated phase detect sensor. They do this in basically the same way as Sony's Translucent Mirror-based SLT-series cameras. A partially reflective mirror is placed in the optical path, sending a portion of incoming light to the dedicated 15-point autofocus sensor. Unlike the earlier mount adapter, the LA-EA2 provides support for screw-drive lenses, thanks to a built-in autofocus motor. Since it doesn't rely on the stepped motion of contrast detection AF, it should also provide significantly better AF performance even with lenses that include their own AF motors. Of course, AF drive noise may still prove an issue, depending on the lens model in use.

AF-Assist Illuminator

The Sony NEX-C3 includes a bright orange LED lamp at the top of the hand grip, which serves as an AF assist illuminator. With relatively limited space available on the body, it's quite easy to accidentally obscure with your fingertips, especially if you have large hands. It's also likely to be obscured by larger lenses, and can't be used with Alpha-mount lenses attached via the LA-EA2 mount adapter. It serves its purpose quite well for nearby subjects with the kit lenses, however.

Dust Reduction

The Sony NEX-C3 features an electromagnetic vibration dust-reduction system, coupled with a charge protection coating on its low-pass filter that aims to prevent dust adhering -- especially important since the NEX-C3's shutter is normally open for full-time Live View. The vibration seems to be at a rather lower frequency than some competing systems (or perhaps to have a harmonic at a lower frequency), because it's clearly audible as a brief, high-pitched whine when operating. The system automatically runs only at power-off, meaning that it doesn't delay camera startup. It can also be triggered at any time while using the camera, should you notice that dust specks are present in your images. Interestingly, the sound when operating manually has a slightly higher pitch than that when operating at power-off, suggesting the frequencies used differ between the two cycles.

Sony NEX-C3 Optical Test Results

Below are the results of our optical tests with the Sony NEX-C3 and the bundled E 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS kit lens. The test images shown on most other pages of this review were taken with very sharp references lenses, so we use this page to explore kit lens quality.

Lens Test Results

Zoom
A typical 3x zoom ratio, with average performance.

The Sony NEX-C3 is available bundled with an E 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS lens. This optically stabilized lens possesses a typical optical zoom ratio of about 3x, with a 35mm equivalent focal range of about 27-83mm because of the NEX-C3's 1.5x "crop factor". Sharpness at wide-angle was pretty good at f/8. Some chromatic aberration is however evident along the edges and corners, and some flare is visible around the building's white surfaces. Results at the 55mm setting were also pretty good at f/8, with much lower levels of chromatic aberration and less flare. See below for comments on macro performance, geometric distortion, corner softness, etc.

Macro
An average sized minimum coverage area, with good detail. Flash throttled down reasonably well.

As with zoom performance, the Sony NEX-C3's macro performance will depend entirely on the lens in use. However with the E 18-55mm kit lens set to 55mm, the NEX-C3 captured an average sized minimum area measuring 3.01 x 2.00 inches (77 x 51 millimeters). Detail was good in the center at f/8, just a touch soft, though corners and edges of the frame were much softer. (Most lenses have some softening in the corners at macro distances.) The flash did a pretty good job throttling down, resulting in good though slightly dim exposure. The flash also had no trouble clearing the lens as there is no detectable shadow, though coverage was a little uneven with the bottom and corners of the image is a little dimmer than the rest.

Geometric Distortion
Higher than average geometric distortion at wide-angle and telephoto.

Barrel distortion at 18mm is 1.1 percent

Pincushion distortion at 55mm is 0.5 percent

The Sony NEX-C3's E 18-55mm kit lens produced about 1.1 percent barrel distortion at wide-angle, which is higher than average and noticeable in some of its images. At the telephoto end, there's about 0.5% pincushion distortion, also higher than average but not quite as noticeable. This is the tendency for the lens to bend straight lines outward (like a barrel -- usually at wide-angle) or inward (like a pincushion -- usually at telephoto).

The Sony NEX-C3 does not appear to be applying any geometric distortion correction to its JPEGs, as uncorrected RAW files show the same amount of distortion.

Chromatic Aberration and Corner Sharpness
High chromatic aberration at wide-angle; much lower levels at full telephoto. The lens produced some pretty soft corners wide-open, but improved when stopped-down.

Aperture: maximum
18mm@f/3.5: Upper left C.A.: High and bright Softness: Moderate blurring	18mm@f/3.5: Center C.A.: Low Softness: Sharp
55mm@f/5.6: Lower left C.A.: Low Softness: Moderately high blurring	55mm@f/5.6: Center C.A.: Very low Softness: Fairly sharp, but lower contrast

Chromatic Aberration. Chromatic aberration in the corners with the NEX-C3's 18-55mm kit lens at wide-angle (18mm) is moderate in terms of the number of pixels, but quite bright, so the effect is noticeable in the softer corners and edges of some shots. At full telephoto (55mm), CA is moderate in terms of number of pixels, but the colors in the fringes are very muted, so CA was quite low overall. Color fringing gradually reduces in brightness and width as it approaches the center of the image, where it is very low at both wide-angle and telephoto.

Corner Softness. Wide-open at full wide-angle, the 18-55mm lens that came with our NEX-C3 was pretty soft in the left corners, with the top left being the softest. Softness extended pretty far into the frame as well. Corners on the right were much sharper, though some flare was noticeable, while the center of the image was sharp with very good contrast. Some minor vignetting (corner shading) is also noticeable at full wide-angle, as indicated by the darker corner crop. At full telephoto, all four corners were soft with the left side being softer than the right, though the center was pretty sharp. Softness didn't extend quite as far into the frame as it did at wide-angle. The lens also had lower contrast overall at full telephoto compared to wide-angle.

Aperture: f/8
18mm@f/8: Lower left C.A.: Moderately high and bright Softness: Minor blurring	18mm@f/8: Center C.A.: Low Softness: Sharp
55mm@f/8: Lower left C.A.: Low Softness: Moderate blurring	55mm@f/8: Center C.A.: Very low Softness: Sharp

"Stopped-down" to f/8, corner sharpness at wide-angle improved dramatically compared to wide-open at f/3.5, though CA was still high. At full telephoto, sharpness also improved at f/8 versus wide-open at f/5.6, but corners were still soft with lower contrast.

Overall, an average performance for a kit lens.

The images above were taken from our standardized test shots. For a collection of more pictorial photos, see our Sony Alpha NEX-C3 Photo Gallery .

Exposure

Sony NEX-C3 Exposure Options

The Sony NEX-C3 offers much the same exposure options you'd find in a traditional SLR camera, plus a few Sony-specific options. Available exposure modes include Program AE, Manual, Aperture Priority, and Shutter Priority modes, with shutter speeds from 1/4,000 to 30 seconds, as well as a Bulb setting for longer exposures. The x-sync speed for flash photography is 1/160 second. A fully automatic mode called Intelligent Auto (iA) enables Scene Detection, and places the camera in control of almost all functions, to try to deliver optimum results under a wide range of conditions. Even basic options such as exposure compensation aren't available to the photographer in this mode. The Sony NEX-C3 also offers a number of Scene and Sweep Panorama modes, and an Anti Motion Blur mode which merges multiple high-ISO images into a single exposure with reduced noise. See the Operation page for more details.

The NEX-C3 offers an optional live histogram function in all operating modes except Sweep Panorama. Located near the top right corner of the LCD panel, it's rather small, and offers only a luminance readout rather than a full RGBY histogram, but it's still very useful for ensuring your exposures are correct. Another feature that's rather more common, but still very welcome, is the exposure display visible near the bottom left of the LCD when the camera is in Manual exposure mode. This shows the amount the camera thinks an image will be over- or underexposed within a range of +/-2.0EV, based on the settings you have selected, to help you find the best exposure for the subject. (Beyond the 2.0EV range, the value blinks to emphasise that the metering system's limit has been reached.) Together, the live histogram and exposure display make it relatively easy to get suitable exposures even when shooting manually.

Sony NEX-C3 Face Detection
The Sony NEX-C3 includes Face Detection capability, capable of locating the positions of your subjects within the image frame. This information is taken into account when determining several exposure variables -- focus, exposure, flash and white balance. While it doesn't go as far as some cameras that try to recognize specific individuals, the NEX-C3 is able to differentiate between adult and child faces, and can be set to prioritize one or other age group when selecting which is the dominant face in the scene.

The NEX-C3 also includes a related feature that is now pretty common in point-and-shoot cameras, but relatively unknown in large-sensor cameras. Dubbed "Smile Shutter", this allows the NEX-C3 to automatically trigger the shutter, capturing photographs by itself when a smiling face is detected within the image frame. The NEX-C3's implementation is perhaps best suited to portraits of individuals, since the shutter is tripped when only one face within a group is smiling. There's a three-step control over the degree to which a subject must smile before the shutter is tripped. and when Smile Shutter is enabled, the NEX-C3 also provides a graph at the left of the screen that indicates how close a particular expression has come to passing the required threshold for the shutter to be tripped.

The face detection functionality can also be used to automatically smooth your subjects' skin tones, courtesy of a Soft Skin Effect mode.

Sony NEX-C3 ISO Range
ISO sensitivity ranges from 200 to 12,800, and is adjusted through the Brightness / Color menu in one-stop increments. In all but Manual mode, an Auto ISO mode is also available. The function is limited to a maximum of ISO 1,600 in most operating modes, although the Anti Motion Blur and Hand-held Twilight modes will both allow Auto ISO to range as high as ISO 6,400 equivalent if needed.

Sony NEX-C3 Noise Reduction
The Sony NEX-C3 gives you only two choices for High ISO noise reduction, neither of which allows the function to be completely disabled. The default is to leave High ISO NR entirely in the camera's control, but if the maximum image detail is desired (or you prefer to do your noise filtering in post processing), a "Weak" option is also available in all except Sweep Panorama mode. A separate Long Shutter noise reduction On/Off setting is available for dark frame subtraction when shooting exposures of one second or longer. If enabled, this approximately doubles the exposure time for each shot, allowing the second dark frame exposure to be captured with the shutter closed. Long Exposure NR can't be disabled in Intelligent Auto or Scene modes, and cannot be enabled for Anti Motion Blur, Sweep Panorama, Hand-Held Twilight, Continuous / Speed Priority Continuous, or Bracketed shooting.

Sony NEX-C3 White Balance Options
White balance modes on the Sony NEX-C3 include Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Incandescent, Fluorescent, and Flash. A direct Kelvin temperature setting is also available, ranging from 2,500K to 9,900K, as is a Custom white balance setting, for setting white balance from a white or grey card. The NEX-C3's proprietary external flash strobe can be used when determining a custom white balance, and unusually, the camera also provides a Kelvin readout of the measured color temperature -- a great feature which lets you dial the temperature in directly if you're shooting in familiar conditions. The effect of changes in white balance settings is shown in real-time on the LCD monitor.

In all of the preset white balance modes, you can fine-tune the color by pressing the bottom Soft key. You're then presented with a menu that allows blue / red adjustment within a range of -3 to +3 arbitrary units for all but the fluorescent mode, which offers only a -1 to +2 unit range. In Kelvin white balance mode, there's also a color filter function which offers a magenta - green filter within a fairly wide range of -9 to +9 arbitrary units.

Custom white balance is set by selecting Custom Setup from the white balance menu, and pointing the camera at a neutral white or grey card under the lighting you'll be shooting in, filling a frame in the center of the display with the reference target, then pressing the Shutter button.

Sony NEX-C3 Metering Options
The Sony NEX-C3 offers three metering modes, selected via the Metering Mode option in the Brightness / Color menu: Multi-pattern, Center-Weighted, and Spot. All three modes operate on data from the camera's CMOS image sensor. The default Multi-segment metering mode divides the image into 49 segments, and compares these to determine exposure. Center-Weighted gives precedence to the center of the image while reading the whole frame. Spot metering is useful for high-contrast subjects, as it bases the exposure reading on the very center of the image, letting you set the exposure based on a small portion of your subject. Face Detection and the related Smile Shutter can only be enabled if the metering mode is set to Multi-pattern. You can lock an exposure reading by half-pressing the Shutter button, but this also locks focus in Single-shot AF mode. The only options to separate focus and AE lock are to either use Continuous AF, or to focus manually.

Sony NEX-C3 Exposure Compensation & Bracketing
The Sony NEX-C3's Exposure Compensation adjustment increases or reduces the overall exposure from -2 to +2 exposure values (EV) in one-third stop increments, and like White Balance, the effect of Exposure Compensation is simulated on the preview. In addition, the NEX-C3 offers -2 to +2 EV of flash exposure compensation, in 1/3 EV increments. A Continuous Bracketing feature captures multiple shots with different exposures. See the Drive Mode section on Continuous Bracketing below for more details.

Sony NEX-C3 DRO / HDR
The Sony NEX-C3 offers two different functions aimed at handling high-contrast scenes, each functioning in a rather different manner. The Dynamic Range Optimization (DRO) function adjusts the tone curve of captured images, bringing out shadow detail without adversely affecting highlights. As well as an Auto DRO mode, there are also five different levels of DRO available. Alternatively, Sony has included a high dynamic range (HDR) mode, similar to that seen in certain of its digital SLRs. The HDR mode captures three separate images with varied exposures (one more than the two images captured by the company's DSLRs), and then combines the three images in-camera, creating a single image with significantly increased dynamic range. The NEX-C3 can either automatically select the exposure variation, or a value can be selected manually in 1EV steps within a range of 1EV to 6EV.

The DRO and HDR modes can't be used together, and each brings its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Since DRO only works from a single shot, it must operate entirely within the dynamic range available from the image sensor, where the HDR mode is able to capture a significantly greater dynamic range than is possible in one shot. Since DRO is effectively amplifying the signal in shadow areas of the image, it also brings increased noise (or increased noise reduction) in the shadows. HDR mode, meanwhile, is suitable only for relatively static subjects, given that it requires multiple exposures. Thanks to microalignment capability, Sony's HDR mode is at least able to deal with the slight changes in framing caused by shooting handheld, but subject motion or camera shake will likely cause unacceptable artifacts in HDR images.

Both DRO and HDR can be disabled altogether if desired, although the default on the NEX-C3 is for DRO Auto mode to be left enabled.

Sony NEX-C3 Anti-Motion Blur
Another function which the Sony NEX-C3 has inherited from the company's point-and-shoot camera line is its Anti-Motion Blur mode, which merits its own position on the Shoot Mode menu. Anti-Motion Blur mode shoots a burst of six images with a single press of the shutter button, using as high sensitivity as is necessary to offer moderately fast shutter speeds, with which to freeze motion blur. The NEX-C3 then combines all six source images into one image with reduced noise in static areas, as compared to a single shot taken with the same exposure settings. Cleverly, Anti-Motion Blur mode is able to deal with moving subjects, by making the assumption that the first frame includes your intended subject. Areas of subsequent images which match up with the first image are factored into the final result, but areas that don't match -- either due to subject or camera motion -- aren't used in creating the final image. This does, however, mean that the moving subject doesn't benefit from the same degree of noise reduction as the rest of the image.

The Sony NEX-C3's implementation of Anti-Motion Blur does have one important difference from the similar mode found on its point-and-shoot siblings. Where the existing cameras have been able to use an electronic shutter to capture the source images, the NEX-C3 must instead rely on its physical shutter. The act of firing the NEX-C3's shutter is surprisingly loud, given that there's no reflex mirror entering into the equation -- we've seen some DSLRs issuing similar noise levels (or possibly even a little less). The net result is that with six frames captured in a rapid burst, the NEX-C3's Anti-Motion Blur mode can have bystanders turning around in expectation of seeing a paparazzo in their midst. ;-)

Sony NEX-C3 Sweep Panorama & 3D Sweep Panorama
The final modes inherited from Sony's Cyber-shot point-and-shoot lineup are the NEX-C3's Sweep Panorama functions, with which it can automatically capture a burst of images, and stitch them into a single panoramic image in-camera. Both 2D and 3D modes are offered, with the latter cleverly comparing the relative positions of subjects as they pass the left and right sides of the lens, and using this information to create a 3D image consisting of separate 2D views, stored in a Multi Picture Object file.

Again, since there's no electronic shutter to rely on, the focal plane shutter noise means you won't be catching anybody by surprise, That said, the feature functions pretty well if you've a reasonably steady hand, and your subject matter isn't too close to the camera. If your subject matter is too close to the camera, or your panning isn't smooth and straight, the seams between separate images can become fairly noticeable. Focus and exposure are locked from the first frame of the panorama, so you'll want to pick your starting point carefully. From there, you can pan left, right, up, or down, simply sweeping the camera across your subject matter after pressing the shutter button. Two panorama sizes are available in 2D mode-- standard, or wide. For 3D mode, only horizontal panoramas are possible, with three sizes: standard, wide, or 16:9.

A darkened mask over the left third of the LCD display shows an area of the frame that won't be included in the final output image, and an on-screen message warns you if the NEX-C3 wasn't able to track your panning, prompting you to recapture the panorama. (Depending on how much was captured, the NEX-C3 sometimes retains a partial panorama with the uncaptured portion of the image left as a flat grey.)

Sony NEX-C3 Drive Modes
The Sony NEX-C3 offers a variety of shooting modes through the Drive Mode option under the Camera menu, which can also be accessed by pressing the left-arrow button in Program, Priority or Manual modes. Drive options include Single Shot Advance, Continuous Advance, Speed Priority Advance, four different Self Timer modes, and Continuous Bracket. Single-shot, as you'd expect, captures a single image with each press of the shutter button. Continuous Advance captures images at 2.5 frames per second while the shutter button is held down, adjusting focus and exposure between shots as necessary. Speed Priority Advance boosts the frame rate significantly to 5.5 frames per second, for as many as six RAW or 10 Large / Fine JPEG shots, by simply fixing exposure and focus from the first frame in the burst.

The Self-timer mode offers a choice of either two or ten second timers, as well as a 10 second timer that captures either three or five images in a rapid (sub-one second) burst. Finally, Continuous Bracket mode lets you take a sequence of three shots with either 0.3 EV or 0.7 EV exposure variation steps, with the sequence order being to shoot the metered exposure first, followed by the underexposed and overexposed frames.

Sony NEX-C3 Picture Effects
The Sony NEX-C3 includes a variety of special effects modes that let photographers unleash a little extra creativity without needing to resort to post-processing on a PC. Grouped under a dedicated Picture Effects position on the Shoot Mode menu, these include Posterization (Color or B/W), Pop Color, Retro Photo, Partial Color (Red, Green, Blue, or Yellow), High-key, High Contrast Monochrome, and Toy Camera.

Sony NEX-C3 Creative Styles
Finally, the Creative Style option on the Brightness / Color menu allows photographers to set the NEX-C3's color mode. Six preset options are available -- Standard, Vivid, Portrait, Landscape, Sunset, and B/W. For all six choices, Contrast and Sharpness levels may be adjusted in seven steps. In addition, all but the black and white mode offer seven-step control over saturation. A separate Color Space option under the Setup menu lets you choose between sRGB and AdobeRGB color spaces, with sRGB being best for viewing images on a computer, and Adobe RGB the best choice for printing images.

The images above were taken from our standardized test shots. For a collection of more pictorial photos, see our Sony Alpha NEX-C3 Photo Gallery .

Not sure which camera to buy? Let your eyes be the ultimate judge! Visit our Comparometer(tm) to compare images from the Sony Alpha NEX-C3 with those from other cameras you may be considering. The proof is in the pictures, so let your own eyes decide which you like best!

Performance

Sony NEX-C3 Performance

Imaging

Sony NEX-C3 Image Quality

Color

Saturation & Hue Accuracy
Good overall accuracy and saturation, with mostly minor shifts in hue and intensity.

In the diagram above, the squares show the original color, and the circles show the color that the camera captured. More saturated colors are located toward the periphery of the graph. Hue changes as you travel around the center. Thus, hue-accurate, highly saturated colors appear as lines radiating from the center. Click for a larger image.

Saturation. Like many cameras, the Sony NEX-C3 pushes strong reds, dark blues, dark greens, purples and browns just a little, but actually undersaturates light greens and cyan tones slightly. The NEX-C3's overall default color saturation is oversaturated by 12%, which is a little higher than average for its class, but still pretty typical. You can of course tweak saturation to your liking, or choose a different color mode. See the comparison of available "Creative Style" image options below. Most consumer digital cameras produce color that's more highly saturated (more intense) than found in the original subjects. This is simply because most people like their color a bit brighter than life.

Skin tones. Here, the Sony NEX-C3 did well, producing fairly natural-looking Caucasian skin tones. Where oversaturation is most problematic is on Caucasian skin tones, as it's very easy for these "memory colors" to be seen as too bright, too pink, too yellow, etc.

Hue. The Sony NEX-C3 did push cyan toward blue, red toward orange, orange toward yellow and yellow toward green, but shifts were relatively minor. (The cyan to blue shift is very common among the digital cameras we test; we think it's a deliberate choice by camera engineers to produce better-looking sky colors.) With an average "delta-C" color error of 5.04 after correction for saturation, overall hue accuracy was better than average. Hue is "what color" the color is.

Creative Style
The Sony NEX-C3 offers six preset "Creative Style" options. You can adjust contrast, saturation (except for B&W), and sharpness for any of the settings. The NEX-C3 also offers eleven creative filters called Picture Effects: Toy Camera, Pop Color, Posterization (Color), Posterization (B/W), Retro Photo, Soft High-key, Partial Color (Red), Partial Color (Green), Partial Color (Blue), Partial Color (Yellow), and High Contrast Mono. (These are not shown here.)

Creative Style Options
Standard	B&W	Landscape
Portrait	Sunset	Vivid

Mouse over the links above to see the effect of Creative Style presets on our Still Life target. Click on a link to load the full resolution image.

Saturation Adjustment
The Sony NEX-C3 has a total of seven saturation settings available, three above and three below the default saturation. This covers a pretty wide range of saturation levels. Saturation also had little effect on contrast, which is how it should work.

Saturation Adjustment Examples
-3	-1	0	+1	+3

The table above shows results with five of the seven saturation settings, including the default and the two extremes. Click on any thumbnail above, then click again to see the full-sized image.

Sensor

Exposure and White Balance

Indoors, incandescent lighting
Very warm cast with Auto, but good color with the Incandescent and Manual settings. Average exposure compensation required.

Indoors, under normal incandescent lighting, color balance was overly warm and orange with the Auto white balance setting and quite disappointing. Results with the Incandescent setting were quite good, though, just slightly warm and yellow. The Manual setting was very accurate, but some may prefer Incandescent because it conveys a touch more of the warmth of the original lighting. The 2,600 Kelvin setting which matches the color temperature of our lights resulted in a slightly cool, bluish image. The Sony NEX-C3 required +0.3 EV positive exposure compensation here, which is about average for this shot. (Our test lighting for this shot is a mixture of 60 and 100 watt household incandescent bulbs, a pretty yellow light source, but a very common one in typical home settings here in the U.S.)

Outdoors, daylight
Very good results under harsh lighting, with good handling of contrast, color, and exposure.

Outdoors, the Sony NEX-C3 performed well. No exposure compensation was required to keep the model's face bright in our "Sunlit" Portrait shot. (Actually, default exposure was a bit too bright, but Dynamic Range Optimization which is enabled by default was turned off for these shots so we can't penalize the camera here.) The average among the cameras we've tested is +0.7 EV, so the NEX-C3 performed much better than average here. Contrast is a little high, as you might expect under such harsh lighting, but the camera does a pretty good job of holding onto detail in both the deep shadows and bright highlights, even without the help of DRO. Color balance was good with Auto white balance, perhaps just a hint cool. Default exposure was also quite good for our Far-field shot as well, with very few highlights blown, again with DRO disabled. Some very dark shadows in the leaves were lost, but the camera kept the main subject well exposed, so that's to be expected. The Far-field shot using Auto white balance had very good color. Overall, a very good performance in harsh lighting, especially considering DRO was off.

See full set of test images with explanations
See thumbnails of all test and gallery images

Resolution
Very high resolution, 2,000 ~ 2,100 lines of strong detail from JPEGs, up to 2,200 lines from RAWs.

In-camera JPEGs of our laboratory resolution chart revealed sharp, distinct line patterns down to about 2,100 lines per picture height in the horizontal direction, and about 2,000 lines per picture height in the vertical direction. Complete extinction of the pattern didn't occur until about 2,800 to 3,000 lines. Adobe Camera Raw was able to extract perhaps 100 lines more of resolution here from matching RAW files, but the Sony NEX-C3 did a good job holding on to high contrast detail at base ISO. Use these numbers to compare with other cameras of similar resolution, or use them to see just what higher resolution can mean in terms of potential detail.

See full set of test images with explanations
See thumbnails of all test and gallery images

Sharpness & Detail
Good detail, though fine detail is a little soft, with some mild to moderate edge-enhancement on high-contrast subjects. Moderate noise suppression visible in the shadows and areas of low contrast.

Sharpness. The Sony NEX-C3 captures fairly detailed images overall, though results are somewhat soft at default settings, despite using the very sharp Carl Zeiss 24-70mm F/2.8 SSM lens at f/8 for the shot above left. There are some mild to moderate edge enhancement artifacts on high-contrast subjects such as the larger tree branches in the image. Fine detail such as the smaller branches and pine needles show very little edge enhancement, but appear a touch mushy due to slightly over-zealous default noise reduction. Edge enhancement creates the illusion of sharpness by enhancing colors and tones right at the edge of a rapid transition in color or tone.

Detail. The crop above right shows moderate noise suppression in the darker areas of the model's hair. Quite a few low-contrast strands are smudged together, though higher contrast strands are still distinct. We saw similar results with fine detail in the pine needles being smudged. Still, pretty good results here considering the base ISO for this 16-megapixel APS-C sensor is 200 versus 100 for most others. Noise-suppression systems in digital cameras tend to flatten-out detail in areas of subtle contrast. The effects can often be seen in shots of human hair, where the individual strands are lost and an almost "watercolor" look appears.

RAW vs In-Camera JPEGs
As noted above, the Sony NEX-C3 produces in-camera JPEGs with good detail, though fine, low-contrast detail is a touch soft. Quite a bit more detail can often be obtained from carefully processing RAW files with a good RAW converter, as can be seen below.

In-camera Fine JPEG, (Defaults)	RAW via Sony IDC (Defaults)	RAW via Sony IDC (Sharpened)	RAW via ACR (Sharpened)

In the table above, mousing over a link at the bottom will load the corresponding crop in the area above, and clicking on the link will load the full resolution image. Examples include (from left to right): an in-camera Fine JPEG, the matching RAW file processed through Sony's Image Data Converter SR version 3.2 software at default settings, another conversion processed with IDC's sharpening turned up to +100 and its overshoot and undershoot sliders set to +50, and finally the same RAW file converted with Adobe Camera Raw 6.5, then sharpened in Photoshop using unsharp mask at 300% with radius 0.3.

As you can see, the Sony IDC version at default settings is somewhat softer than the in-camera JPEG. (Color rendering is also slightly different.) Increasing the sharpening settings gave the image a crisper look and helped extract a bit more detail, though noise reduction is still blurring fine detail. The Adobe Camera Raw conversion showed the most detail, but also revealed more noise. You can always turn up the luminance noise reduction (default of zero was used here), or process the files in your favorite noise reduction program or plugin if you want cleaner images. Bottom line: as is usually the case, the Sony NEX-C3 rewards RAW shooters with better detail than JPEGs when used with a good RAW converter, though its base ISO of 200 puts it at a slight disadvantage in terms of noise compared to models offering lower base ISO.

ISO & Noise Performance
Good noise vs detail performance with excellent results up to ISO 800, though slightly strong default luminance noise reduction.

Default High ISO Noise Reduction
ISO 200	ISO 400	ISO 800
ISO 1,600	ISO 3,200	ISO 6,400
	ISO 12,800

The Sony NEX-C3's JPEG images are quite clean at ISO 200, though as mentioned previously some very fine, mostly low-contrast detail is lost to noise reduction already at base ISO. There's also some chroma noise visible in darker areas, as well as demosaicing errors in the hair above the mannequin's forehead, though that's pretty common these days and not really something to be concerned with. ISO 400 is similar, with just a slight increase in smudging. ISO 800 is slightly softer with a lot less chroma noise, though detail is still quite good. ISO 1,600 appears progressively noisier as well as softer, as you'd expect. This is also true for ISO 3,200, which shows another increase in noise, though fine detail is still not too bad. Detail takes larger hit at ISO 6,400 and especially at 12,800, where there's quite a bit of smudging as well as chroma noise in the form of purple and yellow blotches. Overall though, these are pretty good results considering the class and resolution offered. Unfortunately, Sony still doesn't offer much flexibility in noise reduction (only two levels: Auto and Weak. See below). As always, see the Print Quality section below for maximum recommended print sizes at each ISO.

A note about focus for this shot: We shoot this image at f/4, usually using one of three very sharp reference lenses (70mm Sigma f/2.8 macro for most cameras, 60mm f/2.8 Nikkor macro for Nikon bodies without a drive motor, and Olympus Zuiko 50mm f/2.0 for Four Thirds and Micro Four Thirds bodies). To insure that the hair detail we use for making critical judgements about camera noise processing and detail rendering is in sharp focus at the relatively wide aperture we're shooting at, the focus target at the center of the scene is on a movable stand. This lets us compensate for front- or back-focus by different camera bodies, even those that lack micro-focus adjustments. This does mean, though, that the focus target itself may appear soft or slightly out of focus for bodies that front- or back-focused with the reference lens. We know this; if you click to view the full-size image for one of these shots and notice that the focus target is fuzzy, you don't need to email and tell us. :-) The focus target position will have been adjusted to insure that the rest of the scene is focused properly.

Noise Reduction Oddity. As we saw in previous Sony APS-C models, the "Weak" high ISO NR setting smudges the red leave pattern in our Still Life target setting more than the "Auto" setting at higher ISOs. The Auto setting does reduce chroma noise compared to the Weak setting though (lower crops).

Extremes: Sunlit, dynamic range and low light tests
Very high resolution with excellent highlight and shadow detail. Very good low-light performance, capable of capturing bright images in near darkness. Special modes make it possible to capture low-light images without a tripod.

Sunlight. The Sony NEX-C3 handled the deliberately harsh lighting in the test above very well. We preferred the default 0 EV exposure here, though it was a touch bright (in hindsight, we should have taken the outdoor exposure series down to -0.3 EV). Contrast is a little high, but shadow and highlight detail are both very good. Despite the bright appearance, relatively few highlights were blown in the model's shirt and face, though the red channel was clipped in some of the flowers as it often is, and in specular highlights where you'd expect clipping. Even fewer highlights were clipped with DRO enabled (see below). There were virtually no lost shadows, which is also very good. Still, be sure to use fill flash in situations like the one shown above; it's better to shoot in the shade when possible. See below for results with Dynamic Range Optimization and High Dynamic Range features enabled.

Because digital cameras are more like slide film than negative film (in that they tend to have a more limited tonal range), we test them in the harshest situations to see how they handle scenes with bright highlights and dark shadows, as well as what kind of sensitivity they have in low light. The shot above is designed to mimic the very harsh, contrasty effect of direct noonday sunlight, a very tough challenge for most digital cameras. (You can read details of this test here. In actual shooting conditions, be sure to use fill flash in situations like the one shown here; it's better to shoot in open shade whenever possible.)

Dynamic Range Analysis
A key parameter in a digital camera is its Dynamic Range, the range of brightness that can be faithfully recorded. At the upper end of the tonal scale, dynamic range is dictated by the point at which the RGB data "saturates" at values of 255, 255, 255. At the lower end of the tonal scale, dynamic range is determined by the point at which there ceases to be any useful difference between adjacent tonal steps. Note the use of the qualifier "useful" in there: While it's tempting to evaluate dynamic range as the maximum number of tonal steps that can be discerned at all, that measure of dynamic range has very little relevance to real-world photography. What we care about as photographers is how much detail we can pull out of the shadows before image noise becomes too objectionable. This, of course, is a very subjective matter, and will vary with the application and even the subject matter in question. (Noise will be much more visible in subjects with large areas of flat tints and subtle shading than it would in subjects with strong, highly contrasting surface texture.)

What makes most sense then, is to specify useful dynamic range in terms of the point at which image noise reaches some agreed-upon threshold. To this end, Imatest computes a number of different dynamic range measurements, based on a variety of image noise thresholds. The noise thresholds are specified in terms of f-stops of equivalent luminance variation in the final image file, and dynamic range is computed for noise thresholds of 1.0 (low image quality), 0.5 (medium image quality), 0.25 (medium-high image quality) and 0.1 (high image quality). For most photographers and most applications, the noise thresholds of 0.5 and 0.25 f-stops are probably the most relevant to the production of acceptable-quality finished images, but many noise-sensitive shooters will insist on the 0.1 f-stop limit for their most critical work.

JPEG. The graph at right (click for a larger version) was generated using Imatest's dynamic range analysis for an in-camera Sony NEX-C3 JPEG file with a nominally-exposed density step target (Stouffer 4110). At the base ISO of 200 (the optimal ISO) with DRO and HDR settings turned off, the graph shows 10.2 f-stops of total dynamic range, with 7.84 f-stops at the "High" Quality level, with fairly gradual roll-offs at both the highlight and shadow ends of the tone curve. These are are very good results, in the same ballpark as the best performers to date, such as the Nikon D7000. Compared to its predecessor the NEX-3, the NEX-C3 scored slightly higher at the High Quality level (7.84 vs 7.44 f-stops), but slightly lower in total dynamic range (10.2 vs 10.6 f-stops). Note though that this measurement has a margin of error of about 1/3 f-stop, so differences of less than 0.33 can be ignored.

RAW. The graph at right is from the same Stouffer 4110 stepchart image captured as a RAW (.ARW) file, processed with Adobe Camera Raw using the Auto setting. (Slightly better results are likely possible with manually tweaking, but we weren't able to do much better.) As can be seen, the score at the highest quality level increased from 7.84 to 8.74 f-stops, which is almost a full f-stop improvement over the JPEG, while total dynamic range increased over one f-stop, to 11.4 from 10.2. Again, these results are very good, though not quite as good as the best APS-C sensors. (The Nikon D7000 for example managed 10.1 f-stops at the highest quality level, with 12.1 f-stops total dynamic range.) It's also worth noting here is that ACR's default noise reduction settings reduced overall noise somewhat (see the plot in the lower left-hand corner) relative to the levels in the in-camera JPEG, which would tend to boost the dynamic range numbers for the higher quality thresholds.

Contrast Adjustment
We really like it when a camera gives us the ability to adjust contrast and saturation to our liking. It's even better when those adjustments cover a useful range, in steps small enough to allow for precise tweaks. Just as with its saturation adjustment, the Sony NEX-C3's contrast setting meets both challenges.

Minimum Contrast
Contrast set to lowest, 0 EV	Contrast set to lowest, 0 EV

At its lowest contrast setting, the NEX-C3 did a really excellent job of preserving highlight detail, maintaining natural-looking skin tones, and holding nice detail in the shadows. Overall, very good results here.

Contrast Adjustment Examples
-3	-1	0	+1	+3

The table above shows five of the seven contrast setting, including the default and two extremes. It's pretty hard to evaluate small differences in contrast on small thumbnails like these, so click on any thumbnail to go to the full-size image.

One very nice feature of Sony's contrast adjustment is that it has very little effect on color saturation. Contrast and saturation are actually fairly closely coupled, it's a good trick to be able to vary one with out the other changing as well. Sony did a good job here.

Outdoor Portrait DRO Comparison
	DRO Setting: Auto (Default) Off Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

Dynamic Range Optimization is Sony's name for their dynamic range enhancement technology. DRO divides the image into small areas, analyzes the range of brightness of each area, and adjusts the camera's image processing parameters accordingly to make the best use of the available dynamic range. Auto DRO is enabled by default on the Sony NEX-C3. You can also set the level manually, from 1 ("weak") to 5 ("strong"), or turn it off. As one would expect, DRO is only available for JPEG files.

The above thumbnails and histograms show the effects of the various levels of DRO on our "Sunlit" Portrait shot with no exposure compensation. Mouse over the links to load the associated thumbnail and histogram, and click on the links to visit the full resolution image. As you can see from the thumbnails and associated histograms, the Auto DRO setting did a good job at toning-down highlights while boosting shadows a bit compared to Off. The manual settings tending to boost shadows more than Auto, and some of the lower settings actually clipped more highlights.

Far-field House DRO Comparison
Auto (default)	Off	Level 1	Level 2
Level 3	Level 4	Level 5

Above, you can see the effect of DRO settings on our Far-field shot. The default Auto setting produced a good exposure overall, despite the harsh lighting.

Outdoor Portrait HDR Comparison
	HDR Setting: Off (Default) Auto 1 EV 2 EV 3 EV 4 EV 5 EV 6 EV

High Dynamic Range. The Sony NEX-C3's HDR mode takes three images in rapid succession, one nominally exposed , one underexposed, and one overexposed, then combines them into one high dynamic range JPEG automatically. Lighter areas from the underexposed image are combined in-camera with darker areas from the overexposed image to produce an image with increased dynamic range. The camera then saves a single composite image, as well as the nominally exposed image. The overlaid images are micro-aligned by the camera, but it can only correct for so much movement. If it can't micro-align successfully, an icon indicating HDR capture failed will appear. For best results, the subject should not move or blink, so it's not really intended for portraits. There is also a manual mode where you can select 1 EV ("weak") to 6 EV ("strong") difference in exposures.

Mouse over the links to load the associated thumbnail and histogram, and click on the links to visit the full resolution image. As you can see, the Auto setting produced an image that looked somewhat flat and unnatural with this scene. The higher the manual setting, the more highlights were toned-down, and shadows opened up.

	1 fc 11 lux	1/2 fc 5.5 lux	1/4 fc 2.7 lux	1/8 fc 1.3 lux	1/16 fc 0.67 lux	1/16fc No NR
ISO 200	1 s f2.8	2 s f2.8	4 s f2.8	8 s f2.8	15 s f2.8	15 s f2.8
ISO 400	0.5 s f2.8	1 s f2.8	2 s f2.8	4 s f2.8	8 s f2.8	8 s f2.8
ISO 800	1/4 s f2.8	0.5 s f2.8	1 s f2.8	2 s f2.8	4 s f2.8	4 s f2.8
ISO 1600	1/8 s f2.8	1/4 s f2.8	0.5 s f2.8	1 s f2.8	2 s f2.8	2 s f2.8
ISO 3200	1/15 s f2.8	1/8 s f2.8	1/4 s f2.8	0.5 s f2.8	1 s f2.8	1 s f2.8
ISO 6400	1/30 s f2.8	1/15 s f2.8	1/8 s f2.8	1/4 s f2.8	0.5 s f2.8	0.5 s f2.8
ISO 12800	1/60 s f2.8	1/30 s f2.8	1/15 s f2.8	1/8 s f2.8	1/4 s f2.8	1/4 s f2.8

Low Light. The Sony NEX-C3 performed well in our low light test, producing bright images down to the lowest light level we test at (1/16 fc) at all ISO settings. Like many cameras, the NEX-C3's metering system struggled a bit at very low light levels though, so we used manual exposure for these shots. Noise is very well controlled up to ISO 800, though as expected, at higher ISOs there are moderate to high amounts of fine luminance noise and some blotchy chroma noise. Auto white balance did a very good job here, producing a fairly neutral, just slightly cool color balance at all ISOs and light levels. There is just a hint of some horizontal banding at very high ISOs, but that's not uncommon. Some hot pixels can be seen especially with long exposure noise reduction turned off (the right-most column), but nothing out of the ordinary.

The camera's autofocus system was only able to focus on the subject down to just below the 1/4 foot-candle light level unassisted with the kit lens. However, the NEX-C3 was able to focus in complete darkness with its built-in focus assist lamp enabled.

How bright is this? The one foot-candle light level that this test begins at roughly corresponds to the brightness of typical city street-lighting at night. Cameras performing well at that level should be able to snap good-looking photos of street-lit scenes.

NOTE: This low light test is conducted with a stationary subject, and the camera mounted on a sturdy tripod. Most digital cameras will fail miserably when faced with a moving subject in dim lighting. (For example, a child's ballet recital or a holiday pageant in a gymnasium.) Thanks to their larger sensors, compact system cameras like the Sony NEX-C3 tend to do better than point & shoots, but you still shouldn't expect a quick autofocus lock with moving subjects. (A useful trick is to just prop the camera on a convenient surface, and use its self-timer to release the shutter. This avoids any jiggling from your finger pressing the shutter button, and can work quite well when you don't have a tripod handy.)

Viewfinder

Sony NEX-C3 Optical Viewfinder Accessory

Among the concessions made in the name of attaining the Sony's NEX-C3 compact body was the elimination of any form of built-in viewfinder. Like any compact system camera, the absence of a mirror box negates the possibility of providing a through-the-lens optical viewfinder. Some competing cameras include a built-in electronic viewfinder, but while this would serve as a fairly useful replacement, it would also increase the size of the camera itself, diluting the main advantage that SLDs hold over their SLR brethren (and of course, it would also increase the cost.) The only acceptable option for providing a viewfinder eyepiece was to do so externally, and so by default, the LCD display serves as the sole method of framing and reviewing images. For the external viewfinder, Sony faced two choices: either an optical or electronic type.

Both approaches have advantages and disadvantages. Electronic viewfinder accessories not only allow framing of images without parallax error, but they also let you review and even preview how zoom, white balance, exposure settings, and the like affect your final image. They can provide essentially anything the main LCD can, allowing photographers to view the same overlays that they'd see on the LCD, including things like live histograms that are simply impossible with an optical viewfinder. If you're suitably familiar with your camera's external controls, they even allow you to browse menus and quickly change settings without taking the viewfinder away from your eye. Optical viewfinder accessories are generally rather less expensive though, and don't require complex (and perhaps delicate) electrical connections to the host camera. They also use no battery power, providing a significant advantage over framing images on an LCD display. There's also something to be said for the image viewed through a really nice optical viewfinder, something even the best electronic finders struggle to match with current technology.

The FDA-SV1 viewfinder accessory mounts in the same place as the proprietary flash and external stereo microphone accessories, but since it's purely optical, it doesn't have any electrical connections. Field of view is 16mm. Unfortunately, we don't currently know which focal length the framing guideline matches. We don't have an image with the FDA-SV1 mounted on the Sony NEX-C3, so it's pictured here mounted on the NEX-3, with 16mm (24mm equivalent) f/2.8 prime lens attached.

For the Sony NEX-C3, Sony opted to stick with the latter path, and retained compatibility with its existing FDA-SV1 optical viewfinder accessory. Unfortunately the FDA-SV1 wasn't available during our time with the C3, and so we're not able to comment on its optical qualities. We also don't know what framing guidelines the accessory provides, although we do know that it offers a 16mm field of view. The FDA-SV1 design features five multi-coated glass elements in four groups, with an exit pupil size of 5mm. It also has a 15mm eyepoint (the distance from the rear element of the viewfinder at which you can see the entire image), which might be a little tight for some eyeglass wearers, but will likely accommodate many just fine.

The FDA-SV1 is an optional accessory, with a US-market price of approximately $200. Like Sony's proprietary flash strobe and external stereo microphone accessories, the FDA-SV1 mounts in the accessory port on the top of the NEX-C3, directly above the central axis of the lens. This means that its use precludes either of the other accessories being attached at the same time. As with the other accessories, a small threaded screw in the base of the FDA-SV1 is used to affix it to the accessory port, ensuring that it can't be accidentally knocked off the camera. Unlike the other accessories, there's no electrical connection between the FDA-SV1 and the camera body.

Note that the Sony NEX-C3's accessory port is not compatible with the new FDA-EV1S XGA OLED Tru-Finder EVF announced alongside the NEX-5N.

Sony NEX-C3 Full-time Live View

By its nature, the Sony NEX-C3 is always in "Live View" mode: In that respect, it's like any point & shoot digicam with a rear-panel LCD that works as its viewfinder. Like all NEX-series cameras, the NEX-C3 has a double-hinged mechanism beneath its LCD display that allows it to be tilted upwards by some 80 degrees, and downwards by as much as 45 degrees -- great for shooting over a crowd, or down low to the ground. The NEX-C3's display has a relatively high 921,600 dot resolution, which makes light work of manual focusing. It also includes what Sony refers to as "TruBlack" technology, which fills the air gap that ordinarily exists between the screen itself and its cover glass with a resin layer, reducing reflections and light scatter for a richer, higher-contrast image under direct sunlight.

Several display modes are available, which at their most detailed in record mode can include basically all the key variables: shutter speed and aperture, exposure mode, flash mode, ISO sensitivity setting, metering mode, AF mode, number of available images, resolution, aspect ratio, image stabilizer mode, drive mode, white balance, focus confirmation, battery status, etc. Through the Setup menu, you can also enable a live histogram or a grid overlay.

Viewfinder Test Results

Coverage
Excellent accuracy from the LCD monitor.

The Sony Alpha NEX-C3's LCD monitor showed essentially 100% coverage with our Sigma 70mm f/2.8 prime lens. This is excellent performance, though not a surprise given its image is derived from the main imaging sensor.

Video

Sony NEX-C3 Video Recording

High-definition video capture has become a must-have feature in this year's interchangeable-lens cameras, and essentially all the major manufacturers now provide some form of video capture in their compact system cameras. Being positioned as an entry-level camera, the Sony NEX-C3 forgoes more advanced features such as Full HD recording, manual exposure control, and adjustable frame rates that are sometimes found on competing models. For its target market, though, these features are likely overkill.

The few omissions are easily forgiven. While the C3 lacks Full HD video capture, its 720p mode still offers far higher resolution than standard-def camcorders and older compact cameras, which many NEX-series customers will be moving up from. While there's no manual exposure control, the NEX-C3 does offer aperture-priority exposure control, which is likely easier for consumer videographers to grasp, given that the camera itself retains control of correct exposure. NEX-C3 owners are also less likely to need to match frame rates for specific output types--they're more likely either to be reviewing movies on their computer, or burning a DVD through consumer software that will likely handle frame rate conversion with quality that's acceptable to consumers.

As an entry-level system camera, the bottom line is that Sony's NEX-C3 offers a reasonably well-considered feature set.

Sony NEX-C3 Basic Video Specs

• 1,280 x 720 (720p) HD or 640 x 480 (VGA) SD recording at 29.97 fps, in MPEG-4 format
• Autofocus functions during movie recording, with any NEX-series lenses
• Essentially silent autofocus and aperture operation on NEX-series lenses
• Auto or aperture-priority exposure (set before recording starts)
• EV adjustment is available in all movie recording modes
• Stereo audio recording via built-in microphones or via a propietary, hotshoe-mounted external mic attached to accessory connector
• Compatible a wide range of Sony Alpha-mount lenses, via an accessory adapter (Depending on adapter and lens in use, autofocus may be possible, but is likely to produce audible noise and perhaps untoward focus changes in captured video.)
• Some scene modes carry over into video recording, adjusting parameters for color and tone to match specific subject types
  
  

Sony NEX-C3 Video: Image Size, Frame Rate, and Encoding

The Sony NEX-C3 records just two different video resolutions, with a choice of two quality levels at the higher resolution, and records movies in MPEG-4 format with stereo AAC-LC audio. No spec is provided for the sampling rate of the audio tracks, though video players report 24 kHz at 128 kbps, regardless of resolution and quality level.

The table below shows the specs for various video recording options.

As noted above, the Sony NEX-C3 offers only one video recording format: MPEG-4. Compared to the newer AVCHD format used in some cameras, the NEX-C3's MPEG-4 file format is a bit less efficient in its use of memory card space for a given image quality level, but is more widely supported, and seems to be a bit easier for older computers to read. Continuous movie recording is limited to approximately 29 minutes and maximum movie file size is 2GB. Sony recommends use of at least a Class 4 Secure Digital card, or a Memory Stick Pro Duo Mark 2 / Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo card to avoid issues with write speeds during video capture.

Here are some examples of video shot with our sample of the Sony NEX-C3:

Sony NEX-C3: Video Samples
1,280 x 720, 30fps, Fine quality View on Vimeo | Download Original
1,280 x 720, 30fps, Standard quality View on Vimeo | Download Original	640 x 480, 30fps View on Vimeo | Download Original
1,280 x 720, 30fps, Fine quality View on Vimeo | Download Original
1,280 x 720, 30fps, Standard quality View on Vimeo | Download Original	640 x 480, 30fps View on Vimeo | Download Original

Sony NEX-C3 Video-Mode Focusing

As with previous NEX-series cameras, consumer videographers will appreciate the Sony NEX-C3's live autofocus during recording. Although pros and many advanced amateurs can "pull focus" (adjust the focus manually) while filming video, and indeed may well prefer to do so, considering focus to be another means of expressing their artistic vision, it's very much a learned skill, and something few people ever manage to do really well. Without live AF, consumers for the most part are reduced to only shooting subjects at a constant distance from the camera, or to having to settle for a lot of poorly-focused video. A lot of video-capable interchangeable-lens cameras are sold to consumers these days, and while having some video capability is certainly better than none, for most consumers to make full use of a video-capable camera it really needs to be able to focus on the fly.

With the NEX series, Sony's engineers had video recording in mind from the earliest stages of development. E-mount lenses use low-mass focusing elements and high-speed stepper motors to give the rapid response required for live contrast-detect focusing during video recording. (They also employ a continuously-variable aperture mechanism, to provide stepless exposure control, another key issue for video recording.)The result is a fairly competent autofocus system that should meet the demands of most consumers, especially considering the NEX-C3's affordable pricing.

Sony NEX-C3 Video Exposure Control

While the Sony NEX-C3 lets you record movies directly from any of its still-image exposure modes, including aperture-priority, shutter-priority, and full manual exposure modes, the shutter speed, and ISO settings for video recording are always automatically controlled. While the camera's menu system might suggest full PASM (programmed, aperture-priority, shutter-priority, and full manual exposure) exposure control for videos, there in fact is no direct control over shutter speed, or ISO during movie recording. It is, however, possible to control the lens aperture, so long as you do so before capture starts.

Exposure compensation adjustments made in still-capture modes do carry over into movie recording, provided that there's enough light. (That is, if it's too dark, boosting the EV adjustment won't make your video any brighter.) White balance settings also carry over to video mode, as do the tone/color aspects of the camera's various scene modes.

Sony NEX-C3 Movie-Mode Image Stabilization

Sony's unique among camera manufacturers, in having both body-based and lens-based image stabilization technology in their product lines. In the case of the NEX-C3, image stabilization happens in the lens, so its availability will be a function of the particular lens used. Among the company's E-mount lens lineup, all of the zoom lenses offer nearly silent lens-based IS. Among the primes, only the 50mm lens offers stabilization. Using the 18-55mm kit lens, even in extremely quiet scenes, we were unable to hear any trace of the IS system in the NEX-C3's captured sound track.

Sony NEX-C3 Video: Audio recording

External Mic. The Sony NEX-C3 can accept the same optional, external stereo mic that's shown on the NEX-5 in this image.

Sony's only published spec for the NEX-C3's audio recording capability simply says "MPEG-4 AAC-LC", so we don't officially know the sampling rate or number of bits of A/D resolution employed, although third-party MPEG players suggest a 24 KHz sample rate at 128 kbps. Audio recorded with the camera's internal mic sounded very clear, but we do no tests to measure frequency response or sensitivity, so can't comment quantitatively. We did notice that there was audible hiss in audio tracks recorded with the in-camera mic in very quiet environments, but less than we've heard on some competing models. The camera's auto-gain system also did a good job of adjusting sensitivity as sound levels got louder or softer, with no evident "breathing" in transitions from high to low sound levels.

As noted above, the AF and iris-control systems on the 18-55mm kit lens was effectively silent, in that their operation couldn't be heard on the audio track, even with no background noise. Zooming the lens could produce audible noise, as could changing our handhold on the camera or using the physical controls, but these issues could likely be mitigated significantly with the external mic accessory.

As with most of its competitors, the Sony NEX-C3 doesn't have any provision for manual audio level control, whether working from the internal or optional external mic. As is the case with the lack of a 3.5mm external jack, we don't think this will be an issue for the NEX-C3's primary target buyers. It is, however, possible to disable audio capture altogether.

Sony NEX-C3 Movie Recording/Playback User Interface

The Sony NEX-C3 makes movie recording very easy, as you can initiate it at any time, regardless of the mode-dial setting: Simply press the prominent Movie Record button with the red dot at its center at the top of the camera's rear panel, and the camera will start recording video.

Normally, this is where we'd list the Movie-mode menu items, but the NEX-C3 has no separate movie menu. In fact, the only menu items exclusively related to video recording are the choice of image size (1,280 x 720 or 640 x 480 pixels), and compression level (if recording at the higher resolution), as well as an option to disable audio recording.

Playback mode on the Sony NEX-C3 is decidedly odd, although it offers at least one feature we liked. The odd part is that the NEX-C3's playback is an either/or proposition, relative to stills and videos: If you've just shot a video and press the playback button, you'll see only movies that are stored on the card; not the still images. Likewise, if you've just shot a still image, you'll only see other stills when you hit the playback button. To switch between the two modes, you're expected to either navigate to an option on the Playback menu, or drop into thumbnail view and scroll over to the left, to select the correct tab on that screen. Alternatively, you can simply grab a throwaway exposure of the type you want to view, something we actually found much more convenient than either of the designers' intended methods. The playback mode works like this on all of Sony's NEX-series models, and although we're now very familiar with this somewhat infuriating design, it initially caused us quite some consternation. We can only imagine the dismay many new NEX-series users must experience (if only until they read the manual), when they think their once-in-a-lifetime photos disappeared after they decided to try shooting a video.

We continue to mourn the absence of a playback option that's become increasingly common on video-capable cameras; namely the "trim" function. Whenever you record a short video clip, it's almost inevitable that you'll start earlier and keep recording longer than the action you're interested in. (If you don't do this, you're almost certainly going to miss action you're interested in.) While "padding" like this is important and necessary, we like to keep our videos concise by trimming away the extraneous material at the beginning or end of the clip after they're recorded. Many cameras support doing this in-camera these days, but the NEX-C3 does not. You can certainly still import the video clips to your computer and do the trimming there, but for consumers, that's awfully cumbersome.

Rolling Shutter Artifacts ("Jello Effect")

Sony NEX-C3: Rolling Shutter Artifacts
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Essentially every video capable digital SLR/CSC currently on the market exhibits some level of motion-related distortion called rolling shutter artifacts. These are caused because the image data is captured and then read off the chip sequentially by rows, rather than each frame's data being captured all at once. In the case of the Sony NEX-C3, this means that image data for the last row of a given frame is captured and read out 1/30th second after the data for the top row was captured. The effect on moving objects is like that of a focal plane shutter in an SLR, but more pronounced, because the video frame is read out much more slowly than the slit of a focal plane shutter moves across the sensor.

For a camera that scans video frames vertically (as all do that we're aware of), rolling shutter artifacts will be most noticeable for subjects that are moving rapidly side to side, or when the camera itself is being panned horizontally. Verticals in the scene will appear tilted to the right or left, depending on the direction of camera motion. As an example, consider the case of a camera being panned from left to right, with a flagpole or other vertical object in the middle of the scene when recording for a particular frame begins: If the top of the object was centered horizontally when the first line of the video frame is acquired, by the time the last line of the frame has been captured, the bottom of the object will have shifted to somewhere left of center: As a result, the vertical object would appear to be leaning to the right.

Computer Requirements for Viewing HD Video

A typical computer these days has little trouble dealing with still images, but high-definition video can be another matter. Depending on the file format involved, it can take a pretty beefy computer to handle HD-resolution video playback without stuttering or dropping frames. The MPEG-4 image compression used by the Sony NEX-C3 is one of the more compute-intensive formats, but its maximum resolution of 1,280 x 720 pixels resolution means there's less data in each frame to deal with, than in cameras offering Full HD capture. The net result is that most reasonably recent computers should play the NEX-C3's high-def video files just fine, but you will need a relatively powerful machine for video editing.

You can of course view your movies on a high definition TV via the HDMI output. If you're still on a standard-def TV, though, you're out of luck, as the NEX-C3 doesn't offer any form of standard-def video output connectivity.

Flash

Sony NEX-C3 Flash

Like almost all NEX-series cameras at the time of this writing-- the sole exception being the flagship NEX-7--the Sony NEX-C3 forgoes any built-in flash or standard hot shoe, in an effort to keep body size down to a bare minimum. Instead, flash photography is catered for with the same proprietary accessory port used in earlier NEX models, and the same tiny HVL-F7S flash strobe is included in the product bundle.

Sony's HVL-F7S flash folds flat against the top of the lens mount when not in use, and although very compact, is still reasonably powerful for its size, with a useful range extending out as far as sixteen feet. Sony officially lists the guide number as being seven meters (23 feet) at ISO 100, although note that the NEX-C3's base sensitivity is actually ISO 200 equivalent. Once safely packed in its protective plastic case, it's dimensions are barely under 2" x 1.5" x 1", easily small enough to slip in a pants pocket and forget you're even carrying it, until you have a need for it. Unfortunately, the coverage is rather narrow, leading to pretty uneven illumination with the 16mm prime kit lens, and at wide angle with the 18-55mm zoom kit lens. The same will apply to the 18-200mm kit lens, and vignetting will likely prove an additional concern with that combination, given the modest height of the HVL-F7S strobe when extended (around an inch), and the significantly larger dimensions of the lens itself.

Thankfully, the bundled HVL-F7S flash strobe is no longer the only option for NEX-series camera owners. Sony now also has an optional HVL-F20S strobe, which while it's quite a bit larger, should also offer greater performance. At ISO 100, the guide number is officially 20 meters, almost triple that of the bundled strobe. Sony doesn't provide a specification for coverage, but the HVL-F20S also includes a built-in diffuser panel to improve coverage at the cost of some reach. The larger dimensions also mean that the HVL-F20S stands significantly higher above the lens, and should thus be less likely to be blocked by the lens barrel. In addition, the HVL-F20S can operate as a bounce flash, providing more natural light so long as the distance from camera to subject via the ceiling is within the flash's working range. Of course, since the HVL-F20S strobe uses the same proprietary connection as the bundled flash, you still have the issue that you can't use any other accessory simultaneously with flash photography.

A small thumb screw in the base of either strobe--or any of the other available accessories--allows them to be tightly fixed to the camera, safe from being accidentally bumped off, but those with large hands may find the screw a little fiddly to tighten down. If you're in a rush, the flashes do function without the screw being tightened, but they don't mount very tightly, so if you're planning on keeping the flash on camera for more than a few seconds, tightening the thumb screw is a must. Two small pins on all the accessories mate into holes on the camera body to keep everything steadily aligned.

The Sony NEX-C3's has five flash modes: Auto, Fill, Slow Sync., Rear Sync., and Off. The Sony NEX-C3 allows you to adjust flash and ambient exposure independently of each other, by providing flash exposure compensation between -2 and +2 EV in one-third EV increments. Through a separate menu option, red-eye reduction can be enabled, which functions by adding several bursts of preflash to contract your subjects' pupils, in addition to the regular metering and exposure flashes. Flash modes are changed in the Camera menu, Flash Compensation in the Brightness / Color menu, and Red-Eye Reduction in the Setup menu. Available settings vary depending on exposure mode. X-Sync (the maximum shutter speed with the flash enabled) is 1/160 second by default -- a bit below average compared to most SLRs, but not uncommonly slow compared to its compact system camera rivals.

Below are test results using the bundled HVL-F7S flash unit.

Flash Test Results

Coverage and Range
Good flash range (partially because base ISO is 200 instead of 100), with narrow coverage at wide-angle. Our standard shot required average exposure compensation.

Coverage. Flash coverage was quite uneven at wide-angle (18mm), leaving very dark corners in our flash coverage test image. Narrow coverage at wide-angle isn't unusual, though, and some of the corner darkening is from the lens itself. Coverage was much more uniform at telephoto (55mm).

Exposure. Our Indoor Portrait test scene was bright with +0.7 EV flash exposure compensation which is the average amount of flash exposure compensation required for this scene, though the camera's Auto white balance rendered the scene too warm here. The camera's Slow-Sync flash mode produced bright, even results with no flash exposure compensation, though with a stronger orange cast from the room lighting.

Flash Range: Wide Angle
6 ft	7 ft	8 ft	9 ft	10 ft	11 ft
1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 200	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 200	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 200	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 200	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 200	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 200
12 ft	13 ft	14 ft	15 ft	16 ft
1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 200	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 200	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 200	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 200	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 200

Flash Range: Telephoto
6 ft	7 ft	8 ft	9 ft	10 ft	11 ft
1/100 sec f5.6 ISO 200	1/100 sec f5.6 ISO 200	1/100 sec f5.6 ISO 200	1/100 sec f5.6 ISO 200	1/100 sec f5.6 ISO 200	1/100 sec f5.6 ISO 200
12 ft	13 ft	14 ft	15 ft	16 ft
1/100 sec f5.6 ISO 200	1/100 sec f5.6 ISO 200	1/100 sec f5.6 ISO 200	1/100 sec f5.6 ISO 200	1/100 sec f5.6 ISO 200

ISO 200 Range. With the 18-55mm kit lens, flash exposure started out bright at 6 feet at wide-angle and actually increased in brightness before decreasing, peaking in brightness at 9 feet. Flash shots remained fairly bright until 13 feet, where they continued to decrease gradually as distance increased. At full telephoto, flash exposure started out reasonably bright at 6 feet, increased in brightness at 7 feet, but decreased in brightness from then on, though 8 feet was still reasonably bright. Flash exposure was also somewhat inconsistent at full telephoto, with 14 and 15 feet being brighter than 12 and 13 feet, etc. Note that the NEX-C3's base ISO is 200, so these range results are not directly comparable to models with lower base ISO.

Manufacturer-Specified Flash Range
Wide Angle	Telephoto
9.3 feet ISO 200	5.8 feet ISO 200

Manufacturer Specified Flash Test. The Sony NEX-C3's bundled flash unit is rated with a Guide Number of 7m or 23 feet at ISO 100. That works out to about 9.3 feet at f/3.5 and 5.8 feet at f/5.6 and ISO 200, the maximum apertures of the kit zoom lens. In the test shots above, the Alpha NEX-C3 performs as Sony says it will, producing good flash exposures at the rated distance with its ISO set to 200. In fact, the wide-angle shot is actually slightly overexposed (by about 1/3 EV).

Our standard test method for flash range uses a fixed setting of ISO 100, to provide a fair basis of comparison between cameras. We've now also begun shooting two shots using the manufacturer-specified camera settings, at the range the company claims for the camera, to assess the validity of the specific claims.

Press Release

Sony Introduces World’s Smallest, Lightest Interchangeable Lens Camera with APS-C Sized Sensor

Easy-to-use a NEX-C3 Features 16.2 Megapixels, HD Video and Friendly New Interface

SAN DIEGO, June 8, 2011 – Sony’s new α NEX-C3 is the world’s smallest, lightest interchangeable lens camera with an APS-C sized sensor.

Offered in a range of stylish colors, the NEX-C3 brings the promise of DSLR-quality photography to the millions of consumers looking to take professional-looking photos without the size and bulk of traditional DSLR cameras.

The NEX-C3 features an attractive new body design that combines a satisfyingly solid metal top casing with an easy-to-use streamlined grip shape. Reducing the size of its internal circuitry visibly shrinks the camera’s size and achieves a body weight of just 225g (approximately 8 ounces) – nearly six percent lighter than its predecessor, the NEX-3 camera. Image quality, functionality and usability of the NEX-C3 camera also surpass that of the NEX-3 model.

The resolution of the camera’s large Exmor™ APS HD CMOS sensor is boosted to 16.2 effective megapixels, capturing stills and 720p HD video with breath-taking clarity. The large, DSLR-sized sensor also lets users produce pro-quality background defocus effects, whether shooting HD video or stills.

“Building on the success of last year’s α NEX launch, the new NEX-C3 model takes the idea of ‘small camera body, SLR-quality photos’ to a whole new level,” said Kristen Elder, director of the alpha digital imaging business at Sony. “This camera’s brand new, large CMOS sensor and user-friendly interface will allow all photographers, regardless of experience level, to produce unique, custom-styled photographs. The NEX-C3 is a perfect combination of design, performance and creativity that fits a wide range of activities and shooting styles.”

Photo Creativity

The intuitive new Photo Creativity interface on the NEX-C3 camera puts sophisticated controls within easy reach, whether users are shooting stills or HD Video. Technical terms like ‘aperture’, ‘exposure value’ and ‘white balance’ are replaced with the friendlier and more intuitive ‘background defocus’, ‘brightness’ and ‘color’, allowing users to easily create custom-styled photographs. A traditional interface with Aperture/Shutter Priority, Manual and custom functions is always available for experienced users, along with highly customizable soft-keys for programming direct access to important controls.

With the NEX-C3 camera, users don’t need to dig into confusing menu options or guess their effect on a composition. They just need to turn the camera’s rear-mounted control wheel and instantly see the effect of their settings previewed on screen. Also, two or more different settings can be combined to create more sophisticated creative effects.

A new in-camera ‘Picture Effect’ setting lets users add extra impact to stills or HD video during shooting, without the worry of editing images afterwards. ‘Picture Effect’ options include Partial Color, Retro Photo, Pop Color, High Contrast Monochrome, Posterization, High-key and Toy Camera. There’s also a ‘Soft Skin’ effect that removes wrinkles and blemishes from portrait subjects.

Tilting for comfortable viewing at any angle, the high contrast 3-inch (measured diagonally) Xtra Fine LCD features TruBlack screen technology for high-contrast images with rich, deep blacks. This is an ideal way to compose shots and judge the effect of adjusting picture settings, even when viewing outdoors in bright sunlight.

Long-Lasting Battery

The NEX-C3 works even harder to capture amazing images and HD video between battery charges. Improved energy efficiency boosts battery life to a generous 400 still shots per charge – a more than 20 percent increase from the both the NEX-5 and NEX-3 cameras.

Multi-Shot Imaging Technologies

Sony’s Advanced multi-shot technologies further broaden the possibilities of the NEX-C3 camera. 3D Sweep Panorama™ mode captures extra-wide images that can be viewed in 3D on a 3D television with compatible 3D glasses. Auto HDR “stacks” a high-speed burst of three successive exposures to capture extreme shadow and highlight details in a single frame. Similarly, Handheld Twilight and Anti-Motion Blur modes automatically combine six exposures to capture smooth, low-noise images. This avoids hand-blur and subject-blur when shooting in available light.

New E-mount 30mm Macro Lens and Other Compatible Accessories

The versatility of the α E-mount compact camera system grows with new style-matched accessories to expand shooting possibilities even further.

Joining the range of E-mount interchangeable lenses, the SEL30M35 is currently the world’s lightest life-size macro lens (approx 4.9 ounces) for interchangeable-lens cameras. This high-quality 30mm F3.5 macro lens features a 1:1 magnification ratio and minimum working distance of just 0.95 inches (2.4 cm), making it ideal for capturing detail-packed close-ups of small subjects like flowers and insects. Despite its extremely compact size, the SEL30M35 employs one ED glass and three aspherical lens elements for excellent optical performance, with minimized aberration and very high edge-to-edge sharpness and contrast. It also offers smooth, quiet autofocus operation whether shooting stills or HD video. The macro lens is supplied with a matching lens hood.

Also available as an option, the new HVL-F20S is a style-matching flash that clips onto the Smart Accessory Terminal of NEX-C3 and other E-mount cameras. Powered directly by the camera, the flash requires no batteries, making it ultra-compact and light weight for travelling. With a generous GN20 (50mm, at ISO 100, m) flash power rating and adjustable head, it’s ideal for creating natural fill-in and bounce flash effects with portraits and everyday shooting subjects.

The expanded range of coordinating accessories features a new body case/lens jacket and a soft carrying case.

The new camera is also compatible with Sony’s full line of SD memory cards, including the newest Class 10 versions, as well as the Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo HX series. Available in capacities up to 32 GB, both media enable higher read speeds for more stable and optimal performance by Sony hardware features such as high-speed burst shooting or HD movie shooting.

Firmware update for NEX-5, NEX-3

A firmware upgrade (Version 4) adds the new ‘Picture Effect’ function to existing NEX-5 and NEX-3 cameras. It also adds a Peaking function to assist with more precise manual focusing. This upgrade will be available June 20thand can be downloaded from: (www.esupport.sony.com).

Pricing and Availability

The new NEX-C3 ultra-compact digital camera will be available this August in silver, black and pink with an 18-55mm kit zoom lens (model SEL1855) and will cost about $650. It will also be offered in black only with a 16mm lens (model SEL16F28) for about $600.

The new SEL30M35 E-mount Macro lens will be available this October for about $250 and the HVL-F20S flash will be available this August for about $150.

The camera kits, macro lens and new flash will all be sold at Sony retail stores (www.sonystyle.com) and other authorized dealers nationwide.

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Pricing and availability

The Sony NEX-C3 began shipping August 2011, and is available in Black, Silver, and Pink. With an 18-55mm kit lens the price is about US$600. A 16mm kit is available with a black body only, for about US$550.