Sony NEX-F3 officially announced

Sony NEX-F3 officially announced
The new 16MP Sony compact system camera is reasonably priced

After weeks of speculation and leaks, the Sony NEX-F3 has finally been made official.

The entry-level compact system camera (CSC) features a 16.1 million pixel APS HD CMOS sensor - the exact same sensor as found in the also newly announced Sony Alpha 37 DSLT camera.

The Sony NEX-F3 comes as a replacement for the Sony NEX-C3, which also had a 16.1 megapixel sensor - albeit a different design.

Bionz processor

The third generation Bionz processor, which was first debuted on the Sony a77 camera, Sony's flagship DSLT, powers the Sony NEX-F3. This makes it capable of delivering a sensitivity range between ISO 200 and 16,000, and Full HD video recording.

Sony NEX-F3 officially announced

There are several other improvements to the Sony NEX-F3, including the addition of a pop-up flash and increased battery life.

A new 180 degree tiltable screen has been included, to enable easier self-portrait shooting. When shooting in Auto mode, if the screen is tilted to 180 degrees, the camera automatically enters self-portrait mode and sets a self-timer delay of 3 seconds.

Auto portrait framing is also included, which works by cropping an image after the shot has been taken to provide a better composition. The original file is also kept if the user wants to produce their own crop.

Superior auto

Several new additions have been made to the fully automatic Superior Auto mode, including hand-held twilight and Auto HDR. In this mode the camera detects the type of scene it is photographing and automatically selects appropriate settings.

Clear image zoom works in the same way as a digital zoom, but uses Sony's By Pixel Super Resolution interpolation technology to maintain image size and, according to the manufacturer, superior image quality. It provides up to double the magnification of the lens focal length.

The Sony NEX-F3 price is £530 in the UK and $599 in the US, and will be available from early June.

Amy Davies

Amy has been writing about cameras, photography and associated tech since 2009. Amy was once part of the photography testing team for Future Publishing working across TechRadar, Digital Camera, PhotoPlus, N Photo and Photography Week. For her photography, she has won awards and has been exhibited. She often partakes in unusual projects - including one intense year where she used a different camera every single day. Amy is currently the Features Editor at Amateur Photographer magazine, and in her increasingly little spare time works across a number of high-profile publications including Wired, Stuff, Digital Camera World, Expert Reviews, and just a little off-tangent, PetsRadar. 

TOPICS