Sony has engineered an impressively small camera that takes incredibly good photographs. In fact, the α NEX-3 camera has all quality of a DSLR in about half the size and weight. Pulling off this minor miracle took some clever innovations in glass, silicon and software code.
Good
High-resolution, tilting display
7fps continuous shooting
Decent image quality at high ISOs
Good value for money
Bad
Tiresome interface
Clip-on flash
Quality of 18-55mm kit lens is only fair
You can get the NEX-3 in more than one kit configuration. The cheapest comes with Sony's 16mm fixed-focal-length pancake lens and is available for around £400. The next step up is an 18-55mm, 3x zoom lens, which will set you back around £440. That's got to be the best option all-round, even though it does practically double the camera's front-to-back size. If you can't make your mind up, you can get both in a twin-lens kit for around £570, and it will still work out at about the same price as a NEX-5 with the 18-55mm lens only.
