Customer Reviews

Sony Alpha NEX-C3 16 MP Compact Interchangeable Lens Digital Camera Kit with 18-55mm Zoom Lens (Black)

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

So I bought this camera last week and took it on a 5 day trip to Arches, Bryce Canyon, & Canyonlands Nation Parks. It was great! We took video, pics, and everything. I sold my Nikon D80 and bought this and between the two, I think the photos are much nicer on the NEX C3. My only gripe is that the battery could last a little longer. I bought a big 16GB card and I have to charge the battery about 3-4 times in order to fill the card now. So it would be nice to have a little extra juice on the battery.

The camera is super small. I read all kinds of reviews, watched videos, etc.... but was not ready for how small it was once I held it in my hands. I have pretty big hands and it was a little weird to hold because of it. It wasn't a deal breaker by any means, but something to be aware. It is tiny. The weight and main bulk of the camera is the 18-55mm lens that comes with it, and not the camera body.

I've gone back and reviewed the video and photos I took. I can't say anymore how much I have fallen in love with the camera. There is just so much quality and value in this machine and I will recommend it to anyone in the market for something. I sold my HD camcorder and DSLR, then bought this which replaces both with shining colors. I am pretty excited to continue using it during the next few weeks to learn more and more about it. Again, excellent purchase and highly encourage those who are thinking about it do just buy it. They won't regret it.

I've had many different digital cameras, but this one has rapidly become my favorite in most respects.

Camara Body and Feel

It is very small and comfortable to hold. It feels sturdy and well-built. All of the buttons are solid to the touch. Changing lenses is simple and fast, and it comes with an attachable flash.

The Menus/Interface

The interface is mostly easy to use and understand. It will take a little time to get used to, but it shouldn't be too much of a hindrance. There are only a couple of buttons on the camera that specifically do one function. Most of the buttons are assignable, so you can quickly get at the options you use most.

Image Quality

Stunning. Unless you're a professional who is used to cameras that cost several times as much as this, you will be impressed at the image quality. The large sensor allows for a lot of fine detail and really helps when there's not much light. The low-light capabilities of this camera are absolutely amazing. I can take clear photos in situations where all of my other cameras would require a flash or tripod to prevent blur. I'm a big fan of unique lighting, so this is very important to me.

Lenses

I bought the one with the fixed 16mm lens, however I've also tried the 18-55mm zoom lens. The 16mm lens is surprisingly wide for the only included lens. Its very small, and I'll use it primarily for its portability and situations where I'll be focusing on something other than photography. The 16mm lens doesn't have SteadyShot.

I fully intend on buying the 18-55mm lens. I borrowed one and immediately fell in love with it. Its substantially more bulky, but its much more versatile. Full zoom on close subjects allows for a very good macro as well. I'm anxious to see how the upcoming macro lens will improve on this. This lens does have SteadyShot.

Improvements Over Older Models

If you own the NEX-3 or NEX-5 you probably won't need to get this new one. The C3 has a small edge in several areas including resolution, low light capabilities, battery life, weight, size, color depth, and general image quality. Yes, that's a long list, but they are all minor improvements. The only real advantage of the older NEX-5 is that it takes 1080p video rather than 720p.

This is an amazingly functional little camera which takes surprisingly high quality photographs. Its lightning fast and extremely good at what it does. I would recommend this camera without hesitation to anyone looking for a prosumer/mid-range camera.

First let me say that I was an advanced point and shoot person just looking for better pictures, no more and no less. No, you do not need the Sony Nex 5N camera. The C3 is wonderful. Absolutely beautiful pictures. You CAN NOT get the depth of field, and the proper shadows that should be in pictures when you shoot normal people in a point and shoot camera. You need a full size APS-C sensor that is in the DSLR cameras but at a fraction of the size of these big cameras. The color and flesh tones are amazing. The richness of colors of the things in the backgrounds are so accurate. This camera uses easy to understand menus on the LED screen making this camera ideal for those afraid of stepping up to a full sensor camera. You do not have to know what an F stop is, an aperture, or what shutter speed to use to get great pictures. Just set it on automatic. This camera is so accurate in its picture taking. In low light you will get pictures you can not believe. This camera has so many in camera filters to play with if you want. Most things in this camera work with easy sliders. For example you can increase the brightness of the picture you see in the LED screen by just turning the round knob to the right or to the left. This camera has LIVE VIEW which means that what you see in the LED screen is what is printed. As you increase the brightness you will seen the picture in LED get brighter. When you you actually press the shutter button you will get this exact snapshot that you see in the LED. Point and shoot people, don't be afraid to buy this camera. For me picture quality is everything. Skin tones with depth is a must. This camera has it all. Its a Geeks dream camera. For those that want more advanced features with manual setting you have this also.

I first purchased Sony NEX-C3 and liked many things about it, but two problems caused me to trade it in for Sony NEX-5N, which addressed those problems.

My main issue with C3 was seeing the LCD screen in the sun. SONY will have an OLED high resolution view finder for NEX series in November 2011. However the mount on the OLED electronic viewfinder is only compatible with NEX-5N and is not compatible with NEX-C3.

The second issue was ability to easily override the automatically chosen a focus point. NEX-5N has a touch screen which allows one to point where the focus should be, and sometimes this allows you to compose a photo which focal point off-center (automatic focus has a strong preference for items in the center).

Both cameras have identical body size, weight,and feel. They very light and small, but not so small that I find them uncomfortable to operate. All buttons and control feel well made.

Both cameras have excellent low light performance. I love the sweeping panorama feature which both camera have, I don't feel I need a very wide angle lens due this feature. It performance fantastically in low light. I have shot hand-held sweeping panorama of New York skyline that are crisp.

By twicking options that are visible I was able to make the UI easy to navigate. The most helpful setting was "Big font" under Camera options. Not only did it make the text easy to read, it removed a larger number of least useful icons which de-clutters the display.

Overall, this is a good camera. I outlined the two things that made me switch its bigger brother, but otherwise I found them equivalent in my experience. I found both of them to be a good substitute for my DSLR when I travel.

Ali Julia review

First things first: I am not a professional photographer by any means. Photography is a hobby of mine and I love taking good pictures. I also like my camera to be fast, flexible, be small enough to carry around and easy to operate for my family members. Many cameras give up in the first two areas (fast and flexible) and the few who make this cut end up being digital SLR's that fail in the remaining areas (bulk and easy to hold/operate).

When Panasonic (followed by Olympus) introduced the new micro-four third's format I jumped in only to be disappointed by the Panasonic GH1. Based on the initial reviews (and the bunch of noise) I was very optimistic about the NEX-C3 and purchased it as soon as it was available on Amazon. I have been playing with the camera since a week and I can say perhaps Sony achieved what I think is the holy grail of camera design. This is a really small (really really small) camera with an SLR size sensor that is very fast and takes excellent pictures. The user interface is also one of the best I have seen in recent years with complexity hidden in a natural and progressive manner. The video mode has auto-focus feature which is incredibly important (and how many 1080P SLR camera's lack). On that point, the one "feature" this camera lacks is a 1080P recording (it does 720P). To me that is non-issue as I have yet to figure out why any non-professional would ever worry about 1080P. Highly recommended. 5 stars.

I have to admit that I am no photography expert and up until this camera I never bought a camera for more than $200 all point and shoot. They served me well, mainly outdoors. When my son was born, since most of our pictures were taken indoors (we live in Seattle and he was born in the winter so add gray, cloudy indoors...)we really wanted a camera that produces great pictures in low light and other important features were continues shooting (babies dont pose or stand still) and great video. We seriously considered buying a DSLR but we really didnt want to carry all that weight around and we figured that we wouldn't really use any of the manual capabilities of the DSLR (we use cameras on one mode- automatic :-))We basically wanted a camera that would fit in the diaper bag and produce great images with its automatic mode. I have to say that I am glad we found one. This camera is GREAT. The pictures are amazing, even in low light colors are great, pictures are super sharp and the continues shooting allows us to capture every smile and new movement with clear sharp images. Video is great too- speakers are great and you can zoom in and out while shooting. The flash is a little bit of a pain (since its external) but we attached it to the camera strap and it attaches to the camera with a small easy plug. I have to admit that up until now after using the camera for a month I took amazing pictures- both in and out doors, both night and day shooting and didnt have to use the flash even once. As I mentioned, we keep the camera on automatic (its calls "smart automatic"- and up until now it detected conditions accurately 100% of the times)but it does have a pretty wide menu with a lot of creative options (we did use the panoramic shooting a few times). The menu is not super easy or straight forward and we did read the manual that came with the camera in order to figure out where everything is, but I guess the fact that everything is inside the electronic menu is a compromise you have to live with if you are looking for a small camera with no buttons to add bulkiness. Its not super small but fits nicely in small bags and is very light.

One thing I am not super happy about is the lens which is only 18-55 - its great for indoor use but outside I would have liked a little more zoom. I looked and a bigger 18-200mm lens costs $800.... I guess we are saving up for a lens.

Bottom line- great camera for compact shooters looking to upgrade to a DSLR like image quality (or as close as you can get) but don't want the bulk or complication of a DSLR.

I was looking for my first real good camera (non point and shoot) for an upcoming trip to Spain and France. I looked at the NEX and the 4/3 cameras such as the GF3, EPL-3, etc. This one seemed like the best deal and was the best reviewed because of its large DSLR sized sensor and the small body. It seems like the 4/3rds only excel in lens quality and selection. But you can get adapters to run on the NEX cameras to run more higher quality lenses. I figure that it's easier to upgrade the glass on a camera than upgrade the sensor.

I opted for the 16mm pancake lens since I think the 18-55mm is way too large for the body and that defeats the purpose of the small NEX to me. I'm extremely pleased with the photos, particularly in low light. I posted some here on Amazon but you can find more here:

These are just straight jpegs from the camera using the iAuto mode for dummies. I do also save the RAW but have yet to learn how to properly process them. I also bought a Sandisk Extreme III 32 gig card for it, it can take about 1400 RAW+JPEG photos and several hours of 720p video with this.

Another reviewer was disappointed with the battery life but I have not complaints. On the first full charge I took almost 400 jpeg+raw pictures, a couple panoramas and a video, along with plenty of reviewing of pictures on the LCD and still had 18% battery life left.

I have been wanting to upgrade from point-and-shoot to a more advanced camera that would turn out professional-looking photos, and so far, I have been extremely pleased with this camera. Like other reviewers have said, the photos turn out great in the auto mode, which is great for people who have just upgraded from point-and-shoots. However, if you are willing to fiddle with the various adjustments you can get very creative results.

I have been extremely satisfied with the camera's low light performance; I was slightly bothered by the fact that the flash was detachable before I bought the camera, but have since found out that I practically never need it, unless I am shooting in near pitch dark conditions. This camera does not at all need flash in lighted night streets or indoors in incandescent lighting. In dark settings, the camera can usually see better than the naked eye.

I am a big fan of the display and overall ergonomics of the camera too. At 921k dots, the display is the highest resolution display I have ever used on a camera and the whole body of the camera along with the lens feels truly premium.

So far, I have only two gripes with the camera:

1. The display seems to be easily scratched. I went on a trip to a beach with it and immediately managed to scratch it. I would advise getting a screen protector.

2. I am a big fan of the Sweep Panorama feature on Sony cameras, and I like how the NEX produces much higher resolution panoramas than Cybershot point-and-shoots. However, it is significantly harder to take a relatively flaw-free panorama with the NEX than with a Cybershot. The panorama on the NEX is very sensitive to speed and requires a good amount of light to work well. It is also super noisy!

Other than these two points, I love this camera.

I debated a while between this, the Sony Nex 5n, and the Canon t3.

The better video on the 5n just didn't seem worth the extra $150 price tag since the main thing I want it for is pictures (never mind the clicking problem on the 5n when taking video). From all the pictures I could find comparing the two side by side it seemed like they had just about identical picture quality. Having a touchscreen on a camera may make navigating the menu's slightly easier, but really wasn't make or break for me. Also, I can never remember a situation I really needed 10fps speed instead of 5fps(let alone any time I've ever really needed 5fps) so.... goodbye 5n.

Ended up picking this over the t3 mainly due to the sexy form factor. One of my buddies has a t3i, and I very much prefer this over the form of the t3i(t3i and t3=same form factor but different materials). Especially when you consider how much more versatile the c3 can be over the t3 when you attach the 16mm wide angle lens instead of the 18-55mm lens. It basically turns into a great P&S size camera. From doing side by side tests, the picture quality of the t3 beats out the c3 by a tiny bit. So if you want the best picture quality possible from a camera for the lowest price, and are not worried about anything else, the Canon t3 cannot be beat. But in the end, I really would prefer to have a camera that I love to carry around and attach different lenses as opposed to one where you can notice the difference in picture quality when you zoom way in on a photo to inspect tiny details.

I do not regret my decision at all. The picture quality is spectacular, I love the form factor, and the versatility of the camera is amazing! I've had two different point and shoots in the past few years, the Sony hx5v, and the canon elph300hs. I took a few shots when I first received this camera, then loaded them onto my computer and was blown away by the difference in quality from those to this. I was also pleasantly surprised by the video quality, the 720p looks great and the sound is much better than I expected.

So, overall, great job Sony! Keep it up!

I reluctantly purchased this camera at my wife's insistence because she wanted to take high quality memories of our daughter while she was still little.

I initially balked because:

1) I felt my existing standard point and shoot digital camera was more than sufficient

2) I wasn't confident enough in my photographic abilities to be able to fully maximize a high power camera

In short, the NEX-C3 has shattered my initial skepticism and exceeded all expectations.

The photos/videos are of such high quality and the camera is so easy (and fun) to use that we find ourselves taking more opportunities than before to use the camera. It's different shooting features also lets the most amateur of us to take very creative pictures.

A few neat shooting features...

Panorama shooting is ideal for siteseeing, large events and the great outdoors (let's you capture the full essence of what your photographing)...

Color "pulling" shooting lets you take everything in gray while simultaneously capturing just the green or blue or yellow or red in a shot (we took a neat picture where we "pulled" just the red from our daughter who was wearing a santa hat and playing a red piano...good reviews from our friends and family as we used the picture for our christmas card)

It's also pretty light which I've been told is due to the fact that the NEX C3 is a mirrorless camera (not sure what this means but same or better performance at lighter weight is a win in my book).

As for some of the shortcomings, the lens is 18-55mm meaning that you're not going to get 30X zoom. That said, practically for the most part, I don't find myself needing any more zoom than it already has but this might be an issue for some (you can purchase lens with more zoom).

Also, there is no view finder (peep hole) but I think this is more a personal preference issue and I'm fine using the high resolution display.

Overall, I highly recommend this camera to the general masses.

Camera veterans may prefer something used more by professionals but for those who want to easily take high quality, creative pictures of your families, vacations, kid's soccer games, etc. this is excellent bang for your buck.