Sony NEX-C3 review

With one of the largest sensors in a CSC, we put Sony’s NEX-C3 through its paces

Sony has released its latest interchangeable lens model, the NEX-C3. Hurtling ahead of the rest with its impressive sensor dimensions and smaller size, this camera is set to raise the CSC stakes. Its minimalist design means it could easily be mistaken for a compact, with its limited range of buttons and a smaller size.

The menu interface is well laid out and easy to access, and you can select and switch between multiple shoot settings that suit almost all scenarios. Whether you want to work in the manual modes or with more intelligent Auto settings, the in-menu mode dial also incorporates a great 2D sweeping panorama and 3D panorama mode. The camera also now features a great shooting tips guide, which is fantastic for beginners. This can be accessed when working in any mode, allowing you to scroll through and get some handy tips and advice on your camera settings and selectable scene modes.

When using the intuitive intelligent auto (iA) mode you can select and add in some photo creativity effects, including a soft skin beauty mode and the popular background defocus setting. This allows you to control the effect of a background blur, without having to understand or adjust manual aperture control.

One thing Sony has mastered with the C3 is the sensor. It offers one of the biggest and somewhat better-quality sensors for this type of camera, making its image quality and performance almost as impressive as a DSLR’s. The C3’s APS-C-sized CMOS sensor packs in an effective 16.2 megapixels so shots are incredibly sharp and detailed, with the camera proving capable of picking up on even small accents of light and colour.

On review of our test shots, colours came through as rich and warm. They were perhaps a little saturated but we quite liked this and found it made colours appear fuller, which helped add more depth to the images.