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Sony's new interchangeable-lens mirrorless camera captures stunning shots and offers a range of effects you'd normally find in a studio
The latest entry to Sony’s NEX mirrorless interchangeable lens line-up, the Alpha NEX-F3, comes in a compact body and serves up excellent image quality.
At the heart of that image quality is its large 16.1MP Exmor APS-C HD CMOS sensor, which is the same size – 23.5 x 15.6mm – as the image sensor used in a digital SLR, allowing the F3 to capture the same quality of photos as a DSLR but at about half the size and weight.
The famed Exmor CMOS censor allows the camera to take noise-free photos even in low-light environment though the F3 comes with a built-in pop-up flash for situations where it really is too dark to do without.
With two special auto modes, the F3 is very easy to use even for the rank amateur. It also has advanced modes, allowing more experience users to make most of the camera. Those are Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, Program Mode or Manual Mode, which allow the control various parameters.
Newcomers will appreciate Scene Selection, Intelligent Auto and the Superior Auto mode. Superior Auto mode is particularly useful as automatically detects the situation and activates the optimal setting for each scene. It’s the easiest way to walk away with gorgeous, professional-looking photos every time.
During the test at the Nation newsroom, we mostly shot with Intelligent Auto and Superior Auto modes and we were pleased with the outcomes. Most photos came out sharp and clean with well-saturated colours.
Our outdoor shots were also excellent, with the sky blue and the grass and trees true shades of green. The two auto modes correctly detected difficult lighting situations, such as backlit portrait shots and brightening up the face, for example.
Most test shots were done with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens. The test package also came with 55-210mm f/4.5-6.3 telephotography lens. I enjoyed using it to shoot birds and was pleased with the sharp shots of birds on ledges and poles with the blue sky as the backdrop.
The F3 is fun to use self-portraits thanks to its 180-degree tiltable LCD screen. The screen can be flipped up to face the front of the camera for framing yourself.
The tiltable screen can also be used to shoot from the ground up to higher angles. But the screen only tilts a little downwards so it can’t be used for framing overhead shots.
F3 captured very beautiful portraits during the test at the newsroom. It allows you to apply the soft skin effect for portrait shots so the face of your subject looks smooth and the skin tone fair. There are three levels of the soft skin effect – low, mid and high – to choose from.
And F3 is also equipped with Auto Portrait Framing mode that makes it easy to create portraits with a truly professional look. The mode uses Face Detection technology and the “rule of thirds” principle to produce an additional image that’s cropped into a beautifully balanced portrait.
The camera also uses By Pixel Super Resolution technology to increase the pixels of the cropped portraits, allowing them to have the same number of pixels as the original shots.
During the test, I found that the camera mostly cropped impressively looking portraits. But in some shots when there are more than two subjects, the camera might crop for the subject that you do not intend to highlight. If you find that happened, simply turn off the Auto Portrait Framing mode.
F3 provides 15 in-camera creative effects for photos and video. It can transform ordinary portraits into colourful works of art with Pop Color. Other effects include Miniature effect and Toy Camera Retro Photo, Partial Color (R,G,B,Y), Soft High-key, Soft Focus, and HDR Painting.
It provides eight Scene Modes, which are Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Sports action, Sunset, Night portrait, Night View, and Handheld Twilight.
I was impressed in the Handheld Twilight mode, which fires five shots then recomposes them into a clear and crisp shot with colourful night lights without the need of a tripod.
Like other models in the NEX lineup, F3 is easy to navigate through the functions, menus and modes. It has two soft-key buttons for interacting with the menus and provides a dedicated video recording button.
F3 has good performance. It took about 1.3 seconds from the start to be ready for the first shot. Its shutter lag was about 0.2 second, so short you probably won’t even notice it.
It is capable of shooting five frames per second in Speed Priority continuous shooting mode.
Its Continuous Drive mode, which lets you refocus every shot, can shoot about three frames per second.
F3 has a good battery life with more than 400 shots per one full charge. And it recharges when you connect it to a computer through its mini USB cable for transferring photo files to your PC.
The camera is also capable of recording Full HD 1080p video.
Sony NEX-F3 is available in three packages – F3K, F3D, and F3Y for Bt21,990, Bt24,990 and Bt28,990 respectively. The F3K comes with 18-55mm lens kit while F3D with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens and 16mm f2.8 lens and F3Y with 18-55 mm lens and 55-210mm f/4.5-6.3 lens.
Key specs
_ Lens Compatibility: Sony E-mount lenses
_ Image sensor: 16.1 megapixel APS-C type (23.5x15.6mm), "Exmor" APS HD CMOS sensor
_ Focus Area: Multi (25 points) / Center / Flexible spot selectable
_ Metering System Type: 1200-zone evaluative metering
_ Exposure Modes: Programmed AE, Aperture priority, Shutter-speed priority, Manual, Sweep Panorama, 3D Sweep Panorama, Anti Motion Blur, Scene Selection
_ Video recording: 1920 x 1080 (50p/28Mbps/PS, 50i/24Mbps/FX, 50i/17Mbps/ FH, 25p/24Mbps/FX, 25p/17Mbps/FH)
_ Shutter Speeds: 1/4000 to 30 sec, Bulb
_ ISO Sensitivity: AUTO (ISO200-3200), ISO200 to 16000 selectable (in 1EV steps
_ LCD Monitor: 3.0-inch wide TFT, Xtra Fine LCD with 921,600 dots
_ Recording media: Memory Stick Pro Duo, SD memory card
_ Interface: mini HDMI, mini USB
_ Battery: rechargeable NP-FW50 with 470 images per charge
_ Dimensions (W x H x D): 117.3 x 66.6 x 41.3mm (without protrusions)
_ Weight (Body Only): Approximately 255g
