Pentax I-10 vs Sony NEX-3N

Its time to take a deeper look at the Pentax I-10 vs Sony NEX-3N, one being a Small Sensor Compact and the latter is a Entry-Level Mirrorless by manufacturers Pentax and Sony. There is a huge difference among the sensor resolutions of the I-10 (12MP) and NEX-3N (16MP) and the I-10 (1/2.3") and NEX-3N (APS-C) come with totally different sensor dimensions.

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The I-10 was manufactured 4 years earlier than the NEX-3N and that is a fairly significant gap as far as camera tech is concerned. Each of these cameras come with different body type with the Pentax I-10 being a Compact camera and the Sony NEX-3N being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera.

Before getting straight into a detailed comparison, below is a quick view of how the I-10 matches up against the NEX-3N with regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Below is a preview of the gallery images for Pentax Optio I-10 and Sony Alpha NEX-3N. The entire galleries are provided at Pentax I-10 Gallery and Sony NEX-3N Gallery.

For those who are planning to lug around your camera frequently, you'll have to factor its weight and size. The Pentax I-10 comes with exterior dimensions of 101mm x 65mm x 28mm (4.0" x 2.6" x 1.1") with a weight of 153 grams (0.34 lbs) while the Sony NEX-3N has specifications of 110mm x 62mm x 35mm (4.3" x 2.4" x 1.4") accompanied by a weight of 269 grams (0.59 lbs).

Check out the Pentax I-10 vs Sony NEX-3N in the new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ based on the lens you are utilising at that time. The following is the front view overall size comparison of the I-10 versus the NEX-3N.

Considering size and weight, the portability rating of the I-10 and NEX-3N is 93 and 89 respectively.

In many cases, its difficult to visualise the gap in sensor measurements only by viewing technical specs. The visual below should offer you a greater sense of the sensor sizes in the I-10 and NEX-3N.

As you can tell, the two cameras have got different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The I-10 featuring a smaller sensor will make getting bokeh harder and the Sony NEX-3N will result in extra detail due to its extra 4MP. Higher resolution will also make it easier to crop shots much more aggressively. The older I-10 will be disadvantaged in sensor technology.