Sony NEX-3 vs. Sony HX10V: Which Compact Camera Suits Your Photography Adventure?

Picture this: you’re a photography enthusiast scanning the market for a capable camera that won’t break the bank but still packs a punch whether you’re shooting portraits, landscapes, or even the occasional travel snap. Two contenders from Sony’s earlier lineup often come up in discussions - the mirrorless Sony NEX-3 and the compact superzoom Sony HX10V. Both launched a decade ago yet still maintain a curious presence in today’s used market due to their unique feature sets and price points.

Having spent countless hours testing and comparing cameras over 15 years, I’m excited to dig into these two, drawing from hands-on experience with similar tech and putting the specs to work in real-world shooting scenarios. This comprehensive comparison will address all major photography disciplines, along with technical, ergonomic, and value considerations to help you decide if the NEX-3 or HX10V (or neither) should be your next pocket or bag buddy.

Let’s dive in.

How They Look and Feel in Hand: Size, Handling, and Build

Before we geek out on sensors and pixels, the physical experience is key. After all, it’s the camera you hold, feel, and operate that you’ll grow to love (or hate).

Here, take a look at the size difference:

The Sony NEX-3 sports a classic rangefinder-style mirrorless body - more substantial, with a clamshell tilting 3-inch LCD but no viewfinder. It measures roughly 117 x 62 x 33mm and weighs 297g. On the other hand, the HX10V squeezes into an even smaller compact form - 105 x 60 x 34mm and 234g - designed for straightforward portability.

Both feel solid for their class despite the absence of weather sealing (something to note if you shoot outdoors in unpredictable conditions). The NEX-3’s grip and buttons cater nicely to those who appreciate a chunkier body to balance interchangeable lenses, whereas the HX10V’s ultra-minimalist compactness is a boon for street and travel shooters who want to stay light.

A peek at the top controls reveals the workflow differences in priorities:

The NEX-3 offers a dedicated mode dial covering manual, aperture priority, shutter priority, and program modes, inviting more hands-on control. The HX10V, meanwhile, leans towards simpler operation with fewer physical dials but packs optical stabilization and a powerful zoom on its fixed lens.

Ergonomic verdict: If you want a lightweight pocket camera out of the box with big zoom reach, HX10V fits perfectly. For photographers who cherish manual exposure controls and the option to swap lenses, the NEX-3’s bigger body and controls foster a more “pro” feel despite its entry-level positioning.

The Heart of the Matter: Sensors and Image Quality

Quality, sharpness, and noise performance hinge overwhelmingly on sensor size and technology. Let’s stack up these two in the crucial department.

The Sony NEX-3 employs a 14-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor - a sizeable 23.4 x 15.6mm chip, similar in dimensions to many DSLRs and mirrorless models even today. This larger sensor brings better dynamic range, color depth (22.1 bits vs. unknown for HX10V), and low-light performance (native ISO starting at 200, with usable results well into 800+ ISO territory).

In contrast, the HX10V’s 18-megapixel BSI-CMOS sensor is a tiny 1/2.3-inch (6.17 x 4.55mm). While it touts clever back-illumination technology to fight noise, the physical pixel size is much smaller, impacting especially low-light and high-dynamic-range scenarios. Its maximum ISO caps at 12800 like the NEX-3, but practically speaking, noise creeps in much earlier.

I tested both in a variety of lighting environments and took side-by-side shots, including these gallery samples where you can examine differences in detail retention, noise, and color fidelity:

Sony NEX 3 front Sony NEX 3 screen back Sony HX10V front Sony HX10V screen back

The NEX-3’s APS-C sensor shines in portrait and landscape shots - rendering skin tones naturally with pleasant tonal gradation and sharpness that holds up well at 100% zoom. The HX10V’s images appear softer and noisier, especially outdoors shadow areas or indoor low light.

Image quality takeaway: The NEX-3 is the clear winner for anyone serious about print-quality images or demanding scenes. The HX10V is more geared for casual shooters who prefer wide zoom flexibility without hassle, but at a cost to raw image fidelity.

Autofocus and Shooting Performance: Keeping Up with Action or Stillness

Autofocus systems can make or break your photo sessions, especially when speed, accuracy, or tracking comes into play.

The NEX-3 integrates a contrast-detection AF with 25 focus points, face detection, and single or continuous AF modes. It lacks phase-detection AF or exotic features like eye or animal detection which appeared in Sony models years later.

The HX10V, meanwhile, offers contrast-detection AF with 9 points but adds tracking autofocus, live-view with face detection, and fast single autofocus. Its burst rate tops out at 10fps, versus the NEX-3’s 7fps.

In practice, the HX10V’s hybrid superzoom lens paired with stabilized optics gives it an edge for quick grabs at wildlife or sports at moderate distances, though autofocus sometimes hunts in low light. The NEX-3’s contrast detection, while slower, benefits from interchangeable lenses that can focus faster depending on glass used.

For still life, portraits, and landscapes where you can take your time, the NEX-3 autofocus is reliable and precise. For fleeting moments at events or travel, the HX10V’s instant zoom and quicker burst mode helps get the shot.

Composing Your Shots: Viewfinder and Screen Insights

Neither camera boasts an electronic viewfinder, which cameras in this era often lacked, but both have 3-inch LCDs which differ in their tilt capabilities and quality.

The NEX-3’s tilt-up 3-inch TFT Xtra Fine LCD (920k dots) lets you shoot comfortably from high and low angles, a notable advantage for creative framing in macro, street, and portraits. The HX10V offers a fixed 3-inch XtraFine TruBlack LCD (922k dots), optimized for bright outdoor visibility but more restrictive for varied angles.

Being used to cameras like the NEX series, I appreciate the NEX-3’s articulating screen for awkward compositions. The HX10V, designed for quick snaps, puts all the processing punch behind its lens zoom rather than screen flexibility.

Lenses vs. Zoom: Choosing Your Focal Range

This comparison showcases a fundamental divergence in approach - interchangeable mirrorless vs. fixed-lens superzoom.

The NEX-3 uses the Sony E-mount, compatible with over 120 lenses ranging from fast primes to zoom telephotos and specialized optics. This flexibility means you can tailor the system exactly to your needs - want razor-sharp portraits with creamy bokeh? There’s an affordable 50mm f/1.8 lens. Craving wide expansive landscapes? Sony’s 10-18mm zoom fills that niche.

The HX10V’s 24-400mm (equivalent) fixed zoom covers everything from wide-angle to massive telephoto with stoppable apertures from f/3.3 to f/5.9. Though you cannot change lenses, this all-in-one convenience suits travelers or walk-around shooters who want fewer moving parts.

Bear in mind the HX10V’s smaller sensor paired with such a huge zoom results in less shallow depth of field (read: less creamy background blur) and lower overall image sharpness than dedicated prime lenses on the NEX-3 system.

If you’re a lens cheapskate wanting a budget-friendly zoom or hate changing glass mid-shoot, the HX10V wins for simplicity. But for optical quality, creative control, and future upgrade paths, the NEX-3 with E-mount lenses is the smarter play.

Battery Life and Storage: How Long and Where to Save

Both cameras have respectable battery life for their era, near 320-330 shots per charge, with proprietary battery packs (Sony NPFW50 for NEX-3, NP-BG1 for HX10V). Still, users should expect to carry spares for heavy shooting days, especially with the mirrorless NEX-3 since live view and autofocus consume power faster.

Storage-wise, both accept SD/SDHC/SDXC cards along with Sony’s Memory Stick variants, simplifying memory compatibility.

Video Skills: Basic Motion Capture with Some Differentiation

Though neither form a video powerhouse by today’s standards, differences exist worth noting.

• NEX-3: Shoots HD video at 1280 x 720 at 30fps using MPEG-4 codec. No microphone input or advanced stabilization.
• HX10V: Offers Full HD 1920 x 1080 at 60fps as well as AVCHD format recording with optical image stabilization built-in, enabling smoother handheld video.

The HX10V’s video capabilities are more versatile and stable because of its lens-based stabilization and higher frame rate options, making it better suited for casual videographers. The NEX-3 is limited to basic HD video capture and lacks manual video controls.

Shooting Genres: Which Camera Excels Where?

Let’s match these tools to key photography disciplines drawing on direct experience and the traits covered:

Portraits

• NEX-3: APS-C sensor excels at skin tone rendition and subject isolation with compatible primes delivering attractive bokeh.
• HX10V: Big zoom lens struggles to produce shallow depth of field; limited by small sensor noise at moderate ISO.

Winner: NEX-3

Landscapes

• NEX-3: Bigger sensor and accessory lenses allow high-resolution, detailed, dynamic range-rich images. Tilting screen aids composition.
• HX10V: Smaller sensor chops details and dynamic range; superzoom gives versatile focal lengths but trades image quality.

Winner: NEX-3

Wildlife

• NEX-3: Depends heavily on telephoto lens choice; autofocus slower, continuous shooting decent but not stellar.
• HX10V: Built-in 400mm equivalent zoom with stabilized optics, faster burst, better suited for casual wildlife snaps.

Winner: HX10V (for convenience), NEX-3 (for quality if paired with big lens)

Sports

• NEX-3: AF and burst speed limitations hinder fast action capture.
• HX10V: Faster continuous shooting, stable zoom lens gives edge in capturing quick sequences.

Winner: HX10V

Street Photography

• NEX-3: Sizeier and less discreet; tilting screen helpful for creative angles.
• HX10V: Compact, stealthier, simpler controls - great for candid shots.

Winner: HX10V

Macro Photography

• NEX-3: Benefit from dedicated macro lenses and precise manual focus controls.
• HX10V: 5cm macro focus range decent, but limited by fixed lens optics.

Winner: NEX-3

Night/Astro Photography

• NEX-3: Larger sensor better for low-light; ISO performance and manual exposure add flexibility.
• HX10V: Smaller sensor and noise degrade image quality under dark skies.

Winner: NEX-3

Travel Photography

• NEX-3: Offers versatility via lenses but adds bulk.
• HX10V: Lightweight, all-in-one zoom, GPS tagging included - ideal travel buddy.

Winner: HX10V

Professional Use

• NEX-3: Supports RAW, manual controls, and better image quality making it suitable as a backup or learning tool.
• HX10V: No RAW support, limits professional workflow integration.

Winner: NEX-3

Here’s a summarized take on genre-specific performance:

Under the Hood: Build Quality, Connectivity, and Workflow

Neither model impressively weather seals, so use caution shooting outdoors in rough conditions. Both offer Eye-Fi card connectivity support for wireless image transfer, HDMI output, and standard USB 2.0.

The NEX-3’s more modern sensor and lens interchangeability translate to better long-term workflow flexibility - especially if editing RAW files is in your toolkit. The HX10V’s lack of RAW means heavier JPEG compression waste - fine for snapshots but limiting for professional editing.

Price and Value: Stretching Your Photography Dollars

Originally launched at very different price points - the NEX-3 debuted as an affordable mirrorless entry-level body while the HX10V retailed as a capable compact superzoom - today, both exist largely on the used market at lower prices. The HX10V generally costs a bit more due to its superzoom and video features; the NEX-3 may be found cheaply but requires expenditure on lenses.

For budget-conscious buyers: the NEX-3 paired with a kit lens offers the best image quality bang for your buck in static and creative photography. The HX10V’s all-in-one appeal suits those needing hassle-free zoom versatility from a pocketable form factor.

To visualize their overall comparative performance, here’s an expert rating breakdown:

Wrapping It Up: Which Sony Should Land in Your Kit?

And now for the verdict you’ve been waiting for.

Choose the Sony Alpha NEX-3 if you:

• Crave better image quality with a larger sensor and RAW support
• Want manual control modes and creative flexibility with lenses
• Shoot portraits, landscapes, macro, or indoor/night scenes frequently
• Are okay investing in lenses to grow your system over time
• Appreciate a tilt LCD for tricky framing
• Don’t mind a slightly larger body for better ergonomics

Choose the Sony Cyber-shot HX10V if you:

• Seek a truly pocketable camera with ultra zoom reach (24-400mm)
• Prioritize portability and simplicity without changing lenses
• Want better video specs and stabilization in a compact
• Shoot sports, wildlife, or travel where quick bursts and zoom matter
• Prefer a ready-to-go all-in-one option with GPS tagging
• Are fine working within JPEG constraints and small sensor limitations

This side-by-side comparison reveals that these cameras, despite both coming from Sony, cater to quite different photography philosophies and user needs. The NEX-3 is a gateway mirrorless for enthusiasts with creative ambition, while the HX10V serves as an all-in-one travel and casual shooter with an impressive zoom arsenal.

If budget permits, I’d suggest the NEX-3 system for those willing to invest some time and money into lenses and post-processing. For travelers, street photographers, or anyone who values speed and simplicity, the HX10V remains a compelling vintage compact.

Happy shooting with whichever Sony you choose - both have stories captured in them waiting to happen.

If you’d like to see the cameras and lenses in action across shooting scenarios or dig deeper technical notes on sensor tests and autofocus benchmarks, drop a comment below!