Sony NEX-3 vs Sony RX100 IV

Its time to look a little more closely at the Sony NEX-3 and Sony RX100 IV, former being a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the other is a Large Sensor Compact and they are both produced by Sony. There exists a sizable gap between the image resolutions of the NEX-3 (14MP) and RX100 IV (20MP) and the NEX-3 (APS-C) and RX100 IV (1") provide different sensor size.

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The NEX-3 was launched 6 years prior to the RX100 IV and that is quite a significant difference as far as technology is concerned. Both cameras have different body design with the Sony NEX-3 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Sony RX100 IV being a Large Sensor Compact camera.

Before getting right into a complete comparison, here is a brief summary of how the NEX-3 matches up versus the RX100 IV for portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Here is a sample of the gallery pics for Sony Alpha NEX-3 & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 IV. The complete galleries are provided at Sony NEX-3 Gallery & Sony RX100 IV Gallery.

For anyone who is planning to lug around your camera frequently, you're going to have to take into account its weight and size. The Sony NEX-3 has got outside dimensions of 117mm x 62mm x 33mm (4.6" x 2.4" x 1.3") and a weight of 297 grams (0.65 lbs) while the Sony RX100 IV has specifications of 102mm x 58mm x 41mm (4.0" x 2.3" x 1.6") having a weight of 298 grams (0.66 lbs).

See the Sony NEX-3 and Sony RX100 IV in our brand new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Take into account, the weight of an ILC will change dependant on the lens you use at that moment. The following is a front view dimensions comparison of the NEX-3 against the RX100 IV.

Taking into account dimensions and weight, the portability rating of the NEX-3 and RX100 IV is 89 and 89 respectively.

Typically, it is very difficult to picture the difference between sensor measurements just by looking at specs. The photograph below may give you a greater sense of the sensor sizes in the NEX-3 and RX100 IV.

All in all, each of the cameras have different megapixels and different sensor measurements. The NEX-3 featuring a larger sensor is going to make achieving shallow DOF simpler and the Sony RX100 IV will give you extra detail utilizing its extra 6MP. Greater resolution will also help you crop pics a bit more aggressively. The older NEX-3 is going to be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor innovation.