Sony NEX-3 vs Sony WX300

On this page, we are evaluating the Sony NEX-3 vs Sony WX300, one being a Entry-Level Mirrorless and the other is a Small Sensor Superzoom and both of them are built by Sony. There is a huge difference between the image resolutions of the NEX-3 (14MP) and WX300 (18MP) and the NEX-3 (APS-C) and WX300 (1/2.3") boast totally different sensor measurements.

Photography Glossary

The NEX-3 was launched 3 years earlier than the WX300 and that is quite a significant gap as far as tech is concerned. Both of these cameras have different body design with the Sony NEX-3 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Sony WX300 being a Compact camera.

Before diving right into a complete comparison, here is a short summation of how the NEX-3 grades against the WX300 with regard to portability, imaging, features and an overall grade.

Following is a sample of the gallery pictures for Sony Alpha NEX-3 and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX300. The complete galleries are provided at Sony NEX-3 Gallery and Sony WX300 Gallery.

For anybody who is looking to lug around your camera regularly, you have to factor in its weight and dimensions. The Sony NEX-3 comes with outer measurements of 117mm x 62mm x 33mm (4.6" x 2.4" x 1.3") and a weight of 297 grams (0.65 lbs) and the Sony WX300 has dimensions of 96mm x 55mm x 25mm (3.8" x 2.2" x 1.0") along with a weight of 166 grams (0.37 lbs).

Examine the Sony NEX-3 vs Sony WX300 in the all new Camera with Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Keep in mind, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will differ dependant on the lens you use at the time. Following is a front view overall size comparison of the NEX-3 against the WX300.

Looking at size and weight, the portability grade of the NEX-3 and WX300 is 89 and 94 respectively.

Oftentimes, its difficult to visualise the difference between sensor measurements simply by reading through specs. The photograph below will help provide you a better sense of the sensor measurements in the NEX-3 and WX300.

All in all, both cameras have different resolutions and different sensor measurements. The NEX-3 due to its larger sensor will make shooting shallower depth of field simpler and the Sony WX300 will give you more detail utilizing its extra 4 Megapixels. Greater resolution will also make it easier to crop images a bit more aggressively. The older NEX-3 is going to be disadvantaged when it comes to sensor technology.