Sony NEX-F3 vs Sony W290

Let's look a little more closely at the Sony NEX-F3 and Sony W290, former is a Entry-Level Mirrorless while the other is a Small Sensor Compact and both of them are manufactured by Sony. There exists a substantial gap between the image resolutions of the NEX-F3 (16MP) and W290 (12MP) and the NEX-F3 (APS-C) and W290 (1/2.3") posses different sensor measurements.

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The NEX-F3 was brought out 3 years after the W290 which is quite a big difference as far as technology is concerned. Both of the cameras have different body design with the Sony NEX-F3 being a Rangefinder-style mirrorless camera and the Sony W290 being a Compact camera.

Before delving straight to a full comparison, here is a short summary of how the NEX-F3 matches up vs the W290 in the way of portability, imaging, features and an overall score.

This is a sample of the gallery pics for Sony Alpha NEX-F3 & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W290. The entire galleries are viewable at Sony NEX-F3 Gallery & Sony W290 Gallery.

For anyone who is aiming to carry around your camera, you are going to need to factor in its weight and dimensions. The Sony NEX-F3 has outside measurements of 117mm x 67mm x 42mm (4.6" x 2.6" x 1.7") along with a weight of 314 grams (0.69 lbs) whilst the Sony W290 has dimensions of 98mm x 57mm x 23mm (3.9" x 2.2" x 0.9") having a weight of 167 grams (0.37 lbs).

Contrast the Sony NEX-F3 and Sony W290 in our newest Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an ILC will change dependant on the lens you choose at the time. Following is a front view measurement comparison of the NEX-F3 compared to the W290.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the NEX-F3 and W290 is 86 and 94 respectively.

Normally, it is very hard to picture the contrast between sensor sizes merely by looking at technical specs. The pic below will help provide you a far better sense of the sensor measurements in the NEX-F3 and W290.

As you have seen, each of these cameras provide different resolutions and different sensor sizes. The NEX-F3 due to its larger sensor is going to make achieving shallow DOF less difficult and the Sony NEX-F3 will give more detail having its extra 4MP. Greater resolution will also let you crop pics more aggressively. The more recent NEX-F3 should have an advantage in sensor tech.