Sony a3500

Sony a3500 is Sony's Entry-Level Mirrorless camera initially revealed on March of 2014. The camera includes a 20MP, CMOS APS-C sized sensor and has a max resolution of 5456 x 3632.

Sony launched this camera as a way to update the previous Sony A3000 (Read Full Comparison)

The a3500 comes in at #65 out of 117 in Entry-Level Mirrorless cameras and over-all #324 out of 1465 for digital cameras in our collection. You should try out our Smart camera finder to get camera listings based on your custom requirements.

The following is a diagram of specific factors used in the rating system.

The Sony a3500 is part of a family of products. You can read the detailed range underneath.

You can check the a3500 from several angles in the gallery here.

Below is a collection of advantages and disadvantages of the Sony a3500 based on aspects which are normally considered important in a camera.

The Sony a3500 is powered by the BIONZ image processor chip. The sensor spec on the Sony a3500 is 23.5mm x 15.6mm (APS-C). The 367 mm² sensor can capture 5456 x 3632 pixels and aspect ratios of 3:2 and 16:9.

Photography Glossary

The CMOS sensor boasts 20 megapixels and features a native ISO range of 100 to 16000. RAW format is supported which means that you have wider room to maneuver in post.

The graphic underneath illustrates the a3500's sensor dimensions when compared to other common sizes. The a3500 sensor comes with a crop factor of 1.5 and is showcased in green.

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To get a sense of specific aspect ratios, you should refer to the visual below.

Sony a3500 weighs about 0.91 lbs (411 grams / 14.50 oz) and features external proportions of 128mm x 91mm x 85mm (5.0" x 3.6" x 3.3"). The weight of typical Entry-Level Mirrorless camera is 329 grams and the Sony a3500 is heavier when compared to its rivals.

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Down below is a picture of the Sony a3500 beside a softdrink to help you to have a feel for its scale.

The top view just below will highlight the button layout on the a3500.

The a3500 fits the Sony E mount and has 170 lenses that you can buy. Below is a small number of the lenses we have in our database which will work with the a3500.

ModelVisualizeFocal LengthApertureStabilizedWeight

Sony FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS70-200mmf/2.8 1480g

Sigma 30mm F2.8 DN30mmf/2.8 135g

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Tokina atx-m 33mm F1.4 E33mmf/1.4285g

Sony FE 28-70mm F3.5-5.6 OSS28-70mmf/3.5-5.6 426g

Samyang Reflex 300mm f6.3 ED UMC CS300mmf/6.3 318g

Sony FE 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 G OSS70-300mmf/4.5-5.6 854g

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Venus Laowa 10-18mm F4.5-5.6 FE Zoom10-18mmf/4.5-5.6496g

The a3500 has the following connectivity:

• USB Yes
• HDMI Yes

Digital cameras that come with NFC and / or Bluetooth compatibility can be controlled wirelessly via smartphones. You will be able to copy pictures and sometimes adjust camera settings without the hassle of connecting straight to the camera.

Several applications even give a Liveview and hit the shutter when you are not close to the camera. If the camera provides a HDMI out, it can be hooked up to an external display. The majority of cameras enable you to charge the battery pack through the USB socket.

The max video quality on the Sony a3500 is 1920 x 1080 and it can shoot in AVCHD and H.264 format. 1080p quality delivers a great balance for quality vs file sizes but 1080p won't give you much room to crop. The camera does not have a mic and / or headphone jack which means you get little control over your audio. It is probably best to have a look at another model in case you need good audio in your video clips.

There is no environment proofing for the Sony a3500 so you need to be careful in wet and dusty conditions.

The Sony a3500 includes a 3 inch fixed screen supporting a resolution of 230 thousand dots.

Unfortunately the screen is not a touch screen.

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The ViewFinder specifications regarding Sony a3500 are as follows:

• ViewFinder Electronic
• ViewFinder Coverage 100%
• ViewFinder Magnification 0.47x

Viewfinders are really handy for sunny outdoor conditions which will make the camera display washed out and hard to view.

Sony a3500 continuous shooting rate is 4.0 frames per second. The highest shutter speed is 1/4000 seconds.

Sony a3500 boasts both inbuilt flash and also external flash support. The highest flash sync is 1/160 seconds.

Sony a3500 boasts just Contrast Detect Autofocus and is missing Phase Detect Autofocus. Phase Detection autofocusing is more faster & precise when compared to Contrast Detect autofocusing. The camera includes Face detect which can be helpful for taking photos of people.

The Sensor includes 25 focus points to select from. It also has Tracking Autofocus for objects that move. Sony a3500 comes with manual focus when required for low light occasions or you need more exact focus control.

The battery pack (NP-FW50) for the Sony a3500 is fashioned to last for 470 photos according to the CIPA specifications making it higher than average when compared to its class. The usual Entry-Level Mirrorless camera battery life is 343. Fujifilm X-S20 has the maximum (750) battery life for this group of cameras.

Following is a listing of Entry-Level Mirrorless cameras which have the highest battery life:

ModelVisualizeBattery LifeRAWNFCBluetooth

Fujifilm X-S20
a3500 vs X-S20750 yesnoyes

Samsung NX mini
a3500 vs NX mini650 yesnono

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Pentax K-01
a3500 vs K-01540 yesnono

Sony NEX-3N
a3500 vs NEX-3N480 yesnono

Sony NEX-F3
a3500 vs NEX-F3470 yesnono

The following chart gives a summary of the Sony a3500 for varying categories of photography. To learn more, visit the specific paragraph underneath.

The Sony a3500 has a points tally of 77 which is impressive, meaning that it is a tremendous choice for portraits. Taking portrait images favors heavily to sensor specs, RAW support along with the option to work with off-camera flash.

With a reasonable rating of 57, the Sony a3500 is relatively suitable to use in street photography. A very good street photography camera offers a fine balance of picture quality plus portability.

A modest sports photography score of 60 means the Sony a3500 is somewhat acceptable for shooting sports. A camera needs excellent autofocus plus fast shutter speeds for sports photography.

Size is extremely crucial in getting a travel camera. On the whole, the Sony a3500 gets a modest 60 for a travelling camera which makes it somewhat adequate to purchase for your vacations.

If you are planning to pick a digital camera for landscape photos, the most important factor will no doubt be image quality. The Sony a3500 and it's above average grade of 70 for a landscape camera is a fine choice within the current marketplace.

A camera for vlogging should posses a moving display, mic input and preferably image stabilization. Taking everything in to account, the Sony a3500 is not very good for vlogging as it delivers a terrible rating of 26.

If you are searching for alternatives to the a3500, below is a collection of the top ranked cameras that fall within the class of Entry-Level Mirrorless.

The graph here provides you a bird's eye view of the a3500 compared to it's highest ranking competitors listed earlier.

Following are several cameras you may look into as alternate options. To read a comprehensive comparison, click the "compare" link.