Sony NEX-3N

The NEX-3N is a small mirrorless camera from 2013 that puts an APS-C sensor into a body weighing 269 grams. At 110 x 62 x 35 mm, it fits a jacket pocket or a small bag.

It uses the Sony E mount, and you frame every shot on the tilting LCD because there is no viewfinder. If you are happy composing on a screen, that keeps the handling simple and the weight down. Anyone who prefers raising a camera to their eye will need to adapt.

That mix suits travellers and everyday photographers who want large-sensor images without a large camera. It fits less well if you shoot fast action or want to control the camera from a phone.

At the heart of the camera is a 16 megapixel APS-C sensor working with the Bionz processor. Our Optics score of 55 is modest, and the camera sits around the middle of cameras in our database for Optics.

Sensitivity runs from ISO 200 to 16000, so you can keep shooting as the light drops without reaching for the flash straight away. Like any camera of this vintage, it pays to judge the results from the higher settings for yourself before relying on them.

In-body stabilisation is a genuine strength here. It steadies the camera at slower shutter speeds, which helps indoors, in the evening and with longer lenses. Remember that it counters your own shake, not the movement of your subject.

The practical limits are in shooting speed. The maximum burst of 4fps and the 1/4000 top shutter speed favour deliberate framing over rapid sequences, and the autofocus system offers 25 points.

The NEX-3N records video in Full HD, with frame rates reaching 50fps, and saves its files in the AVCHD format. Our Video score of 47 is modest, with the Full HD resolution ceiling and the 50fps frame rate as the main contributors.

That is enough for family clips, holidays and other casual projects. The 50fps ceiling also gives footage smooth motion in ordinary playback, and it leaves some room to slow clips down in editing for a gentle slow-motion effect.

There is no built-in intervalometer for timelapses, so the camera cannot run a time-lapse sequence on its own. If you want that kind of footage, you will need to shoot the frames by other means and assemble them yourself afterwards.

Handling centres on the 3-inch LCD. The screen tilts, which helps with shots over a crowd or close to the ground, and live view keeps framing simple. With 460,000 dots it is fine for composition but shows less detail when you are checking focus closely. Our Features score of 36 is limited.

A built-in flash gives you fill light indoors, which is handy on a body this small. There is no support for an external flash, though, so you cannot add a more powerful unit.

There is no Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, so images cannot leave the camera wirelessly, and with no GPS it cannot tag location data on its own.

There is no weather sealing either, so keep it under cover in rain, spray or heavy dust rather than relying on the body to shrug it off.

Storage runs through a single card slot that accepts SD, SDHC and SDXC cards as well as Memory Stick Pro Duo and Pro-HG Duo. The Memory Stick option is mainly useful if you already own older Sony media; otherwise an SD card is the natural choice.

The NP-FW50 battery is rated for 480 shots. That figure is a useful guide, though how long it lasts in practice depends on your settings and shooting style.

You cannot charge over USB, so topping up means the dedicated mains charger and a power socket. A spare battery is worth packing for long days away from one.

Our Storage & Battery score of 27 is limited, with the single card slot and the absence of USB charging among the factors behind it.