Sony NEX-3N Flash

Coverage and Range
A weak flash with narrow, uneven coverage at wide angle. Our standard indoor portrait shot was dim.

Coverage. Flash coverage was quite narrow and uneven at wide-angle (16mm), but keep in mind 16mm is wider than most kit lenses. Narrow coverage at wide-angle isn't unusual, though, as manufacturers look to increase range by concentrating the light. Coverage was much more uniform at telephoto (50mm).

Exposure. Our Indoor Portrait test scene was dim even with +1.0 EV flash exposure compensation, and didn't increase in brightness at higher settings. The average amount of flash exposure compensation required for this scene is +0.7 EV, so the NEX-3N performs below average here. The camera's Slow-Sync flash mode however produced very bright results with no flash exposure compensation, though with a stronger orange cast from the room lighting.

ISO 200 Range. With the 16-50mm kit lens, flash exposures started out bright at 6 feet at wide-angle but brightness fell off from there.  At full telephoto, flash exposures started out dim at 6 feet and decreased in brightness from then on.

Manufacturer Specified Flash Test. The Sony NEX-3N's built-in flash unit is rated with a Guide Number of 6 meters / 19.6 feet at ISO 200 or 4 m / 13.1 ft. at ISO 100. That works out to about 5.6 feet at f/3.5 and 3.5 feet at f/5.6 and ISO 200, the maximum apertures of the kit zoom lens. In the test shots above, the NEX-3N performs as Sony says it will, producing bright flash exposures at the rated distances with ISO set to 200.

Our standard test method for flash range uses a fixed setting of ISO 200, to provide a fair basis of comparison between cameras. We've now also begun shooting two shots using the manufacturer-specified camera settings, at the range the company claims for the camera, to assess the validity of the specific claims.