Noise, resolution and sensitivity
Image: The same image taken at multiple ISO values shows that detail remains impressive up to ISO 6400 and appears almost noise-free beyond ISO 1600
The Sony NEX-F3’s 16.1-million-pixel sensor delivers a decent level of detail, and noise remains well controlled throughout the range. On our test chart the camera scored 26 on the raw file and 24 on JPEG at the base ISO 200 sensitivity. Impressively, these scores remain constant up to ISO 3200 and only drop to 24 (raw) and 22 (JPEG) at ISO 6400.
Noise levels in the JPEG files remain well controlled up to ISO 6400, too, although unprocessed raw files show that luminance noise is present from ISO 400. Only the ISO 12,800 and 16,000 settings become unusable for critical work, but even at ISO 16,000 detail remains impressive, scoring 20 from the raw and JPEG files.
These images show 72ppi (100% on a computer screen) sections of images of a resolution chart, captured using the Sony Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 24mm f/1.8 ZA lens. We show the section of the resolution chart where the camera starts to fail to reproduce the lines separately. The higher the number visible in these images, the better the camera’s detail resolution at the specified sensitivity setting.
