Sony FX30 vs Sony Alpha 3000

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Sony FX30 and the Sony Alpha 3000, highlighting the advantages of each over the other, discussing their pros and cons, shared strengths and weaknesses, and providing a rating based on their available features and specifications to assist you in choosing the one that best suits your needs.

Sony FX30 was introduced in September 2022 and Sony Alpha 3000 was introduced in August 2013. Let us first list highlights of the models.

Now that we've looked at the most essential specifications and gained a basic understanding of these cameras, we can delve into more details and see the differences between them.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Sony FX30 over Sony Alpha 3000.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Sony Alpha 3000 over Sony FX30.

We already listed pros and cons of each model. However, you may also find useful to look at their common strengths and weaknesses shown side-by-side.

Screen

Sony FX30 and Sony Alpha 3000 have 3.0" screens with 2,360k dot and 230k dot resolutions respectively. Sony FX30 has a Fully Articulated screen which makes it selfie and vlogger friendly and generally very useful for video shooting. Sony Alpha 3000 has a Fixed screen Sony FX30 also features touchscreen which has advantages such as easy menu navigation, intuitive controls, quick setting adjustment and most importantly a Touch-to-Focus functionality allowing users to select a specific point on the screen where they want the camera to focus. This feature can be helpful for achieving precise focus in both photo and video recording.

Electronic Viewfinder on Sony Alpha 3000

Sony Alpha 3000 has a built-in Electronic viewfinder. It has a 100% coverage and 0.70x (0.47x 35mm equivalent) magnification. There is no built-in or optional viewfinder available on Sony FX30.

Sony FX30 features a 26 megapixel APS-C BSI-CMOS sensor with dimensions of 23.3 x 15.6 mm and a total area of 363.5 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 32,000 and expands to 50 - 102,400 in boosted mode. Sony Alpha 3000 features a 20.1 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor with dimensions of 23.5 x 15.6 mm and a total area of 243.4 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 16,000.

Sony FX30 has BSI-CMOS sensor, short for Backside Illuminated Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor sensor. In traditional CMOS sensors, the wiring and circuitry are located on the front side of the sensor, which can block some of the incoming light. BSI technology flips this design by placing the photosensitive elements (pixels) on the backside of the sensor, allowing more light to reach the pixels. This significantly enhances light sensitivity and improves low-light performance. BSI-CMOS sensors are particularly effective in low-light conditions, as they can capture more light, resulting in brighter and less noisy images. This makes them well-suited for indoor and night photography. BSI-CMOS sensors deliver a higher SNR and reduced cross-talk.

Here is a sensor size comparison chart where you can see how different sensors compare with each other:

Sensor size chart

	Sensor	Dimensions	Area	Aspect Ratio	Crop Factor
	Medium Format	44 x 33 mm	1452 mm2	4:3	0.79x
	Full Frame	36 x 24 mm	864 mm2	3:2	1x
	APS-H	27 x 18 mm	486 mm2	3:2	1.3x
	APS-C	23.6 x 15.6 mm	368.2 mm2	3:2	1.5x
	APS-C (Canon)	22.3 x 14.9 mm	332.3 mm2	3:2	1.6x
	Micro Four Thirds	17.4 x 13 mm	226.2 mm2	4:3	2x
	1-inch	13.2 x 8.8 mm	116.2 mm2	3:2	2.7x
	1/1.7-inch	7.44 x 5.58 mm	41.5 mm2	4:3	4.7x
	1/2.3-inch	6.17 x 4.55 mm	28.1 mm2	4:3	5.6x

Sony FX30 is equipped with BIONZ XR processor and can take pictures up to 6192 x 4128 resolution. Sony Alpha 3000 is equipped with BIONZ processor and can take pictures up to 5456 x 3632 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 3872 x 2576, 2736 x 1824 with 3:2, 16:9 aspect ratios.

Lens Mount

Cameras have Sony E lens mount. Due to their APS-C sensor their crop factor (also called lens multiplier) is equal to 1.5x. This means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length times 1.5.

In-Body Image Stabilization on Sony FX30

Sony FX30 has a built-in 5-Axis Sensor Shift in-body image stabilization (IBIS) with 5.5 stops of compensation. This means that you are still getting vibration reduction when camera is paired with non-image stabilizied lenses. It also works with lenses with optical image stabilization and in combination can achieve even better compensation.

Built-in Wi-Fi on Sony FX30

Sony FX30 has a built-in Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi 5, 802.11ac/b/g/n, 2.4/5 GHz) which allows to easily transfer photos and videos from the camera to other Wi-Fi-enabled devices, such as smartphones, tablets, printers, or computers. This eliminates the need for cables and allows for quick and convenient media sharing and social media integration. It gives you the ability to control your camera remotely using a smartphone or tablet. This is particularly useful for taking self-portraits, group shots, or capturing images in challenging conditions without having to touch the camera. Firmware updates can also be downloaded and installed wirelessly.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in WiFi.

Bluetooth on Sony FX30

Sony FX30 has a built-in Bluetooth (version 5) which lets you to connect the camera to a smartphone or a dedicated remote control device. This allows you to remotely trigger the camera, adjust settings and controls remotely through a paired mobile app. While Wi-Fi is generally faster for transferring larger files, Bluetooth can be used for small, selective transfers, it can provide real-time information about your camera's battery status, memory card capacity, and other key settings directly on your paired smartphone or smartwatch.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in Bluetooth.

USB Inputs and HDMI Outputs

Both models have USB inputs for data transfer. Sony FX30 has a Full Size HDMI and Sony Alpha 3000 has a Type C Mini HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Sony FX30 comes with NP-FZ100 battery pack with battery life of 570 shots and Sony Alpha 3000 comes with NP-FW50 battery pack with battery life of 470 shots.

External Storage Slots

Sony FX30 has Dual CFexpress Type A / SD card slots. Sony Alpha 3000 has a single card slot.

Shutter

Sony FX30 has Electronic Rolling shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/8000 sec on Sony FX30, and up to 1/4000 sec on Sony Alpha 3000. Sony FX30 can shoot continuously up to 10.0 fps. Sony Alpha 3000 can shoot continuously up to 2.5 fps.

Focusing

Sony FX30 has 759 focusing points and Sony Alpha 3000 has Contrast-detection AF system with 25 focusing points. Sony FX30 has detection range from -3 to +20 EV.

Flash

Sony Alpha 3000 has a built-in flash with maximum range of 4m at ISO100 and also accepts external flash which can be connected via Hot Shoe. Sony FX30 has no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/160 sec on Sony Alpha 3000.

Sony FX30 body has dimensions of 130 x 78 x 85 mm (5.11 x 3.06 x 3.33") and Sony Alpha 3000 body has dimensions of 128 x 91 x 85 mm (5.04 x 3.58 x 3.35"). Sony FX30 weighs 646 g (1.42 lb / 22.79 oz) and Sony Alpha 3000 weighs 411 g (0.91 lb / 14.50 oz).

Sony FX30

Sony Alpha 3000

130 mm

78 mm

128 mm

91 mm

78 mm

91 mm

85 mm

85 mm