Sony A3000, faux dSLR (pictures)

You don't realize how small the A3000 is until you see how it's dwarfed by Josh Goldman's big man-hands. It's a good size for my dainty ladyfingers, though.

Despite the low price and some other sacrifices, the A3000 does have a built-in stereo microphone. Sony's rolling out a black version of the 18-55mm E-mount kit lens to match the camera.

The A3000 has the expected manual, semimanual and automatic modes. Interestingly, the physical mode dial is one trait the A3000 doesn't jettison like the other entry-level NEX models.

The camera has the same programmable button/dial system as on the NEX cameras.

You can see the NEX system's menu architecture on the inside.

One of the perks of the dSLR-style design is that there's room for the SD card slot on the side of the camera instead of awkwardly placed in the battery compartment. On the other hand, the USB connector is in the SD compartment, which I'm not thrilled about.