Mirrorless, interchangeable-lens digital cameras are probably the hottest trend in digital photography right now, with some of the major players in this segment introducing at least one series of products of this type onto the market, including here Sony, who launched early in May 2010 the NEX series of pocket DSLRs, as we like to call them.

As you will certainly remember, we've had the chance to take quite a close look at two of the first such mirrorless interchangeable lens digital cameras, namely the Olympus PEN E-P1 and its successor, the E-PL1, which are excellent imagers, so we had some pretty high expectations from the camera developed by Sony.

And sure enough, the NEX-3 (which, by the way, is almost identical to the NEX-5 model, apart from the magnesium body and video recording capabilities) really managed to impress us, since Sony's approach to this segment delivers not only an impressive level of quality, but also certain features that will enable photographers to take very nice pictures, in almost all conditions.

In fact, whether you're an amateur getting your first taste at photography, an advanced user wanting to move on from that point-and-shooter to something that will feel familiar, yet deliver much more options and improved image quality, or a seasoned photographer looking for a secondary camera to replace your big DSLR in your leisure time, the NEX-3 from Sony will certainly rise up to the challenge, its broad array of available features offering a little something for everyone.

Of course, there's also plenty of room for improvement in future models, but even so, the NEX-3 is one fully-featured pocket DSLR, as you'll be able to see for yourselves as follows.