CameraDecision
  • CAMERAS
  • LENSES
  • TOOLS
    • Smart Find
    • 1-on-1 Comparison
    • Size Comparison
  • BRANDS
    • Sony Cameras
    • Canon Cameras
    • Nikon Cameras
    • Pentax Cameras
    • Fujifilm Cameras
    • Olympus Cameras
    • Panasonic Cameras
    • Leica Cameras
    • Samsung Cameras
  • BODY TYPE
    • Mirrorless Cameras
    • DSLR Cameras
    • Compact Cameras
    • Bridge Cameras
    • Waterproof Cameras

Nikon L120 vs Sony A3000 Comparison

x
Camera to replace
Change

Nikon L120

14 MP | 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) CCD Sensor

Nikon L120
CHECK PRICE
CHECK PRICE
Change

Sony A3000

20 MP | APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm) CMOS Sensor

Sony A3000
CHECK PRICE
CHECK PRICE
Nikon L120 vs Sony A3000 Comparison Overview

Here we are comparing two cameras with different body types: Nikon L120, which was introduced in February 2011 is a Small Sensor Superzoom camera with a 14.0MP 1/2.3-inch sensor whereas Sony A3000, which was introduced in August 2013 is a Entry-Level Mirrorless camera with a 20.0MP APS-C sensor. As you can see, L120 is 2 years older than A3000. Let's see if this age difference between two cameras makes a big difference.

Comparing an interchangeble lens camera to a fixed lens camera is a bit tricky but we will do our best to make this a fair comparison.

Here is a brief look at the main features of Nikon L120 and Sony A3000 before getting into our more detailed comparison.

Nikon L120 Key Specs

  • Announcement Date: 2011-02-09
  • 14MP - 1/2.3-inch CCD Sensor
  • ISO 80 - 6400
  • 25-525 mm F3.1-5.8 Zoom Lens
  • Sensor-shift Image Stabilization
  • 3" Fixed Type Screen
  • 1 fps continuous shooting
  • HD - 1280 x 720 video resolution
  • 431g. 110 x 77 x 78 mm
  • Replaced Nikon Coolpix L110 Compare

Sony A3000 Key Specs

  • Announcement Date: 2013-08-27
  • 20MP - APS-C CMOS Sensor
  • ISO 100 - 16000
  • Sony E Mount
  • 3" Fixed Type Screen
  • Electronic viewfinder
  • 3 fps continuous shooting
  • Full HD - 1920 x 1080 video resolution
  • 411g. 128 x 91 x 85 mm

Let's read on the following sections in order to better understand in detail how Nikon L120 and Sony A3000 compares and hopefully end up with enough arguments to decide which one is better for you.

Reasons to choose Nikon Coolpix L120 over Sony Alpha A3000
Image Stabilization
Sensor-shift vs None Sharper images at longer focal lengths and long exposures
LCD Screen Resolution
921k dots vs 230k dots 299% higher resolution screen


Reasons to choose Sony Alpha A3000 over Nikon Coolpix L120
External Flash Shoe
Yes vs No Better for flash photography
Viewfinder
Electronic vs None Better framing and control
RAW Support
Yes vs No Better image quality
Max Sensor Resolution
20 MP vs 14 MP 42% more pixels
Max ISO
16.000 vs 6.400 150% higher Max ISO
Number of Focus Points
25 vs 9 16 more focus points
Continuous Shooting
3.0fps vs 1.0fps 2 fps faster
Battery Life
470 shots vs 330 shots 140 more frames with a single charge
Weight
411 g vs 431 g 20 g lighter
Manual Exposure
Yes vs No better exposure control
Sensor Pixel Area
18.50µm2 vs 2.01µm2 820% larger pixel area
Max Video Resolution
1920 x 1080 vs 1280 x 720 Higher Resolution Video
AE Bracketing
Yes vs No Useful for tough lighting conditions and HDR

Common Strengths of Nikon Coolpix L120 and Sony Alpha A3000
Built-in Flash
Yes vs Yes Useful in low-light
Face Detection Focus
Yes vs Yes very handy for portraits
Common Weaknesses of Nikon Coolpix L120 and Sony Alpha A3000
Fixed Screen
Fixed Type vs No No flexible viewing angles
Environmental Sealing
No vs No not suitable for tough conditions
Nikon L120 vs Sony A3000: Physical Specs and Body features Comparison

Size and weight is a big decision factor when you are trying to find the ideal camera for your needs. In this section, We are going to illustrate Nikon L120 and Sony A3000 side-by-side from the front, back and top in their relative dimensions. Nikon L120 has external dimensions of 110 x 77 x 78 mm (4.33 x 3.03 x 3.07″) and weighs 431 g (0.95 lb / 15.20 oz) (including batteries). Sony A3000 has external dimensions of 128 x 91 x 85 mm (5.04 x 3.58 x 3.35″) and weighs 411 g (0.91 lb / 14.50 oz) (including batteries).

Below you can see the front view size comparison of Nikon L120 and Sony A3000. Nikon L120 is clearly the smaller of the two cameras. Its body is 18mm narrower, 14mm shorter and 7mm thinner than Sony A3000. As you can tell, actually this is not a fair size comparison since Nikon L120 has a built-in lens but Sony A3000 doesn't. Once you put a lens on A3000, its thickness will increase significantly.

Nikon L120 vs Sony A3000 Camera Size Comparison - Front View
Comparison image of Nikon L120 and Sony A3000 Size, Weight and External Dimensions - Front View

Here is the back view size comparison of Nikon L120 and Sony A3000.

Nikon L120 vs Sony A3000 Camera Size Comparison - Back View
Comparison image of Nikon L120 and Sony A3000 Size and Weight - Back View

Now lets look at the top view comparison of Nikon L120 and Sony A3000.
Nikon L120 vs Sony A3000 Camera Size Comparison - Top View
Top View Comparison image of Nikon L120 and Sony A3000 Size

Weight is another important factor especially when deciding on a camera that you want to carry with you all day. Sony A3000 is 20g lighter than the Nikon L120 but we don't think this will make a significant difference.

Again, this comparison may not be very useful in real life as we are comparing the weight of a camera with a built-in lens to the body-only weight of an interchangeable lens camera. Once you put a lens on A3000, the total kit will weigh much higher.

Weather Sealing

Unfortunately neither Nikon Coolpix L120 nor Sony Alpha A3000 provides any type of weather sealing in their body, so you have to give extra care especially when you are shooting outdoors. If weather sealing is a must-have feature for you, check these sections:
Top Compact Cameras with Weather Sealing
Top Mirrorless Cameras with Weather Sealing

LCD Screen Size and Features

Nikon L120 and Sony A3000's LCD screens has the same diagonal size of 3".

Unfortunately, both cameras has fixed screens so they don't tilt or flip in directions.
Nikon L120 vs Sony A3000: Sensor Comparison

Nikon L120 has a 14.0MP 1/2.3-inch (6.17 x 4.55 mm ) sized CCD sensor and features Expeed C2 processor. On the other hand, Sony A3000 has a 20.0MP APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features BIONZ image processor processor.

Sony A3000's sensor provides 6MP more than Nikon L120's sensor, which gives a significant advantage in real life. You can print your images larger or crop more freely. On the other hand, please keep in mind that Max sensor resolution is not the only determinant of resolving power. Factors such as the optical elements, low pass filter, pixel size and sensor technology also affects the final resolution of the captured image.

Below you can see the L120 and A3000 sensor size comparison.

Nikon L120 vs Sony A3000 Sensor Size Comparison
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Nikon L120 and Sony A3000 Cameras


As seen above, Sony A3000 has a 13.1x Larger sensor area than Nikon L120. Larger sensors give photographer more control on the depth of field and blurry background compared to smaller sensor when shot in same focal length and aperture.

What types of Photography are Nikon L120 and Sony A3000 Good for?
In this section, we rank and compare Nikon L120 and Sony A3000 for five different photography types in order to make your decision process easier in case you are specifically interested in one or more of these areas.

Nikon L120 for Portrait Photography

POOR

Sony A3000 for Portrait Photography

AVERAGE
Image Stabilization
Average Resolution Sensor: 14.0MP
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
No RAW shooting capability
No External Flash Shoe
No Built-in Viewfinder
No Manual Focus Mode
No Manual Exposure Mode
Not so good Ergonomics&Handling
Read the details
Large APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm) sensor
Very High Resolution Sensor: 20.0MP
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
No Image Stabilization
Read the details

Nikon L120 for Street Photography

GOOD

Sony A3000 for Street Photography

GOOD
Image Stabilization
Small Body
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
25 mm - Good Wide Angle Coverage
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
No RAW shooting capability
No Built-in Viewfinder
No Manual Focus Mode
Read the details
Large APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm) sensor
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
Medium sized Body
No Image Stabilization
Read the details

Nikon L120 for Sports Photography

POOR

Sony A3000 for Sports Photography

GOOD
Image Stabilization
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/4000s
525 mm Tele Lens
No RAW shooting capability
No External Flash Shoe
No Built-in Viewfinder
No Manual Focus Mode
No Manual Exposure Mode
Not so good Ergonomics&Handling
Slow Continuous Shooting: 1.0fps
Environmental Sealings
9 Focus Points
Slow Lens at Tele: f5.80
Read the details
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/4000s
25 Focus Points
Good Low Light ISO
No Image Stabilization
Slow Continuous Shooting: 3.0fps
Environmental Sealings
Read the details

Nikon L120 for Daily Photography

AVERAGE

Sony A3000 for Daily Photography

GOOD
Compact Body
21.0X Optical Zoom
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
No RAW shooting capability
431g
Body Thickness 78mm
Read the details
Large APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm) sensor
Medium size Body
411g
Body Thickness 85mm
Read the details

Nikon L120 for Landscape Photography

POOR

Sony A3000 for Landscape Photography

AVERAGE
25 mm - Good Wide Angle Coverage
Average Resolution Sensor: 14.0MP
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor
No RAW shooting capability
No Manual Focus Mode
No Manual Exposure Mode
No Environmental Sealings
Read the details
Large APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm) sensor
Very High Resolution Sensor: 20.0MP
Live-view
No Environmental Sealings
Read the details

Nikon L120 vs Sony A3000: OUR DECISION

You may have already made your decision about which camera suits better for your needs and your budget so far but in case you wonder how we rated Nikon L120 and Sony A3000, below you can find their scores in five different aspects. Our Decision Algorithm dynamically scores cameras using 63 different specs, current price and DxO Mark scores (where possible) in order to make a more objective and consistent comparison.

Here is a summary of how Nikon L120 and Sony A3000 scores compare:

Nikon L120
Imaging
Features
Value
Portability
Overall
Ranked #216 out of 475 in Compact cameras
Ranked #792 out of 1223 in all Cameras
Sony A3000
Imaging
Features
Value
Portability
Overall
Ranked #78 out of 88 in SLR-style mirrorless cameras
Ranked #318 out of 1223 in all Cameras

Sony A3000 is the overall winner of this comparison. It has a higher Overall Score and beats Nikon L120 in all criteria except one: Portability.
If small size and light body is a big priority for you, choose Nikon L120. Otherwise, Sony A3000 is the better camera overall.

Nikon L120
Nikon L120
CHECK PRICE

CHECK PRICE

Sony A3000
Sony A3000
CHECK PRICE

CHECK PRICE

Sony A3000 vs Nikon L120 Specs Table
Detailed comparison of specifications
General Nikon Coolpix L120 Sony Alpha A3000
Brand Nikon Sony
Announced 2011-02-09 2013-08-27
Body Type Compact SLR-style mirrorless
Sensor
Type CCD CMOS
Size 1/2.3-inch APS-C
Dimensions 6.17 x 4.55 mm 23.5 x 15.6 mm
Area 28.07mm2 366.60mm2
Megapixels 14 megapixels 20 megapixels
Max Resolution 4320 x 3240 5456 x 3632
Max Native Light sensitivity 6,400 ISO 16,000 ISO
Min Native Light sensitivity 80 ISO 100 ISO
RAW Support
Autofocus
AF Touch
AF Continuous
AF Single
AF Tracking
AF Selective
AF Center
AF Multi Area
AF Live View
AF Face Detection
AF Contrast Detection
AF Phase Detection
Number of Focus Points 9 25
Lens
Manual Focus
Lens Mount fixed lens Sony E
Lens Focal Range 25-525 mm (21×) no lens
Max Aperture F3.1-5.8 no lens
Macro Focus Range 1cm no lens
Screen
Type Fixed type Fixed type
Size 3" 3"
Resolution 921k dots 230k dots
Touch Screen
Viewfinder
Viewfinder None Electronic
Viewfinder Coverage n/a 100%
Viewfinder Magnification n/a 0.47x
Photography Features
Max Mechanical Shutter 1/4000s 1/4000s
Shutter Priority
Aperture Priority
Manual Exposure Mode
Custom White Balance
Image Stabilization Sensor-shift Optical
Built-in Flash
Flash Range 6.00 m 6.00 m (at ISO200 / 4m at ISO100)
Max Flash Sync n/a 1/160s
External Flash
Continuous Shooting 1.0 fps 3.0 fps
Multi-Segment
Average
Spot
Partial
AF-Area
Center Weighted
AE Bracketing
WB Bracketing
Video Features
Max Video Resolution 1280 x 720 1920 x 1080
Video Formats Motion JPEG AVCHD, H.264, MP4
Microphone Port
Headphone Port
Connectivity
Wireless Connectivity None None
HDMI
Physical
Environmental Sealing
Weight 431g 411g
Dimensions 110 x 77 x 78mm 128 x 91 x 85mm
Battery Life 330 shots 470 shots
Other Features
Timelapse Recording
GPS None None
DxO Sensor Scores
DxO Overall Score not tested 78
DxO Color Depth not tested 23.7
DxO Dynamic Range not tested 12.8
DxO Low Light ISO not tested 1068
Report a correction Report a correction


FOLLOW US


Most Popular Cameras
Nikon Z7
46 MP | Full frame Sensor | Nikon Z Mount
Sony A6000
24 MP | APS-C Sensor | Sony E Mount
Sony A7 III
24 MP | Full frame Sensor | Sony E Mount
Fujifilm X-T3
26 MP | APS-C Sensor | Fujifilm X Mount
Canon R
30 MP | Full frame Sensor | Canon RF Mount
Sony A6400
24 MP | APS-C Sensor | Sony E Mount
Nikon D5600
24 MP | APS-C Sensor | Nikon F Mount
Nikon D850
46 MP | Full frame Sensor | Nikon F Mount
Top Rated Compact Cameras
Top Compact Cameras Under $200
Top Compact Cameras Under $500
Top Compact Cameras Under $750
Top Compact Cameras Under $1000
Top Rated Mirrorless Cameras
Top Mirrorless Cameras Under $500
Top Mirrorless Cameras Under $750
Top Mirrorless Cameras Under $1000
Top Mirrorless Cameras Under $1500
Latest Cameras
Fujifilm GFX 100S
102 MP | Medium format Sensor | Fujifilm G Mount
Fujifilm X-E4
26 MP | APS-C Sensor | Fujifilm X Mount
Sony a1
50 MP | Full frame Sensor | Sony E Mount
Leica SL2-S
24 MP | Full frame Sensor | Leica L Mount
Leica Q2 Monochrom
47 MP | Full frame Sensor | 28 mm
Fujifilm X-S10
26 MP | APS-C Sensor | Fujifilm X Mount
Nikon Z7 II
46 MP | Full frame Sensor | Nikon Z Mount
Nikon Z6 II
25 MP | Full frame Sensor | Nikon Z Mount
Copyright © 2021 by CameraDecision
About Feedback Privacy Cameras

Report a Correction