At this point, the 3n body isn't available by itself, so below $400 is impossible . You can get a used 5n for less that $400 however. Also all quality judgements about the 3n are not based on any professional, or even user reviews. There are only "previews" so far for this camera. DXO speculates that the sensor is the same used in the f3. That said, the lens price itself is $350...so the camera is only costing $150. That's pretty hard to pass. The video quality is unknown. The verdict of whether it has the cleaner 5n image or the moire of the 5r.... is out. I would say ....if you're going to use it for photography the 3n will give the same results, and if you're going to use it for video, either buy the used 5n...or wait until there are some user opinions about video quality.

My understanding of the subject is:

All Nex cameras with 16Mp have the same low light performance, I already downloaded and saw it.

If there is no EVF you can put a loupe in te LCD. 460k pixels LCD is good enough for focus, just confirm if it has magnification because even with 1000k dots LCD you will need magnification, so LCD resolution is not a reason to choose.

Nex-3N comes with a built in flash, makes it more portable. also body is smaller

Nex-3n comes wit a wider lens, 16mm instead of 18 and for APS-C this difference is important. Also the lens retracts making camera smaller to carry and zoom is motorized.

There is no mic input in both and the sony mic will not help anyway. external audio recording is a must for both.

Nex-3n LCD flips upwards which is enough. If you need it downards to shoot over your head invert camera orientation and it is done.

Both have 24p, but Nex-3n does not have 60p. You can do a interpolated deinterlace and turn 60i into 60p with small difference in resolution. I believe sony vegas can do this and also many other softwares including virtualdub/avisinth wich are free.

If you need a powerfull flash, both cameras are no go. Better to get a camera wit default flash shoe like T3i (more heavy and big)

Here, expected price for 3n is 60% the price for a 5n so it is the way to go.

@Manu4Vendetta

May be go K-01 way? :-)

Huh, I think best idea to select among last generation - 5R ro 6.

The Nex 5n is better than the 3n, can adapt a Evf, 1080 at 60p, and i think is cleaner at low light. I have a full loaded 5n and now i gonna invest in a Gh3 with olympus lens.