This is not all purpose camera that is right in every situation, and the noise at high ISOs is an issue. Yet I\'m pleased with my a350.
Whether to buy, in my opinion, depends upon how much you\'ll use the live view. I have young children and the true live view on the a350 makes all the difference in the world. Photography of people is an interactive process. The subject feels more
comfortable when the photographer is making eye contact with him or her, as opposed to the photographer\'s face hidden behind the camera. Live view changes this relationship for the positive.
Another feature I like about the a350 that no one mentions is the built-in digital converter. Digital converters on a camcorder are a joke. On a 14 MB chip, it\'s a different story.
4) Extremely good flash exposures with direct or bounced flash. The F56AM Flash give correct TTL-exposure even with macro shots like my 30 years old Olympus OM2.
5) The camera build in flash controls in remote mode F56AM and it works! This is not possible with Canon or Nikon. Canon 450D remote flash needs at least two 580EX II flash units.
6) The A350 fill in flash mode gave well balanced exposures with flash highlights and background.
7) Sony do not burn highlighs so easily as my old Canon 20D. Dynamic Range Optimizer even decrease this problem :)
8) Logical user interface and easy operation.
9) Sony 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 lens was just great. The zoom and macro range covers most of the situations. The image quality was also very good compared to any other long range zoom lenses. The lens size was also small and the price low. There was small distortions at 18 mm but they can be removed with PT lens software.
10) I did not like so much of the Sony 16-105mm f/3.5-5.6. The tele range run out too often. Ofcourse the wide side is very nice but it was not enough to compensate the missing tele side. The zooming ring was too narrow compared to the focusing ring. The average image quality was on the same level as with 18-250mm.
11) Sony 50mm f/2.8 Macro was a real macro lens which smallest object width is some 20 mm with very sharp and distortion free images. The lens works with F56AM Flash and diffuser and makes possible hand held 1:1 macro shots :)
SONY A350 NEGATIVE ISSUES:
I was not happy with the following issues:
1) Closed Eyes problem with flash is etremely serious. The pre-flash and main flash time gap is too long. Some people with sensitive eyes has time to close eyes between the pre-flash and main flash. I took 50 photos of my wife, the result was that in 45 photos her eyes was closed and in 5 shots semi closed. This was like magic.
I tested all menu selections and build in / external flash settings but nothing helped.
2) The A350 body autofocus motor keeps annoying and whirring noise.
3) HVL-F56AM Flash zoom motor keeps annoying noise.
4) The A350 mirror and shutter noise is also annoying.
5) LCD monitor tilting angle is extremely limited, why? The tilting LCD monitor in my Sony video camera is much more flexible.
6) The A350 body size and weight is larger than Canon 450D.
7) The optical viewfinder is not so good than in Canon 450D. Actually I would have been happy with the high quality and flexible LCD screen only.
8) It is too easy to push some of the the A350 body control buttons accidentally.
9) My 400 EUR Panasonic DMC-FZ18 corrects automatically the barrel and pincushion distortions as well as chromatic aberrations before saving JPG-images. Why my 3000 EUR Sony 350A system is not able to do this automatically? Ofcourse this work can be done with 12 EUR PTLens software but this means extra work to the photographer.
Date:
2008-06-04 - 19:26:49
Author:
Joe122
Rating:
Picked this bad girl up on the weekend.
First DSLR camera I've bought but have had an old school 35mm Pentax MZ-50 for years.
I've found it very easy to use. Pictures so far have turned out as expected. Liveview is great too, allowing the misses to use the camera as a 'point & shoot' unit.
(she will be taught to use it in time)
Battery life has outlasted 3 x 2GB CF cards.
Date:
2008-06-18 - 10:28:34
Author:
Henry3
Rating:
This camera will give you incredible picture quality right out of the box between iso100-is400. The OVF works very well and live view is perfectly integrated. The best things about this camera are it’s fast, accurate focussing, amazing detail retention at low iso and in-built image stabilisation. It’s biggest drawback is slightly higher noise levels at iso1600 compared with the competition; if this is important to you, get the A300. I’ve had this camera since april 2008, and I’m really happy with it. Note also there is a massive range of good quality second-hand Minolta lenses that are 100% compatible with the alpha series, including autofocus etc. Final point; to get the most out of the sensor, ditch the kit lens and get something that lets you see the full benefit of the A350’s resolving power. The CZ16-80 is a good choice, as is the 18-250mm.
Date:
2008-06-25 - 10:31:07
Author:
Ggggo11
Rating:
A350 is a great camera!
I've been taking pictures for about 8 years now, and a semi-professional photographer for 2 years. I've accumulated a long line of minolta A-type lenses (now the Alpha Mount) so naturally, I didnt have a way out when Konica Minolta was assimilated by Sony. I read very poor reviews on the A100 when it came out about the shutter system being manufactured very inexpensively and not standing up well. I have been following the newer models as a replacement/supplement to my Konica Minolta 5D (donated to me) and 7D. Both of which have been alright, but not great. Both have lots of hot pixels in longer exposures and are only 6 mp.
I was offered a great deal on the A350 that I couldnt pass up (and made the A700, which I was going to purchase, look like not that great of an idea), so I bought it. I've had it for about a week and shot about 400 picutres in all kinds of situations. It works very well with all my lenses (Sony, Minolta, Tamron and Sigma) except by cheapo junko sigma 28-80 f3.5/5.6, which will not focus and just runs the motor back and forth (beware of older, lower end lenses). My Sigma EF500DG Super flash unit works well in TTL mode (with camera in ADI mode) on camera, and slave functions are not problematic. I love the responsiveness of the camera and Image quality is very very good in most real life situations. I disagree with the DP Review in many areas (which I agree is not fair to this camera at ALL).
Problems: There are two major issues with this camera in my opinion. That being said, however, these issues are far too small for this camera to get only a 'Recommended' rating. Theres no reason to be Anti-Sony, just cause, when they come out with a winner.
First, the continuous drive speed of only 2.5 fps makes the kind of high action photography I do difficult. This is a sore spot...
Second, above ISO 400, grain and smearing is an issue. Its not anything that you will be upset about (or rather, should be upset about as a reasonable human being) until you get to the ISO 800 setting. Above ISO 800, noise is ridiculous, and produces unusable images for most things. BUT from 100-400, noise suppression is excellent, and even at 800, this camera does alright.
Minor Gripes:
The grip creaks a tiny tiny bit when you first grab the beast, especially with a heavier lens attached. Understandable, its plastic, not Mag-alloy. I do not, however, detect any movement of the grip (like I can on the KM 5D). The camera is very very pleasing in hand - excellent ergonomics. I agree that the crop button was a waste, but so what? The viewfinder mag. is annoying at only .74, and its somewhat difficult to get your eye up close enough with the pull out LCD sticking so far out, but its not that big of a deal to me. The viewfinder is bright enough, and works just fine for me, as does Live View. Certainly, for the money (its on sale on sonys site now for $699 USD) this camera is the most capable, feature packed, well built, versatile and easy to use, mid-level DLSR on the market. Way to go Sony, you surprised the heck out of me!
