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Sony Alpha DSLR-A350 Digital Camera

Sony Alpha DSLR-A350Digital Camera Resource Page

(4 out of 5)


A midrange digital SLR with a great live view feature, though its image quality lags behind the competition.

Review date: May 19, 2008

The Alpha DSLR-A350 is the middle child in Sony's 2008 digital SLR lineup. The A350 has a lot to offer for $799 (body only), including image stabilization, the best live view system on the market, responsive performance, class-leading battery life, and sturdy build quality. In terms of photo quality, the A350 has some work to do -- like most of Sony's recent models, there's just too much noise reduction applied to photos. The A350 is a decent enough digital SLR, but I think its 14 Megapixel sensor is overkill for most folks. You can get the same features and better performance from Sony's DSLR-A300, and you'll save $200 to boot.

ProsCons
  • Very good photo quality at lower ISO settings or in RAW mode
  • Well built, easy-to-hold body
  • Sensor-shift image stabilization reduces
  • Best live view system on the market on a tilting 2.7" LCD
  • Dust reduction system
  • Full manual controls RAW image format supported
  • Snappy performance in most respects
  • Support for wireless flashes Best-in-class battery life
  • Optional battery grip
  • Photos are on the soft side, with heavy noise reduction
  • Tends to underexpose
  • Sluggish low light focusing
  • Live view issues: only shows 90% of the frame - poor low light visibility - reduces burst mode frame rate - no way to enlarge frame for manual focusing
  • Small optical viewfinder
  • LCD is difficult to see outdoors
  • Legacy hot shoe limits third party flash options
  • 18 - 70 mm kit lens isn't the greatest
  • No remote capture support
  • Manual not terribly detailed

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