IT SEEMS EVERYONE WANTS IN ON THE DSLR MARKET nowadays, even manufacturers that never dreamed of building cameras before. Amongst them: Sony.

Sony is of course, not new to the game of camera manufacture, but their previous offerings were of the compact, point and shoot variety. With the A range, that is set to change.

The Sony A350 is an innovative camera, with many a feature which is sure to be emulated by rivals in the future.

It hosts a 14.2 megapixel CCD sensor, which, for the uninformed, is a mighty high spec. It even outguns the biggest offering from Nikon. However, digital cameras have evolved to a point where one should look beyond the size of the sensor to judge its worth.

The one thing I have always liked about the Sony cameras is in the accuracy of the color reproduction. In many other cameras, especially at the lower end of the market, Caucasian skin will often record as yellow or pink and blue skies are often recorded in quite unnatural tones. The A350 nails it on the nose, and pictures, more often than not, can be printed straight out of the camera without any color correction whatsoever.

The focusing system on the camera works quite well. It performs reasonably in low light situations and the improved means quicker lock-on in any situations. The camera features a nine-point adjustable focusing, with a feature called Eyestart. What this means is that the camera stars to focus when you hold it up to your eye, unlike with other cameras where you would have to depress the shutter release button to get the camera to focus.

Reviews of the Eyestart feature were not all positive, however, and some people have complained that it causes the camera to spring into action whenever anything is held against the viewfinder, such as when the camera is resting on your chest while you have it hanging around your neck.

Sony A350 LCD Live View

By far our favorite feature is the 2.7 inch LCD review screen. Like many of its more expensive rivals, it features Live View, which means that you can use the screen as a viewfinder, and thereby composing the picture without holding the camera to your eye. While this feature is fairly common, the Sony is unique in that the LCD can be tilted away from the camera, making low and high vantage point photography a breeze. The LCD tilts both upwards and downwards, and will open up a world of vantage points had previously been closed to the photographer who likes to consider his composition before taking the shot. Gone are the days of the ‘Hail Mary’ shot, where you hold the camera high above your head and pray that it’s pointing in the right direction.

What is nice about the Live View on the A350 is that it does not slow the actual focusing system on the camera, so you can even use it for action photography.

Other Features

The manufacturers have also added an in-camera shake reduction system. This means, unlike offerings from Canon and Nikon, the vibration reduction is achieved by shifting the CCD sensor, and not elements in individual lenses, so you will not have to buy a range of vibration reduction lenses, it will function with all the compatible lenses.

And speaking of lenses, a DSLR is only as good as the glass you stick in front of it. The Sony A-mount is compatible with Minolta and Minolta-Konica lenses, and there are even offerings from Sigma, so the choice of lenses is wide enough to satisfy the most avid amateur.

The ISO sensitivity range reaches from a low of 100 ISO to a respectable 3200 ISO, though noise is a problem at higher sensitivities.

The camera has a built-in popup flash with a guide number of 12, which is quite adequate for most situations. It features standard red-eye reduction and a recycling time of 4 seconds.

Final Verdict

Continuous shooting is a bit of a problem, with the maximum frame rate at only 2.5 frames per second, but this should not be an issue unless you want to work with fast moving subjects, such as at a sports event or wildlife.

Overall, this is a very decent offering, and at the price, it will be very hard to beat. If you are a hobbyist looking for value for money, the camera is a serious offering and should be very near the top of your list. If, however, you are thinking of taking the plunge into professional photography, or are very serious about your work, you will be much better off buying into a more recognized system such as Pentax, Canon or Nikon, where there are more accessories, flashguns and lenses available.