sony A350 Digital Camera

Description

Announced shortly after the DSLR-A200 model, Sony’s DSLR-A350 offers higher resolution and a variable-angle LCD that supports live view shooting. This makes the camera body slightly thicker and heavier than the A200 – although it’s still significantly smaller and lighter than the DSLR-A700. Otherwise the two cameras have almost identical control layouts and functions, although we found the A350’s grip slightly more solid and comfortable than the A200’s. The review camera was supplied with the new Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* DT 16-80mm F3.5-4.5 ZA lens, which proved to be a much better performer than the kit lens.

The LCD screen itself is essentially the same as the A200’s – and lower in resolution than the A700’s. However, on the A350, its mounting pulls out to an angle of roughly 40 degrees from the body and hinges up through about 130 degrees. You can’t reverse the screen onto the camera body as you can with a fully articulated LCD but the range of adjustments allows you to use the live view mode for shooting with the camera held above your head, at waist level – or at other angles.

Unlike Sony’s other DSLR cameras, the A350 supports two aspect ratios for image recording: the standard 3:2 and an additional 16:9 format for images that will be viewed on a widescreen TV screen or computer monitor. When you set the camera for 16:9 shooting, the top and bottom of the frame are cropped – and also blacked out in both the viewfinder and on the live view screen, allowing you to see what the shot will look like.