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| Brand: Sony
Category: Photography
Buy New: $699.99
New (1) Refurbished (1) from $699.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  18 reviews
Color: Black
Media: Electronics
Batteries Included: Yes
Display Size: 2.7
Has Red Eye Reduction: Yes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 3 x 5.3 x 4
MPN: B00138MVFA
Model: B00138MVFA
UPC: 027242727281
EAN: 0027242727281
ASIN: B00138MVFA
Release Date: April 14, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
A Fantastic camera, but a really really crappy lens. June 19, 2008
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
This camera is really unbelievable for the price. If we're talking about the camera body (with no lens), I prefer it over the Canon Rebel XSi anyday (and I've used both). The problem for Sony is that their lens is sooooo crappy that the image quality goes straight down the toilet, and Canons lenses are for the most part very sharp and colorful.
The solution? Minolta lenses. I got my camera in the mail this morning and have played with it all day. From the second I unpacked the lens I was disappointed- even before I put it on the camera. It has an extremely cheap and plasticy feel, probably because it is cheap and made of only plastic. I'm actually pretty sure there's not a single piece of glass in the lens (which means, for those of you are new to this, that it sucks). I put it on and sure enough the results were not pretty. Don't run off to Canon's page so quickly, though- remember that this IS a 5 star review.
What makes up for sony's crappy crappy lens is the fact that you can use any Minolta lens from the past 20 years. In anticipation of purchasing this camera I brought 2 Minolta lenses from a garage sale a few weeks ago for a hundred bucks, and when I put them on the camera it was like magic. The autofocus still works in an instant, and the sharpness and color combined with Sony's 14megapixel sensor have left this former film-snob utterly impressed.
So my advice to advanced amateur photographers is to buy this camera. But just the body only. Save the hundred bucks to buy yourself a Minolta lens (or two). I thought I'd throw in the extra hundred bucks with this cam just to have an extra lens for my collection, and it was absolutely not worth it. I don't even know if I'll mount it onto my camera ever again. Seriously- It's a big plastic turd. I wouldn't buy it again if it was 20 bucks.
Also- I learned the complete menu for this camera in less than a day. The only negative things about this camera (except for the crappy turd plastico lens) are that it's not a full frame sensor (look it up, and then decide if you really want to spend and extra 1300 dollars to get a full frame sensor DSLR), and that there's a really dumb and pointless digital zoom button that is a total tragic use of space. I could think of ten more used/usable functions that could have gone there instead.
Really though, I couldn't be happier with this camera.
Alpha 350 is Great June 13, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I love this camera and all of it's many features. Don't buy the kit lens. It is not worth the extra money. I put a C. Zeiss 24-70mm lens on it and it is wonderful.
great camera at a great price June 13, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
Sony sent me a promotion for Mother's day advertising the alpha series cameras. I checked the specifics on the camera and decided to get it for my wife. One of the best decisions I've made in a while. The camera is easy to use. All features work as advertised. Picture quality is best I've seen. I also have a Canon EOS 20D so I think I can speak from experience.
Awesome camera! June 10, 2008
2 out of 6 found this review helpful
My first DSLR and what a great camera! Being Sony I'm confident it's from a company on the cutting edge of technology. Every feature I've ever wanted and then some!
My first DSLR June 3, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
I bought this camera body a couple of weeks ago together with the Sony Zeiss 16-80mm lens. It is my first DSLR, with my most recent other camera being a Canon S2 IS superzoom point and shoot. Have not used a SLR camera since before the digital age. Am very happy with it! Image quality, as you'd expect, is *far* above that of the S2 IS... and there aren't any image quality issues that I can determine relative to other DSLRs. Resolution seems great, color is spot-on, etc.
Ergonomically, I'm also very happy. As I get back into using things like aperture and shutter speed settings, I find the controls to be well laid out and accessible. The Live View implementation is very easy to use...admittedly, I wish I could live-view things like depth of field et al, but for my uses, I don't really miss it. My only complaint is that when I hold the camera, occasionally my hand will press up against the AF directional-pad and alter the AF setting.
At the moment, I can't really imagining needing anything more complex than this camera. I'm sure that a pro photographer will want the flexibility of more lenses et al. But for me, I don't see myself needing a whole collection of lenses...maybe one more bigger zoom lens or something like that.
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