Sony A350 VS Canon 450D
Among the entry level Digital SLRs, Canon’s EOS 450D / Rebel XSi is likely to be the biggest rival to the Sony A350, with both cameras costing the same price. Comparing with Sony A350, Canon 450D delivers better photo quality and slightly faster shooting speed (3.5 fps verse 2.35 fps). However, Sony A350 has a nicely built-in stabilization which works with any lens attached. Maybe some people feel it’s a tough one to weigh-up, but I strongly recommend Canon 450D over Sony A350 if you prefer to a better digital SLR. Let’s see why.
Sony A350 advantages:
1. Have tilting LCD with fast Live View.
2. With two extra Megapixels.
3. Quicker AF in Live View.
4. 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.
5. Easy operation.
6. The A350 fill in flash mode gave well balanced exposures with flash highlights and background.
7. Sony kit lens is slightly longer too, zooming into 70mm compared to the Canon’s 55mm.
Canon 450D advantages:
1. The 450D body is smaller than A350.
2. The Live View gives real online image from the sensor.
3. Have a slightly bigger 3in screen (albeit fixed in position).
4. Quicker 3.5fps continuous shooting.
5. 14-bit image processing.
6. A bigger viewfinder and mirror lockup.
7. 450D body, 580EX II, 10-22mm and 60 mm lenses have fast AF and virtually silent and noiseless AF and zoom motors:) Tamron AF18-250mm has also fast AF but slightly more noise than Canon 10-22mm.
The most important, closed Eyes problem with flash is etremely serious with SonyA350. The pre-flash and main flash time gap is too long. Some people with sensitive eyes have 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. However, Canon 450D no closed eyes problem. Maybe the time delay between the pre-flash and main flash is shorter than with the Sony A350. The people have then no time to close their eyes.
What’s more, the live view of Canon XSi and Sony A350 are completely different:
Canon XSi uses the main sensor to deliver live views which can give you the 100% coverage, magnified manual focus and previews of depth of field. But Canon XSi’s auto focus is rather awkward: it either uses a contrast-detect focusing or flip the mirror down to focus and flip up to confirm.
On the other hand, Sony uses a second sensor in the viewfinder. You can switch the live view and view finder instantly so that the AF is much faster. But Sony A350 does not allow you to magnify the image while manual focusing.
As a result, if you like digital SLR with point and shoot feeling, Sony A350 is a better choice. If you prefer a digital SLR with super image quality, Canon XSi is the one to go.
