Plus, it has the silliest looking, most questionably useful lens hood I think I’ve ever come across. As we found out in reviewing the A200, the 18-70mm isn’t the best looking or feeling piece of gear out there, and the slight softness that was apparent even with the lower-resolution A200 is somewhat more pronounced in this application. Our A350 test unit came bundled in kit form with Sony’s 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6 entry-level lens. More on how the system holds up in testing can be found under the “Display/Viewfinder” and “Auto Focus” section headings below. To demonstrate just how easy the A350’s live view system is to operate, and how quickly it focuses even when shooting in live preview mode, we’ve put together a short demo video.įor all it does well, the A350’s live view performance is certainly not flawless. What this also means for the A350 is that auto focus performs as normal, using the camera’s DSLR-quick phase-detection system without having to black out the preview image to do it. Flip a switch to change from optical viewfinder (or OVF) mode to live view shooting and a swiveling mirror in the viewfinder redirects the through-the-lens image onto this sensor. While several manufacturers have proposed solutions to this dilemma, Sony’s is unique in that it uses a secondary imager housed within the viewfinder prism – rather than the camera’s primary sensor – to create the live preview. This mirror up/mirror down/mirror up process blacks out the on-screen preview in the process and can take several seconds to complete. Because of the mechanics of auto focus in DSLRs, however, when you want AF, the camera has to flip the mirror down and focus the image. In your typical current live view DSLR, the system works by flipping the camera’s internal mirror out of the way and letting light from the lens pass directly to the sensor, which in turn produces the image you see on the screen. Part of the reason for the hype has to do with the fact that Sony elected to go in a technical direction with their live view implementation that is markedly different from anything else out there.
![sony a350 external flash sony a350 external flash](https://sourceofproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/000000.jpg)
In-body image stabilization, a reasonably powerful pop-up flash, eye-start AF and nine focus points, and a list of Creative Style preset JPEG processing options provide additional goodies for A350 shooters. The A350’s tilting Clear Photo LCD is relatively unique as well, making it easy to “shoot from the hip” (or over your head, for that matter) with the camera in live view mode.