Sony A350: Full-Time Live View at 14.2MP
by Wesley Fink on April 3, 2008 3:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Digital Camera
UPDATED: New full-size image downloads are included for the Sony A350, Canon 5D and Pentax K20D at a constant f4.0 at all ISO settings. Crops on page 6 are now actual pixels with no size reduction and were extracted from the updated images.
When Sony secured victory for Blu-ray a couple of months ago, it was difficult not to reflect on the Betamax vs. VHS battle that Sony lost many years ago. Those around at the time will remember that Betamax was the superior format but VHS won with licensing, availability, and lower prices. The Blu-ray victory was quite a contrast - this time being promoted by Sony who secured the exclusives they needed to assure Blu-ray the winner. As with VHS, however, it appears in the short term that the inferior format won again as Sony is only now introducing features to Blu-ray playback that were introduced with HD DVD almost two years ago. Those who review technology often see less capable technologies win based on dollars thrown into promoting a product and buying distribution channels.
Why does this matter in the Digital SLR market? It doesn't as far as DSLR reviews are concerned, but it does put into perspective the fact that Sony is a massive player in the electronics arena, and Sony plays (and pays) to win. When Sony absorbed Minolta it wasn't long until the A100 launched the 10MP (megapixel) wars, even though the A100 was in reality a Minolta 5D upgraded with the new Sony sensor. Great things were expected after this first foray, but it took Sony quite a while to begin putting their stamp on the DSLR market.
Last October the A700 prosumer Sony launched with a new 12.2MP CMOS sensor and 5FPS burst speed in a rugged magnesium semi-pro body. The A700 is still based on the Minolta 7D digital SLR but it is more "Sony" than the A100. This was followed at January CES with the A200 update to the A100 - now targeted at a street price of $599 with a kit lens. A month later at PMA, Sony surprised the market with two more entry level digital SLR cameras that feature what we found to arguably be the best Live View in any SLR.
No one else in the DSLR market has introduced so many new cameras in such a short period of time. There are now Sony entry models at $599, $699, $799, and $899. The A700 is $1399 to $1499, and Sony isn't finished yet. A new Pro level 24.6MP full-frame (presumably to be called the A900) will launch later this year. New Sony DSLR cameras are everywhere, and to their credit, Sony has found ways to differentiate the three entry models.
The A200 shipped about a month ago, and today we are taking a first look at the top entry-level Sony called the A350. It is the only entry-level SLR with a huge 14.2MP sensor, but unlike most recent DSLR sensor introductions, this one is CCD and not CMOS. The A350/A300 are also the only entry DSLR cameras with a tilt LCD. This is coupled with fast AF Live View, which moves that feature to a full-time view alternative with fast auto focusing. Most of the recent DSLR cameras feature Live View that was pioneered by Olympus, but Sony takes the feature from checklist novelty to a truly useful viewing alternative. This makes the transition easier for point-and-shoot users accustomed to Live View composing with the LCD screen.
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strikeback03 - Monday, March 31, 2008 - link
I didn't think that was possible. Sounds like it falls in the same category as the optical viewfinders some compact cameras have, designed for emergency use only. I can't wait until some owner, blindly going by what is recommended as "best" on the forums, is trying to shoot with a 70-200/2.8 on an A350 held out at arms length.Wesley Fink - Monday, March 31, 2008 - link
The Olympus E-510 and E-410/E-420 actually have a viewfinder magnification of .92X, but the smaller sensor with the 2X crop factor makes the viewfinder look smaller than competing 1.5x/1.6x APS-C cameras. As mentioned in the review Oly got around this on the E-3 by going to a 1.15X multiplier. The E-3 has a great viewfinder that still needs a bit more eye relief to bbe nearly perfect. By comparison the A350 has a viewfinder magnification of .74x on a 1.5X crop camera.Deadtrees - Monday, March 31, 2008 - link
As many others have pointed out, the test is just wrong.It's so wrong that it even makes me wonder about credibility of computer hardware tests done here in Anandtech. Well, no, I do trust hardware reviews but not this one.
1.How can you possibly claim that it's the resolution test when Sony camera had its aperture set as f/2 and other set at f/1.4? On 50mm f/1.4 lens, the difference it makes is quite huge. It'd just be retarded to claim that this camera has better or worse resolution when the apeture value is full 1 stop different on a 50mm f/1.4 lens.
(I checked some pictures' EXIF data and it seems like they have all mixed apeture values. That's just so wrong)
- Use fixed aperture value.
2. Do you know that the actual ISO level can be quite often different than the others? For instance, 5D has higer ISO level than the other cameras: ISO 3200 on 5D can be ISO 4000 on the other cameras. Dpreview mentioned it as well.
- Show at least basic EXIF information regarding exposure setting so that readers can at least think about it.
3. Why the claimed Sony A350 ISO 1600 shows exif ISO level of 800?
Also, A350 was set to use manual WB whereas 5D was set to use preset tungsten WB. Based on this, how can you claim "Canon 5D is somewhat warm at the Tungsten preset compared to the cooler and more accurate rendition of the Sony A350."
Well, I gotta go now so I'll finish here for now.
Basilisk - Monday, March 31, 2008 - link
I understand you're still working out your aperture/f-stop/ISO parameters for testing. When you've decided on those, you might want to increase your available illumination considerably to get shorter exposure times: 1/6 second seemed unnecessarily long, but that is indeed what the EXIF indicated. Or, perhaps you're setup is immune to vibration?Unlike an earlier poster, I'm not so sure camera reviews are a natural extension to your other hardware reviews. A few other sites have been doing those pretty well for some time....
Wesley Fink - Monday, March 31, 2008 - link
We have already reshot the K20D and 5D tests using a fixed aperture and remote shutter release. It is not possible to reshoot the A350 since it has already been shipped to another user. Otherwise we would reshoot the entire sequence using f4.0 on the f1.4 leneses. We have talked about the changes that will be made in future reviews and we have definitely listened to comments and suggestions.The EXIF information is available (and has always been available) in the full images that can be downloaded by right-clicking any of the crops. You can see those for yourself in the review. Our conclusions were based on analysis of the full images and not the crops. The crops were designed to show details on the web and we agree they don't communicate noise well in theri current form - that's why we're updating procedures. The EXIF for the 5D on H, BTW, reports 3200 ISO. We did check all the EXIF values and we used the latest 1.1.1 BIOS just released a few days ago by Canon.
haplo602 - Tuesday, April 1, 2008 - link
hmm I still get f-stop 1.4 on the pentax 100iso shot (I did not bother to check the others). truth is, I am using the builtin opera image properties option, but it looks like exif data to me ...Deadtrees - Monday, March 31, 2008 - link
You haven't replied to some of my crucial questions.1. What's the point of ISO 1600 comparisons when A350 was set at ISO 800?
2. A350 had Custom WB setting and 5D had Tungsten WB:
Given that, how could you possibly claim that "Canon 5D is somewhat warm at the Tungsten preset compared to the cooler and more accurate rendition of the Sony A350"
3. What's the point of this review when you said "It is not possible to reshoot the A350 since it has already been shipped to another user?" Should readers just suck it up this false review because you can't redo the review? I think it's just better to take it down as this review just makes fool of Anandtech. Oh well, after all, it's the April Fool's day, isn't it?
BTW, your answer on the second paragraph didn't make any sense. Not only you did not understand what I was saying, you came out with some weird answers for what I haven't asked. Why are you giving me the instruction of how to view EXIF info? Why are you telling me the point of having cropped images and that the conclusion was based on full sized images? I was not talking about those and I didn't say that the review is false because of that.
Sorry if I'm being harsh but as you and Anandtech Staffs know, this is Anandtech. Though it's not a site about cameras, the credibility you guys gained over the decades does have a deep impact over readers.
I really think camera reviews should, at least, meet half of hardware reviews.
Wesley Fink - Monday, March 31, 2008 - link
1. The ISO 1600 being an 800 ISO image is an honest mistake. We uploaded over 127MB of full images for the 3 camera comparisons to our servers and that file name was incorrect. I will replace the 1600 with the correct file as soon as this comment is posted.2. The A350 ALSO used Tungsten white balance. I just checked the A350 files with OPanda EXIF 2 and the files are indicated as a Tungsten light source and "Custom White Balance".
The Canon is almost famous for its poor performance on Auto WB in Tungsten lighting. On AWB it was extremely orange in cast. Even on the Tungsten setting it is warmer as we were comparing Tungsten WB to Tungsten WB. A custom light temperature would probably work better on all 3 cameras.
3. The review is definitely NOT false, and we stand by our conclusions as we looked at many more images than those published here in reaching our conclusions. Our procedures can definitely be improved. We've committed to doing that in future reviews and we have listened carefully to all suggestions. Cameras are not given to us by manufacturers to hold indefinitely, and we generally have to beg manufacturers for a few days of use to review new cameras. That will change in the future, but short of buying the cameras we evaluate we have them for a limited time.
strikeback03 - Monday, March 31, 2008 - link
It's not an EXIF issue, it's that the actual sensitivity of the camera is not what is indicated (when compared to a good light meter).http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos5d/page21....">http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos5d/page21....
qbfx - Monday, March 31, 2008 - link
Hmm, I thought it was in the same price and performance class as the Canon 450D and the Nikon D300, why are they comparing it to the 5D ?? I still think the 400D and the 450D are better