Sony DSLR-A350 Design

Sony A350 Design

The Sony A350's all-black, compact body measures approximately 5.25 x 4.0 x 3.0 inches (131 x 99 x 75 millimeters) without the 18-70mm lens attached; and weighs 24 ounces (682 grams) with the lens, battery, and memory card. While the A350 isn't small enough to fit into a pocket or purse, it is light enough to carry on vacation thanks to the plastic body panels. You'll want a camera bag for better protection and portability, but the positions of the eyelets for the included neck strap at least let the camera hang level with the standard lens.

Roll-over the various controls and features with your mouse for a brief description.

Sony A350 Front View

The Sony A350's front panel has the bayonet lens mount, lens release button, Self-Timer lamp, and the front of the pop-up flash compartment. Like the Sony A200, there is no Depth of Field Preview button to be found. Also visible from the front of the camera are the Shutter button and Front Control dial, located at the top of the hand grip. An indentation near the top of the hand grip comfortably cradles your middle finger as it curls around the grip.

Sony A350 Left Side

The left side of the camera has a connector compartment covered by a rubbery flap. Inside the compartment are the wired Remote and DC-IN jacks. The Auto / Manual focus switch is also visible just below the lens release button housing. At the top is the other neck strap attachment eyelet. Also from this view, the pop-up flash button is visible on the side of the pop-up flash unit.

Sony A350 Right Side

The right side of the Sony A350 has the CompactFlash memory card slot, covered by a hinged plastic door. The Sony A350 accommodates Type I or II CF memory cards, including Microdrives. Nestled inside the compartment door is the shared-use A/V Out / USB 2.0 jack for direct connection to a computer or television set. At the very top of the right panel is one of the two neck strap attachment eyelets.

Sony A350 Top View

The top panel accommodates the pop-up flash compartment and external flash hot shoe. The hot shoe employs a proprietary electrode setup and mounting bracket for Konica Minolta and Sony accessory flash units, which isn't compatible with generic hot-shoe flashes, nor with Sony's older hot shoe flash units for the F828 and R1, like the HVL-F32X.

Sony A350 Back View

The remaining controls are on the camera's rear panel, along with the optical viewfinder and 2.7-inch LCD monitor which is vertically tiltable. The A350's optical viewfinder is surrounded by a flexible, removable arch, and features two sensors below it that detect when your eye is brought up to the viewfinder. Controls are well-placed and easy to learn, though it's unfortunate that the Card Write LED indicator is usually covered by the thumb when you hold the Sony A350.

Sony A350 Bottom View

The camera's bottom panel is fairly flat, with a the metal tripod mount centered beneath the lens. Also on the bottom panel is the camera's battery compartment, which features a locking, hinged door.