It's all a matter of what you want to do with the camera. Are you a sportsfan? Perhaps a faster camera is better. Do you like landscape, this one the best. It's a Ferrari; lots of stuff on board, just do it!

Welcome here first of all :).

Looks like you will be taking an interesting leap here. What sort of photography do you like to do?

This will help us all give you better advice.

Carl

Hi,
Thanks for the speedy reply !
Most of my photos 'till now are concerned with other interests/ hobbies /obsessions !

I'm heavily into old cars , hot rods and custom cars mostly, American cars & pickup trucks, motorcyles etc and like to go to various show events in my own '48 Plymouth !

I also like foreign travel & tourism / culture, particularly Italy & France where I've been many, many times.
So travel & landscapes, street scenes, buildings & architecture.

My work involves me in design as a creative career and I like Art Deco & Modernism plus new cutting edge stuff.

I'd like to learn more and develop my own creative skills further in photography.

Certain motor sport interests me, like the excellent Goodwood Festival Of Speed & the Revival Meet, plus drag racing, power boats, mountain biking, skate boarding, hot air balloons etc...

Enough for a lifetime !

Does that help ?

Out of curiosity, why the A350, and not A300?

Here's why I ask. I think the A300 is a bit more versatile overall (and most people agree on that), if you do not need the extra resolution (for ultra large prints, massive cropping, etc...) the A300 offers a bit faster package in terms of actual shot to shot speeds, and better low light performance (higher iso shots look a bit cleaner of noise) while still being able to make gorgeous 20x30 prints.

Why is low light performance something for you to consider? Well, I think that when shooting people (you mentioned you like too) in general, its best to have a camera capable of the best low light performance. Lots of situations where flash aren't welcome and indoors usually have low light, etc etc. The A350 is capable of doing well here, just not "as" good as the A300. You trade a bit for the extra resolution.

It is good to know the differences between the both, and while not a "night and day" difference, they will be noticeable over time to you. I'd say either camera is a good pick overall (keep in mind the live view on the lcd is 90% of the total captured image on both cameras), but I typically like to lean towards the A300 overall as a best choice.
For landscape photographers, or beginning art photographers I'd lean towards the A350, that extra resolution helps and the slower operating speeds lends to remind the photographer to keep it slow, and accurate (in a way).

Otherwise both cameras really operate identically and offer a huge amount of versatility.

Carl

Wow,
thats very interesting reading, part of my reason for choosing the A350 was partly due to its sensor count and also the adjustable live-view screen, having tried a Fuji bridge camera with a fixed screen I wished I could have altered its angle at time, eg: for very low angle car shots, and to see it more easily !

Also as a spec wearer I'm not sure if I need to keep my glasses on when viewing through the viewfinder or to remove them,
I know its personal choice but wearing them feels slightly'odd' to me and not "connected"to the camera & image somehow.
Does that sound strange ?
Maybe thats normal ?

Also at present i'm in the beginners/ novice stages of learning and a screen view could help me compose a better image possibly and view settings, histograms etc.

Many of my photos are what you would 'quick grab' ones,
not pre-prepared or set-up as I like to capture events,
people etc reportage style,
as things happen spontaneously,
or if I spot something that strikes me as interesting or unusual.

If I could only get an 'extended' test-drive side-by-side real world situation trial of a 300 & 350 then I could decide on my choice and not make a mistake with a lot of my hard saved money !
Sony can you help out with that one ?

Thanks for the feedback,
esp to a newbie like me who has so much to learn ! :)

Its the A200 that does not.

Really the A300/350 are identical except for the chip size 14mp vs 10mp, and speed to write times.

Carl

Hi Mildkustom,

Welcome to AMW it's a great site and as you can already see, full of friendly people who are more than willing to offer advice. The choice between the A300 and A350 is an interesting one, and as Carl has already said the A300 is more of the all round performer.

With the list of things you've mentioned I feel that the A300 would be better for you- you mention drag racing as something that interests you, well the A350 is a touch slow. The 3 fps of the A300 whilst not blisteringly quick, is a match for the EOS 400D and Nikon D80. It can work well at drag racing/drifting and other motorsport events. See the images here http://www.alphamountworld.com/forums/photo-critique-forum/drifting-pod/... , for some kind of idea of the results the A300 is capable of.

Both the A300 and A350 have live view and that can be extremely useful when taking images at odd angles. Wide angled views of cars at car shows is now much easier.

As for somewhere to buy the camera, well a good bricks and mortar store will help as you can get extra help and support from the staff. You also have a point of call should anything go wrong. You said you have a budget of £500 (so I'm guessing you're based in the uk), that will buy you either the A300 or A350. Bear in mind though that the A300 is an exclusive to Jessops in the UK, so if you want that you have to buy from them ;-)

Hopefully that is of some help, and I haven't confused you... any questions feel free to ask or PM me.

Andrew

Go to Imaging Resource http://www.imaging-resource.com/ and use the image comparison area to sort out what you want I did this and came to the conclusion that the noise difference was a non-issue for me. I couldn't see it in the test images. I compared cameras as well. I wanted the Live view. I have used Live view on Fuji S9600 and Olympus E-330 and it is a very useful addition. the extra resolution of the A350 does show more detail. Read this review. http://www.photoclubalpha.com/2008/06/12/sony-alpha-350-a-creative-revie...

The Sony A350 is for me the perfect backup to my A700. I seem to be using it more than I thought I would. I really like this camera and have posted some photos on the photo share if you want to take a look at what it can do. The camera is easy to use and the live view works well for me. I would recommend it highly.