Canon EOS 350D review

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Verdict:

The Canon EOS 350D is an excellent SLR, but it isn't quite the best in this price range.

Review Date: 23 Jun 2006

Price when reviewed: inc VAT

Our Rating 4 stars out of 5

Review
Specs

Canon's 350D is the successor to the company's 300D, the first sub-£1,000 digital SLR.

The camera's main image processor is faster than that of its predecessor and as a result, after a shot is taken, the 350D is very quickly ready to take the next photo. It also has a higher resolution than the Canon 300D, and its £473 asking price includes the standard 18 to 55mm 'kit' lens.

Results from both this digital SLR and the Nikon D50 easily beat the best compact digital cameras currently available on the market, but the Canon's 8-megapixel sensor allows it to capture far more detail than the Nikon, which only has a 6-megapixel chip. If you want to blow up your pictures to poster size, the EOS 350D's higher resolution will give you all the added detail you need and a better result overall.

As you'd expect, the lens that came with the Canon 350D is fine for getting started with the camera, but it has its limitations. Its autofocus function was fast and generally quite good, but the camera occasionally had a little trouble in low-light conditions. While it's possible to focus manually, there's no distance scale on the lens. This makes it difficult to get used to the lens and judge focal distances on the fly - a pain if you want to fire off shots paparazzi-style. Image quality was generally very good, but indoor photos shot without a flash showed slightly more noise than those taken with the Nikon.

Making the choice between Nikon's D50 and Canon's 350D is difficult. The Canon EOS 350D does achieve slightly more detail by virtue of its 8-megapixel sensor, so it wins out for reproducing images at larger than A4. However, in other respects, the Nikon D50 produces images of a slightly better quality and overall, it's easier to use as well.

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