Canon EOS 350D v Nikon D50 Review

The Canon EOS 350D is a relatively small and lightweight camera when compared with other digital SLR's. This makes it convenient to lug about but could make it difficult to hold in an average sized male hand.

From this front view you can see the red eye reduction lamp to the left of the lens (which also doubles as the self timer lamp) and the lens release button to the right. The 350D has no auto focus illuminator - it uses bursts from the flash gun to accomplish low light focusing.

On the hand grip you can just make out an oval section which acts as the infra red remote control sensor.

The flash has a guide number of 13 (meters @ ISO 100).

There's nothing much to see on this side, apart from the memory card compartment which is a little flimsy. The camera body is made from a strange rough plastic which does not exude quality. The handgrip is quite small has no rubber sections making it less than comfortable in my hand.

There's a bit more to see here. On the lens itself you can see the AF/MAN focus selector. To the right of this you can see the flash release button. Underneath this we have the lens release button and then the depth of field preview button.

To the right of these we have the rubber camera connections cover. Why have they made this out of rubber and not put a proper door on it like they have with the memory card socket?

Moving from left to right across the top of the 350D the first significant thing we come across is the flash hot shoe. No cover is provided for this which is a little overly frugal on Canon's part. Just to the right and behind the hot shoe is the viewfinder diopter adjustment control, which will adjust the viewfinder focus to suit most eyes.

Moving along we come across the main control dial. This lets you set the cameras mode and features the usual program, aperture priority, shutter priority and manual modes along with a full auto mode and various different scene modes. One unique mode is A-DEP, which uses the focus points to work out an aperture which will give you enough depth of field for your subject. This could prove useful on occasion.

Moving along again we can see the on off switch. This is made of plastic and has a very cheap feeling action which does the camera no favours. Above this we can see the selection dial (used to select aperture/shutter speed etc.) and finally the shutter release button.

The back feature a plethora of controls along with the monochrome information LCD and a 1.8" colour LCD.

The various buttons are described as follows:

MENU - access the menu.
INFO. - can be used when the camera is ready to shoot to review current camera settings.
JUMP - can be used in the menus to jump to a different range of settings or during playback to jump images.
Playback - used to enter image playback mode.
Trash - used to delete images.

Av - aperture /Exposure compensation button.
Drive Mode - used to select single, continuous or self timer shooting mode.
Direct Print/LCD illumination - send images straight to a printer or illuminate the information LCD.
4 way switches - used to navigate the menus and also for quick access to the most important settings.
CF - flashes when memory card is being accessed.

AE Lock/Zoom out button - used to lock the exposure in shooting mode and to zoom out of an image in playback mode.
AF point selection/Zoom in button - used to cycle through the available focus points in shooting mode and to zoom into images in playback mode.