Asher Kelman
OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
CNET Image
Well, I'll be darned! Why have name Alpha if you are not going to be the best!
However the CNET reviewer felt that the move from 10 to 14MP buys very little if anything at all, especially if you just use the kit lens! I'd love to see the EXIF of the files but they don't post them, just the combo images with 100% cutouts side by side.
CNET Image
One of the A350's image-quality problem comes from
pairing a middling lens with a high resolution sensor. On
the left is the 18-70mm kit lens on the A350; on the
right, the lens on the 10-megapixel A200. The 14MP A350's
version looks more magnified, but perceptibly softer.Source]
"With its 14-megapixel CCD, flip-up LCD, sensor-shift image stabilizer, and built-in wireless flash controller, the feature-packed Sony Alpha DSLR-A350 seems like a cornucopia of photographic goodness for the budget shopper. And you wouldn't be far off the mark: there's a lot to like in the A350, and I suspect it will garner its share of fans. Unsurprisingly, however, Sony made some compromises so that the A350 could lay claim to the title of highest-resolution budget dSLR. Sony does offer an almost identical 10-megapixel model, the Alpha DSLR-A300, which lists for about $200 less." Source].
So really, is this better than a 12MP Canon Digital Rebel Xsi recently announced for April 27th? I doubt it!
Still, it is so counterintuitive that the camera with more pixels should be blurred, even with a cheap kit lens! I've written to the CNET editor. We'll see what they say!
Asher