Side by Side Comparison of: Canon vs Sony

my new favorite toy - user friendly and great pictures !

I purchased this camera about two months ago. I had an Alaskan cruise booked and did not want to come home with point and shoot or phone camera memories. Unfortunately, my business got crazy busy at about the same time and I was not able to get myself fully attuned to all features and uses of this great little SLR. That said, even with bare basic knowledge I was able to take what I think are really stunning photos. (Some not so good due to my inexperience) Since returning, I have begun to go thru the pdf manual and familiarize myself with the functions more fully with much better results.
As an aside, I took photography classes back in the 80's and had some pretty decent equipment and a home darkroom. As often happens, life intruded and I ended up having to sell those items, but I promised myself that someday I would return to what was for me a passion. I feel great that I have chosen an instrument that will help me eventually fulfill that promise. NICE!!!

I researched DSLRs for the last year before choosing the Canon; I had a Fuji finepix that I loved, but I wanted something more advanced now that I know what I am doing with a digital camera. I also wanted speed; my son plays soccer and football and the regular digitals are too slow for fast-moving bodies. So far, I am extremely pleased with the fast-action sports photos I have taken. After playing with the camera for a few months and reading the manual thoroughly, I realized using the manual Tv mode outdoors and setting the shutter speed to around 1600, I get crystal clear, "action" photos so detailed you can sometimes see the letters on the ball and the dirt flying up, etc. With the shutter speed set at that speed or even a little lower, I can still take multiple pictures per second like in the sports mode, but much clearer and crisper. I will never buy a regular digital camera again after having a DSLR; I also purchased the 55-250 IS lens for the further away shots, and I feel that the lens is a must-have for anyone who wants to take great shots from a distance. So far, so good!

After a long and detailed due diligence on a mid-level professional digital cameras, my search ended between Nikon (D70/D50) and Canon (20D/350D). I finally decided on 350D for its balance of a great value and a huge variety of after-market accessories and web-based support and advice.

I recently received this camera from Amazon and, though my expectation was rather high and the camera did not blow me away, I'm very happy with the purchase.

PROS:
- Light, compact, and ergonomically designed.
- The camera does NOT feel plasticky at all. It feels solid and radiates the craftsmanship of a prosumer product.
- Easy to use. Take the camera out of the box and start snapping away.
- The bundled software is useful if not professional quality.
- Amazing flash performance. Pictures taken in total dark comes out looking professionally lit.
- Quiet when snapping pictures. Fast startup time. Very good batter life.
- For a fan of Canon, add to the inventory of other Canon products, from camera to lenses to printers to photo paper.

CONS:
- The EF-S zoom lens that comes with it is rather slow and a bit disappointing in picture quality.
- The camera - as many reviewers complained - is ergonomic but does not feel very well balanced. It's very awkward to take a picture with only one hand holding the camera - you need two hands. No matter how I tried, my grip on the camera never feels comfortable.
- Documentation is buggy and uneven. Some of the step-by-step instructions simply do not work, and I had to figure out the correct steps by playing with the controls myself.

(...)Amazon double-boxed the package, which arrived without a dent.

Having used the pocket Canon S110 for the past three years, and already owning a Canon EOS Elan 35 mm camera, I've long been a fan of Canon. I'd held off on buying a digital SLR due mainly to price. Finally, with the Digital Rebel XT, I could buy for less than $1,000 the quality that pros paid $7,000 for just a few years ago.

Likes:

- Size and feel: it's about as small as you're going to get for an SLR, yet it still feels good in your hands, with all controls pretty accessible.

- Speed: having spent three years cursing shutter lag on my point-n-shoot S110, it's amazing to be able to get off 2 or 3 frames per second. You'll quickly find that you shoot 3-4x as many shots in a day, just because you can get them off quickly.

- Battery life - I purchased a second battery but have yet to have to use it. I can shoot 200+ shots and the battery is still going strong.

- automatic modes (portrait, action, etc) with options to override focus mode

- Basic 18-55mm EF-S lens is a solid, well-performing lens

Dislikes:

No strong complaints overall. It's taking me a little longer than I expected to learn all of the control options on the menu. Also, in bright daylight, the menu's not that easy to see on the LCD.

All in all, the combination of high picture quality (equal to that of the 20D) and virtually no shutter lag makes this a fantastic entry level digital SLR. The ability to change lenses, use filters and modify settings as you would in the 35mm world changes the whole realm of digital photography. I have a feeling my 160 GB hard drive may not support me for long...

Great Camera .

I wanted a small camera to take everyday pictures with that would fit in my purse. I wasn't happy with my low quality iPhone 5 pics - this is a great quality photo for the price. I'll include two pics - one taken with the camera and one taken with my iPhone. Same lighting

enjoying the camera. a bit slow on delivery.

I bought the camera back in August specifically for a concert I was going to, and I definitely wasn't disappointed! I had to leave the flash on throughout the concert, just because of the light changes and everything. The zoom/digital zoom are amazing! I was on the floor semi-close to the stage and with the zooms, I was able to take pictures that made it look like I was almost right beside the stage! That and with it being a reasonable price, I couldn't say no!

I am an amateur photographer and own three DSLR cameras with a selection of lenses. However that collection does not eliminate the need for a handy item for just daily needs. I keep this one especially in my car's glove box as a reserve for occasions which require something better than my cell phone camera. For that purpose it meets my expectations and even exceeds it. Yet, this is still a snap shot device with a relatively low price tag and therefore a DSLR level quality (like background blurring, high shutter speed, high level of low light performance etc.)should not be expected.Pros:-Lightweight slim and stylish design: It can fit in small spaces and look and feel like a high quality item.-USB charging ability: That is one of the selling points for me. I keep it in my car and I don't want to run out of power any time or go through the hassle of removing the battery and charging it separately ,which requires carrying the charging adapter all the time and also the ability to plug in that adapter. Instead. all I do is to connect it to my 12V car USB charger and it pretty quickly accumulates good amount of charge level... It comes with a wall adapter (5V 0.5A) which connects to a detachable USB cable (so you can use the cable and attach it to any USB charger). But be careful about the USB cable. The standard USB-micro B cable that charges most mobile devices do not work for this type. If you need a replacement or an extra you need to buy a USB-UC E6 cable.-Easy menu mode: Practicality should be the main focus in a snapshot device and even my grandfather could get through this menu. One of the most user-friendly interfaces I have seen so far.-Panoramic shoot ability: That was a surprise for me. I had not read the product description in detail before buying and that was such a handy function. I used to take panoramic photos by taking tens of photos with my DSLR and stiching them with a software which was both difficult and time consuming. This function does it instantly and produces comparable quality photos.-5X optical zoom: When it comes to zooming, in photographic terms, the less is often more. The best lenses even come with no zoom at all. However for a practical item like this, zoom is essential and 5X is a good range for the optical zoom (it is also critical that you compare the optical zoom capacities of devices and not the digital zoom before making a judgement.)-Image quality: As I said above, it does not match the quality of a DSLR and I don't care about the high pixel size either. For cameras with small sensor sizes like snapshots, it is actually better to get a low MP device for sharper images, but this one not bad at all especially in daylight. HD Video quality is also good but again depends on the light...-Price: the $78 price tag as of august 2014 makes it one of the most affordable snapshot cameras in the market. You can get better deals from time to time but this is quite appealing too.Cons:-Low light performance: Again, I want to stress that I am not expecting professional quality from this device, but I found the low light performance moderate at best. The noise was somewhat irritating even with flash.-Slow shutter speed: It has a continuous shooting mode which is supposed to take multiple frames in a short time as long as the shutter button is depressed. However this device has a long long refractory period between shoots that it is not even worth bothering with that mode. You need to decrease the image quality 3 steps to be able to notice some multiple shooting effect and that is not worth it. So if you wish to take a photo of a flying bird or a running person or a passing by car, you don't have much choice to take multiple photos and decide later.-Zoom buttons: I like the zoom to be a ring style beneath the shutter button but this is like a plus and minus at the back which is not very convenient.-No optical viewfinder: This is not a problem for this model only. Most recent cameras sacrifice from an optical viewfinder and all you get is a digital image on the screen to help you adjust your photo before taking it. First of all it does not give the sense of taking a photo but more importantly digital screen viewfinder drains battery and also performs bad in bright light.-Video focusing sound: While recording video of a closely located object (where there is a constant need to re-adjust autofocusing) and if the surrounding is silent, you can hear the sound of focus adjustments in your recording. But as I said that is only obvious in full silence and for short distance recordings.Overall you like it or not depends on your expectations. For me it is a handy and adequately performing device with quite useful features. I am happy with this purchase

I wasn't expecting much from this, I only wanted a camera that was a) cheap and b) would provide a better quality image than the average smart phone camera. But the image quality is truly amazing. I will upload a few customer images of my hiking trip as an example. An SD card is absolutely necessary, the internal storage can only hold 3 maximum quality images.I did have one problem with the camera, the battery that came with it refused to take a charge. Amazon made up for this by offering me a 40% refund to buy a new battery, and the battery was much cheaper than the $31 refund I got so this issue wasn't even reason enough to take a star off. Overall great camera and great customer service from Amazon.I've only owned this for a month and only used it for 2 days for a hiking trip so I can't speak on long term survival of this camera. I will update my review if I have any other issues. Be sure to check for my customer images if you want an idea of the maximum image quality.

Very pleased looks like new and still takes great pictures.

Cheap way to buy a good camera.

The Digital Rebel XT is a pretty fantastic camera if you just look at the unit itself. Anyone migrating from the Digital Rebel (300D) as I did will pick up the camera with no problems. They're functionally identical. The pictures are crisp, even with the kit lens though you'll soon want to upgrade to get the full use out of the dSLR. I bought this camera even though the XTi was out because the dust reduction and larger LCD didn't seem to justify an additional $175. That's a personal choice though as the XTi is a great camera as well.Unfortunately, the XT is becoming dated quick. Canon released information about the XSi which includes a new battery type and SD cards instead of CF. Basically this means that the extra card, extra batteries, and battery grip pack I bought won't be sticking around when I upgrade my body again. I don't regret this purchase but I probably would have been a bit more calm about my accessories if I had known about the XSi earlier.

I bought this camera in hoping to upgrade from my Canon A610 (fantastic camera btw). The main reason for the switch was because I wanted to take night shot without having the lag that is normally associated with Point and Shoot cameras. My impression:The Good stuff:-Camera shutter speed is fast. It was better than I had expected.-Easier to use than expected.-Shoots great photos in Auto mode-Good amount of manual selections to work with-Lightweight and small-Compatible with many Canon lenses-Priced very low for a DSLRThe Bad stuff (opinion):-Camera feels cheap. Too much plastic, but I'm sure canon had to cut cost somewhere to be able to sell the camera this cheap. At least they cheapen the external rather than the internal.-Cannot turn off flash in some mode. You'll have to either set the exposure, aperture, or the contrast in order for the flash to not come on. It's very annoying since some of the photos I want to take do not need more light.-The camera will not take pictures because there is not enough light for a particular setting. I cannot see why the camera cannot just let me take the photo and let me do whatever I want with it. I am using the camera to take picture. I'm the photographer, not the camera.-LCD screen is a bit small (hence the XTi is better in this department)-Camera kit does not come with a standard memory card. I recommend at least 1GB. You'll be taking more pictures than you'll anticipate.Conclusion: For the price I paid for this camera, I am happy with my purchase. It's a great camera, and I can see why it's been one of the best selling cameras in the world. However, if you can fork out a bit more for the XTi, I would recommend so for the bigger LCD and the self-sensor cleaning system. The pictures I take with this camera is not leap and bounds better than my Canon A610, but I bought the camera for its ability to shoot at night

The camera comes with a comprehensive and easy-to-follow instruction manual for people (like me) who don't have too much experience with a Canon SLR. It comes with its own battery charger, so there's no need to buy another one unless you want to keep a spare someplace.The camera was a little heavier than I anticipated since I was used to the weight of the 35mm Rebel. From other reviews, I thought the camera would be quite small, however it's a pretty good size. I do agree with others that the size is more suited for smaller hands.The shutter noise was also much louder than I expected, so I won't be taking any photos in quiet, public settings (the reason I gave 4/5 stars). However, the quality of the photos you get is excellent. I chose to get the EF-S 17-85mm f/4.5-5.6 IS USM and theEF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 IS USM lenses. Both are great lenses for beginners without having to sacrifice picture quality. There are many examples of photos taken with those lenses from dpreview.

The circle is now complete: I started with film SLRs about 35 years ago, used them professionally in my job, but for personal use, I had gone to point and shoot film and recently point and shoot digital. I have not been happy with the sharpness of the point and shoot cameras so I thought it might be time to try the digital SLRs for sharpness and higher resolution.I ordered the silver body Rebel XT camera as I like it better than a faux pro black camera (this is afterall not a pro camera), and black cameras look dirty or dusty all the time. It came rapidly from Amazon.com. I have had mostly good pictures with this camera, but there are a few things I would add to the other posters.Pro: compact, light, fast, good in outdoor daylight.Cons: in incandescent light the AWB is only fair. The picture color is better if you set this manually in a manual mode rather than using the AUTO mode.Sometimes the autofocus has a tough time figuring out where things are indoors, and sometimes there is severe hunting, with an occasional focus which is way off. You can fool this autofocus in situations where the subject is further back than foreground objects unless you set the focus point ahead of time, which is usually not what you think about on the spot.ISO speeds in AUTO mode is 400, and cannot be set higher. You can set this to 1600 with very little noise in the non-auto modes.Kit lens is a bit soft in my example, despite good reviews. I got in a Tamron lens (28-75) which seems sharper, but some say this lens has a yellowish cast, which I have not seen yet. One other thing pointed out by the professionals: you have to wait till the buffer has saved the picts to the CF card or they will be lost. So long as the little red led has stopped flashing you are OK.Overall I am happy with this camera. I wish it were a bit more user friendly and intuitive, and there was more control over the ISO and AWB in auto modes. You can't expect the kit lens to be very good considering the price it is, but I would rather have a better prime lense than a cheap zoom which you have to replace anyway. Next time round I will just get a body and forget about the kit lens. For those looking to step up from a point and shoot film camera or a lessor digital, this is the right direction. I do wonder if I should have got the 20D instead, but for the difference in price, I got my Tamron lens and I am happy I did it this way. Good luck and happy picture taking to you all...Edit 4/10/2005: before doing my 24-75 zoom Tamron lens rebate, I wanted to be absolutely sure there were no front focus issues with this lens in this camera. Some have said the Tamron lens might have a front focus issue, and I spent a lot of time yesterday and today specifically looking for front focus problems, and found none. I took dozens of pictures indoors and out, with flash and without, and found no consistent problem worth sending the lens or camera back for. As I said above the focus is sometimes off indoors, probably due to low light, but much more often than not it is good. Outdoors today I shot some sharp pictures which focussed spot on, and I am pleased with the Tamron len's performance in my Rebel XT.

This camera is good for the purpose that I want it for. It is compact, easy to set up and use. There are a variety of customized settings that can be easily changed. The lens has definite limitations - there is less resolution than on my other cameras of the same type. Not so good for close-ups. It was a reasonable price for small general utility camera. I'm satisfied.

Nice camera.

This camera works reasonably well. And does video also. Lots of long awkward pauses when taking several pictures in succession. After pressing the button to snap a picture. Not exactly a rapid fire type of camera, but it gets the job done, slowly. The images are very nice. I had that problem with another digital camera brand. I like the rechargeable lithium battery. Buying batteries all the time is no fun.

Plastic. Not as nice as I had hoped but my daughter loves it for her first camera and it works well. For the price and the Megapixels it's worth it.

Cheaply made but still solid and worth the price. I've never had a problem with Sony products and I can add this one to the list. Suits my minimal needs.

For someone who is not seeking a sophisticated camera, this camera is a very good choice at a very, very good price. 20.1 MP for less than $ 70 in a compact design. I'm not complaining (except for the audio from videos in HD, is mono, not stereo). I bought it from Venezuela.

Buy it

Old version of a good camera for beginners. Uses compact flash instead of an SD card which is a pain sometimes but overall a decent camera.

Would have been ok if it included the manual.

It didn't come with the battery charger had to buy one before I was able to use it

I love this camera now, even though it is a dinosaur in terms of its age in a world where technology advances rapidly.When I first bought this camera in 2007, it had early problems freezing and giving error codes. After performing all the recommended tests & resets, it kept failing. I actually used the camera very little early on and, thus, forgot about the errors. Once I started using the camera regularly again and taking more still photos, I had run out of warranty coverage. So, it cost me a few hundred send the camera back to Canon to repair what was a manufacturing and/or chipset defect.Once the repair was made, the camera operated flawlessly and still does to this day. Although this model is no longer current, I wanted to add my review for anyone who might be trying to buy one used. Be aware that this model had known issues with freezing as I mentioned above. If that has been repaired, then it is an otherwise excellent camera for the entry-level or intermediate SLR user.

I have owned the Digital Rebel XT many months ago and have been mostly pleased. The various modes give great control over subjects and the size makes it easy to carry around to the various locations. The camera started giving "Error 99" and eventually ended up sending it to Cannon in California. They fixed the problem quickly, and because I had my original Proof of Purchase information and warranty card, did not charge me, and sent it back mostly fixed. The meter still acts up at random times highlighting multiple instances in the meter display when it gets an light source on it. It is still an amazing camera, much lower in price now than when I purchased in new, though it would be good to explore your options.

Okay, but not great. For the cost of this camera and the specs it listed, I expected a better produce. The camera itself feels cheaply made and the quality of the pictures were average. It was also difficult to take pictures without getting blurry shots.

The material feels pretty cheap compared to my Canon Powershot at the same price range.

Works Ok

I bought the Cybershot model DSC-W230 many years ago. It is still going strong, although it developed lens dust/spots, which isn't unheard of for cameras. I bought the DSCW800 because I use these cameras for work, and worried the older one would give up, and wanted to have a replacement before I needed it.Although this newer model has some advantages, one disadvantage is that the W800 has a difficult time focusing when recording in video mode, something the W230 never has a problem with. It doesn't matter what one is taking a video of, and under what light conditions. It just doesn't want to stay in focus very well. Eventually it will focus, but even if the camera is in a static position, it will go in and out of focus.It took a long time from order to actually receiving it, which I didn't mind because I really like Sony products, but am disappointed that focusing and staying in focus is really makes it undesirable for taking video. Takes great photos though.

Okay for a basic camera and for the price. Day shots are good, night not so good. Very light and thin.

I wanted an inexpensive camera to just carry around in my purse. Although not that cheap, I would call this a cheap camera - the quality did not overwhelm me.

The camera lens was all scratched up.

Had to send it to canon to have it repaired, pins missing in the flash memory bay.

not what expected. didn't know it needed telescopic lenses. thought was like a regular digital camera

The camera was a birthday gift. When it arrived the memory card was missing and I had to go find one. The box and camera strap reaked of cigarettes. Had to get rid of them. Would have sent it back, but the birthday was too soon. The camera works, so two stars is fair and may be generous.

took absolutely forever to ship: this camera only came with body, lens, and strap. it was missing usb and software. I would say that the cannon xs that i bought that did come with everything as described, for less money is an easier better camera with almost exactly the same capabilities.

I've had this for quite some time so this review is overdue but well-considered. Canon products aren't what the once were. The auto-focus struggles with alarming frequency. The display is minute and of poor resolution. The manual adjustments are somewhat non-intuitive. The build quality is a bit weak and questionably arranged. All things considered (after several years' consideration), I should have gotten the comparable Nikon.

Im giving it 3 stars because its not a terrible camera but you get what you pay for. I bought it because i wanted to record more videos, take pictures but I'm always running out of battery and memory on my iPhone so this cheap camera seemed like a good option. The pictures i took didn't come out well, Its hard to go from iPhone quality to this. Also whenever you take a pictures it takes about 2 seconds to process which gets irritating because sometimes an object is moving and you might miss it because the camera is slow. Again if you are used to the iPhone camera but looking for something like that quality but in a digital camera this is not the one for you. I will say that the battery on this is great, it only takes about an hour to fully charged, I was impressed. I returned the item, its been about a month at this time and i still have not received a refund.

does not take great pictures and seems like a very slow shutter speed. it might just be the operator, but I don't like the camera at all. My previous Sony was much easier to take good pictures with

I read on an article that this is a good camera. Nope. I bought this camera for my trip to Thailand but it takes such bad pictures to the point where I just leave it behind. I ended up using my phone because it takes much better picture. Any slight movement when taking the picture of result in a lifetime of missed memories because the picture will come out very blurry. Such an awful camera. I am never going to buy a cheap camera again. I guess I could give this to some or donate it.

You get what you pay for. Although this is a 20.1 mp camera the pictures are blurry. I bought this camera because I needed a simple camera to take pictures to use as 3d textures. I should have heeded the warnings of the other reviews. It is good for a young child about 7+ that has graduated from the Fisher Price and Vtech cameras. Nothing more though. Not for serious photos.

Pros: Tiny and lightCons: Screen is terrible so it's impossible to see what kind of picture you're taking...pictures are always blurry, and are always over exposed.It's such a great price...and I was really taken by the fact that it's 20 mega pixels, but the quality of the pictures isn't worth anywhere near the cost of the camera. The pictures that my Note 3 takes a far superior...which I definitely didn't expect.

Although this item had several strong complimentary reviews, I found the photo lense to be fuzzy when viewing compared to iPhone or Samsung phone cameras. I am disappointed with the product. The flash feature is also very delayed, which makes picture taking slow. I don't recommend this camera. You will be better off to spend more and get a better quality experience.

Had memory card stuck in slot. Physically could not remove it. Had to send back.

Horrible. Does not like anything like photos. I understand refurbished, but I would have hoped that meant the pins and actual casing for the SD card would be there. For 10 months have tried to reach seller. So basically I bought a lens. If you can't put a memory card in it it's useless. And no it's not user error.

There's a reason Canon updated this to the new version - this is horrible! The controls are NOT intuitive, the ability to do simple things (like turn off the flash) are so archaically done that we only take this out if it's an outside shot or every other camera and smart phone is gone. For the amount we spent on this, I can only say we got ripped off.Canon makes great products, and the new version of this camera is no exception. This one, however, is barely good enough to be a backup camera.

Missing computer cord, instructions and power supply.

Mailed it to someone else.

The setting on "TV" amd ASA400 did not work properly. the shutter hung up and exposed the picture. Too bad.

You get what you pay for. The focus during video would constantly go in and out, even without a moving subject or moving the camera. Poor resolution, poor image quality. Some of these I assumed, i realized i was buying a cheap camera to be used as a second camera, an "in the pocket" type. But, its such poor quality with images, especially video, I would hate to rely on this to capture any type of meaningful image. I only other Sony products without complaint, I can't see how they let this out to the public.

It was okay while it lasted...which was unfortunately about 8 months.

This was a good camera at first. After 2.5 months, it stopped working.I'm returning it.....

Right when I snap a picture, very blurry and grainy photos. It is very bad. I will never recommend this camera ever. I don't know how there are very high reviews about this camera. This camera isn't even that good during bright days. When you try it at night, sluggish and blurry. Phone cameras are better than this.

camera quit working on me only had it since march 2015

I was excited to get such a great camera and deal. I thot. It never charged I had to return it.