Sony A200 dSLR (Sony a (alpha) DSLR-A200K)

Member Name: Patman99

Product:	Sony a (alpha) DSLR-A200K
Date:	03/01/09 (337 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Low-cost entry-level camera. Uses Minolta 'A' mount lenses

Disadvantages: CF cards are expensive

I purchased this camera after much research, my only other foray with an SLR format camera being a Canon T80. The Sony was to be a 'next step up' from my bridge-style Fuji S5700.
Build quality is better than I was expecting for a sub-£300 camera, and the controls are well laid-out, and the body well-balanced when fitted with the supplied lens.

My first thought was "what do you get in the box?". Well, just the camera body, a zoom lens, charger, battery, USB cable & neckstrap (oh, and a curious little device to drop over the eye piece to prevent stray light entering the camera when shooting self-portraits).

Like most pro/semi-pro dSLR cameras, the Sony A 200 uses a CompactFlash card (they have a faster access speed than SD card).
With a charged battery in place along with a (borrowed) 128mb CF card, it was time to have a play.
Anyone who has used multi-mode digital cameras will find all the usual modes available to them including 'Sport', 'Macro' & 'portrait'.

Unlike my S5700, the A200 has no 'live view', however this isn't an oversight, as trying to use a dSLR with a long lens whilst holding the camera at arms length is really not a good idea and holding the camera to your eye encourages the correct triangular stance that makes for good photos.

The screen on the back isn't just for viewing photos on though, it displays all the current camera settings including ISO ratiing & 'F' number. There are a few interesting tricks up the A200's sleeve, such as a 'settings adjustment wheel' which allows you to set the camera to match its automatically suggested settings prior to fully depressing the shutter, and a focusing wheel for adjusting the focus on the view finder so us spectacle wearers can use the camera without our glasses.

I would highly recommend the purchase of a UV filter to give protection to the lens without altering the light-colour in any way. I recently had the chance to go out and about to take some photos of bluebells and other woodland flora and fauna, I was extremely pleased with the end results, with the colours in the photos matching those of the subject exactly.

I haven't touched the software yet, as I use the GIMP for photo editing.

Summary: A good camera for those moving from 'Point & shoot' to proper SLR.

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