Sony DSLR-A200 - Expert Reviews

Review summary: The DSLR-A200 is Sony's second shot at the digital SLR market, following the company's first-ever SLR, last year's A100. Many of the A200's features are identical to the A100: 10.2-megapixel resolution, an image stabilization system built into the ...

Pros: - Low price - Reasonable performance - Extensive controls

Cons: - Single, poorly designed control dial - Noisy auto focus - No in-camera editing

Verdict: This is a basic camera that opens up the world of SLR photography to users with more enthuasiasm than cash. The A200 does have some significant limitations: manual controls are difficult to access, and its lab performance wasn't terrific. But those ...

Award: Highly Recommended!

Review summary: Sony's start into the world of Digital SLRs was quite a slow paced one. The first Sony branded model, the A100, appeared on the scene in June 2006 and it took over a year for it to be joined by a companion, the A700 prosumer model which was launched ...

Pros: Good detail at lowest sensitivities (but some loss of low-contrast detail when shooting jpeg), Class leading battery life (displayed as a percentage), Sophisticated AF system for this class of camera, Large viewfinder, Solid construction (although ...

Cons: Poor rendition of low-contrast detail in JPEG (shoot RAW to avoid this), AF button (multi-controller) can unintentionally be operated with your nose (if you're left-eyed), Large amounts of chroma noise and little shadow detail in high ISO images, ...

Pros: Good image and color quality/range of adjustments ; Stabilized/dust reduction sensor ; Accepts a variety of lenses ; Good AF and shutter response

Cons: Plastic used in lens body seems questionable as to durability

Verdict: The A200's basic hardware includes a 10.2 megapixel Super HAD CCD sensor and Sony's advanced BIONZ processor, which combine to "expand dynamic range, minimize noise more effectively and provide greater detail...to enhance images with rich tonal ...

Review summary: Sony's Alpha A200 is a relatively minor revamp to the electronics giant's first digital SLR, the A100, which itself was a more significant step up from the Konica Minolta 5D. The Sony A200 is lighter and smaller than the A100, and a good deal easier ...

Pros: Good body size, solid feel ; Easy to learn and use ; Great grip ; No-nonsense design ; 10.2-megapixel sensor ; Function button makes access to commonly used functions easy ; Good menu design for quickly moving among selections ; Dynamic Range ...

Cons: Kit lens is slightly soft in the corners ; Advanced DRO slows camera down when shooting rapidly ; Pop-up flash doesn't go very high ; Infrared sensor activates AF system when you don't want it to, like when you're just holding the camera ; Proprietary ...

Verdict: Sony's Alpha-mount lens system is the oldest SLR autofocus system in the business, going back 28 years, so there's a broad and growing selection of lenses to choose from

Review summary: The Alpha DSLR-A200 is Sony's new entry-level digital SLR, and the follow-up to their very first one, the DSLR-A100. As you may know, Sony purchased Konica Minolta's digital SLR business back in 2005, and nobody was surprised that the DSLR-A100 was ...

Pros: Very good photo quality at lower ISO settings or in RAW mode ; Well built, easy-to-hold body ; Sensor-shift image stabilization reduces blur on most legacy Minolta and all forthcoming Sony lenses ; Dust reduction system ; Full manual controls ; RAW ...

Cons: Soft JPEG photos, with too much noise reduction above ISO 200 (in low light) and ISO 800 (in normal light) ; Great RAW photo quality shots that camera is capable of producing much better looking JPEGs ; Sluggish low light focusing ; Small viewfinder ...

Verdict: . The A200 can use almost any Minolta/Sony A-mount lens, with a 1.5X focal length conversion ratio