Sony Alpha A200 (Digital SLR)

Advantages: Price, brand, quality
Disadvantages: Manual modes

...camera is compatible with the old Minolta lenses - which are cheaper and often better that the Sony ones (for more advanced photos). The manual settings are easy to use, however are a little rigid, and I find do not give you the same flexibility as some of the more expensive digital SLRs or manual ones (Cannon ones are very good for this), however for the price of the Sony, the settings are reasonable. Down to the most important point - image quality. I cannot really find fault with this at all, and this is comparable to some of the much more expensive Canon and Pentax SLRs! The lens provided with this camera is not the best for very close up and macro photography, however it tends to perform very well for any other shots - and there is always the option to change to a better lens for these purposes. Overall - excellent camera...

yatzue 06.02.2009 · Read review
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Review of Sony a (alpha) DSLR-A200K

Sony a200 - one of the best budget dslr cameras available.

Advantages: Great battery life, comfortable in the hands, picture quality.
Disadvantages: Flimsy memory card and remote release slot.

...I was looking for a new camera and had a budget of around £300. Compact cameras such as the Panasonic Lumix TZ and the Nikon Coolpix P80 kept coming up, as did the Nikon D40 and the Sony a200. I decided to go for the Sony in the end as it was a name I trusted and I had used a compact Sony in the past. The quality difference between my old compact camera and this camera was incredible. Shots always seem to come out crisp and clear, whatever lighting conditions the picture was taken in. Battery life is great and the percentage meter of battery power remaining is invaluable. The camera fits well in large hands, and all of the buttons and dials on the camera are comfortably positioned. Having only used a compact camera in the past, the sheer number of options took a while to get used to, but once I was familiar with the camera everything...

je12g08 09.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of Sony a (alpha) DSLR-A200K

  Another 5 star Sony!

Advantages: Great functions, east to use, looks and feels good and produces great images.
Disadvantages: The kit lens isnt the best and no live view may bother some.

...mentioned, it can also be bought as a twin kit lens option with the 18-70mm and the 75-300mm lenses for a little over £400. At those prices this camera is brilliant value for money and without doubt it is THE unit I would recommend to people looking for an entry level DSLR. I think most new users could get a couple of years use out of this unit with a few accessories before having to upgrade to suit their advancing skills and the unit is so robust that it will easily still be re-sellable after those two years so you can recoup some of your money to go towards your upgrade. When it comes to upgrading you are in good hands too because all the lenses or flash units you may have bought for the A200 will fit straight on to its big brother the A700 and will also work with any future upgrades to the Sony Alpha range in the future. THE IMPORTANT...

thebigc1690 16.09.2008 (17.05.2009) · Read review
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Review of Sony a (alpha) DSLR-A200K

A Very Good Choice DSLR And For The Price Cannot Be Bettered

Advantages: Great pictures, great price with lots of old quality kit to be had for it a not a lot of money
Disadvantages: Not the build quality I was expecting and a few setting need tweaking.

.... The results from it are amazing. If this is a first step into owning a DSLR then you really will not be disappointed. Many will moan that the lense that comes with the camera isn't great but it will do and besides, that is what ebay is for. There is a world of great quality used Minolta lenses out there for not a lot of money that will really make this camera shine. One thing worth mentioning is that thanks to improved image processing, my 4 gig CF card will hold nearly 1000 10.2 MP images on it but only 650 lower resolution pictures on my older Minolta camera. The screen is a great size displaying sharp, clear previews. No live view but this isn't something I will miss just yet. If you feel that you cannot live without it though, the Alpha 300 isn't a great deal more expensive and is basically the same camera. I just didn't feel it was worth...

joeyjojoe1971 10.05.2009 · Read review
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Review of Sony a (alpha) DSLR-A200K

The Sony Underdog

Advantages: Great features for low price, Great value for money
Disadvantages: Smaller range of Lenses than competitors

... Sony a200 D-SLR camera Introduction This Sony a200 is the bottom of the range fully fledged entry level d-SLR from Sony. With prices now well below £300 could this be the camera for you to enter the next level of your photography? I believe it can. Offering a wide range of features, lenses and quality that has brought Sony where it is today, this camera will definitely be giving the bigger names something to worry about. The Camera This camera is obviously designed from scratch to bring ultimate simplicity to beginners to enthusiasts alike. The build quality is very good for the price, though not as strong as many other cameras in the market, it looks as though it could still take a fair blow or two, but not three. The 10.2 mega-pixel offering is more than enough for most levels of photography...

aadamm 22.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of Sony a (alpha) DSLR-A200K

  Enter the Sony!

Advantages: Packed with extras, looks good and feels good.
Disadvantages: See review for the very minor con`s.

...probably won't give as strong a sharpening effect as what will be needed. Puting those minor blemmishes aside this camera remains one of the best introductory DSLR`s I have used and I would happily shout from the rafters about it to anyone who was willing to listening. Compared to previous models the A350 is way better than the A100 and slightly better than the A200 and 300 so it was definitely worth bringing out, compared to other manufacturers in the same price range it is very competitive and has given me better images than most so I think Sony is going to be the next big thing in the world of DSLR cameras and it is certainly the one I will be recommending to people for the foreseeable future. WHATS IN THE BOX Sony Alpha DSLR-A350 Body NP-FM500H rechargeable battery BC-VM10 battery charger Video and USB cables Shoulder strap...

thebigc1690 29.07.2008 (17.05.2009) · Read review
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Review of Sony a (alpha) DSLR-A350K

  A Sony fit for a pro!

Advantages: Too many to list, please see review!
Disadvantages: None worthy of a mention in my opinion.

...previous reviews of lower end DSLR`s I have made mention of how Sony are fairly new to the DSLR market but they are advancing quickly and are already for me one of if not the best manufacturer of DSLR cameras. Their range is very diverse and as they have taken a lot of the design including the lens fitments from the old Minolta brand, you can buy many second hand lenses and flashguns for these cameras, just as you can for the Canons and Nikons that have been around forever. The Sony DSLR range started out with the rather unimpressive A100 but this was quickly superseded by the A200 which was much more impressive both in functionality and in looks, these looks have been carried through the range right up to the A700 and all these DSLR`s look and feel very impressive. The A700 is slightly bigger all round than the A200, 300 or 350 but it looks...

thebigc1690 18.05.2009 · Read review
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Review of Sony a (alpha) DSLR-A700K

Great entry level dslr at a great price

Advantages: Great camera at a great price
Disadvantages: Body looks cheap

...-to-use function display and percentage battery life indicator Improved 9-point centre cross AF with EyeStart activation for fast, accurate focusing Continuous shooting at 3fps (JPEG Fine mode, limited by memory card capacity) High-capacity InfoLITHIUM battery allows up to 750 shots between charges (CIPA measurement) Dual anti-dust system protects sensor during lens exchange SteadyShot INSIDE was previously known as Super SteadySho Review ************ Ok so what does all this babble actually mean and how does the camera handle i hear you ask. First off it fits nicely into your hand and it feels sturdy to the touch. The weight of the camera is only 532 grams which is what some compact camera weigh. The lenses for the camera are what is known as a sony A-mount so its compatible with A-Mount bayonet lenses from Minolta and Konica Minolta...

falcon1959 12.07.2009 · Read review
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Review of Sony a (alpha) DSLR-A200K

Sony DSLR A-100W - Beautiful Pictures, Great Value

Advantages: Build & Picture Quality, Battery life, Brand
Disadvantages: Shutter sound, manual

...for at a relatively cheap price compared to shelling out hundreds on a DSLR which you might not use. I still think that compact and bridge cameras generally offer excellent results and a much easier to carry about, however I photograph a lot of aircraft and nature, and for both of those, I not only want the zoom capabilities but also the manual focus, the shutter speeds and the ability to crop images. This year we had blue tits nesting in the back garden, I got some pretty nice pictures with my FZ7, but the conditions had to be just right, i.e great lighting and I still found I couldn?t crop the images as much as I wanted without some loss in quality. Now, a blue tit is one of the smallest British birds so I am asking quite a lot from the camera, but it was this, that made me buy a DSLR. WHY THE SONY ALPHA? AND WHY NOW? The Sony Alpha A100 was...

bananamanuk 25.06.2007 · Read review
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Review of Sony a (alpha) DSLR-A100W

Sony alpha A100

Advantages: Stlish digital slr
Disadvantages: sony customer service

...At first glance the sony alpha a100 feals slightyly plastickly, but this is partly due to the fact that the body itself is made out of plastic, never the less the sony a100 is a fantastic digital sslr for the first time photograhper. Although it is slightly dissapointing that sony has not made a vertical grip for this product, overall the smooth shiny feal to the sony alpha a100, feals nice, and the shutter button fits snugguly into your right hand, however the camera is exceptional, but the custumer service is dreadful, when i accidently smashed my sony alpha 3 days after purchasing it, i was devistated, but not to worry, i was soon on to sony, and was relieved that there was a set price of £114 but i had to forck out a lumply sum of £360 to get it fixed. There isnt realy a fixed price and the level of custumer service...

DarkNights 03.03.2008 (04.03.2008) · Read review
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Review of Sony a (alpha) DSLR-A100W